Abstract
The seafloor observation system is becoming an important infrastructure for marine research because it is transforming oceanic research from temporal investigation to long term observation. The East China Sea coastal seafloor observatory, located between 30°31′44″N, 122°15′12″E and 30°31′34″N, 122°14′40″E, is constructed near the Xiaoqushan Island outside the Hangzhou Bay on the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea. The observatory is connected by a submarine optical fiber composite power cable that is more than one kilometer long and consists of a special junction box that transmits power and communication signals to different instruments. The special junction box has a variety of waterproof plugs and connects to three different instruments installed in a trawl preventer. The submarine optical fiber composite power cable is landed on the platform by The East China Sea Branch, State Oceanic Administration and the power is continuously supplied by the solar panels and solar battery on the top of the platform. The real time data are directly sent through the cable to the platform and are transmitted by CDMA wireless to the receiver at the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology of Tongji University. Measurements at the observatory have been taken since April 20, 2009 after installation and the results have been interpreted. The characteristics of the near bottom boundary are constrained by a sediment suspension model using portion of the observed data. In particular, discussion is provided on the sea surface height anomaly at Xiaoqushan Island influenced by the tsunami driven by the 2010 Earthquake in Chile. The successful establishment of the coastal seafloor observatory is the first step toward future development of seafloor observation systems in China. It not only accumulates experiences in technology and engineering, but also paves the way for performing important oceanic research using the long term continuous observation platform.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Favali P, Beranzoli L. Seafloor observatory science: A review. Ann Geophys, 2006, 49: 515–567
State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology. International Seafloor Observation System Report (in Chinese), 2006
Glenn S M, Schofield O M, Chant R, et al. The LEO-15 Coastal Cabled Observatory — Phase II for the Next Evolutionary Decade of Oceanography. SSC06 — Scientific Submarine Cable, 2006, 1–6
Wang P X. Seaflooor observatories: The third platform for earth system observation (in Chinese). Chin J Nat, 2007, 29: 125–130
Chen Y, Yang C J, Tao C H. Seafloor Observation System. Beijing: Ocean Press, 2006
National Science Foundation Cyberinfrastructure Council, Cyber-infrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery, 2007, 1–64
Gao S, Cheng P, Wang Y P, et al. Characteristics of suspended sediment concentrations over the areas adjacent to the Changjiang River estuary, the summer of 1998. Marine Sci Bull, 2000, 2: 14–24
Lozovatsky I, Liu Z Y, Wei H, et al. Tides and mixing in the northwestern East China Sea Part I: Rotating and reversing tidal flows. Cont Shelf Res, 2008, 28: 318–337
Cheng P, Gao S. Suspended sediment concentration measurements With ADCP: Feasibility analysis and in situ calibration (in Chinese). Oceanol Limnol Sin, 2001, 32: 168–176
Wang X H. Tidal-induced sediment resuspension and the bottom boundary layer in an idealized estuary with a muddy bed. J Phys Oceanogr, 2002, 32: 3113–3130
Werner S R, Beardsley R C, Lentz S J, et al. Observations and modeling of the tidal bottom boundary layer on the southern flank of Georges Bank. J Geophys Res, 2003, 108: 8005, doi:10.1029/2001JC 001271
Carayannis G P. The earthquake and tsunami of 27 February 2010 in Chile-Evaluation of source mechanism and of near and far-field tsunami effects. Sci Tsunami Hazards, 2010, 29: 96–126
Yu F J, Yuan Y, Zhao L D, et al. Evaluation of potential hazards from teletsunami in China: Tidal observations of a teletsunami generated by the Chile 8.8 M w earthquake. Chinese Sci Bull, 2011, 56: 1108–1116, doi: 10.1007/s11434-010-4307-9
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, H., Zhang, Y., Xu, C. et al. Coastal seafloor observatory at Xiaoqushan in the East China Sea. Chin. Sci. Bull. 56, 2839–2845 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4620-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4620-y