Detection of deposited drill cuttings on the sea floor - A comparison between underwater hyperspectral imagery and the human eye.

We surveyed the deposition of drill cuttings on the seafloor along a transect at eight drilling locations in the south-western Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea, comparing traditional visual surveying methods and underwater hyperspectral imagery (UHI). The locations range from newly-drilled to around 30 years post-drilling. The visual assessments detected deposited drill cuttings to extend to around 150-200 m from the drilling location at recently drilled sites and generally less than 50 m at older locations.