Study on Sound-Speed Dispersion in A Sandy Sediment at Frequency Ranges of 0.5–3 kHz and 90–170 kHz

In order to study the properties of sound-speed dispersion in a sandy sediment, the sound speed was measured both at high frequency(90–170 k Hz) and low frequency(0.5–3 k Hz) in laboratory environments. At high frequency, a sampling measurement was conducted with boiled and uncooked sand samples collected from the bottom of a large water tank. The sound speed was directly obtained through transmission measurement using single source and single hydrophone. At low frequency, an in situ measurement was conducted in the water tank, where the sandy sediment had been homogeneously paved at the bottom for a long time. The sound speed was indirectly inverted according to the traveling time of signals received by three buried hydrophones in the sandy sediment and the geometry in experiment. The results show that the mean sound speed is approximate 1710–1713 m/s with a weak positive gradient in the sand sample after being boiled(as a method to eliminate bubbles as much as possible) at high frequency, which agrees well with the predictions of Biot theory, the effective density fluid model(EDFM) and Buckingham's theory. However, the sound speed in the uncooked sandy sediment obviously decreases(about 80%)both at high frequency and low frequency due to plenty of bubbles in existence. And the sound-speed dispersion performs a weak negative gradient at high frequency. Finally, a water-unsaturated Biot model is presented for trying to explain the decrease of sound speed in the sandy sediment with plenty of bubbles.     

Comparison of sound speed and attenuation measured in a sandy sediment to predictions based on the Biot theory of porous media

During the sediment acoustics experiment in 1999 (SAX99), several researchers measured sound speed and attenuation. Together, the measurements span the frequency range of about 125 Hz-400 kHz. The data are unique both for the frequency range spanned at a common location, and for the extensive environmental characterization that was carried out as part of SAX99. Environmental measurements were sufficient to determine or bound the values of almost all the sediment and pore water physical property input parameters of the Biot poroelastic model for sediment. However, the measurement uncertainties for some of the parameters result in significant uncertainties for Biot-model predictions. Here, measured sound-speed and attenuation results are compared to the frequency dependence predicted by Biot theory and a simpler "effective density" fluid model derived from Biot theory. Model/data comparisons are shown where the uncertainty in Biot predictions due to the measurement uncertainties for values of each input parameter are quantified. A final set of parameter values, for use in other modeling applications e.g., in modeling backscattering (Williams et al., 2002) are given, that optimize the fit of the Biot and effective density fluid models to the sound-speed dispersion and attenuation measured during SAX99. The results indicate that the variation of sound speed with frequency is fairly well modeled by Biot theory but the variation of attenuation with frequency deviates from Biot theory predictions for homogeneous sediment as frequency increases. This deviation may be due to scattering from volume heterogeneity. Another possibility for this deviation is shearing at grain contacts hypothesized by Buckingham; comparisons are also made with this model.     

Acoustic backscattering from a sandy seabed

Acoustic backscattering from a sandy seabed was measured at a frequency of 5.5 kHz at a wide range of grazing angles. The measurement system used was the University of Miami's sonar tower, consisting of an omni-directional broadband source and two 16-channel hydrophone receiver arrays. A volume scattering model, which combines a fluid model with reflection/transmission coefficients derived from the Biot theory, is used. This model allows energy penetration into the bottom, calculations of the volume scattering at all grazing angles, and the frequency dependence of the sound speed in the water-saturated sediment. In the model, rather than assume sound-speed correlation length in sedimentary volume, core data were used to assimilate a 3-D fluctuation spectrum of the density. The numerical results showed excellent agreement with the measurement at lower grazing angles. We concluded that the interface roughness scattering was dominant at lower grazing angles, while the volume scattering is dominant at higher grazing angles at the sandy site. The border of the dominance of the interface and volume scattering was the so-called critical angle at this frequency. The frequency dependence of sound speeds is also discussed.     

Mid- to High-Frequency Acoustic Penetration and Propagation Measurements in a Sandy Sediment

During the recent 2004 Sediment Acoustics Experiment (SAX04), a buried hydrophone array was deployed in a sandy sediment near Fort Walton Beach, FL. The array was used to measure both the acoustic penetration into the sediment and sound speed and attenuation within the sediment while a smaller, diver-deployed array was also used to measure sound speed and attenuation. Both of these systems had been deployed previously during the 1999 Sediment Acoustics Experiment (SAX99). In that experiment, the buried array was used to make measurements in the 11–50-kHz range while the diver-deployed array made measurements in the 80–260-kHz range. For the SAX04 deployment, the frequency range for the measurements using the buried array was lowered to 2 kHz. The diver-deployed array was also modified to cover the 40–260-kHz range. Unlike the SAX99 deployment, there were no obvious sand ripples at the SAX04 buried array site at the time of the measurements. To examine the role of sand ripples in acoustic penetration over this new frequency range, artificial ripple fields were created. For the high frequencies, the penetration was consistent with the model predictions using small-roughness perturbation theory as in SAX99. As the frequency of the incident acoustic field decreased, the evanescent field became the dominant penetration mechanism. The sound speed measured using the buried array exhibits dispersion consistent with the Biot theory while the measured attenuation exceeds the theory predictions at frequencies above 200 kHz.      

Sound speed dispersion characteristics of three types of shallow sediments in the southern yellow sea

To accurately characterize sound speed dispersion of shallow sediments in the Southern Yellow Sea, three types of sediments, i.e., silt, clayey silt, and silty clay, were selected to measure the sound speeds at 25–250?kHz. Over the frequency range, the sound speeds vary approximately from 1,536 to 1,565?m?s^?1 in silt sediment, from 1,511 to 1,527?m?s^?1 in clayey silt sediment, and from 1,456 to 1,466?m?s^?1 in silty clay sediment. The sound speed exhibits a slow increase with frequency in a nearly linear gradient, but these three types of sediments have different sound speed dispersion characteristics. The silt sediment with relatively coarse grains has the most significant sound speed dispersion, while the sound speed dispersions of the two others are relatively weak. Comparison between the measured dispersions and the model predictions shows that the grain-shearing model can match the measured data at most of frequencies. Nevertheless, when the grain bulk modulus was assigned 3.2?×?10¹⁰?Pa according to relevant references, the Biot–Stoll model predictions were higher than the measured values at high frequencies; when it was assigned a relatively small value of 2.8?×?10¹⁰?Pa, the model predictions achieved optimal matching with the measured values.     

中国黄渤海沉积物声速与物理性质研究

In order to investigate the correlation between a sound velocity and sediment bulk properties and explore the influence of frequency dependence of the sound velocity on the prediction of the sediment properties by the sound velocity,a compressional wave velocity is measured at frequencies of 25–250 k Hz on marine sediment samples collected from the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea in laboratory,together with the geotechnical parameters of sediments.The results indicate that the sound velocity ranges from 1.232 to 1.721 km/s for the collected sediment samples with a significant dispersion within the series measuring frequency.Poorly sorted sediments are highly dispersive nearly with a positive linear relationship.The porosity shows a better negative logarithmic correlation with the sound velocity compared with other geotechnical parameters.Generally,the sound velocity increases with the increasing of the average particle size,sand content,wet and dry bulk densities,and decreasing of the clay content,and water content.An important point should be demonstrated that the higher correlation can be obtained when the measuring frequency is low within the frequency ranges from 25 to 250 k Hz since the inhomogeneity of sediment properties has a more remarkably influence on the laboratory sound velocity measurement at the high frequency.     

Single-beam acoustic ground discrimination of shallow water habitats: 50 kHz or 200 kHz frequency survey?

The single-beam acoustic ground discrimination system QTC View, Series V, was used in the Bay of Cadiz, Southwest Spain, for the identification and mapping of the bottom acoustic diversity. The acoustic data were obtained through two successive surveys, each conducted with one of the following echo sounder frequencies: 50 kHz and 200 kHz. The performance of each survey frequency for the identification of the sedimentary gradients was analyzed. The surveys were conducted during high tide given that the majority of the surveyed area is shallower than 5 m, although depth may occasionally reach 20 m in specific areas located in a navigation channel. The acoustic data obtained at the two different frequencies were, individually, submitted to manual clustering and a final solution consisting of three acoustic classes was reached for both datasets. However, only the geographical distribution of the acoustic classes obtained with 50 kHz echo sounder frequency was coincident with the spatial distribution of the superficial sediment groups (silty medium sand, very silty fine sand and mud), identified through multivariate analysis of the grain-size data of ground-truth sediment samples. The results obtained with the 200 kHz echo sounder frequency did not match the sedimentary gradients obtained for the area surveyed, not even the separation of muddy and sandy areas.     

一种分层海底反向散射模型

In order to predict the bottom backscattering strength more accurately, the stratified structure of the seafloor is considered. The seafloor is viewed as an elastic half-space basement covered by a fluid sediment layer with finite thickness. On the basis of calculating acoustic field in the water, the sediment layer, and the basement, four kinds of scattering mechanisms are taken into account, including roughness scattering from the water-sediment interface, volume scattering from the sediment layer, roughness scattering from the sediment-basement interface,and volume scattering from the basement. Then a backscattering model for a stratified seafloor applying to low frequency(0.1–10 kHz) is established. The simulation results show that the roughness scattering from the sediment-basement interface and the volume scattering from the basement are more prominent at relative low frequency(below 1.0 kHz). While with the increase of the frequency, the contribution of them to total bottom scattering gradually becomes weak. And the results ultimately approach to the predictions of the high-frequency(10–100 kHz) bottom scattering model. When the sound speed and attenuation of the shear wave in the basement gradually decrease, the prediction of the model tends to that of the full fluid model, which validates the backscattering model for the stratified seafloor in another aspect.     

Tests of models for high-frequency seafloor backscatter

The interaction of high-frequency sound with the seafloor is inherently a stochastic process. Inversion techniques must, therefore employ good stochastic models for bottom acoustic scattering. An assortment of physical models for bottom backscattering strength is tested by comparison with scattering strength data obtained at 40 kHz at three shallow water sites spanning a range of sediment types from fine silt to coarse sand. These acoustic data are accompanied by sediment physical property data obtained by core sample analysis and in situ probes. In addition, stereo photography was used to measure the power spectrum of bottom relief on centimeter scales. These physical data provided the inputs needed to test the backscatter models, which treat scattering from both the rough sediment-water interface and the sediment volume. For the three sites considered here, the perturbation model for scattering from a slightly rough fluid seafloor performs well. Volume scattering is predicted to be weak except at a site having a layer of methane bubbles     

Measurement of Low-Frequency Sound Attenuation in Marine Sediment

Marine sediment compressional wave attenuation and its frequency dependence have been active topics in the ocean acoustics community. To support the predictions of the frequency dependence of the sediment attenuation, experimental studies are essential for providing the observations of the sediment attenuation as a function of frequency in different environments, such as sediment type, source–receiver range, water depth, etc. This paper proposes an experimental method for estimating marine sediment attenuation at low frequencies in shallow water. The experimental geometry is short range between a vertical line array and multiple source depths to cover bottom reflections over a wide span of grazing angles. Single bounce bottom-reflected (BR) and sub-bottom-reflected signals are used in the analysis to obtain the best approximation of the sediment intrinsic attenuation. The attenuation estimating method is demonstrated on chirp data (1.5–4.5 kHz) collected on the New Jersey Continental Shelf during the 2006 Shallow Water Experiment (SW06). The data indicate a linear frequency dependence of the compressional wave attenuation for clay rich sediments on the outer shelf, and the estimated value is 0.15 dB/ $lambda$ within the frequency band of 1.75–3.15 kHz. The observation of small sound-speed dispersion of $sim$15 m/s over the frequency band is consistent with a linear frequency dependence of attenuation.      

Calibration of a Seawater Sound Velocimeter

We calibrated a sound velocimeter to a precision of plusmn0.034 m/s using Del Grosso's sound-speed equation for seawater at temperatures of 2, 7.2, 11.7, and 18degC in a tank of seawater of salinity 33.95 at one atmosphere. The sound velocimeter measures the time-of-flight of a 4-MHz acoustic pulse over a 20-cm path by adjusting the carrier frequency within a 70-kHz band until the pulse and its echo are inphase. We used the adjustable carrier frequency to determine the internal timing characteristics of the sound velocimeter to nanosecond precision. Similarly, sound-speed measurements at four different temperatures determined the acoustic pathlength to micrometer precision. The velocimeter was deployed in the ocean from the surface to 4500 dbar alongside conductivity, temperature, and pressure sensors (CTD). We demonstrated agreement of plusmn0.05 m/s (three parts in 10⁵) with CTD-derived sound speed using Del Grosso's seawater equation from 500 to 4500 dbar after removing a bias and a trend     

北仑河口柱状沉积物粒度特征

根据北仑河口3个钻孔柱状沉积物的粒度分析结果,结合14C测年和210Pb测年资料,分析了钻孔沉积物的粒度特征,结果表明：KL1柱样沉积物主要为粉砂质砂、砂质粉砂、中细砂、细中砂,沉积物由下到上由细到粗再变细,经历了2个沉积变化;KL2柱样沉积物单一,为细中砂;KL3柱样沉积物由下到上依次为砾石、砂砾、粗中砂、细中砂、砾砂、粉砂质砂、粘土质粉砂、砂-粉砂-粘土,沉积物粒度由下到上逐步细化,该孔早期离物源较近.3个孔的沉积物分选大多很差,反映当时水动力作用较强或者离物源较近.这些沉积物类型为晚更新世末次冰期以来的沉积,记录了晚更新世以来2个沉积变化.     

潮流场对渤、黄、东海陆架底质分布的控制作用

运用二维潮流数学模型，模拟了渤、黄、东海陆架的M2潮汐、潮流。结果表明，渤、黄、东海陆架的潮流有强弱之分以及往复流和旋转汉之别。在此基础上，计算了8种粒径沙的湖平均悬移输沙率、潮平均推移输沙以及相应的输沙率散度。根据输沙率散度的正负，划分了海底冲刷区与淤积区。根据不同粒径泥沙输沙率散度的相对大小，确定出海底的主要底质类型为砂质沉积、粉砂质泥沉积和以粉砂为主的混合沉积。计算结果表明，海底3种主要底负类型的分布格局与海底的冲淤格局以及与输沙率矢量的发散和聚合状况基本一致。在渤、黄、东海陆架，沙脊主要在强往复流区形成，沙席主要在强或较强的旋转流区形成，泥质沉积主要在弱潮流区形成。砂质沉积、泥质沉积以及混合沉积这3种主要底质类型并非孤立存在，而是受渤、黄、东海陆架潮流场控制而形成的一个完整的潮流沉积体系。渤、黄、东海陆架的砂质沉积与泥质沉积并非残留沉积，而是潮流沉积。在没有冷涡的情况下，黄、东海陆架的典型泥质沉积在弱潮流环境中同样可以形成，因此，认为冷涡并非黄、东海陆架典型泥质沉积形成的必要条件。     

Sound velocity and related properties of seafloor sediments in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea

The Bering Sea shelf and Chukchi Sea shelf are believed to hold enormous oil and gas reserves which have attracted a lot of geophysical surveys. For the interpretation of acoustic geophysical survey results, sediment sound velocity is one of the main parameters. On seven sediment cores collected from the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea during the 5th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition, sound velocity measurements were made at 35, 50, 100, 135, 150, 174, 200, and 250 k Hz using eight separate pairs of ultrasonic transducers. The measured sound velocities range from 1 425.1 m/s to 1 606.4 m/s and are dispersive with the degrees of dispersion from 2.2% to 4.0% over a frequency range of 35–250 k Hz. After the sound velocity measurements, the measurements of selected geotechnical properties and the Scanning Electron Microscopic observation of microstructure were also made on the sediment cores. The results show that the seafloor sediments are composed of silty sand, sandy silt, coarse silt, clayey silt, sand-silt-clay and silty clay. Aggregate and diatom debris is found in the seafloor sediments. Through comparative analysis of microphotographs and geotechnical properties, it is assumed that the large pore spaces between aggregates and the intraparticulate porosity of diatom debris increase the porosity of the seafloor sediments, and affect other geotechnical properties. The correlation analysis of sound velocity and geotechnical properties shows that the correlation of sound velocity with porosity and wet bulk density is extreme significant, while the correlation of sound velocity with clay content, mean grain size and organic content is not significant. The regression equations between porosity, wet bulk density and sound velocity based on best-fit polynomial are given.     

Research on the sediment acoustic properties based on a water coupled laboratory measurement system

Abstract

The high-frequency acoustic properties of seafloor sediments are very significant in seafloor study and underwater acoustic study field. In order to measure the sound speed and the attenuation for the small-scale sediment cores more accurately, this study developed a water coupled acoustic laboratory measurement system based on Richardson-Briggs technique. This method used the correlation comparison of waveforms received in sediment core and in identical reference tubes filled with water to measure sound speed and attenuation. The sound speed and attenuation of a clayey silt sediment sample were measured using the water coupled acoustic laboratory measurement system. This frequency dependence of the sound speed and attenuation showed that the clayey silt sediment has a weak positive sound speed dispersion, while the attenuation increases with a strong positive gradient within the measurement frequency range. This study also noted that the measured sound speed ratio match well with the empirical equations from literature. The measured attenuation factor data can fall in the Hamilton’s empirical prediction range.     

Relationships between the sound speed ratio and physical properties of surface sediments in the South Yellow Sea

Building empirical equations is an effective way to link the acoustic and physical properties of sediments. These equations play an important role in the prediction of sediments sound speeds required in underwater acoustics.Although many empirical equations coupling acoustic and physical properties have been developed over the past few decades, further confirmation of their applicability by obtaining large amounts of data, especially for equations based on in situ acoustic measurement techniques, is required. A sediment acoustic survey in the South Yellow Sea from 2009 to 2010 revealed statistical relationships between the in situ sound speed and sediment physical properties. To improve the comparability of these relationships with existing empirical equations, the present study calculated the ratio of the in situ sediment sound speed to the bottom seawater sound speed, and established the relationships between the sound speed ratio and the mean grain size, density and porosity of the sediment. The sound speed of seawater at in situ measurement stations was calculated using a perennially averaged seawater sound speed map by an interpolation method. Moreover, empirical relations between the index of impedance and the sound speed and the physical properties were established. The results confirmed that the existing empirical equations between the in situ sound speed ratio and the density and porosity have general suitability for application. This study also considered that a multiple-parameter equation coupling the sound speed ratio to both the porosity and the mean grain size may be more useful for predicting the sound speed than an equation coupling the sound speed ratio to the mean grain size.     

Acoustic backscattering experiments in a well characterized sand sediment: data/model comparisons using sediment fluid and Biot models

As part of the sediment acoustics experiment 1999 (SAX99), backscattering from a sand sediment was measured in the 20- to 300-kHz range for incident grazing angles from 10/spl deg/ to 40/spl deg/. Measured backscattering strengths are compared to three different scattering models: a fluid model that uses the mass density of the sediment in determining backscattering, a poroelastic model based on Biot theory and an "effective density" fluid model derived from Biot theory. These comparisons rely heavily on the extensive environmental characterization carried out during SAX99. This environmental characterization is most complete at spatial scales relevant to acoustic frequencies from 20 to 50 kHz. Model/data comparisons lead to the conclusions that rough surface scattering is the dominant scattering mechanism in the 20-50-kHz frequency range and that the Biot and effective density fluid models are more accurate than the fluid model in predicting the measured scattering strengths. For 50-150 kHz, rough surface scattering strengths predicted by the Biot and effective density fluid models agree well with the data for grazing angles below the critical angle of the sediment (about 30/spl deg/) but above the critical angle the trends of the models and the data differ. At 300 kHz, data/model comparisons indicate that the dominant scattering mechanism may no longer be rough surface scattering.     

Experimental study of the ballast in situ sediment acoustic measurement system in South China Sea

The mechanical structure, the function modules, the working principles, and a sea trial of the newly developed ballast in situ sediment acoustic measurement system are reported in this study. The system relies on its own weight to insert transducers into seafloor sediments and can accurately measure the penetration depth using a specially designed mechanism. The system comprises of an underwater position monitoring and working status judgment module and has two operation modes: self-contained measurement and real-time visualization. The designed maximum working water depth of the system is 3,000?m, and the maximum measured depth of seafloor sediment is 0.8?m. The system has one transmitting transducer with the transmitting frequency band of 20–35?kHz and three receiving transducers. The in situ acoustic measurement system was tested at 15 stations in the northern South China Sea, and repeated measurements in seawater demonstrated good working performance. Comparison with predictions from empirical equations indicated that the measured speed of sound and attenuation fell within the predicted range and that the in situ measured data were reliable.     

Low-frequency sound interaction with a sloping, refracting oceanbottom

The effects of refracting sediments on low-frequency sound propagation in range-dependent oceans are studied with parabolic equation models. The predictions of three sediment sound-speed models for low-frequency propagation are compared. Two factors that result in sediment sound-speed gradients are considered. Variation in static pressure due to the variation in the weight of overlying material causes sediment sound speed to increase with depth. The thermodynamic influence of the ocean results in large sound-speed gradients in a boundary layer in the uppermost layer of the sediment. The associated affects of attenuation on propagation are also considered. Both time-domain and frequency-domain results are presented