Amidst rocks, cork trees and pastures on the edge of the Sos Enattos mine in Sardinia, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) has installed SOSE, the first monitoring station and first node of the national integrated GPS network (RING) 4 km from the tunnels destined for the Einstein Telescope (ET).
The importance of this first step is twofold: on the one hand, INGV's contribution to the ET bid and, on the other, the start-up of the new geophysical Sardinia Far Fault Observatory (FABER), as part of the PNRR Monitoring Earth's Evolution and Tectonics (MEET) project.
Science Italy is focusing on this vast area between the municipalities of Lula, Bitti and Onanì, in the province of Nuoro, in the vicinity of the Sos Enattos mine, thanks to the site's relative tectonic silence. As Carlo Giunchi, INGV principal investigator and FABER coordinator, explains, “Our contribution is to strengthen the scientific rationale for the candidacy. The possibility of collecting experimental data confirming the long-term geodynamic stability of this area and any changes over a specific time frame is a crucial preparatory study for the installation of the ET.”
In addition, the new FABER Observatory will also be a center for developing some functional technologies for ET-a way to test innovative instruments under similar subsurface conditions.