3 ms·

Wow, Svalbard, with a population of 2932 has not just one but two cables!

• stove 14y ago
  Similarly, I was surprised that Grover Beach in San Luis Obispo Country was chosen as the west coast's terminal station. Seems a bit random, no? Link: http://submarinenetworks.com/stations/north-america/usa-west/grover-beach http://submarinenetworks.com/stations/north-america/usa-west...
  • AndrewO 14y ago
    I'm only a somewhat familiar with the geography there, but IIRC, it's similar to what's described here: "Cables almost never land in industrial zones, first because such areas are heavily traveled and frequently dredged, second because of pure geography. Industry likes rivers, which bring currents, which are bad for cables. Cities like flat land. But flat land above the tide line implies a correspondingly gentle slope below the water, meaning that the cable will pass for a greater distance through the treacherous shallows. Three to thirty meters is the range of depth where most of the ocean dynamics are and where cable must be armored. But in wild places like Porthcurno or Lan Tao Island, rivers are few and small, and the land bursts almost vertically from the sea. The same geography, of course, favors pirates and smugglers." "Wired 4.12: Mother Earth, Motherboard by Neal Stephenson":http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html (this article is old, but great if you're interested in sub cables)
• Wilya 14y ago
  See [0] and [1] for a bit more context. It seems the very high latitude is good for a satellite base station. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Satellite_Station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Satellite_Station [1] http://www.ksat.no/node/77 http://www.ksat.no/node/77
• tibbon 14y ago
  Interesting to have cables going there, but no cables (yet) going to research stations in Antartica.