Collaborative Research: Design and Construction of a Second-Generation Buriable Broadband Ocean Bottom Seismograph and Burial System

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This collaborative ocean science technology development project builds upon successes achieved on land with temporary deployments of portable broadband seismographs. A scientific argument has been made to provide an equivalent capability for the oceans. Currently available portable broadband ocean bottom seismographs (BBOBS) and burial systems are prototypes and must be improved before the use of these seismographs in the oceans becomes routine. This project will develop a combination of burial system and buriable seismometer that will enable 2-3 BBOBS deployments per day. The burial system will become part of the U.S. National Ocean Bottom Seismic Instrumentation Pool (OBSIP) and will be available to the research community. The new burial system will use the force of gravity for seismometer burial, and because the new BBOBS uses a borehole seismometer that has a substantially smaller diameter than conventional models, the force required to bury the new seismometer will substantially less. Enhanced seismic coverage over the oceans is vital to improving seismic resolution to better address existing as well as new questions pertaining to solid Earth dynamics. The geophysical community will benefit from ocean bottom seismometers with measurement capabilities comparable to land-based stations that can be deployed and recovered quickly and at minimal cost. This project will construct and test one burial system and one BBOBS. Should the new buriable seismometer and burial system meet design goals, funding will be sought to upgrade up to 30 existing instruments with buriable broadband seismometers.