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MARUM deep-sea sonars on Underwater Observatory

Jun 26, 2018
Test of the long-range sonar with ROV SQUID in the MARUM test tank. Photo:  MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen
Test of the long-range sonar with ROV SQUID in the MARUM test tank. Photo: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

MARUM scientists are about to connect long- and short-range sonars to the underwater cabled observatory of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) and the University of Washington. Designed and constructed at MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, the sonar instruments will allow scientists to monitor in real-time and over several years the natural release of methane from the seafloor in one of the most active methane seepage areas of the Cascadia margin, northeast Pacific.

From June 20 to July 1, Dr. Yann Marcon and Ulli Spiesecke will join the VISIONS'18 expedition on R/V ROGER REVELLE led by the University of Washington in order to oversee the deployment of the two sonars at the southern Hydrate Ridge (800 m water depth). Mounted on large titanium tripods, the instruments will be lowered down to the seafloor with the ROV JASON (WHOI), and connected to an underwater junction node of the OOI cabled observatory. The observatory will provide power and two-way communications to the instruments, allowing MARUM scientists to control the sonars from the shore and to monitor deep-sea gas emissions in real-time.

Newsfeeds and videos about the installation of the two sonar on the observatory will be broadcast live on the website of Interactive Oceans (University of Washington).

The work is part of the M³ project for the acoustic monitoring of natural release of methane gas from the seafloor and is entirely funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Remotely operated vehicle JASON connects instruments to a junction box of the OOI Cabled Observatory during the VISIONS'17 operation and maintenance expedition. Photo: NSF, OOI, UW, ROV JASON
Remotely operated vehicle JASON connects instruments to a junction box of the OOI Cabled Observatory during the VISIONS'17 operation and maintenance expedition. Photo: NSF, OOI, UW, ROV JASON