CNN news 2014-10-12 加文本

cnn news 2014-10-12

CARL AZUZ, cnn ANCHOR: More is known about the surface of the Moon and Mars than the bottom of the Earth`s oceans. That`s adding to the challenge

of finding a missing passenger plane.

First up this Wednesday on cnn STUDENT NEWS, the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It`s entering a new phase, the jet and its 239

passengers and crew members disappeared in early March. Officials believe it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. The primary search area is about

the size of West Virginia. No trace of the jet has been found. Part of the reason, we know so little about the ocean floor. Just five percent of

it has been mapped. And one expert says we`ve only seen one percent. Why? For one thing, pressure. Engineers have trouble constructing machines that

can stand the weight of the water above them. But new data can help explore the ocean floor.

TOM FOREMAN, cnn CORRESPONDENT: All through the thundering waves of winter, the ships have pressed on across the Indian Ocean, pulsing out

sonar signals. And this is what they have to show for it. The most detailed map ever of the seabed in this area, 16,000 square miles covered

with crumbling underwater volcanoes, winding valleys, plunging canyons and just maybe the solution to a mystery. The new map is not fine enough to

show wreckage, but it is a wealth of information to guide under water search vessels.

DAVID SOUCIE, cnn SAFETY ANALYST, Tom, there makes a great deal of difference, because they`ll be able to hold a tighter path right above the

ocean floor knowing what`s coming ahead of time, so that they can go a little bit faster and get a lot more done in the less time.

FOREMAN: Before the search broke off earlier this year, much hope was pinned on the Bluefin underwater search robot. It came up empty, but now,

with the new map, a much broader search with toad sonar erase is beginning.

Australian authorities remain convinced this arch is the right place to look, saying recent refinement to the analysis of satellite data about the

plane`s flight path has given greater certainty about when the aircraft turned south into the Indian Ocean. And that gives them a better sense of

where it ran out of fuel, most likely south of this submerged mountains called Broken Ridge. But .

SOUCIE: We have to be very cautious about over-predicting or over- confidence in those predictions that you make or you`ll end up exactly where you thought you would, but it may not be the right place.

FOREMAN: Don`t look for people scanning the surface for debris, those days are over. Now, it is all about looking in some places nearly four miles

beneath the waves, and once again, hoping for a break.

The search is scheduled to last for about a year, and if they find the plane during that time, of course, it will be a huge step, but a big

mystery still remains, whatever caused this plane to go down.

Tom Foreman, cnn, Washington.