With the world experiencing frequent tsunamis and volcanic eruptions-related phenomenon, the increasing need for monitoring the underground volcanoes goes without mentioning.
So, to make monitoring of the rumblings at ocean depths easy, marine scientists begin using radio telemetry.
The submarine volcano – Kick ’em Jenny – located just off the north coast of the island nation of Grenada will eventually be emerging from beneath the sea leading to the formation of a new volcanic island.
The radio telemetry will be sensing tremors from a real-time seismic monitoring device, which is installed on the volcano. This will help scientists observe the “inhaling and exhaling” of seawater, magma and superheated fluids in and out of the volcano.
Thanks to the marine scientist-team who are working on figuring out how to tame the volcanoes. Affiliated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), their program is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
New technologies, like this one, will surely help natural hazards-managers to improve their ability to protect residents from volcanic eruptions and thus tsunami-like devastating waves.
Alex Isern, program director in NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences said,
Basic oceanographic research leads to technological advances that directly benefit society–like detecting hazards–in time to make a difference.
Rob Reves-Sohn, a WHOI geologist and RTOSS project leader said,
This is the first time that radio telemetry has been used to transmit data from an underwater seismic monitoring station.
Photo: nsf.gov