Getting Power and the Internet to the Seafloor V16

The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS begins its first science dive at Axial Seamount of VISIONS'14. An empty junction box is attached beneath the ROV's 'belly'. Photo Credit: Mitch Elend, University of Washington, V14.

ROPOS about to plug junction box LJ03A into low-voltage node LV03A at the Axial Base site.

Photo Credit: NSF-OOI/UW/CSSF; Dive 1736; V14.

Eighteen Secondary Nodes, also called junction boxes were installed and connected to the Primary Infrastructure during the VISIONS'14 expedition. They serve as electrical and communications outlets to 33 kilometers of extension cables and ~140 instruments that operate at depths of nearly 9000 feet beneath the ocean's surface and in some of the most extreme environments on Earth - hydrothermal vents.

The 'J-Boxes' come in three "flavors"  - Medium Power and Low Power Junction Boxes, and Low Voltage Nodes and they are configured specific to the instruments and infrastructure (e.g. mooorings) that will be attached to them by extension cables. They host up to 8 instrument ports and each J-Box has 375 volts and 1 Gb/s transmission capabilities. The nodes and junction boxes were designed and built at the University of Washington Applied Physics Lab.

A Low Power Junction Box comprises the inside of Benthic Experiment Platforms (BEP) at the Oregon Endurance Offshore (600 m) and Shelf (80 m) sites.