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The oceans cover 70% of the terrestrial surface and exert a pervasive influence on the Earth's environment but their nature is poorly recognised. Knowing the ocean's role deeply and understanding the complex, physical, biological, chemical and geological systems operating within it represent a major challenge to scientists today. Seafloor observatories offer scientists new opportunities to study multiple, interrelated natural phenomena over time scales ranging from seconds to decades, from episodic to global and long-term processes.
Seafloor Observatories poses the important and apparently simple question, "How can continuous and reliable monitoring at the seafloor by means of seafloor observatories extend exploration and improve knowledge of our planet?" Seafloor Observatories leads the reader through:
- the present scientific challenges to be addressed with seafloor observatories,
- the technical solutions for their architecture,
- an excursus on worldwide ongoing projects and programmes,
- some relevant scientific multidisciplinary results,
- and a presentation of new and interesting long-term perspectives for the coming years.
Current results will yield significant improvements and exert a strong impact not only on our present knowledge of our planet but also on human evolution.
Part I - Present scientific challenges to be addressed with seafloor observatories
1. Integrating continuous observatory data: A multidisciplinary view of the ocean in four dimensions
2. Underwater neutrino telescopes for astroparticle physics
3. Seafloor observatories: the challenges for geo-hazards
Part II - Technical solutions for seafloor observatory architecture
4. The role of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) for seafloor observatories: acquisition, archival, analysis, interoperability
5. Long-term sub-sea observatories: design, communications and deployment operations
6. Development and demonstration of a mobile response observatory prototype for sub-sea environmental monitoring: the case of ROSE
7. Design of seafloor observation system for high density low noise broadband observation
8. Implementation for seafloor observatory construction by ROV
9. Seafloor observatory architecture: the evolution from the past to the future
Part III - World-wide recent and ongoing projects and programmes
10. The two seafloor geomagnetic observatories operating in the western Pacific
11. The DELOS project; long-term observatories in an oil field environment in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean off Angola, West Africa
12. Sub-sea environmental observatory integrated with the KM3NET neutrino telescope infrastructure in the Mediterranean Sea
13. ESONET NoE: An European initiative to develop and integrate the scientific European community using deep- sea observatories
14. ESONET NoE: An European initiative to develop and integrate the scientific European community using deep- sea observatories
15. ANTARES Neutrino telescope
16. The NEPTUNE Canada Project: installing the world's first regional cabled ocean observatory
17. Active processes at mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems: a multidisciplinary observatory experiment at the Lucky Strike vent field, Mid-Atlantic Ridge
18. EMSO: the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory
Part IV - Relevant scientific results with a multidisciplinary emphasis
19. Seafloor observatory for monitoring geological phenomena below ocean abyss
20. Modelling of regional geomagnetic field based on ground observation network including seafloor geomagnetic observatories
21. Geomagnetic observatories at the deep seafloor may enable early tsunami warning
22. Sub-sea borehole observatory over 8 years in Pacific plate subduction zone
23. An insight in the Marsili volcanic seamount (Tyrrhenian Sea), results from ORION experiment
24. Development and Application of advanced ocean floor network system for mega thrust earthquakes and tsunamis
25. NEMO-SN1 cabled observatory after 3-year experiment: multidisciplinary results and future plans
Conclusion -- looking forward to tomorrow's challenges
