Optimal Processing of Marine High-Resolution Seismic Reflection (Chirp) Data

Chirp frequency-modulated (FM) systems offer deterministic, repeatable source-signatures for high-resolution, normal incidence marine seismic reflection data acquisition. An optimal processing sequence for uncorrelated Chirp data is presented to demonstrate the applicability of some conventional seismic reflection algorithms to high-resolution data sets, and to emphasise the importance of a known source-signature. An improvement of greater than 60dB in the signal- to-noise ratio is realised from correlating the FM reflection data with the transmitted pulse. Interpretability of ringy deconvolved data is enhanced by the calculation of instantaneous amplitudes. The signal-to-noise ratio and lateral reflector continuity are both improved by the application of predictive filters whose effectiveness are aided by the repeatability of the Chirp source.     

High Resolution Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) in a Transition Zone Environment: Application for Detailed Internal Architecture and Infilling Processes Study of a Rhône River Paleo-channel

Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) was applied in a sand-infilled paleo-channel located in the Rhône Delta, in Southern France. The detailed pattern and sedimentological evolution of the channel fill deposits – know from both historical and geological sources – made it the ideal site to test the ERT method. A geoelectrical survey was performed, using the ABEM SAS-4000 multi-electrode array system in March 2003. Very low electrical resistivity values were obtained, ranging from 0.3 to 10 Ohm m, consistent with the high salinity measured in situ (the pore water conductivity was found to range from 0.9 to 1.2 S/m at 25 °C). The electrical resistivity profiles reflect mainly salinity variations. Indeed, in this case, salinity is so high that surface conductivity associated with clay minerals can be safely neglected. ERT provided valuable high-resolution information that complemented other exiting data such as historical information, bathymetric, geological, and lithostratigraphic data, which allowed the architecture of the channel to be defined. The ERT was used to determine the infilling dynamics of the Pégoulier Channel, which opens new perspectives in terms of paleoenvironmental reconstruction and paleodynamic studies.     

Unusual Behavior of the Kuroshio Current System from Winter 1996 to Summer 1997 Revealed by ADEOS-OCTS and Other Data (Continued): A Study from Broad External Conditions with Bottom Topography

In the previous paper (Toba and Murakami, 1998) we reported on an unusual path of the Kuroshio Current System, which occurred in April 1997 (April 1997 event), using the Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) data of the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS). The April 1997 event was characterized by the flow of the Kuroshio along the western slope (northward) and the eastern slope (southward) of the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge, a very southerly turning point at about 32°N, followed by a straight northward path up to 37°N of the Kuroshio Extension along the eastern flank of the Izu-Ogasawara and the Japan Trenches. Overlaying of depth contours on ADEOS-OCTS chlorophyll-a images at the April 1997 event demonstrates the bottom topography effects on the current paths. A new finding based on TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter data is that the sea-surface gradient across the Kuroshio/Kuroshio Extension diminished greatly in the sea area southeast of the central Japan, as a very temporary phenomenon prior to this event. This temporary diminishing of the upper-ocean current velocity might have caused a stronger bottom effect along the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge, and over the Izu-Ogasawara Trench disclosed a weak background, barotropic trench-flank current pattern, which existed otherwise independently of the Kuroshio Extension. The very southerly path of the Kuroshio Extension from winter 1996 to autumn 1998 corresponded, with a time lag of about 1.5 years, to the previous La Niña tendency with weaker North Equatorial Current. The April 1997 event occurred in accordance with its extreme condition.