Amazing Vid Shows How Earth Would Look If All Its Oceans Dried Up

Here's what the Earth would look like in a "Mad Max" scenario.

Under The Hood

A remake of a 2008 NASA animation reveals what the world would look in a "Mad Max" scenario in which all the water on Earth evaporated.

The video, made by former NASA planetary scientist James O'Donoghue, gradually reveals a vast landscape of hidden mountains and other features — many of which have yet to be properly explored.

"I like how this animation reveals that the ocean floor is just as variable and interesting in its geology as the continents," O'Donoghue, who now works for the Japanese space agency JAXA, told Business Insider.

 

Deep Dive

The animation takes viewers about 10,000 meters beneath sea level. Most of the water is gone by about 5,000 meters, with just the world's deepest trenches draining out beyond that.

The most dramatic shift, however, happens almost immediately.

"I slowed down the start since, rather surprisingly, there's a lot of undersea landscape instantly revealed in the first tens of meters," O'Donoghue told Business Insider.

READ MORE: NASA slowly drains the oceans in an incredible animation, revealing hidden underwater mountain ranges and ancient land bridges [Business Insider]

More on the ocean floor: This Plan To Mine the Ocean Floor May Erase Whole Ecosystems