Short-Period Seismometer
In 2001, the W.M. Keck Foundation provided $5M funding to the University of Washington for a five-year experiment designed to explore a newly recognized process operative at the conjunction of the earth, ocean, and biological sciences. The basic premise is that when rock deforms, the nutrient-rich fluids set in motion are capable of supporting microbial blooms in adjacent portions of the crust or within the overlying ocean. It is not possible to fully test such a hypothesis without establishing a permanent presence on the seafloor that can continuously observe, document, and interact with co-varying processes of deformation, fluid flow, chemistry and microbial activity.
The Keck-NEPTUNE study focused on the establishment of well-instrumented proto-observatories at three major plate boundaries in the Northeast Pacific to investigate linkages among episodic deformation, fluid venting, and microbial productivity. Observatory sites were selected along the likely path of the cable, so experience gained during the Keck-NEPTUNE study may allow early experiments with the full cabled observatory system to be optimally designed and effectively implemented.
Eight sea-going expeditions accomplished the following:
