Imaging of long‐range reverberation from ocean basin topography

A technique is currently under development a the Naval Research Laboratory for imaging of backscatterec acoustic returns from ocean basin topography. The method is straightforward. An explosive sound source is detonated near the center of an ocean basin and the round‐trip travel time from source to reflectors and return is measured. Distance to back‐scattering topography is assumed to be proportional to round‐trip time, with a proportionality constant equal to half the sound speed. A multielement receiving array is used to determine the azimuthal directions to topographic features. Reverberation data are output to an imaging system to study the spatial distribution of sea bottom reverberation. The images are in the form of two‐dimensional maps of backscattered acoustic energy. Typical maps are larger than 2,000 km x 2,000 km (or area coverage greater than 4 x 10⁶ km²). After correction of maps from individual shot detonations for range‐dependent propagation losses, we average ("integrate") maps together on a pixel by pixel basis for a clear picture of major basin reverberators.     

OBS记录的时间和定位误差校正

根据地震波传播的时距关系,利用海底地震仪子母钟对时记录、测深数据和近炮点数据,使用数据处理软件OBSTOOL,对南海北部采集的海底地震记录进行高精度时钟校正处理。通过反演确定放炮延迟和海底地震仪的漂移参数,为准确反演速度奠定了基础。分析结果显示,南海北部OBS数据放炮延迟为1.278s,最大时钟校正量为2.394 s,OBS偏离测线最大距离为652m,这些将会导致浅层正、反演结果不准确,影响BSR的正确识别。     

A deep towed explosive source for seismic experiments on the ocean floor

A new seismic source for carrying out high resolution measurements of deep ocean crustal structure has been constructed and successfully used in a number of ocean bottom refraction experiments on the Mid Atlantic Ridge near 23° N. The source is towed within 100 m of the ocean floor on a conventional 0.68 coaxial cable and is capable of firing, upon command from the research vessel, up to 48 individual 2.3 kg explosive charges. The explosive used was commercially available Penta-Erythritol-Tetra Nitrate (PETN) that was activated by 14.9 gm m^–1 Primacord and DuPont E-97 electrical detonators. For safety reasons each detonator was fitted with a pressure switch that maintained a short until the source was at depth in excess of approximately 300 m. In addition, a mechanical protector isolated the detonator from the main charge and was only removed by the physical release of the explosive from the source package. These and other safety precautions resulted in several misfires but three experiments were successfully completed during the summer of 1985 at source depths of 3000–4000 m.     

Using inverse theory and seabeam bathymetry to improve seismic refraction data corrections

An array consisting of ocean bottom seismometer and on-bottom hydrophones, was used to conduct a seismic experiment on 0.4 Ma crust east of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Seismic sources were large (>50 kg) explosive charges detonated by SUS devices set to explode at 1829 or 2438 m nominal depth. The objectives of the experiment were to determine the compressional wave velocity and attenuation structures of the uppermost 500 m depth. The relative positions of shots and receivers were originally determined by treating each shot-receiver pair independently, via raytracing of various water waves. Due to the reflection of some of these water waves by the rough bottom, significant scatter resulted, preventing a determination of a physically realizable velocity-depth function. A new method is described that co-locates shot and receiver positions, including receiver depths consistent withseabeam bathymetry, using only the water waves that do not interact with the bottom. Several potential pitfalls are outlined using this method. A stable solution could only be achieved by discarding shots located well outside the array. The water path corrections were applied to the refracted arrivals, again using theseabeam bathymetry. The joint inversion location procedure, along with the use of precise gridded bathymetry, reduced the travel time scatter to a level whereby a velocity-depth function could be determined. The results, using only the hydrophone data, indicate an initial velocity at the seafloor of 2.7 km s^-1 with gradients from 4.6 s^-1 slowly decreasing to 4.1 s^-1 at 679 m depth. This velocity is similar to others conducted over very young oceanic crust, and can be interpreted as being due to a high porosity at the surface, due to cracks, fissures, and open pores, which rapidly diminish with depth.     

SEDIS IV型短周期自浮式海底地震仪数据校正方法

利用15台SEDISIV型短周期自浮式海底地震仪在南海中、北部地壳深部结构调查中所获得的资料,探讨了海底地震仪数据校正的方法和校正后的效果,结果表明:使用该地震仪所获得的原始资料经过放炮时间、炮点坐标数据局部化、海底地震仪位置误差以及记录时间漂移4方面的校正后,数据更趋合理,误差显著降低。放炮时间的校正消除了时钟漂移和时间延迟的误差;炮点坐标数据局部化处理消除了炮点位置整体趋势性偏移的现象;试错法进行位置误差和记录时间的精细校正时,时间漂移的校正量值约为几个到十几个毫秒,位置校正的量值仅在几米到数百米之间,实测数据所绘曲线的形态和位置都与理论曲线十分吻合,可见校正后误差显著降低。     

A determination of the seismic velocity structure of sediments using both sources and receiver near the ocean floor

A trial experiment proves the power and practicality of using both sources and receivers near the ocean floor to make precise measurements of deep (∼6000 m) ocean sediment velocity structure. A digitally recording ocean bottom hydrophone receiver operating at a sampling rate of 1800 Hz recorded clear arrivals with bubble pulse frequencies of ∼500 Hz from 41b. explosive charges detonated at depths of 5500m along a 4 km long wide angle reflection profile. It is shown that corrections for changes in source depth may be computed without approximation and without prior knowledge of the velocity structure. The experiment was located at longitude 56° W in the trough of the Kane Fracture Zone. The velocity structure of the 1 km thick sedimentary section reveals a 310 m thickness of 3 km s⁻¹ material overlying igneous basement.     

Velocity structure and gas hydrate saturation estimation on active margin off SW Taiwan inferred from seismic tomography

This paper presents results of a seismic tomography experiment carried out on the accretionary margin off southwest Taiwan. In the experiment, a seismic air gun survey was recorded on an array of 30 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) deployed in the study area. The locations of the OBSs were determined to high accuracy by an inversion based on the shot traveltimes. A three-dimensional tomographic inversion was then carried out to determine the velocity structure for the survey area. The inversion indicates a relatively high P wave velocity (Vp) beneath topographic ridges which represent a series of thrust-cored anticlines develop in the accretionary wedge. The bottom-simulating reflectors (BSR) closely follow the seafloor and lies at 325 ± 25 m within the well-constrained region. Mean velocities range from ~1.55 km/s at the seabed to ~1.95 km/s at the BSR. We model Vp using an equation based on a modification of Wood’s equation to estimate the gas hydrate saturation. The hydrate saturation varies from 5% at the top ~200 m below the seafloor to 25% of pore space close to the BSR in the survey area.     

A digital event-recording ocean bottom seismometer capsule

The ocean bottom seismometer capsule contains a 1 Hz. vertical seismometer and triggerable or programmable digital recording system. The output of the seismometer is continuously digitized at a preselected rate of 64, 128, or 256 samples/sec. The digital data words are mixed with a time code and synchronization characters, serialized and passed through a 1536 sample shift register which acts as a delay line. The serial output bits are then encoded and recorded on a SONY TC800B tape recorder which is turned on when a seismic event occurs. The event trigger occurs when the seismic signal jumps to 8 times the time averaged input signal. A memory may be programmed to run the recorder on a schedule so that small amplitude signals from refraction shots are sure to be recorded. Data are recovered using the same recorder for playback and a decoder which provides an analog output for field data interpretation or a digital output for computer analysis. An acoustic transponder allows precise ranges between the capsule and ship to be determined. In addition, commands for the capsule to release or to transmit diagnostic data may be given from the surface ship. The capsule falls freely to the ocean bottom. After a predetermined time or when a release command is received, it is released from a 68 kg steel tripod and floats to the surface. A dual timer and explosive bolt system is used to increase recovery reliability.The first capsules were designed and constructed between October 1972 and October 1973. Good results were obtained from 38 out of 43 launchings made on six expeditions in 1974, 1975, and 1976. Four capsules have been lost.     

Matched-field inversion for geoacoustic model parameters in shallowwater

Matched-field inversion is used to, estimate geoacoustic properties from data obtained in an experiment with a vertical line array (VLA). The experiment was carried out using broad-band sources (shots) in water depths of about 200 m on the continental shelf off Vancouver Island. The data were processed to obtain spectral components of the field for frequencies near the bubble frequency for the shot. The ocean bottom in this region consists of a layer of mainly sandy sediments (about 100 m thick) overlying older consolidated material. Consequently, the inversion was designed to estimate the parameters of a two-layer elastic sediment model. In the inversion, an adaptive global search algorithm was used to investigate the multidimensional space of geoacoustic models in order to determine the set of values corresponding to the best replica field. Convergence is driven by adaptively guiding the search to regions of the parameter space associated with above-average values of the matched field correlation between the measured and replica fields. The geoacoustic profile estimated by the inversion consisted of a 125-m layer with compressional speed ~1700 m/s and shear speed ~400 m/s, overlying a layer with compressional speed ~1900 m/s. This model is consistent with the results from conventional seismic experiments carried out in the same region     

Effects of East China Sea shallow-water environment on acoustic propagation

Operational environmental acoustics experiments were conducted over the frequency range of 25 to 800 Hz in September 1997 in the East China Sea, where the water depth was about 100 m. Objectives of the data analysis reported here are to characterize this environment and to assess its complexities as they may impact acoustic propagation as measured by its transmission loss (TL). Conductivity-temperature-depths and expendable bathy-thermographs sampled the ocean, such that its spatial and temporal variability could be approximately separated. The sound-speed profiles are downward refracting, involve two water masses associated with the Kuroshio Current and Taiwan Warm Current, and have thermocline variations caused by internal tides. The bottom geoacoustic characteristics, presumed to be approximately horizontally isotropic, were based on data atlases and were estimated from the measured TL, for some interpretations. The TL data were obtained in octave bands from explosive signal underwater sound sources and sonobuoy receivers, both deployed at a depth of about 18 m. Tests were conducted in directions approximately normal and parallel to the bathymetric contours and the measured TL was, to zero order, independent of the direction of propagation. To higher order, directional differences in the TL were observed and ascribed to anisotropies in bottom properties. A state-of-the-art TL model was adopted, based on environmental idealizations typical of operational forecasting and compared with the measured TL. The comparison yields a probability density function that quantifies the uncertainty of such a TL model, caused by the stochastic variability of the environment, typically unknown a priori. For the model used, the pdf has a standard deviation of about 2 dB from 50 to 800 Hz and larger below 50 Hz.     

Transmission and reflection of the Rossby waves in a stratified ocean with bottom topography

Transmission and reflection coefficients are calculated for Rossby waves incident on a bottom topography with constant slope in a continuously stratified ocean. The characteristics of the coefficients are interpreted in terms of the quasigeostrophic waves on the slope. In the parameter range where only the barotropic Rossby waves can propagate in the region outside the slope, the bottom trapped wave plays the same role as the topographic Rossby wave in a homogeneous ocean, and hence the transmission is weak unless phase matching takes place. When both of the barotropic and baroclinic Rossby waves can propagate outside the slope, the total transmission can be strong. The bottom trapped wave affects the transmission and reflection, and it leads to the possibility that the Rossby wave is transmitted as a mode different from the incident mode. When the number of the wavy modes on the slope is smaller than that of the Rossby wave modes outside the slope, strong reflection occurs.The results for an ocean with linear distribution of the squared Brunt-Väisälä frequency are compared to those in a uniformly stratified ocean. The weakening of the stratification near the bottom is almost equivalent to reducing the effect of the slope.     

基于波动方程的检波点二次定位

在进行浅海过渡带地震资料采集时,需要将电缆和检波器沉放到海底,由于洋流、潮汐等因素的影响会使检波点的实际位置与预设位置不同,从而严重影响了后续的地震资料处理工作,因此需要对检波点进行二次定位。在海底检波点二次定位中,炮点位置已知而检波点位置未知,需要从多个炮点位置正向外推波场,使波场逐步延拓到检波点,以此来获得检波点的位置。具体实现是在海底划分网格应用克希霍夫积分法外推渡场,获得网格点的能量值,能量最高的网格点便是检波点的位置。在划分网格时需要先粗分网格,求得网格点能量值,然后在能量高的网格点区域重新细分网格,通过细分网格点的能量值来确定出检波点位置。在检波点二次定位中利用的主要是直达波的波场信息,在预处理时,需要突出直达波压制干扰波。基于波动方程的检波点二次定位在模拟和实际地震资料处理中都得到了良好的效果,验证了这种方法的可行性。     

LOAPEX: The Long-Range Ocean Acoustic Propagation EXperiment

This paper provides an overview of the experimental goals and methods of the Long-range Ocean Acoustic Propagation EXperiment (LOAPEX), which took place in the northeast Pacific Ocean between September 10, 2004 and October 10, 2004. This experiment was designed to address a number of unresolved issues in long-range, deep-water acoustic propagation including the effect of ocean fluctuations such as internal waves on acoustic signal coherence, and the scattering of low-frequency sound, in particular, scattering into the deep acoustic shadow zone. Broadband acoustic transmissions centered near 75 Hz were made from various depths to a pair of vertical hydrophone arrays covering 3500 m of the water column, and to several bottom-mounted horizontal line arrays distributed throughout the northeast Pacific Ocean Basin. Path lengths varied from 50 km to several megameters. Beamformed receptions on the horizontal arrays contained 10–20-ms tidal signals, in agreement with a tidal model. Fifteen consecutive receptions on one of the vertical line arrays with a source range of 3200 km showed the potential for incoherent averaging. Finally, shadow zone receptions were observed on an ocean bottom seismometer at a depth of 5000 m from a source at 3200–250-km range.      

Crustal seismic structure beneath the West Philippine Sea, 17°–18° North

Crustal seismic structures beneath the West Philippine Sea are determined by using explosive sources (0.5–108.6 kg) and ocean bottom seismometers to measure refracted compressional waves. Total crustal thicknesses are shown to be thinner in the eastern part of the ocean basin, approaching only 3.5 km. Crustal thinning toward the east is consistent with the Palau Kyushu Ridge being a remnant transform fault connecting the Central Basin Ridge and the Kula Pacific Ridge in the past. A velocity-depth inversion from the westernmost refraction profile indicates the upper transitional crust layer to have strong velocity gradients which gradually decrease with depth; the lower crust is characterized by a nearly constant velocity gradient. The western part of the ocean basin is also shown to have more typical oceanic thicknesses, as is found in deep ocean basins of the Pacific. Spectral energy models using WKBJ synthetic seismograms suggest that there is a sharp seismic discontinuity between the crust and moho in the western part of the basin. Predicted water depths for the West Philippine Basin using an age-depth relation and corrected for an isostatic response to the measured crustal thicknesses, are still 300 meters shallower than observed depths. The depth anomaly can not be fully reconciled by thinner crust in the eastern part of the basin. This observation implies that a deeper seated anomaly is present beneath the West Philippine Basin.     

Reverberation vertical coherence and sea-bottom geoacoustic inversion in shallow water

Optimal array-processing techniques in the ocean often require knowledge of the spatial coherence of the reverberation. A mathematical model is derived for the reverberation vertical coherence (RVC) in shallow water (SW). A method for analysis of RVC data is introduced. Measured reverberation cross-correlation coefficients as a function of time and frequency, obtained during the Asian Seas International Acoustic Experiment (ASIAEX) in the East China Sea, are reported. SW reverberation from a single shot provides a continuous spatial sampling of the surrounding sound field up to several tens of kilometers and holds valuable information on the geoacoustic properties of the sea floor over this distance. SW reverberation data can, therefore, be used as the basis for a quick and inexpensive method for geoacoustic inversion and has the obvious advantage that acquiring the data in situ requires only a single platform. This paper considers the use of the vertical coherence of the reverberation as the starting point for such an inversion. Sound speed and attenuation in the sea bottom at the ASIAEX site are obtained over a frequency range of 100-1500 Hz by finding values that provide the best match between the measured and predicted RVC.     

Precise optical path length measurement through an optical fiber: Application to seafloor strain monitoring

An optical fiber strainmeter intended for measuring tectonic strains on the seafloor is under development. In this instrument, an optical fiber is stretched between two points fixed to the ocean bottom; relative displacement of these points causes a change in the elongation of the fiber. This associated change in optical path length is monitored by an electronic distance meter. The dominant sources of noise in determining the optical path length of the fiber stem from the dependence of the fiber's index of refraction on both wavelength and temperature. In a 50 day long experiment performed in the shallow ocean, a test fiber was installed along a 210 m long baseline on the bottom. The RMS variation in length was 5 mm except for two displacements of order 10 cm caused by known effects.     

underwThe Hawaii-2 Observatory seismic system

The Hawaii-2 Observatory seismic system is currently transmitting high-quality seismic data from the ocean floor in the central NE Pacific Ocean through Hawaii to the IRIS Data Management Center. The system includes broad-band seismic, geophone, acoustic, and ocean current sensors. The seismic sensors are buried about 0.4 m below the ocean floor to improve coupling to the ocean bottom and to reduce noise levels. The system can be remotely calibrated, leveled and locked, and gains can be changed on command from shore. Data are temporarily stored in the seismic package for retransmission as needed to correct for transmission problems and to prevent loss of data. Data generated are valuable for studies of the Earth's structure and the dynamics of earthquakes     

Fidelity of ocean bottom seismic observations

The often poor quality of ocean bottom seismic data, particularly that observed on horizontal seismometers, is shown to be the result of instruments responding to motions in ways not intended. Instruments designed to obtain the particle motion of the ocean bottom are found to also respond to motions of the water. The shear discontinuity across the ocean floor boundary results in torques that cause package rotation, rather than rectilinear motion, in response to horizontal ground or water motion. The problems are exacerbated by bottom currents and soft sediments. The theory and data presented in this paper suggest that the only reliable way of obtaining high fidelity particle motion data from the ocean floor is to bury the sensors below the bottom in a package with density close to that of the sediment. Long period signals couple well to ocean bottom seismometers, but torques generated by bottom currents can cause noise at both long and short periods. The predicted effects are illustrated using parameters appropriate for the operational OBS developed for the U. S. Office of Naval Research. Examples of data from ocean bottom and buried sensors are also presented.     

Sound-pressure level calculations using the RRA algorithm fordepth-dependent speeds of sound valid at turning points and focal points

Sound-pressure level (SPL) calculations are made along individual ray paths for arbitrary, one-dimensional, depth-dependent speeds of sound using an enhanced version of the RRA (recursive ray acoustics) algorithm. The SPL calculations are valid (i.e., finite) at turning points and focal points and do not require the use of Airy functions. The SPL calculations include the effects of frequency-dependent volume attenuation and frequency-dependent attenuation due to surface and bottom reflections. The ocean surface and bottom are treated as boundaries between viscous fluid media. Although the ocean surface is modeled as a planar boundary, the bathymetry is an arbitrary function of horizontal range. Sound speed versus depth and bathymetric data are represented by orthogonal function expansions. Computer simulation results from preliminary test cases are presented     

Remote sensing of ocean sound speed profiles by a perceptron neuralnetwork

A method is developed to estimate ocean sound speed profiles through synthesis of remotely measured environmental data and historical statistics of sound speed obtained at a remotely sensed location. Sound speed profiles are represented by an expansion of empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) of the historical sound speed variation, while the remotely sensed environmental data provide real-time information to determine the expansion coefficients. Environmental inputs are limited to sea surface temperature available from satellite infrared sensors, acoustic time-of-flight and ocean bottom temperature measurable from bottom mounted acoustic and thermal transducers. A multilayer perceptron neural network is implemented to learn the functional transformation from the measured environmental input to the desired EOF coefficient output on a set of representative sound speed profiles. Sea surface temperature, time-of-year, and time-of-flight from the acoustic multipath that maximally samples the vertical sound speed are found to be the dominant inputs. The trained network is computationally efficient and produces estimates for untrained environmental inputs with a mean error of 1.1-4.4 m/s