Page 13 - Ocean Bottom News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

It's not charted all that well. what we do know from oceanographers is there is a flat plain at the bottom of the ocean surrounded by mountain ridges, and also the possibility because of the mountain ranges down there that audio signals could bounce off certain mountains or hills down there and maybe throw up some confusing signals as far as the possible location of the plane. that's another thing they'll have to deal with if they get down that far and find something tangible. also the silt in that area is considerable and it is apparently very kind of -- it's porous and moves around a lot. if...

Hundreds of miles away. >> so captain gurley, if they never find any debris, does it matter in the search for those black boxes? >> well, carol, i think it's important to remember -- to look at the fact we're really doing two searches now. there's the search that is proceeding on the ocean surface for any floating surface debris that may have -- still be there for still floating around and dispersed by the winds and currents. but the second search is on the ocean bottom. that's the real debris field and that's where they'll find the evidence to help answer questions of what happened with this ...

Up sound from juunderneath the water. how hopeful should we be? >> well, carol, i'm very hopeful that they are on the right place now. when you look at the accumulation of evidence and the repeated pings that all match, all the specifications we expect, i am confident they are on the right place. the fact that the p-3s now think they may have picked up something is even better news. that means the batteries are still alive. and it lets them refine the area they're going to have to look on the ocean bottom even better because it's a small area. but the smaller they get it, the faster the rest o...

And it will paint a picture of the bottom with sound. anything that is plane debris will show up very bright. and it will be different than the local bottom structure in geology that is down there. and they will be able to id that. >> van, we're talking about signals coming from basically three miles from below the ocean. what can happen to the signals as they travel through water that deep? >> well, the way sound moves through water is very different from what we're used to on air and land. the different pressures and temperatures on air and land bend the sound waves into complex patterns. so...

Challenge, wolf. the darkness,s depth of the ocean in the area, the topography all present major on straks. two more signals detected which could come from the missing plane's black boxes. now search teams are trying it refine the location. find more signals. tighten the search area. >> and hopefully in a matter of days we will be able to find something on the bottom that might confirm that this is the last resting place of mh-370. >> reporter: but the challenges still enormous. after the 2009 air france crash in the atlantic, that search area was also narrowed down, but a veteran of that oper...