This unique relief globe with a diameter of 2 meters (78.7 inches) and an overall height, including a frame, of 235 cm (92.5 inches) shows the physical features under the oceans. The globe was specially made for ‘Deep Ocean’ which was an extraordinary exhibition held at the Australian Museum in Sydney in 2012.

This raised relief globe reflects altitude differences and the Ocean’s surface shapes with the help of a touchable relief. While most globes have a smooth surface, raised relief globes have a three-dimensional surface finish. 

The ‘Globe’ was originally built in 1972 at the Australian Museum in Sydney an in-house team of experts and was fabricated into two halves. It was formed from a mold and was a very timely process. There were also complex reliefs of the continents incorporated into the globe's surface.

An added bonus is that the globe rotates fully. The Globe sits on a specially designed black plinth stand, with an overall height of more than 2 meters!

This colorful globe wonderfully reveals some of the true wonders beneath the waves and gives a very striking, real visual representation of the ocean world around us and beneath us. The main oceanographic details are all there: the deep trenches, the high ridges, long basins and the continental masses.

This really is like no other globe you have seen; with its vivid coloration, glorious 3D imagery, and unique underwater representation.

The continental landmasses are all shown, but for once, it is what lies around them, and under them that fascinates and stimulates thought and fires our collective curiosity.

The globe takes on a foreign or ‘other worldly’ look, so utterly different is it from any conventional terrestrial or celestial globe that we are familiar with. 

Many of the ridges look like soaring mountain ranges, some come to a sharp pointed edge, others are more rounded; some other physical features do not look unlike an array of armies lined up in strict military formations.

Oceans and their marginal seas are the world’s largest and deepest water bodies. The world’s deepest point, the Challenger Deep is located in the Pacific Ocean. The extreme depths of the oceans and seas result from subduction, one of the two colliding tectonic plates descends into the Earth's mantle. Interestingly, not all five oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Southern, Indian, Arctic) have equal depths.

The overwhelming objective of incorporating it into the Deep Oceans exhibition was to highlight just how much of the Earth is covered by the ocean; the oceans cover 71% of our planet, with an average depth 4 kilometers and the wonder is that every time scientists sample the deep oceans, they discover and unearth many new and totally unique species.

The deep ocean makes up over 95% of the “living space” on Earth yet less than 10% of it has ever been explored – leaving our imaginations to fill in the enormous blanks. It is perhaps unsurprising, therefore, that more people have walked on the surface of the Moon than have descended to the deepest darkest ocean trench.

The Globe sits on a specially designed black plinth stand, with an overall height of more than 2 meters!

Provenance

The ‘Globe’ was originally built in 1972 at the Australian Museum in Sydney for a [then] new gallery called ‘Half of Life’ and was also featured a decade later for an exhibition named ‘Tree of Life’, which looked at evolution and biology, then finally in a more recent museum exhibition called; 'Alive'.

Until 2012 the globe was kept in the Museum’s archives and it was then repainted and integrated into the Deep Ocean exhibition.

It was made by prep (in-house) by a dedicated team of experts and was fabricated into two halves. It was formed from a mold and was a very timely process. There were also complex reliefs of the continents incorporated into the globe's surface. An added bonus is that the globe rotates fully.

The 2012 exhibition took visitors on an expedition from what we know to the great unknown and showed how new technologies are enabling scientists to discover more. We all really need to understand, appreciate and do our utmost to protect this unique environment before it’s too late. Deep oceans are already under severe threat from pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing, trawling and mining but we still don’t really know enough to fully appreciate their impacts.

Additional shipping costs apply. The globe will be shipped in two specially designed wooden crates.  The two crates together have a weight of 320kg. and are currently stored in Lake Worth/Miami.

Collection in person before the end of September is possible.
If you want us to ship the globe contact us before bidding for a shipping quote. The shipping costs for shipping within USA are approximately US$ 4000