Spatial bibliometric assessment of mediterranean seabed mapping research: hubs and gaps

Accurate knowledge of the seafloor is fundamental for understanding marine geomorphology, ecosystem distribution, and sustainable use of ocean resources, yet knowledge distribution remains uneven across ocean basins. This study presents the first spatially explicit bibliometric analysis of seafloor-mapping research (i.e., bathymetric studies) in the Mediterranean Sea, synthesizing georeferenced studies from nearly 700 peer-reviewed publications (1966–2020). Using GIS-based mapping and a novel cl