NAVY CAPABILITIES 



23 



SUB-BOTTOM STATIONS 



A sub-bottom installation could consist of a room or a series of rooms, 

 excavated within the bedrock beneath the sea floor, using the natural 

 bedrock for the basic structure. The station would be a relatively self- 

 sustaining installation, possessing a power plant, possibly nuclear, as well 

 as work facilities and maintenance capabilities. Access to sub-bottom in- 

 stallations near land can be achieved through tunnels and shafts to the land 

 surface. For shallow continental shelf installations, access can be achieved 

 through a tube to the surface. Access to deeper installations, which are 

 isolated from land, can be by means of a lock system passing through the 

 sea-floor- water interface. Lock systems could also allow direct entry of a 

 submersible into the installation. An alternative lock system would be one 

 that permits temporary mating of the submersible to the installation. 



Sub-bottom entry into the sea floor requires that the lock tube or 

 entryway be set in some sort of rock that is at least competent enough to 

 permit consoHdation by grouting or other cementing operations. Virtually 

 any location on the sea floor that consists of consolidated sediments 

 strong enough to stand as an open bore can be entered to yield one- 

 atmosphere working sites. 



An undersea experimental laboratory tunneled into bedrock, with a land access 



