SUBSURFACE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does subsurface mean? 

• SUBSURFACE (adjective)
  The adjective SUBSURFACE has 1 sense:

1. beneath the surface

  Familiarity information: SUBSURFACE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUBSURFACE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Beneath the surface

Context example:

subsurface materials of the moon

Similar:

belowground; underground (under the level of the ground)

submarine; undersea (beneath the surface of the sea)

submerged; submersed; underwater (beneath the surface of the water)

subterranean; subterraneous (being or operating under the surface of the earth)

Antonym:

overhead (located or originating from above)

surface (on the surface)

 Context examples 

Powerful hydrothermal vents eject material from Enceladus' core, which mixes with water from the moon's massive subsurface ocean before it is released into space as water vapor and ice grains.

(New Organic Compounds Found in Enceladus Ice Grains, NASA)

Impacting bodies likely exposed bright material that was already in the subsurface or had formed in a previous impact event.

(Bright Areas on Ceres Suggest Geologic Activity, NASA)

The combination of Ceres moving closer to the sun in its orbit, along with seasonal change, triggers the release of water vapor from the subsurface, which then condenses on the cold crater wall.

(NASA Dawn Reveals Recent Changes in Ceres' Surface, NASA)

The discovery suggests that the salty subsurface ocean of Europa may chemically resemble Earth's oceans more than previously thought, challenging decades of supposition about the composition of those waters.

(Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa, NASA)

These landslides are always associated with large impact craters, and may have formed when an impact event melts subsurface ice on Ceres.

(Landslides on Ceres Reflect Ice Content, NASA)

Pit chains, on the other hand, are surface expressions of subsurface fractures.

(Dawn Explores Ceres' Interior Evolution, NASA)

Because ice is less dense than rock, the topography could "relax," or smooth out, more quickly if ice or another lower-density material, such as salt, dominates the subsurface composition.

(The Case of the Missing Ceres Craters, NASA)

In subterranean environments on Earth called subsurface lithotrophic microbial ecosystems, or SLiMEs, ecosystems sustain themselves not on plants that harness sunlight through photosynthesis but on microbes that harvest electrons from nearby molecules.

(Study suggests Mars hosted life-sustaining habitat for millions of years, Wikinews)

The microbes that live in subsurface realms such as seafloor trenches play a significant role in storing the carbon.

(Major deep carbon sink linked to microbes at volcanic island chains, National Science Foundation)

This means discrepancies between the scientists' models of Ceres' gravity and what Dawn observed in these four locations can be associated with subsurface structures.

(Dawn Finds Possible Ancient Ocean Remnants at Ceres, NASA)