Deep sea cables could yield science data

Scientists and a U.S. telecommunications company say they're exploring a partnership that could advance scientists' ability to study deep ocean processes. Researchers in California are in discussions with TE SubCom of New Jersey to integrate scientific instruments into thousands of miles of seafloor communication cables across the Pacific Ocean, a release from the University of California, San Diego, said Monday. "This is the first time a commercial telecommunications company's cable installations will be deployed with embedded science sensors," John Orcutt of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD said. "It provides us with a whole new world of capability." The data collected will be open and available to the global scientific community, researchers said. An initial stage of the project using seismometers, pressure gauges and temperature sensors would focus on a cable route spanning 8,105 miles from Sydney to Auckland and across the Pacific Ocean to Los Angeles, which could provide warning of hazards such as tsunamis, they said. "We've seen an unprecedented number of large and devastating tsunamis over the last several years," said Christopher Sabine, director of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, which is also involved in the discussions. "We must explore new approaches for improving tsunami detection at lower costs while maintaining our existing capabilities. "This three-way collaboration between academia, government and industry could change the way we work," he said.