TY - GEN
T1 - A deeper perspective
T2 - SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment 2014: The Journey Continues
AU - O'Brien, Robert
AU - Walls, Anne
AU - Clarke, Jim
AU - Costa, Sofia Pereira
AU - Oliveira, Shirley
AU - Smith, Ken
AU - Priede, Imants
AU - Vardaro, Michael
AU - Rowe, Gilbert
AU - Bailey, David
AU - Milligan, Rosanna
AU - Ruhl, Henry
AU - Sangolay, Bomba Bazika
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - The Deep-ocean Environmental Long-term Observatory System (DELOS) was installed in Block 18 Angola in February 2009, and will celebrate its 5th anniversary in February 2014. The two DELOS platforms are located in 1,400m of water, one within 50 metres of subsea facilities, and the second 16km away from any sea floor infrastructure. Each platform comprises two parts: a sea floor docking station that was deployed on the sea floor at the start of the monitoring program and will remain for the 25 year project duration; and a number of observatory modules that are designed to perform specific environmental monitoring functions. Each observatory module has enough battery and storage capacity for 12 months of autonomous operation. Towards the end of the 12-month deployment period each platform requires ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) intervention to recover observatory modules to the surface for service, calibration, and data offload. DELOS has already provided the scientific community with a unique long-term dataset to study the natural environmental conditions in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The data collected so far has provided a valuable opportunity to examine the spatial and temporal variability of physico-chemical conditions and biological communities. Studies to date have shown, for example, a high degree of temporal variability in fish communities present at both of the sites. The reasons for the observed changes in fish abundance and community composition are not known but are possibly related to natural variation in water column oxygen levels. Based on the results already collected by the project, the scientific community has strongly advocated the further development of paired, deep-water observatories in other regions of the World's oceans. This paper will chart the successes, and challenges, of the DELOS project to date, examine some of the data collected during the first 5 years, and discuss the need for continued, long-term observations of the deep ocean both offshore Angola and elsewhere.
AB - The Deep-ocean Environmental Long-term Observatory System (DELOS) was installed in Block 18 Angola in February 2009, and will celebrate its 5th anniversary in February 2014. The two DELOS platforms are located in 1,400m of water, one within 50 metres of subsea facilities, and the second 16km away from any sea floor infrastructure. Each platform comprises two parts: a sea floor docking station that was deployed on the sea floor at the start of the monitoring program and will remain for the 25 year project duration; and a number of observatory modules that are designed to perform specific environmental monitoring functions. Each observatory module has enough battery and storage capacity for 12 months of autonomous operation. Towards the end of the 12-month deployment period each platform requires ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) intervention to recover observatory modules to the surface for service, calibration, and data offload. DELOS has already provided the scientific community with a unique long-term dataset to study the natural environmental conditions in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The data collected so far has provided a valuable opportunity to examine the spatial and temporal variability of physico-chemical conditions and biological communities. Studies to date have shown, for example, a high degree of temporal variability in fish communities present at both of the sites. The reasons for the observed changes in fish abundance and community composition are not known but are possibly related to natural variation in water column oxygen levels. Based on the results already collected by the project, the scientific community has strongly advocated the further development of paired, deep-water observatories in other regions of the World's oceans. This paper will chart the successes, and challenges, of the DELOS project to date, examine some of the data collected during the first 5 years, and discuss the need for continued, long-term observations of the deep ocean both offshore Angola and elsewhere.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84905868256
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84905868256#tab=citedBy
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84905868256
SN - 9781632662293
T3 - Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment 2014: The Journey Continues
SP - 822
EP - 833
BT - Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment 2014
PB - Society of Petroleum Engineers
Y2 - 17 March 2014 through 19 March 2014
ER -