Skip to main content
Deep sea sensing
The infrastructure of the internet relies on submarine optical fibre cables which can be exploited to investigate the oceans and what lies beneath them, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
World map of submarine communication cables as of July 2015

EARTHQUAKES make seismic waves, which seismologists use to investigate the Earth’s inner structure. Seismic waves are typically recorded on seismometers, which are instruments placed in the ground that are sensitive to the shaking of the Earth after an earthquake happens.

If there are a lot of seismometers in a certain region, seismologists are able to calculate more accurate and precise models of the Earth’s inner structure beneath. 

For global models, the “resolution” of the model is a way to understand how accurate and precise it is; for regions with a lot of seismometers, the resolution is better.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Literature / 25 March 2025
25 March 2025
JESSICA WIDNER explores how the twin themes of violence and love run through the novels of South Korean Nobel prize-winner Han Kang
Crew members aboard a French Navy Atlantique 2 surveillance
World / 21 February 2025
21 February 2025
A rainbow lights up the Edinburgh skyline during the Scottis
Science and Society / 4 December 2024
4 December 2024
Rox Middleton, Liam Shaw and Miriam Gauntlett look at the history of lasers, from cat toys to modelling the explosion of stars