New seafloor observatory networks in support of ocean science research

Ocean science encompasses young and rapidly evolving disciplines. The approaches needed to observe and experiment with the physical, chemical, biological and geological processes in our world's oceans have changed considerably over the past two decades. There is increasing emphasis on research involving long-term experiments and sustained time-series observations. This trend requires substantially different infrastructure to continue into the 21st century the rapid rate of scientific progress that began in the early 1960's. Several pilot projects have successfully installed seafloor observatories using newly developed junction boxes and fiberoptic cable protocols. Technology development efforts have also advanced moored and relocatable buoys, instrumentation, sensors, and communication capabilities. In response to increasing demands by researchers for sustained observations and capitalizing on recent advances in technology, an initiative has been developed for providing the basic infrastructure necessary for implementing an integrated system of ocean observatories. The proposed system has three elements: (1) a lithospheric plate-scale observatory consisting of interconnected sites on the seafloor that span several geological and oceanographic features and processes, (2) several relocatable deep-sea observatories based around a system of buoys, and (3) an expanded network of coastal observatories.