oa Development of Precise Exploration Systems for Seabed Resources by Electrical and Magnetic Methods

Seabed resources like sea-floor hydrothermal deposits and methane hydrate have lately become a subject of special interest as potential alternative resources for the future. It is, however, difficult to estimate accurate abundance of those resources. One of the reasons is considered that effective methods for such exploration have not been well established. On the other hand, undersea technology and exploration technique on land have recently achieved remarkable development. Thus appropriate exploration near the sea floor must advance great development of the seabed resources. From this point of view, we started a project to develop new deep-sea exploration tools for the seabed resources by electrical and magnetic methods with financial support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology (MEXT). In this project, we are working on research and development regarding measurement of the magnetic field with high resolution and high sampling rate, electrical exploration with accurately controlled source signals, electrical exploration tools for shallow and deep targets, versatile instruments of electrical and magnetic explorations with multi-platforms (deep-tow system, ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), and AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle)), comprehensive analyses of electrical, magnetic, acoustic and thermal data, and so on. We finished basic designs of the magnetic and electrical observation systems last year, and we are now manufacturing each instrument. So far, the first test of the magnetic exploration system was carried out in the Kumano Basin during the R/V Yokosuka cruise in July, 2009. We will present the outline and the current state of the project in this presentation.