Promoting Seafloor Observation in China -- A Meeting Report

Transcription

1 Promoting Seafloor Observation in -- A Meeting Report Introduction With its rapid development in economy, is now placing more emphasis on marine science and technology. Recently, construction of a sea-floor observation system has been proposed to s ocean research program. To promote international cooperation, a workshop was recently held in Shanghai, and the outcome was extremely encouraging. The International Workshop on Sea-Floor Observation took place on the campus of, Shanghai, from 19 th to 21 st May, The 3-day meeting was hosted by the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and the IODP- Office. Together with 10 invited experts from the US, Canada, Germany, France and Japan, 48 Chinese marine scientists and engineers from 17 institutions in 5 cities attended the meeting. The Workshop started with an introductory presentation Developing marine science in : Why sea-floor observation? given by the local host of the meeting, Pinxian Wang. Science in enjoys the best time for development. An example is 20% increases in the annual budget of the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation over the last years, he said. For the first time in Chinese history, deep-sea studies are becoming a major subject for the funding agencies. To make the investment efficient, it is crucial to keep s development in close contact with the international community. International Overview During the first half of the meeting the invited overseas experts gave a review of the latest development of sea-floor observatories in various countries. Chris Barnes, Project Director of NEPTUNE Canada, introduced the recent progress of the project, the world s first multi-node regional cabled ocean observatory, and showed its role in transforming the ocean sciences and the challenges in its building. Holly Given, Director of Ocean Observing at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, a US not-for-profit consortium of academic institutions, overviewed the NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative with emphasis on the cabled sites in the northeast Pacific that grew from the NEPTUNE concept in partnership with Canada, explaining the science design for each of its five nodes and the concept of OOI cyberinfrastructure.

2 The currently active sea-floor observatories and new technology developed in North America were the subject of five presentations. The Canadian observatory VENUS was introduced by its project manager, Adrian Round. He described the design of all its major components and shared his experience in its construction and operation with the audience. Gene Massion, ocean engineer of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Istitution (MBARI), gave an account of the technical development of a sea-floor observatory system. On the basis of the practice at MBARI, he discussed various challenges encountered by the technical team from the design to the operation of the system. The Martha s Vineyard Coastal Observatory of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution was presented by its project manager, Janet Fredericks. She reported on the operation and research activities of the observatory since More eye-opening advances in marine ecology observation were presented by Scott Gallager, biologist from Woods Hole. Added by examples from three observatories, he demonstrated what sea-floor observation can do with advanced technology. Keir Becker, University of Miami, gave a brief review of the concept, development and application of the CORK sealed-borehole observation system, the most successful facilities in monitoring subseafloor hydrogeological processes. Three experts reviewed the latest development of sea-floor observatories in western Europe and Japan. Gerald Wefer, University of Bremen, gave a review of different ways of permanent ocean observations and the existing systems in Europe. He introduced the five deep-sea sites selected for implementation of EMSO, the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatories program. Further information from Europe was presented by Jerome Blandin from IFREMER. He described several families of European seafloor observatories in action and their scientific achievements, as well as some technological issues requiring research and development. The presentation by Hisao Ito, JAMSTEC, was focused on the long-term observation in deep boreholes at the Nankai Subduction Zone, currently drilled by the IODP cruises. He outlined the scientific target and technical challenges of this high-reaching project. Discussion on Chinese Program The second half of the Workshop was used for discussion on development of

3 seafloor observatories in. Three introductory talks were given by colleagues from Tongji. Huaiyang Zhou drew a sketch of three stages of development of sea-floor observation in the South Sea after a brief description of oceanographic and geological features of the largest marginal sea in the western Pacific. The three stages will successively cover the northern, western and eastern slopes of the basin, and his presentation focused on the northern slope where deep-sea hydrocarbons and gas hydrate formations were discovered recently. Technical preparation of the deep-sea observatory in the South Sea was introduced by Xiaotong Peng. For implementation of a funded project, he described the major components of the observatory system under development and assembly, which is expected to be tested at MBARI before its deployment off the Chinese coast. An observatory under construction closer to the meeting place is in the East Sea. The Experimental Coastal Observatory introduced by Huiping Xu will be set up on the inner shelf off Shanghai, including a cabled observatory connected to a small island and a shore lab base at the very tip of the Yangtze delta, on the newly reclaimed wetland. The scientific goals of the observatory range from sediment transport from the Yangtze runoff to ecological monitoring, including hypoxia and red tides. In an excursion organized by the Workshop, participants visited the coastal area where the shore lab will be built, and the newly completed 32 km-long Donghai Bridge which connects Shanghai with its deep-water port. All overseas guests were deeply impressed by the progress in and particularly in Shanghai. During discussions in the final day of the workshop, the invited experts offered valuable advice on how to start constructing seafloor observatories in. The first recommendation is to start with creation of a science-driven, but not technique-driven design, and to discuss scientific purposes against the background of engineering early in the process. Second, the development of sea-floor observation can be greatly benefited from international cooperation. All experts expressed their strong wish to collaborate with on any new and current projects and provided numerous contacts of research units and commercial industry. Lastly, education and outreach is to be included in the development plan. needs

4 engineers with science interest and scientists with engineering background. Such quality should be nurtured from the undergraduate level. Follow-up of the Workshop The Workshop was immediately followed by a 3-day special seminar on technical aspects of sea-floor observation. Gene Massion explained in detail the design of submarine research observatories, describing some critical subsystems such as data communication and power feed. Keir Becker gave a systematical overview of the CORK system, including its design, scientific instrumentation and submersible servicing. This was the first short course in on seafloor observation. The host institution at has submitted a report to the funding agencies in to inform what has been learned from the workshop and to suggest how to proceed with development of seafloor observation in the country. Meanwhile, the Tongji group is going to generate a book in Chinese to introduce the current status of sea-floor observatories in the world with a historical retrospective of the long-term observation in marine sciences. Obviously, the workshop has accomplished its two-way mission: It introduced to the international development and experience; it also introduced to the world s seafloor observation community. All kinds of international collaboration are welcome to promote seafloor observation in.

5 List of Participants * Name Institution Country Gene Massion Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute USA magene@mbari.org Holly Given Ocean Observing Project Office USA hgiven@oceanleadership.org Scott M. Gallager Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution USA sgallager@whoi.edu Janet Fredericks Applied Ocean Physics & Enginneering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution USA jfredericks@whoi.edu Keir Becker RSMAS/MGG,University of Miami USA kbecker@rsmas.miami.edu Gerold Wefer MARUM, Universitaet Bremen Germany gwefer@marum.de Christopher R. Barnes NEPTUNE Canada, University of Victoria Canada crbarnes@uvic.ca Adrian Round Dept Biology and School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria Canada around@uvic.ca Center for Deep Earth Exploration (CDEX), Hisao Ito Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Japan hisaoito@jamstec.go.jp Technology (JAMSTEC) L'Institut Francais de Recherche pour Jerome Blandin l'exploitation de la Mer (Ifremer), Centre de Brest Pinxian Wang Xiaotong Peng Huiping Xu Huaiyang Zhou Jianru Li * From 58 participants only speakers are listed France Jerome.Blandin@ifremer.fr pxwang@online.sh.cn xtpeng@gig.ac.cn xuhuiping@mail.tongji.edu.c n zhouhy@gig.ac.cn peal@gs.tongji.edu.cn