Ocean Bottom Seismometer Recovery

A WHCMSC and WHOI team recovered six intermediate period ocean bottom seismographs from the continental slope offshore New England in Georges Bank. The instruments had been deployed for about ten months to record background, ambient seismic noise. The data are being used to measure the in-situ shear wave speed of seafloor sediments, which is a proxy for shear strength. Shear strength is a key parameter in determining how the seafloor shakes during earthquakes and how likely the slope is to fail in a submarine landslide. The seismic noise approach is a passive method that can be used to passively monitor seafloor properties without disturbing them.