The United States EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) is the area situated between 3 and 200 nautical miles from the U.S. coast. This submerged territory, "30 percent larger than the total onshore area of the United States" (p. xi) was claimed in 1983. In the next eight years scientists surveyed the area using the GLORIA (Geophysical Long Range Inclined Asdic) side scan sonar system which was developed at the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences in the U.K. during the 1970's. With a 30 km track line spacing the R/V Farnella under direction of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) was able to gather virtually 100% coverage and imaging of the entire U.S. EEZ sea bed by June 1991. Marine geologists from Menlo Park, CA, Woods Hole, MA, and other USGS offices were central in the analysis and interpretation of these data.
Geology of the United States' Seafloor is the result of this effort. A volume of five sections, each with an introduction; it includes eighteen research articles on the geological aspects of the U.S. EEZ.
In all 42 co-authors were involved in this project. Eleven of these had non-USGS institutional affiliation, including five from the U.K. The most involved authors were J.V.