Marmor Project: offshore equipment

Starting on June 01, 2021, the “Marine Advanced geophysical Research equipment and Mayotte multidisciplinary Observatory for research and Response” (Marmor) project is an 8-year project with a double objective:

• To structure the French scientific community, by providing Résif-Epos with mobile instruments for underwater seismology and geodesy;
• To set up an underwater cable infrastructure for continuous, real-time and 24/7 monitoring of the ongoing seismic-volcanic crisis in Mayotte.

The project elements

The structuring equipment consists of five elements and an information system (IS):

• Element 1: Initiate and develop underwater geodesy ;
• Element 2: Rapid response and crisis monitoring;
• Element 3: Mobile marine seismic park for solid earth, imaging and marine environment research;
• Component 4: R & D on fiber optic applications;
• Component 5: Establishment of a cabled monitoring observatory (continuous, real-time, 24/7) in Mayotte. This element is coordinated by the Revosima;
• Seismic and geodetic data management plan and information system.

Element 1 aims to create a community on underwater geodesy through the sharing of facilities and instruments. It aims to promote the emergence and conduct of projects and to organize the rapid response of the community to telluric events.

Element 2 aims at acquiring equipment to ensure a rapid response and increased monitoring during seismic and volcanic events. The equipment selected for the Marmor project includes response OBSs, up-down hydrophones, and pressure sensors. This equipment will be managed by Résif-Epos.

Element 3 aims to reinforce Résif’s mobile marine seismic fleet, either by upgrading existing instruments or by acquiring new equipment through the Marmor project funding.

Element 4 aims to develop applications of fiber optics to seismology and marine seismology. The R&D activities concern in particular: i) optical instrumentation based on the Fabry-Perrot effect (seismo, pressure meter, tiltmeter); ii) deformation sensors using the Bragg Gratings effect; iii) marine applications of DAS (Distributed Acoustic Sensing).

Résif-Epos also participates in the elaboration of the data management plan as well as in the validation, valorization and dissemination of the data of the Marine Node A in the framework of its information system.

Contributions

The equipment acquired in the framework of elements 1 to 4 will be made available to the community via Résif-Epos. Five poles are involved in the marine component of Résif to structure the community and promote exchanges:

• Nice (UMR GeoAzur)
• Paris (IPGP Paris)
• Brest (UMR Geo-Ocean)
• La Rochelle (UMR LIENs)
• Grenoble (OSUG/ISTerre) for the information system component

Project website

www.marmor-project.org