A seismic package installed in 1998 on the sea floor between Hawaii and California "is going strong," says Fred Duennebier, University of Hawaii geology and geophysics professor. Undersea seismometer
‘going strong,’ scientist saysLandslide likely key to ocean mystery
By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comHe receives data signals from the deep-sea Hawaii 2 Observatory directly in his office in the Pacific Ocean Science & Technology building on the Manoa campus via the AT&T station at Makaha.
A seismometer and other instruments operate from a junction box installed on an old AT&T telephone cable for the undersea observatory.
Duennebier said he "got some nice data" when the drill ship JOIDES Resolution was at the site a few months ago. The ship drilled a hole to put a seismometer into the crust to get better signals of earthquakes.
Duennebier monitored the drilling activity with his seismometer, which rests on the ocean bottom. "It was giving us plenty of data," he said.
Others could follow it on the School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology Web site.
Duennebier said the seismometer he and his team built "is a very good instrument but probably not as good as the one going in the drill hole."
"We're trying to get away from the noise," he said.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Scripps Institution of Oceanography have submitted a proposal to develop the new seismometer. Duennebier said he is not involved in the proposal but will be responsible for getting data.
The Hawaii 2 Observatory is a joint effort between UH, the Incorporated Research Institute for Seismology and Woods Hole. It was planned as the first station in a global seismic system to learn more about the deep Earth.