Underwater communication cable reused as earthquake sensor with new technology

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) say a new technology that turns undersea power and communications cables into environmental sensors could revolutionize Earth observation in remote locations.

Today, seas and oceans remain mostly uncontrolled with only a few permanent ocean floor sensors located globally.

This is due to the difficulty of their installation and maintenance, which can be prohibitively expensive. But it leaves a huge gap in geophysical data, limiting understanding of Earth’s dynamic structure and behavior – data sets that can be used to predict earthquakes and monitor the impact of climate change among other phenomena.

A new method has been developed that can be used to convert these cables into an array of sensors. It has already been tested on a 5,860 km transcontinental fiber-optic link between the UK and Canada. The cable, provided by EXA Infrastructure, is the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America.

The team demonstrated detection of earthquakes and ocean signals, such as waves and currents, at individual distances between repeats spread across the entire Atlantic. The optical fiber in each period acted as a sensor.

Up to 12 sensors have been implemented along the cable, although future upgrades will increase this number to 129. Crucially, data from these sensors can be recorded both continuously and in real time. The cable-based array of sensors can determine the central area of ​​an earthquake in the same way that ground-based seismographs can.

By applying this new method to the existing network of submarine cables, it is likely that vast areas of the ocean floor, which are currently not monitored, will be equipped with thousands of permanent, real-time environmental sensors. It will effectively transform the underwater communications infrastructure into a giant array of geophysical sensors.

Integrating this new approach with existing networks based on seismographs would greatly expand the global earthquake monitoring infrastructure from the ground to the sea floor.

The method requires no change in underwater infrastructure, making the solution affordable and scalable for seafloor monitoring on a global scale.

Given the sensitivity of the fiber-optic cable to environmental disturbances, the research also opens the possibility of observing other natural phenomena—for example, improving our understanding of deep water flows, including the proposed slowing of the Gulf Stream due to rising global temperatures.

Although this method has not yet been demonstrated in this paper, it is likely that this method will also be used to monitor long-term seafloor temperature changes associated with climate change.

The research results also indicate that the method can be used to detect tsunamis. Enabling real-time detection of earthquakes that cause tsunamis near the remote epicenter can save lives by giving national government agencies critical additional time to warn of an impending event.

The research team now plans to test the method on several submarine cables, including those in more seismically active regions such as the Pacific Ocean where there are more opportunities to assess the ability to accurately detect tsunamis.

Giuseppe Mara, Principal Research Scientist at NPL, said: “This new technology opens a new era for Earth observation by providing a practical solution for the first time to the lack of environmental data from the sea and ocean floor.

“We can now harness underwater cables as a valuable tool for Earth sciences and beyond. This breakthrough is an excellent example of how ultra-stable optical frequency measurement can travel from the lab to improve our understanding of the world and also deliver tangible benefits to society.”

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