University College London researchers hope the project will help them better understand volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Fifty measuring instruments will be lowered to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to measure the "pulse" of the Earth.
They will record vibrations caused by seismic waves and continuously record movements hundreds of kilometers inland.
The seismometers will be located across the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores and will use the same method previously used to study galaxies.
Experts say the seismometer will leave a "tremendous legacy" to help research earthquakes and volcanic tremors, and help track whales by the sounds they make.
University College London (UCL) is leading a project called UPFLOW (Upward mantle flow from novel seismic observations), which aims to learn more about large uplifts of material from the Earth's mantle.
They occur far from the boundaries of continental plates and cannot be explained by the theory of plate tectonics.
"This is the first seismic experiment of its kind," said Professor Ana Ferreira of the University of California, Earth Sciences.
"This is the first time we've covered such a large region of the North Atlantic Ocean with these highly sensitive instruments."
“By analyzing the data obtained, we hope to better understand the large-scale movements occurring at a depth of hundreds of kilometers in the Earth's mantle - in particular, the updrafts of material, which we still do not understand very well.
"It is these movements that ultimately cause volcanic eruptions and can also lead to earthquakes."
The seismic imaging technique that will be used has previously been used by astrophysicists to study distant galaxies.
"The existence of the Canary Islands and the volcanic islands in Madeira and the Azores is the result of powerful movements deep below the Earth's surface," said Professor Jorge Miguel Alberto de Miranda of the Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere.
"The goal of our study is to find out if there is a connection between how these islands were formed."
Over the next five weeks, seismometers will be dropped from boats, anchored on the seabed, and in a year they will be collected.
