Utilising ocean bottom seismometer platforms for tsunami early warning and hazard assessment

Seismologists have historically focused on land-based seismic research, due to the logistical and financial challenges presented by offshore installations. Guralp has developed technology which allows the seismology community monitor offshore seismicity with greater ease, improving global seismic data resolution. This is due to systems such as the Aquarius autonomous ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) and world-leading engineering advancements in Science Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications (SMART) cables.Autonomous free-fall OBS units allow users flexibility in deployment and ability to redeploy a number of times in different locations. The Guralp Aquarius functions at any angle without using a gimbal system, and can wirelessly transmit SOH and seismic data to the surface via an integrated acoustic modem. These features allow researchers to monitor and transmit data without offshore cabling, thereby reducing logistical challenges whilst maintaining some degree of real-time data transmission. Optional surface communications can be permanent (buoy-mounted), semi-permanent (wave-glider) or on demand (ship-of-opportunity or dedicated voyage).Alternatively, cabled solutions give users access to high-resolution data in real-time via a physical link to an onshore data centre. As an example, the Guralp Orcus provides a complete underwater seismic station with observatory grade seismometer and strong-motion accelerometer in a single package. The slimline Guralp Maris also provides a more versatile solution, making use of the same omnidirectional sensor as the Aquarius and can be installed either on the seabed or in a narrow-diameter subsea borehole.SMART cables show great potential for increasing the number of cabled ocean observatory deployments in the future with substantially reduced deployment costs to the research institute. Combining several applications into a single system, including seismic monitoring and telecommunications, large scale monitoring networks can be created cost effectively by combining efforts from several industries. Guralp is deploying a demonstration SMART Cable system to monitor volcanic and seismic activity offshore in the Ionian Sea in collaboration with Instituto Nazionale Di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). This will be the first practical demonstration of this technology and there are plans for additional projects in the future.

Studies of very-low-frequency earthquakes and low-frequency tremors (slow earthquakes) in the shallow region of plate boundaries need seafloor broadband seismic observations. Because it is expected that seafloor spatially high-density monitoring requires numerous broadband sensors for slow earthquakes near trenches, we have developed a long-term compact broadband ocean-bottom seismometer (CBBOBS) by upgrading the long-term short-period ocean-bottom seismometer that has seismic sensors with a natural frequency of 1 Hz and is being mainly used for observation of microearthquakes. Because many long-term ocean-bottom seismometers with short-period sensors are available, we can increase the number of broadband seafloor sensors at a low cost. A short-period seismometer is exchanged for a compact broadband seismometer with a period of 20 or 120 s. Because the ocean-bottom seismometers are installed by free fall, we have no attitude control during an installation. Therefore, we have developed a new leveling system for compact broadband seismic sensors. This new leveling system keeps the same dimensions as the conventional leveling system for 1 Hz seismometers so that the broadband seismic sensor can be installed conveniently. Tolerance for leveling is less than 1°. A tilt of up to 20° is allowed for the leveling operation. A microprocessor controls the leveling procedure. Some of the newly developed ocean-bottom seismometers were deployed in the western Nankai trough, where slow earthquakes frequently occur. The data from the ocean-bottom seismometers on the seafloor were evaluated, and we confirmed that the long-term CBBOBS is suitable for observation of slow earthquakes. The developed ocean-bottom seismometer is also available for submarine volcanic observation and broadband seafloor observation to estimate deep seismic structures.

Ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) are equipped with seismic sensors that record acoustic and seismic events at the seafloor, which makes them suitable for investigating tectonic structures capable of generating earthquakes offshore. One critical parameter to obtain accurate earthquake locations is the absolute time of the incoming seismic signals recorded by the OBSs. It is, however, not possible to synchronize the internal clocks of the OBSs with a known reference time, given that GNSS signals are unable to reach the instrument at the sea bottom. To address this issue, here we introduce a new method to synchronize the clocks of large-scale OBS deployments. Our approach relies on the theoretical time-symmetry of time-lapse (averaged) crosscorrelations of ambient seismic noise. Deviations from symmetry are attributed to clock errors. This implies that the recovered clock errors will be obscured by lapse crosscorrelations' deviations from symmetry that are not due to clock errors. Non-uniform surface wave illumination patterns are arguably the most notable source which breaks the time symmetry. Using field data, we demonstrate that the adverse effects of non-uniform illumination patterns on the recovered clock errors can be mitigated by means of a weighted least-squares inversion that is based on station-station distances. In addition, our methodology permits the recovery of timing errors at the time of deployment of the OBSs. This error can be attributed to either: i) a wrong initial time synchronization of the OBS or ii) a timing error induced by changing temperature and pressure conditions while the OBS is sunk to the ocean floor. The methodology is implemented in an open-source Python package named OCloC, and we applied it to the OBS recordings acquired in the context of the IMAGE project in and around Reykjanes, Iceland. As expected, most OBSs suffered from clock drift. Surprisingly, we found incurred timing errors at the time of deployment for most of the OBSs.

Autonomous Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) deployments have often involved a degree of “drop-and-hope” due to the inherent lack of seismic data communication during installation as well as waiting extended periods before data collection. Cabled solutions provide real-time data during and immediately after deployment, sometimes with opportunity to adjust the instrument before it is left to operate remotely. However, cabled solutions are inherently financially and logistically challenging both in terms of seismic hardware and arguably more significantly, deployment hardware (ships, ROVs, cables etc.). The geographical reach of these experiments is also often limited to within a few hundred kilometres of the coast. These constraints often mean cabled OBS are beyond the scope of most scientific bodies.Güralp Systems Limited, in collaboration with the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), has successfully manufactured and demonstrated a method of reducing financial and logistical constraints, extending geographical range, and crucially maintaining data quality by utilising force-feedback seismic instrumentation in cabled OBS systems. The recent successful deployment of the InSEA Wet Demo SMART (Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications) cable, off the coast of Sicily, displays a world first in how science can partner with industry to achieve this.SMART cables are primarily telecommunication cables that secondarily serve as hosts for scientific monitoring equipment. Commercial viability for these systems relies on the cable being laid as if the science element did not exist, thereby minimising additional deployment costs and reducing barriers to cooperation with cable laying companies. Güralp and INGV deployed 3 seismometer-accelerometer pairs housed inline within the cable repeater housings along the 21km cable length using standard cable-laying techniques to show proof of concept. The system also features a series of high-performance temperature and pressure sensors that can be used for larger scale oceanographic monitoring.This pioneering installation using telecommunication cables marks a significant step towards drastically improving local knowledge of inaccessible oceanic regions as well as global azimuthal coverage for teleseismic events, all in real time.

To investigate the dynamic response of the outer accretionary prism updip from the patch of greatest slip during the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake (Chile), 10 ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) were deployed from May 2012 to March 2013 in a small network with an inter-instrument spacing of 7–10 km. Nine were recovered, with four recording data from intermediate-band three-component seismometers and differential pressure gauges, and five recording data from absolute pressure gauges (APGs). All instruments were also equipped with fluid flow meters designed to detect very low rates of flow into or out of the seafloor. We present hypocenters for local earthquakes that have S-P times <17 s (i.e., within ∼125 km of the network), with a focus on events located beneath or near the network. Most of the seismicity occurred either near the boundary between the active accretionary prism and continental basement or in the outer rise seaward of the trench. For many outer-rise earthquakes, the P and S arrivals are followed by a distinctive T-phase arrival. Very few earthquakes, and none located with hypocenters deemed “reliable,” were located within the active accretionary prism or on the underlying plate boundary. Nonvolcanic tremor-like pulses and seafloor pressure transients (but no very-low-frequency earthquakes or fluid flow) were also detected. Many of the tremor observations are likely T-phases or reverberations due to soft seafloor sediments, although at least one episode may have originated within the accretionary prism south of the network. The transient seafloor pressure changes were observed simultaneously on three APGs located over the transition from the active prism to the continental basement and show polarity changes over short distances, suggesting a shallow source. Their duration of several hours to days is shorter than most geodetic transients observed using onshore GPS networks. The results demonstrate the need for densely spaced and large-aperture OBS networks equipped with APGs for understanding subduction zone behavior.

The detection and analysis of offshore seismic processes worldwide often require the use of ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs). However, most OBS deployments are done with stand-alone stations, with data recovery delayed by months. On the other hand, electrically cabled OBS, which allows for real-time monitoring, remains exceptional due to the high cost of manufacturing, installation, and maintenance. Here, we present a new perspective for cabled array of OBSs, using purely optical seismometers, plugged at the end of long fiber-optic cables, aimed at reducing their cost for observatories requesting real-time data. The optical seismometer was developed in the last decade by the École Supérieure d’Électronique de l’Ouest, based on the Fabry–Perot interferometer, tracking at high resolution the displacement of the mobile mass of a mechanical geophone (no electronics nor feedback). A prototype was successfully installed at the top of La Soufrière volcano of Guadeloupe in 2019. We replicated this sensor and installed it 5 km offshore Les Saintes islands, at 43 m depth (Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles) to characterize the swarm-type activity persistent after the 2004 M 6.3 earthquake (Interreg Caraïbe PREST project). The installation cruise, FIBROSAINTES, was supported by the Flotte Océanographique Française. A plow designed by GEOAZUR carried the cable and was pulled on the seafloor by the vessel ANTEA. The landing cable was connected to the interrogator, with a real-time telemetry to the Institut du Physique du Globe de Paris/Observatoire Volcanologique et Sismologique de Guadeloupe. The OBS has been qualified with local land-based velocity broad band stations. The analysis of local earthquake swarms suggests transient creep on the major normal faults. This successful installation opens promising perspectives for real-time monitoring in on-land or offshore sites, presenting harsh environmental conditions, in which commercial, electrical seismic sensors are difficult and/or costly to install and maintain.

Reliable interpretation of seismic data in ocean bottom surveys or crust and upper mantle investigations requires precise knowledge of the position of the seismic sensors. Special problems arise when operating with free‐falling ocean bottom seismometers (OBS). Since the ship's position and its towed signal sources (air gun, uniboom) or explosives are fairly well known based on high‐precision navigation systems, one can determine the geophone positions indirectly from their response to the source excitation. Here, a newly developed source parameter estimation code [A. B. Baggeroer, W. A. Kuperman, and H. Schmidt, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1 79, S56 (1986)] is first used to determine the performance bounds for a localization based on seismic interface waves. Then, an actual shear speed profile is determined by inversion of a new data set obtained using explosive sources, and a maximum‐likelihood estimation of the geophone position is performed. By comparing the results with the actual experimental geometry, it is demonstrated that in spite of the fairly long wavelength of the interface waves, a reasonable resolution can be achieved by such a technique.

We have developed a broadband ocean bottom seismometer (BBOBS) and its new generation (BBOBS-NX) with the penetrator sensor system since 1999. With them, we performed many practical observations to create a new research category of ocean bottom broadband seismology. As the next step in seafloor geophysical observation, the BBOBS and the BBOBS-NX can be a breakthrough in realizing a geodetic observation network on the seafloor. Although vertical displacement observation by the absolute pressure gauge has been widely conducted in recent years, other geodetic observations are rarely performed. A few trials to measure the seafloor tilt were performed, but those looked inadequate for practical observations. Note that the broadband sensor in our BBOBSs has a mass position signal output, which can be used to measure the tilt change. As the horizontal component noise level of the BBOBS-NX is good at a long period range, we expected it to be adequate for the tilt measurement. At the first evaluation, we performed a comparison with a water-tube tiltmeter. The result was comparable with a resolution of better than 1 µ radian. A practical observation at the south of Boso Peninsula (KAP3 site) was conducted as thein-situstudy from April, 2013. In January, 2014, a slow slip event (SSE) occurred near this site. The tilt data were processed by removing steps, mechanical relaxation, and tides. The results show a clear peak started from late December 2013. Two more 2 year-long tilt observations began in 2015: one was at the KAP3 site and another was off the Miyagi Prefecture at the slope to the Japan Trench. The latter was recovered in 2017 with about 1.5 years of data, which indicate a large continuous tilt up to several tens of µ radian. This amount of tilt can be explained by a similar already estimated SSE. Mobile tilt measurement at the seafloor can be a powerful tool to study SSEs, as they can be located above the source area and also possible to build an observation array for a practical study because of its low cost and ease of deployment compared with a seafloor borehole site.

We analysed background surface waves in seismic ambient noise by cross-correlating continuous records of eight ocean bottom seismometers and nine differential pressure gauges deployed in the northwestern Pacific Ocean by the PLATE project. After estimating the clock delay and instrumental phase responses of differential pressure gauges by using cross-correlation functions, we measured average phase velocities in the area of the array for the fundamental-, first higher- and second higher-mode Rayleigh waves, and the fundamental-mode Love waves at a period range of 3-40 s by waveform fitting. We then measured phase-velocity anomalies of fundamental-mode and first higher-mode Rayleigh waves for each pair of stations at a period range of 5-25 s, and corrected the effect of variation in water-depths. The seismic anomalies imply the presence of strong azimuthal anisotropy beneath the eastern part of array. The direction of maximum velocity is approximately N35A degrees E in the fossil seafloor spreading direction perpendicular to magnetic lineations from the ancient triple junction at this location. The peak-to-peak intensity of shear-wave velocity anisotropy in the mantle is similar to 7 per cent.

DAS signature of reservoir pressure changes caused by a CO2 injection: Experience from the CO2CRC Otway Project

Constraining upward mantle flow is essential for understanding global mantle dynamics and linking Earth's interior with surface processes. The ERC-funded UPFLOW (Upward Mantle Flow from Novel Seismic Observations) project addresses the limited understanding of mantle upwellings connecting the deep mantle to the surface by utilising advanced seismic imaging methods and conducting extensive data collection.Between June 2021 and September 2022, UPFLOW deployed 50 and successfully recovered 49 ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) across a ~1,000×2,000 km² area in the Azores-Madeira-Canaries region, with an average station spacing of ~150-200 km. This multinational collaboration involved institutions from Portugal (IPMA, IDL, Univ. of Lisbon, ISEL), Ireland (DIAS), the UK (UCL), Spain (ROA), and Germany (Potsdam University, GFZ, GEOMAR, AWI). The deployment utilized three OBS frame designs equipped with three-component wideband seismic sensors and hydrophones. The dataset exhibits high-quality recordings, including teleseismic, local seismic events, and non-seismic signals (e.g., whales, ships, and the Tonga eruption), with significant noise reduction observed in vertical component long-period data (T > ~30 s).Initial tomographic results feature a preliminary P-wave model derived from ~8,000 multi-frequency (T ~2.7-30 s) body-wave travel time cross-correlation measurements and over 120 teleseismic events. Integrating UPFLOW's OBS data with global seismic datasets from temporary and permanent stations expands the dataset to approximately 600,000 multifrequency measurements. This comprehensive approach enables the construction of a global P-wave model with enhanced resolution throughout the entire mantle beneath the Azores-Madeira-Canaries region. We compare our new model with existing global tomography models and discuss its geodynamical implications in terms of mantle upwelling processes and their surface expressions.

In the field geophysical instruments, various seismic sensors (an accelerometer, a velocimeter) and auxiliary equipment in the form of recorders (loggers) have been designed, which provide wireless information transfer to the data collecting and processing center. On the basis of these, instrumental earthquake observation systems have been developed to ensure the integrated security of critical facilities. These systems can be transformed to control global seismic monitoring of the territories, dams, also facilities of critical importance such as nuclear power plants, bridges, tunnels and technological pipelines for chemical and oil-processing plants. The report presents the technical characteristics of the above mentioned instruments and the possibilities of their wide application in different countries. Additionally, monitoring of seismicity of Armenian regions is implemented for the earthquake research.

Medical Research often requires the continual and simultaneous recording of several variable biological quantities. If slowly changing variables, such as blood pressure, heart beat, respiratory movement, have to be recorded simultaneously with the action potentials of a nerve, a cathode-ray oscilloscope with camera attachment has to be used. All nonelectrical variables must, in this case, be converted into electrical quantities. Commercially available transducers, such as pressure gauges, capacity manometer, require much auxiliary equipment and are very expensive; however, satisfactory results can often be obtained by using only simple additions to standard electrophysiological equipment. An example of such simple instrumentation is given in this paper.

Ionian Basin and Calabria Arc: Some new elements from DSS data

▪ Abstract Real-time seismology refers to a practice in which seismic data are collected and analyzed quickly after a significant seismic event, so that the results can be effectively used for postearthquake emergency response and early warning. As the technology of seismic instrumentation, telemetry, computers, and data storage facility advances, the real-time seismology for rapid postearthquake notification is essentially established. Research for early warning is still underway. Two approaches are possible: (a) regional warning and (b) on-site (or site-specific) warning. In (a), the traditional seismological method is used to locate an earthquake, determine the magnitude, and estimate the ground motion at other sites. In (b), the beginning of the ground motion (mainly P wave) observed at a site is used to predict the ensuing ground motion at the same site. An effective approach to on-site warning is discussed in light of earthquake rupture physics.