Scientific investigations at Scripps Institution of Oceanography span the realms of sea, air, land and life to determine how Earth systems work and interact. Researchers may span the globe in search of answers, as exemplified by a recent international exploration. Kerry Key recently returned from an April expedition off the Nicaraguan coast. As a member of Dr. Steven Constable’s 20-man science team, Key explored the ocean depths to study the faults that in 1992 produced a magnitude-7.7 earthquake in that region. The team boarded the Melville, a 279-foot research vessel, in Costa Rica for the journey. It’s the oldest of Scripps’ fleet. The institution operates four oceanographic vessels and a floating platform for oceanographic research. Their instruments probed the crushing depths of 6,000 meters for the study and Key blogged the expedition days and summarized: “We have collected a huge volume of marine exploration data, from which we will be able to learn a great deal about the nature of cracking, extension, porosity and serpentinization of the oceanic lithosphere at a subduction zone.” He said it was comparable to the trench off Oregon and Washington.  Faults are also along California’s coast and down to the tip of Baja. “There has been explorations off the Central Coast but not since the 1980s with more modern equipment,” said Key. “With electromagnetic techniques now, you can determine  how much sea water percolates down in the crusts.” Although there are a series of faults along the California coast, he judges that their lateral motion would make it less likely to generate a tsunami. Tsunamis are caused by vertical action. “Based on the motion of the faults out there, there’s a lower probability of a major earthquake off San Diego than in the desert or San Andreas,” Key said. Scripps scientists hope to capitalize on a unique  opportunity (off Nicaragua) to capture fresh data from the momentous geological event by attempting to characterize structural changes in the sea floor that resulted from movement along faults and submarine landslides. “We don’t deal with earthquake predictions,” said Key. “We’re looking at background geological properties, trying to relate to the long-term behaviors. [The] closest to a warning would be about 30 seconds if we had sensors right on the fault. In theory, they could transmit a signal to San Diego.” Among more than 300 Scripps programs under way, most are interdisciplinary. This approach to basic science is geared toward how physical environment affects life systems with global change, ocean pollution and marine resources. Currently, Scripps has joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and U.S. Navy researchers to demonstrate the first robotic underwater vehicle to be powered by natural, renewable, ocean thermal energy. And, scientists are deciphering energy mechanisms inside tiny marine algae to determine their potential as a biofuel source. Within a day of the major Easter Sunday quake, Scripps scientists Yuri Fialko and David Sandwell headed to the U.S.-Mexico border city of Calexico to deploy several instruments near the rupture site. There’s a staff of 1,300 workers, which includes about 100 faculty, 300 other scientists and some 225 graduate students, with an annual budget of more than $140 million.