Client: Institute of Geology and Geophysics of China

Project: Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench Seismometer Survey

 

From January to March 2017, the “Institute of Geology and Geophysics of China” completed a milestone achievement in marine geophysical exploration.

 

The institute led China to become one of the world’s first research team and country to collect artificial seismic data from the “Challenger Deep successfully”, the deepest zones of the Mariana Trench and the deepest point of the seafloor (Approx 10,900m below sea level).

 

The project aimed to investigate why the “Challenger Deep” has such a precipitous dive and why massive earthquakes, that generate long ranging tsunamis at other subduction zones.

To achieve this objective, 60 OBS units were custom built, each with its specifications as per the client's request. , each meeting the client's specific technical requirements. 

This project was years in the making; it took the research and development team many trials, experimenting with different materials, shapes, sizes etc. As a result of this, custom ordered german glass domes are imported, followed by the development of new sensors designed and tested to be more accurate and reliable in near-freezing temperatures. 

The result was allowed the research team to successfully collect data from the OBS units and map out the Marianna trench, in depths close to 12,000m. 

Out of the 60 OBS deployed, 52 units were successfully retrieved, giving the client a recovery rate of 92%.

The current data are still being interrupted; but in the interim, our OBS units gave our client a better understanding of Seismic Technology and how sound waves travel in deep water and along ocean beds.

https://www.datenna.com/industry/china-worlds-deepest-seismic-data/

http://www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/chinese/publications/sustainable-campus/article.aspx?articleid=64285