Halokinetics and other features of GLORIA long-range sidescan sonar data from the Red Sea

The Red Sea is an unusual example of a rift basin that transitioned from its evaporitic stage to fully open-ocean conditions at the end of the Miocene (∼5.3 Ma), much more recently than older Mesozoic margins around the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The patterns of halokinetic deformation occurring in the Red Sea are potentially of interest for understanding more generally how evaporite deposits deform during this early stage. Relevant to this issue, a line of reconnaissance sidescan sonar data (GLORIA) collected along the Red Sea in 1979 is re-evaluated here. We first interpret the data with the aid of newly compiled bathymetry from multibeam sonars in the central and southern Red Sea. Features in the acoustic backscatter data are associated with ridges, valleys and rounded flow fronts produced by halokinetic deformation. Some areas of higher acoustic backscattering from the evaporites are suggested to relate to roughness produced by deformation of the evaporite surface. Within the volcanic (oceanic) axial valleys, areas of differing high and low backscattering suggest varied sediment cover and/or carbonate encrustations. With the benefit of the above experience, we then interpreted data from the northern Red Sea, where there are fewer multibeam data available. Rounded fronts of halokinetic deformation are present in the Zabargad Fracture Zone, a broad, shallow valley crossing the Red Sea obliquely. The presence of halokinetic deformation here is evidence that subsidence has occurred along the fracture zone. Elsewhere in the northern Red Sea, the GLORIA data reveal folds in the evaporite surface, suggesting local areas of convergence, like those implied by multibeam data from inter-trough zones further south. Some linear features are observed, many of which are likely to be ridges overlying salt walls. Interestingly, several such features are oriented along an accommodation zone that is oriented parallel to the plate spreading direction. Several rounded, corrugated features are interpreted as possible evaporite flow fronts. Overall, the impression from the data is of a strongly mobile seabed in the Red Sea because of halokinetic deformation, involving both vertical and horizontal movements. However, salt walls appear more common than in the central and southern axial Red Sea, where horizontal movements instead tend to dominate.     

Deblurring of GLORIA side-scan sonar images

In side-scan sonars such as GLORIA, along-track resolution is usually much worse than across-track resolution. This paper shows how along-track resolution may be improved by the application of an image restoration (deblurring) technique known as the Jansson-van Cittert method. Employing a model of the image formation process, this involves iterated convolution of the estimated deblurred image radiances with the theoretical alongtrack point spread function. The method and its implementation for GLORIA images are described. Smoothing of high frequency noise prior to restoration has been found to lead to an improved end-product. The restored images exhibit sharper edges and a greater clarity much appreciated by the interpreter. This visual impression is borne out by quantitative measurement. The technique is shown to be a useful adjunct to the battery of digital preprocessing techniques which can be applied to the sonar image prior to the information extraction stage.     

Geometric corrections on sidescan sonar images based on bathymetry. Application with SeaMARC II and Sea Beam data

Acoustic backscatter images of the seafloor obtained with sidescan sonar systems are displayed most often using a flat bottom assumption. Whenever this assumption is not valid, pixels are mapped incorrectly in the image frame, yielding distorted representations of the seafloor. Here, such distortions are corrected by using an appropriate representation of the relief, as measured by the sonar that collected the acoustic backscatter information. In addition, all spatial filtering operations required in the pixel relocation process take the sonar geometry into account. Examples of the process are provided by data collected in the Northeastern Pacific over Fieberling Guyot with the SeaMARC II bathymetric sidescan sonar system and the Sea Beam multibeam echo-sounder. The nearly complete (90%) Sea Beam bathymetry coverage of the Guyot serves as a reference to quantify the distortions found in the backscatter images and to evaluate the accuracy of the corrections performed with SeaMARC II bathymetry. As a byproduct, the processed SeaMARC II bathymetry and the Sea Beam bathymetry adapted to the SeaMARC II sonar geometry exhibit a 35m mean-square difference over the entire area surveyed.On leave at the Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7420, Washington D.C. 20375-5350.     

Bathymetric Map of the Gorda Plate: Structural and Geomorphological Processes Inferred from Multibeam Surveys

Full-coverage multibeam bathymetric maps of the southern section of the Juan de Fuca Plate, also known as the Gorda Plate, are presented. The bathymetric maps represent the compilation of multibeam surveys conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the last 20 yrs, and illustrate the complex tectonic, volcanic, and geomorphologic features as well as the intense deformation occurring within this region. The bathymetric data have revealed several major, previously unmapped midplate faults. A series of gently curving faults are apparent in the Gorda Plate, with numerous faults offsetting the Gorda Plate seafloor. The multibeam surveys have also provided a detailed view of the intense deformation occurring within the Gorda Plate. A preliminary deformation model estimated from basement structure is discussed, where the southern part of the plate (south of ∼42°30′ N) seems to be deforming through a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults, while the northern section appears to be moving passively with the rest of the Juan de Fuca Plate. The bathymetry also demonstrates the Mendocino and Eel Canyons are prominent morphologic features in the northern California margin. These canyons are active depositional features with a large sediment fan present at the mouths of both the Mendocino and Eel canyons. The depositional lobes of these fan(s) are evident in the bathymetry, as are the turbidite channels that have deposited sediment along the fans over time. The Trinidad Canyon is readily evident in the margin morphology as well, with a large (∼10 km) plunge pool formed at the mouth of the canyon as it enters the Gorda Plate sediments. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Accuracy of the spatial representation of the seafloor with bathymetric sidescan sonars

When isobath maps of the seafloor are constructed with a bathymetric sidescan sonar system the position of each sounding is derived from estimates of range and elevation. The location of each pixel forming the acoustic backscatter image is calculated from the same estimates. The accuracy of the resulting maps depends on the acoustic array geometry, on the performances of the acoustic signal processing, and on knowledge of other parameters including: the platform's navigation, the sonar transducer's attitude, and the sound rays' trajectory between the sonar and the seafloor. The relative importance of these factors in the estimation of target location is assesed. The effects of the platform motions (e.g. roll, pitch, yaw, sway, surge and heave) and of the uncertainties in the elevation angle measurements are analyzed in detail. The variances associated with the representation (orientation and depth) of a plane, rectangular patch of the seafloor are evaluated, depending on the geometry of the patch. The inverse problem is addressed. Its solution gives the lateral dimensions of the spatial filter that must be applied to the bathymetric data to obtain specified accuracies of the slopes and depths. The uncertainty in the estimate of elevation angle, mostly due to the acoustic noise, is found to bring the main error contribution in across-track slope estimates. It can also be critical for along-track slope estimates, overshadowing error contributions due to the platform's attitude. Numerical examples are presented.On leave at the Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7420, Washington D.C. 20375-5350, U.S.A.     

Emergence and petrology of the Mendocino Ridge

The Mendocino Fracture Zone, a 3,000-km-long transform fault, extends from the San Andreas Fault at Cape Mendocino, California due west into the central Pacific basin. The shallow crest of this fracture zone, known as the Mendocino Ridge, rises to within 1,100 m of the sea surface at 270 km west of the California Coast. Rounded basalt pebbles and cobbles, indicative of a beach environment, are the dominant lithology at two locations on the crest of Mendocino Ridge and a⁴⁰Ar/³⁹ Ar incremental heating age of 11.0 ± 1.0 million years was determined for one of the these cobbles. This basalt must have been erupted on the Gorda Ridge because the crust immediately to the south of the fracture zone is older than 27 Ma. This age also implies that the crest of Mendocino Ridge was at sea level and would have blocked Pacific Ocean eastern boundary currents and affected the climate of the North American continent at some time since the late Miocene. Basalts from the Mendocino Fracture Zone (MFZ) are FeTi basalts similar to those commonly found at intersections of mid-ocean ridges and fracture zones. These basalts are chemically distinct from the nearby Gorda Ridge but they could have been derived from the same mantle source as the Gorda Ridge basalts. The location of the 11 Ma basalt suggests that Mendocino Ridge was transferred from the Gorda Plate to the Pacific Plate and the southern end of Gorda Ridge was truncated by a northward jump in the transform fault of MFZ.     

Merged GLORIA sidescan and Hydrosweep pseudo-sidescan: Processing and creation of digital mosaics

We have replaced the usual band of poor-quality data in the near-nadir region of our GLORIA long-range sidescan-sonar imagery with a shaded-relief image constructed from swath bathymetry data (collected simultaneously with GLORIA) which completely cover the nadir area. We have developed a technique to enhance these pseudo-sidescan images in order to mimic the neighbouring GLORIA backscatter intensities. As a result, the enhanced images greatly facilitate the geologic interpretation of the adjacent GLORIA data, and geologic features evident in the GLORIA data may be correlated with greater confidence across track. Features interpreted from the pseudo-sidescan may be extrapolated from the near-nadir region out into the GLORIA range where they may nt have been recognized otherwise, and therefore the pseudo-sidescan can be used to ground-truth GLORIA interpretations. Creation of digital sidescan mosaics utilized an approach not previously used for GLORIA data. Pixels were correctly placed in cartographic space and the time required to complete a final mosaic was significantly reduced. Computer software for digital mapping and mosaic creation is incorporated into the newly-developed Woods Hole Image Processing System (WHIPS) which can process both low- and high-frequency sidescan, and can interchange data with the Mini Image Processing System (MIPS) most commonly used for GLORIA processing. These techniques are tested by creating digital mosaics of merged GLORIA sidescan and Hydrosweep pseudo-sidescan data from the vicinity of the Juan Fernandez microplate along the East Pacific Rise (EPR).     

Interference fringes on GLORIA side-scan sonar images from the Bering Sea and their implications

GLORIA side-scan sonographs from the Bering Sea Basin show a complex pattern of interference fringes sub-parallel to the ship's track. Surveys along the same trackline made in 1986 and 1987 show nearly identical patterns. It is concluded from this that the interference patterns are caused by features in the shallow subsurface rather than in the water column. The fringes are interpreted as a thin-layer interference effect that occurs when some of the sound reaching the seafloor passes through it and is reflected off a subsurface layer. The backscattered sound interferes (constructively or desctructively) with the reflected sound. Constructive/destructive interference occurs when the difference in the length of the two soundpaths is a whole/half multiple of GLORIA's 25 cm wavelength. Thus as range from the ship increases, sound moves in and out of phase causing bands of greater and lesser intensity on the GLORIA sonograph. Fluctuations (or wiggles) of the fringes on the GLORIA sonographs relate to changes in layer thickness. In principle, a simple three dimensional image of the subsurface layer may be obtained using GLORIA and bathymetric data from adjacent (parallel) ship's tracks. These patterns have also been identified in images from two other systems; SeaMARC II (12 kHz) long-range sonar, and TOBI (30 kHz) deep-towed sonar. In these, and other cases world-wide, the fringes do not appear with the same persistence as those seen in the Bering Sea.     

Fault scarp identification in side-scan sonar and bathymetry images from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge using wavelet-based digital filters

Digital filters designed using wavelet theory are applied to high resolution deep-towed side-scan sonar data from the median valley walls, crestal mountains, and flanks of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 29°10 N. With proper tuning, the digital filters are able to identify the location, orientation, length, and width of highly reflective linear features in sonar images. These features are presumed to represent the acoustic backscatter from axis-facing normal faults. The fault locations obtained from the digital filters are well correlated with visual geologic interpretation of the images. The side-scan sonar images are also compared with swath bathymetry from the same area. The digitally filtered bathymetry images contain nine of the eleven faults identified by eye in the detailed geologic interpretation of the side-scan data. Faults with widths (measured perpendicular to their strike) of less than about 150 m are missed in the bathymetry analysis due to the coarser resolution of these data. This digital image processing technique demonstrates the potential of wavelet-based analysis to reduce subjectivity and labor involved in mapping and analyzing topographic features in side-scan sonar and bathymetric image data.     

基于K-means聚类与数学形态学的侧扫声呐图像目标轮廓自动提取方法

针对侧扫声呐图像斑点噪声强、背景海底散射干扰严重,海底目标轮廓自动提取困难的问题,提出了一种基于K-means聚类与数学形态学相结合的海底目标轮廓自动提取算法。为克服噪声干扰,该算法首先利用中值滤波去除侧扫声呐图像中的强斑点噪声;然后采用K-means聚类算法对侧扫声呐灰度图像进行分割,并二值化,除去大部分海底背景噪声,初步提取出目标;接着利用数学形态学运算去除提取结果中的孤立噪点,并填充目标内部孔洞,得到连续化、圆滑的目标边缘;最后对处理后的侧扫声呐图像进行边缘检测,提取出目标轮廓。实验结果表明:该算法思想简单易行,具有很强的克服背景噪声的能力,自动提取的目标轮廓连续性较好,结果准确可靠。目前,在侧扫声呐图像目标轮廓提取过程中,主要采用人工方式,自动性较差,效率较低。本文算法可以实现目标轮廓的自动提取,提高效率,具有较强的实用价值。     

High-resolution seafloor mapping using the DSL-120 sonar system: Quantitative assessment of sidescan and phase-bathymetry data from the Lucky Strike segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

High-resolution, side-looking sonar data collected near the seafloor (100 m altitude) provide important structural and topographic information for defining the geological history and current tectonic framework of seafloor terrains. DSL-120 kHz sonar data collected in the rift valley of the Lucky Strike segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 37° N provide the ability to quantitatively assess the effective resolution limits of both the sidescan imagery and the computed phase-bathymetry of this sonar system. While the theoretical, vertical and horizontal pixel resolutions of the DSL-120 system are <1 m, statistical analysis of DSL-120 sonar data collected from the Lucky Strike segment indicates that the effective spatial resolution of features is 1–2 m for sidescan imagery and 4 m for phase-bathymetry in the seafloor terrain of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift valley. Comparison of multibeam bathymetry data collected at the sea-surface with deep-tow DSL-120 bathymetry indicates that depth differences are on the order of the resolution of the multibeam system (10–30 m). Much of this residual can be accounted for by navigational mismatches and the higher resolving ability of the DSL-120 data, which has a bathymetric footprint on the seafloor that is 20 times smaller than that of hull-mounted multibeam at these seafloor depths (2000 m). Comparison of DSL-120 bathymetry with itself on crossing lines indicates that residual depth values are ±20 m, with much of that variation being accounted for by navigational errors. A DSL-120 survey conducted in 1998 on the Juan de Fuca Ridge with better navigation and less complex seafloor terrain had residual depth values half those of the Lucky Strike survey. The quality of the bathymetry data varies as a function of position within the swath, with poorer data directly beneath the tow vehicle and also towards the swath edges.Variations in sidescan amplitude observed across the rift valley and on Lucky Strike Seamount correlate well with changes in seafloor roughness caused by transitions from sedimented seafloor to bare rock outcrops. Distinct changes in sonar backscatter amplitude were also observed between areas covered with hydrothermal pavement that grade into lava flows and the collapsed surface of the lava lake in the summit depression of Lucky Strike Seamount. Small features on the seafloor, including volcanic constructional features (e.g., small cones, haystacks, fissures and collapse features) and hydrothermal vent chimneys or mounds taller than 2 m and greater than 9 m² in surface area, can easily be resolved and mapped using this system. These features at Lucky Strike have been confirmed visually using the submersible Alvin, the remotely operated vehicle Jason, and the towed optical/acoustic mapping system Argo II.     

基于遗传小波神经网络的海底声学底质识别分类

分割海底声纳探测图像,提取单元特征向量进行主成份分析,选取均值、标准差、对比度、相关系数、能量及同质性作为训练特征向量,构建小波神经网络。利用遗传算法优化小波神经网络的初始权值及小波参数,对砂、礁石、泥3种底质类型分别进行训练,并得到3种底质的测试精度都在90%以上,优于单独利用小波神经网络进行训练时的测试精度,克服了小波神经网络训练时易陷入局部极小的固有缺陷,表明基于遗传算法的小波神经网络可有效用于海底底质声纳图像的识别和分类。     

Sea-bed characterisation and classification from the power spectra of side-scan sonar data

This work is concerned with the automatic characterisation and classification of the sea-bed for side-scan sonar trace power-spectra.A parametric model of side-scan sonar trace power-spectra is developed from the equation for the magnitude frequency response of a Butterworth filter. The model's parameters are optimised to give a least squares fit with observed spectra. Three of the optimised parameters are used to define features.     

Progressive deformation of an evaporite-bearing accretionary complex: SeaMARC I,SeaBeam and piston-core observations from the Mediterranean Ridge

The Mediterranean Ridge is an arcuate ridge of deformed sediment caught up in the convergent plate margin between the African plate and the Aegean. An intensive campaign of SeaMARC I and SeaBeam surveys followed by piston coring has been conducted along the contact between undeformed turbidites of the Sirte Abyssal Plain and folded and faulted sediments of the Mediterranean Ridge. Along the outer edge of the Ridge, surficial sediments have been deformed into sinusoidal ridges and troughs (wavelengths 0.5–2 km, amplitude 20–150 m), which we interpret as folds. In plan view, the ridge and the trough fabric parallels the NW-SE trending regional contours, suggesting that the folds formed in response to compression orthogonal to the Mediterranean Ridge. The outermost ridge is shedding a debris apron out onto the abyssal plain, implying that uplift and deformation are ongoing. We show that the geometry of the outermost folds can be produced by elastic bending of a packet of 5–10 relatively strong layers, each 10–20 m thick, interbedded between weaker layers; we equate the strong layers with gypsum beds in the Messinian upper evaporites. Folding the seafloor from a flat layer into the observed ridge and trough topography would shorten the layer by less than 2%. Two percent shortening (equals two percent thickening) is insufficient to create the observed relief of the Mediterranean Ridge even if the entire sediment column down to basement were involved; we infer that additional shortening/thickening is accommodated by thrust faulting above a decollement at the top of the Messinian salt layer. At distances > 15 km from the deformation front and more than 500 m from the abyssal plain, sharp-edged, fine-grained side-scan lineations with very little vertical relief cut across the kilometer-scale ridge and trough topography. These fine-grained lineations fall in two groups trending N/S to NNE/SSW and ~ENE. We interpret these lineaments as traces of conjugate strike-slip faults formed in the same compressional regime which formed the NW/SE trending folds. The onset of strike-slip faulting may coincide with the cessation of imbricate thrust fan development above the initial salt-controlled decollement surface. The following characteristics of the Mediterranean Ridge are attributed to the presence of evaporites in the incoming sedimentary section: (1) initial deformation by folding rather than thrust faulting; (2) narrow taper; (3) rapid rate of outward growth; (4) karstification.     

印支运动以来南黄海盆地的构造变形与演化

基于南黄海盆地历年来的地震资料解释成果和下扬子海陆对比,分析了南黄海盆地印支期以来的主要构造变形特征。认为其构造变形主要有3期：晚印支-早燕山期的前陆变形、燕山中期黄桥事件的转换变形和喜马拉雅晚期三垛事件的断坳变形。并控制前陆、断陷和坳陷3期盆地的形成。盆地演化经历了挤压褶断、碰撞造山,压、张脉动和走滑,拉张块断和反转,挤压收敛等发展过程。盆地构造变形机制主要受扬子和华北板块漂移碰撞、古太平洋板块活动特征和大型走滑断裂应力环境等影响。南黄海盆地构造变形具有规律性：平面上,以NE、NEE、近EW、NW向为主。从西往东,构造的走向为NEE向→近EW向→NW向;从北往南,构造变形具有强→弱→强特征和分带性,构造的走向为NEE向→近EW向。纵向上,海-陆相盆地活动展示了早期褶皱逆冲和晚期伸展断陷的“跷跷板”变形格局,并具有早期“北强南弱的不均衡对冲”和晚期“北深南浅断陷”的构造格局。海相盆地上构造层比海相下构造层冲断变形强。崂山隆起南部的高石稳定带为南北不均衡对冲的弱变形区和应力释放区,中-古生界受后期改造作用较弱,是油气勘探的有利地区。     

海底小目标声呐图像一维最大熵分割的改进方法

作为海洋高新技术,水声技术日益成为海洋水下探测的主要手段,而且有时是惟一的手段(比如对浑水或对远距离的情况).海底物体搜索、海底救捞、海底探宝、海底“黑烟囱”探测、海底施工以及海洋军事活动(如探测水雷)等多方面都涉及海底小目标(这里的“目标”泛指物体,包括各种人工制造物和自然形成物)探测.对海底小目标探测是一个困难而有意义的课题.高分辨成像声呐在海底小目标探测方面具有良好的应用前景.将高分辨成像声呐应用于海底小目标探测,图像处理是关键.图像分割是图像处理中的主要问题,也是机器视觉领域低层视觉中的主要问题,同时它又是一个经典难题.     

Extraction of morphometric bedform characteristics from profiling sonar datasets recorded in shallow coastal waters of China

The morphological characteristics of small-scale bedforms were measured by means of an acoustic profiling sonar on the Dafeng tidal flat,Jiangsu,in 2009,and in the Jiulong Estuary,Xiamen,in 2010,respectively.The "multi-threshold value" method was utilized to reveal the morphological undulations along which bedforms were present.Analyses of the datasets obtained show that:(1) sand ripples can have irregular shapes,and(2) changes in bedform morphology are small within a single tidal cycle but may be significant over several tidal cycles.Fractal and variogram analyses of the seabed roughness revealed the existence of a significant relationship between current speed and the fractal dimension of the seabed roughness.As current speed increases,seabed roughness increases with a trend of smaller-scale bottom structures being replaced by larger-scale structures.Furthermore,the surface of the larger-scale bottom structures can either become smooth due to the absence of smaller-scale features or become rougher due to the presence of superimposed smaller-scale structures.