Research and application on in-situ monitoring of strata movement in submarine cold seeps area based on three-dimensional MEMS sensor network

Abstract

Accurate monitoring of strata movement is crucial for understanding the geomorphological evolution of the cold seeps. However, the complex environments and inherent challenges of deep-sea operations present significant obstacles for existing observation methods. In this paper, we present a strata movement monitoring system based on a three-dimensional micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensor network that includes multiple short and long sensor arrays. The movement vector is reconstructed using triaxial-acceleration and cubic Hermite interpolation. In laboratory simulations with vertical and horizontal displacement of 250 mm and 100 mm, respectively, the root mean square error of the reconstruction model is 3.74 mm. Two sensor arrays were deployed and operated for 4 days in cold seeps in South China Sea, and the observed displacement showed micro-tremors, and the displacement ranges in the x- and y- directions were (−0.4 mm, 0.18 mm) and (−0.43 mm, 0.19 mm), respectively. These results affirm the feasibility of the proposed system.