Global seismic network takes to the seas

摘要

More than 25 years after its inception, there is hope that the Global Seismo-graphic Network (GSN) will finally live up to its name. The networks 150 or so seismic stations listen for signs of earthquakes and nuclear tests, and help geophysicists to image Earths interior, but their scope is limited: they are all located on land. The GSN's vast marine blind spot could soon be eliminated, however, thanks to new, relatively inexpensive equipment that will be field-tested between April and June. For John Orcutt, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, the prospect of truly global measurements is tantalizing. "Working out how the interior of the planet works is really hard when all your sensors are only on 30% of the planet s surface," he says.