Despite the fact that much better seismic data are presently being collected in the deep oceans than was thought possible only two years ago, the present bulk of qualitative and quantitative information about the structures and sediments of the ocean basins resides in the estimated 10 million track‐kilometers of archived single channel seismic data. An enormous amount of invaluable information can be extracted from this resource if the geophysicist/geologist considers the limitations placed on the interpretation of the data by the conditions under which they were collected. The identification of multiples, diffractions, bubble pulses, and velocity effects must be accomplished before the effects of vertical exaggeration can be removed, true dips calculated, features migrated to their true position, and reflector separations more closely approximated. Examples show how each of these data processing steps can be accomplished.