Neptune Project
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Transcript of Neptune Project
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The first large scale, long term marine observatory
Consists of 30 nodes (observation “stations”) placed strategically all around the Juan de Fuca plate
Will provide real-time data to researchers, educators and students across the North American continent
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• Fiber optic cabling will connect observatories and equipment forming a 200 000 sq km grid covering the Juan de Fuca plate
• Instruments will be deployed in boreholes and suspended in the water column as well as housed in the observatories, ready for remote deployment
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1. Fiber optic cabling and fixed nodes comprising a network allowing for high speed communication
2. Array deployed on the seafloor as well as in the water column
3. Data management at the archive centre4. An on-shore operation centre to control
all elements of the network
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1. Dynamic processes of fluid fluxes and gas hydrates in the seabed (and sedimentation)
2. Regional ocean/climate dynamics and effects on the marine biota
3. Plate tectonic processes and earthquake dynamics
4. Deep-sea ecosystem dynamics.
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Issues
a. The mountainous terrain and high rainfall result in episodic fluxes in sediment transportation
b. There is a poor understanding of these important episodic events which deposit large amounts of sediments
c. A better understanding of fine sediment accumulation is required to better understand these events
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Neptune’s Role
i. Provide information relating to the frequency and intensity of sedimentary events
ii. Provide sampling under adverse weather conditions (i.e. severe storms)
iii. Provide further information on sediment-water interface
iv. Allow the possibility of fluid and particle tracer experiments
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• Fluids flow through fractures in seafloor and the through overlying sediments
• These fluids interact with the sediments• Neptune will provide continued measurement of
chemical interaction between fluid fluxes and the sediment
• These fluids are responsible for important mineral deposits and influence sea-water composition
• Installation of particle capture devices above smokers
• The electrical conductivity is related to porosity, pore water salinity, temperature, texture, degree of partial melt, and composition
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• Release of fluids and gases, such as methane, is observed to occur at plate convergence zones
• Methane hydrates are suspected to be a link to past climate warming periods
• Neptune will provide simultaneous measurement of seismicity, fluxes from the sediment, and fluid composition over a long period
• Gas Hydrates are important as they provide energy for a host of micro-organisms and are a potential energy resource for humans
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• It is believed that coastal upwelling may be an important factor in the global carbon cycle, data from Neptune will help to confirm this hypothesis
• Profiles of the water column above the nodes will provide information of heat, fluxes, nutrients and salinity
• Sinking material will be tracked from the surface down to the depositional environment
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• Oceanic earthquakes are often not detected by land-based seismographs
• Neptune can provide long-term observations of strain on plate interior and boundaries
• Hypocenters for oceanic earthquakes, as determined by land based seismographs are often off by 30km or more
• Strain meters in boreholes will determine small-scale deformation
• Acoustic transponders will measure deformation on a kilometer scale
• Pressure sensors at nodes will determine vertical deformation during earthquakes
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• The main contribution made by Neptune will be a greater understanding of large and small scale episodic events such as:– Large sediment inputs during major
storms and tectonic events– Stress on the inner plate and plate
boundary during earthquakes– Planktonic blooms– Fluid venting
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• Due to Neptune’s capacity for continuous monitoring, we can correlate relations between the various oceanic events
• Information will be gathered on important oceanic chemical processes such as mineral precipitation and plate boundary reactions
• Greater information can be gathered on the formation and importance of gas hydrates
• Long-term observation of biological processes will provide a greater understanding of biotic controls on sedimentary processes
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Images provided courtesy of the NEPTUNE Project (www.neptune.washington.edu & www.neptunecanada.ca)