Sandia National Laboratories recently disclosed that researchers are utilizing an existing fiber optic cable off Oliktok Point on the North Slope of Alaska to study Arctic seafloor conditions up to 20 miles from shore. The goal is to understand the seismic structure of extensive areas of the Arctic seafloor.
The team is using an emerging technique that allows them to identify regions of the seafloor where sound travels faster, typically due to increased ice presence. According to Christian Stanciu, a geophysicist at Sandia, several ice-rich areas have been pinpointed using this method. Furthermore, the researchers have used the cable to measure temperatures across the seafloor and monitor seasonal temperature variations, as stated in a press release by Sandia National Laboratories.
"One of the innovations of this project is that we can now use a single fiber to get acoustic and temperature data," said Stanciu, who leads the project. "We developed a new system to remotely collect both types of data using one fiber strand. We’re getting some interesting results."
Jennifer Frederick, a computational geoscientist also involved in the project, explained its complexity. "This project has many different pieces," Frederick said. "I’m looking at temperature and Christian is looking at acoustics to get a subsurface model. Really you need all of these pieces to say something about the larger picture of the current distribution of permafrost and whether we are seeing changes like seeps and how that plays into the larger greenhouse gas emissions picture. Being able to use new tools and push them to their extreme to see what we can learn is really cool."
Sandia National Laboratories' primary focus is national security, applying scientific expertise to detect, repel, defeat or mitigate threats. It operates under National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., serving as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). It supports various government agencies and organizations, as per the information provided on Sandia National Laboratories' about webpage.