Geolab Ellalink
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GA collaborative innovation that uses telecom subsea infrastruc- tures to help scientists in their understanding of our planet. White Paper The seabed is often seen as a place that is not subject to change. However, it is subject to constant change caused by a variety of factors. Some changes are caused by interac- Subsea telecoms cables: tions between the ocean and the seabed, while longer-term changes occur far below A driver for scientific research the surface, in the crust of our planet. Because more than 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, research is very difficult to perform. Traditionally, research in sub-sea regions has only been possible Chris Atherton - Senior Research Engagement Officer - GÉANT using large research vessels or sensors tethered by very expensive dedicated cable sys- Auke Pals - Project Manager - GÉANT tems usually limited to near-coastal installations. This limits the ability of the scientific community to investigate what is happening in our Oceans on a broad scale. Dr Mohammad Belal - National Oceanography Centre - GFZ Angello Strollo - Member of Executive Committee of ORFEUS. Head of GEOFON - service of the GFZ The EllaLink cable that is being deployed across the Atlantic, between Portugal and Frederik Tilmann - Member of Board of Directors of ORFEUS Brazil, has opened up an opportunity to integrate a scientific component into a com- mercial submarine cable system. GeoLab was created as a partnership between EllaLink, Introduction EMACOM, FCT, and GÉANT to provide an infrastructure for the benefit of the global scientific community. « Two thirds of the surface of our planet are covered by water and are still poorly instru- mented, which has prevented the earth science community from addressing numerous This infrastructure consists of a spare fibre pair built into the Funchal branch of the key scientific questions. The potential to leverage the existing fiber optic seafloor telecom EllaLink cable, which stretches out for 75km, southeast from the coast of Madeira, into cables that criss-cross the oceans, by using them as dense arrays of seismo-acoustic sen- the Atlantic Ocean. Along with the fibre, space, power, air-conditioning, storage, and sors, remains to be evaluated. Here, we report Distributed Acoustic Sensing measurements internet connectivity will be made available to researchers. Collectively, this testbed on a 41.5 km-long telecom cable that is deployed offshore Toulon, France. Our observa- service is called GeoLab. tions demonstrate the capability to monitor with unprecedented details the ocean-solid earth interactions from the coast to the abyssal plain, in addition to regional seismicity (e.g., a magnitude 1.9 micro-earthquake located 100 km away) with signal characteristics comparable to those of a coastal seismic station.” Distributed sensing of earthquakes and ocean-solid Earth interactions on seafloor telecom cables, article published in Nature on 18th Dec. 2019. he irt peraet iratrtre eiate Overview to remote sensing eee ito a o- eria Sea eeo Ste As GeoLab is the first of its kind in the world, it is unclear exactly which types of research will ultimately be conducted using GeoLab. However, both abiotic and FACE SPAI Marseille biotic research areas could be investigated: Madrid POTUGAL Lisboa Barcelona 1. Seismology MADEIA Sines Funchal Seismology is a scientific discipline that deals with the analysis, description, and MOOCCO measurement of natural and artificial seismic waves. Studying these waves allows Canary seismologists to image the interior structure of the Earth, inferring composition, Islands temperature and the distribution of fluids. Analysis of the seismic waves excited MAUITAIA by earthquakes are used to infer its hypocentre (the latitude, longitude and depth Nouadhibou where the earthquake rupture begins), the orientation of the causative fault, the detailed distribution of the rupture. Done rapidly, this in formation can be used for tsunami early warning or to get a quick understanding of affected areas, or even CABO EDE Praia for detection of offshore earthquakes up to a few tens of seconds warning before strong shaking begins. 2. Continental plate movement FECH GUIAA Kourou Plate tectonics describes a geological phenomenon in which parts of the Earth’s crust Fortaleza shift relative to each other. At one time, all the continents were united in one large supercontinent, Pangea. This shifting does not happen overnight; plate sliding occurs at a rate of several centimetres per year. The shifting causes changes and stresses BAIL in the earth’s crust that could trigger an earthquake. While these earthquakes are usually small and not noticeable, it is not uncommon for an earthquake of enormous magnitude to occur. Rio São Paulo Tectonic plates consist of continental crust, oceanic crust, or a combination of both. If undersea plates slide away from each other, a new oceanic crust is formed. If plates slide against each other, mountains can form. Also, an oceanic plate can dip under another plate. This phenomenon is called subduction, and generally gives rise to both volcanoes and giant earthquakes, which can trigger hugely destructive tsunamis (e.g. 2011 Japan, and 2004 Sumatra, where the tsunamis caused fatalities as far away as India and even East Africa). 3. Ocean Seabed interaction The range of interactions with the seabed is diverse, with vertical and horizontal interactions with the seabed occurring. For example, a vertical motion of the seafloor as caused by an earthquake. Such an interaction can be very easy to observe with the • Seismology, volcanology, marine ecology and oceanic conditions are key to understanding right equipment given the associated impact on the surrounding areas. Horizontal the future of our planet. ocean-seabed interactions, however, are very difficult to observe without extensive local research at the relevant seabed location. • EllaLink Geolab initiative aims to provide the scientific community with real-time, accurmate and relevant data on seabed conditions along the EllaLink Cable route. Changes in the seabed can be due to a variety of causes, namely sea currents, sea creatures, and marine traffic. Some changes in the seabed are too smallt o be • EllaLink is the first telecoms submarine cable to integrate SMART cable concept. observed with other research methods. Technologies which utilise in-line strain- sensing, such as Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), offer the opportunity to observe even the smallest changes in the seabed. Figure 1. Map of the EllaLink cable pointing out the location of GeoLab. Thus, it is possible to record the vibrations excited by the interaction of ocean currents and the seabed. By extracting the amplitude and frequency, it might be possible to understand the erosion of the seabed induced as a function of prevailing currents. The seabed changes partly due to ocean currents, which also change the relief of the seabed and the ratrtre egator reaie body vegetation present on the seabed. The relief created by the ocean currents can have different influences operation on the seabed or the vegetation in the oceans. As the effects of this have only been studied to a limited extent, GeoLab can contribute to the science of the underwater world and other effects of sea currents. Importantly, by continuously recording the ambient noise excited by these processes we could be able to map minute changes (sub percent) in the elastic properties of the seabed, a technique that is well established on land. On land, the susceptibility to velocity changes appears to be a good indicator for Ecosystem soil stability and is strongly correlated with the occurrence of landslides. It seems reasonable that this observation carries over into the marine realm, and that submarine slopes at high risk of failure could be identified in this way. eeah eeah It is very important that detailed research into ocean-ground interactions is carried out to gain further atioa atio knowledge of the interactions between the seabed and the ocean, partly because these interact on the etworks commmunity relief that is created, sea currents (tides), waves, and vegetation. These effects on the maritime climate require further research that will become possible through the use of equipment connected to the GeoLab is absorbed by DAS. By extracting the amplitude and frequency, it is possible to deduce what kind of change is occurring in the seabed. DAS also determines the exact location of the source of the sound. This is done by recording the time it takes for the light-beam to reach the observation station. Using the speed and time the light-beam takes as factors, the exact location of the observation can be determined. • Benthic flows 1. 2. 3. The Benthic zone is a region in oceans and sea. This ecological region is located at the ocean-surface, eoa ata i oete i ata i ae aaiae i Sie S ata i itrite o etor between the oceans water and the earth crust. This zone exists in all waters across the world. The S here it eter etor hih appie ata harig organisms living within this zone have a close relationship with the substrate as most of them are otro poiie permanently located at the seafloor or within the seafloor sediment. This zone varies from a few centimetres in depth to hundreds of meters. In deeper areas, this zone is strongly associated with low sunlight and low temperatures. In these areas, little biodiversity is present. • Anthropogenic movements In addition to being active on land, human activity can also have an influence on the oceans. Examples of movements caused by humans include marine traffic, offshore (oil and gas or windmills), and fishing. • Abiotic and biotic marine interactions Humans have various effects on the marine ecosystem and, thereby, marine mammals. These effects can be structural or incidental. Incidental disturbances can arise from research, offshore industrial activities, and boat traffic. Structural influences include global overfishing of marine mammals.