DEEP OCEAN SEISMOMETER IMPLANTATION SYSTEM (DOSIS)

WE PROPOSE TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF A SOFT LANDING, HYDRAULICALLY-POWERED PENETRATOR FOR DEPLOYING SEISMOMETERS AT DEPTHS OF 30 TO 100 METERS BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE DEEP OCEAN BOTTOM. SEISMOMETERS DEPLOYED AT THESE DEPTHS WILL BE BETTER COUPLED TO THE SEDIMENT AND WILL BE ISOLATED FROM VLF/ULF NOISE SIGNALS ASSOCIATED WITH SURFACE WAVES AT THE SEDIMENT/WATER INTERFACE AND FROM CURRENT INDUCED NOISE. THE DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM WILL BE A COMPACT, SELFCONTAINED PACKAGE WHICH CAN BE DEPLOYED BY SHIP OR AIRCRAFT. THE PENETRATOR SYSTEM WILL IMPLANT A VERTICALLY-ORIENTED, CONVENTIONAL 3-AXIS SEISMOMETER PACKAGE TO A DEPTH OF UP TO 100 METERS. THE TWO PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THE WORK ARE TO OBSERVE THE PENETRATION RATE CAPABILITY OF A 20 CM DIAMETER PROTOTYPE PENETRATOR AND TO DETERMINE THE SIZE, LOGISTICS AND COST OF A COMPLETE DEEP OCEAN DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM. A PROTOTYPE PENETRATOR WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED ONSHORE. A PRELIMINARY DESIGN FOR THE COMPLETE SYSTEM WILL BE PREPARED BASED ON THE ONSHORE TEST RESULTS. COST ESTIMATES AND DEPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS WILL BE PREPARED.