In a paper published in the Chinese domestic peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Earth Sciences, researchers say the 1.4-ton sensor can work on the seabed and surface for weeks in response to signals from a mother ship, according to an Oct. 12 report in the South China Morning Post, as quoted in Chinese media.
“The sensor will collect a large amount of much-needed in situ observations to further reveal the mechanism of isolated waves inside the seafloor,” said Professor Jia Yonggang of the Ocean University of China and colleagues in a paper. And in the South China Sea, submerged currents called “internal waves” can form turbulence and are a serious danger. According to various studies, some waves can extend more than 100 kilometers long and quickly drag submarines to breaking depths.
China has built one of the world’s largest ocean surveillance networks in the South China Sea, but floating buoys can be damaged. The new equipment could operate on the seafloor for weeks, detecting information faster and more extensively, the researchers said.
The data will help researchers create more accurate models to predict the formation, propagation and intensity of waves across the water, Jia and his team said.
The researchers said in the paper that they conducted two field tests of the device in the South China Sea in 2021, placing it on the seabed at depths of about 600 meters and 1,400 meters, respectively. The leak damaged a battery pack on the device, but the team said they were still able to collect enough data.
A Beijing-based marine scientist said that China and the United States have placed a large number of surveillance devices in the South China Sea, but because the waters are so large, the chance of the USS Connecticut, a Seawolf-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, hitting them while diving in the area on Oct. 2 is extremely low. And he believes that “there may be something wrong with their maps.”
According to the satellite image research of the Chinese think tank “South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness”, the position of the USS Connecticut submarine when it was injured and sailed on the water was about 48.7 nautical miles southeast of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands).