Detection of buried targets using a synthetic aperture sonar

This paper presents observations of buried target detections made using a 20-kHz synthetic aperture sonar. At grazing angles below the critical angle, surprisingly high signal-to-noise detections were made of cylindrical targets buried at depths of 15 and 50 cm. During a separate set of measurements, buried spheres were clearly seen at steep grazing angles, but were generally not seen below the critical angle. Since scattering from wave-generated sand ripples may contribute to detections at grazing angles below critical angle, the information available on the ripple fields is discussed and used in acoustic backscatter simulations for the buried spheres. Lack of information on the ripple height precludes a definitive explanation for the absence of buried sphere detections at subcritical grazing angles.     

The autonomous underwater glider "Spray"

A small (50-kg, 2-m long) underwater vehicle with operating speeds of 20-30 cm/s and ranges up to 6000 km has been developed and field tested. The vehicle is essentially an autonomous profiling float that uses a buoyancy engine to cycle vertically and wings to glide horizontally while moving up and down. Operational control and data relay is provided by GPS navigation and two-way communication through ORBCOMM low-Earth-orbit satellites. Missions are envisioned with profile measurements repeated at a station or spaced along a transect. The initial instrument complement of temperature, conductivity, and pressure sensors was used to observe internal waves and tides in the Monterey underwater canyon     

Tectonics at the intersection of the East Pacific Rise with Tamayo Transform fault

During the Fall of 1979, a manned submersible program, utilizing DSRV ALVIN, was carried out at the intersection of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) with the Tamayo Transform boundary. A total of seven dives were completed in the vicinity of the EPR/Tamayo intersection depression and documented the geologic relationships that characterize the juxtaposition of these types of plate boundaries. The young volcanic terrain of the EPR axis can be traced into and across the Tamayo Transform valley but becomes buried by sedimentary talus that is being shed from sediment scarps along the unstable sediment slope that defines the north side of the intersection depression. Within 4 km of the transform boundary, the dominant trend (000°) of the fissures and faults that disrupt the rise-generated volcanics is markedly oblique to the regional direction of sea floor spreading (120°). Since no evidence was found to suggest that these structures accommodate significant amounts of strike-slip displacement, they are taken to reflect a distortion of the EPR extensional tectonic regime by a transform generated shear couple. The floor of the Tamayo Transform valley in this area is inundated by mass-wasted sediment, and the principal transform displacement zone is characterized at the surface by a narrow (<1.5 km) interval of fault scarps in sediment that trends parallel with the transform valley. Extrapolated to the west, this zone links with zones of transform deformation investigated during earlier submersible studies (CYAMEX and Pastouret, 1981). Evidence of low-level hydrothermal discharge was seen at one locality on the EPR axis and at another 8 km west of the axis at the edge of the zone of transform deformation.     

Particle transport from the West African shelves of Liberia and Sierra Leone to the deep sea: A chemical approach

The chemical and mineralogical composition of suspended particle suites has been used to assess off-shelf transport on the West African shelves of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Using the ratios of Si/Al, Fe/Al, Mg/Al and Mn/Al as tracers, it was possible to detect shelf-derived materials in slope waters. In the majority of cases, these inputs could not have been detected using particle mass or light scattering measurements and could only be measured by using the chemical signatures of the particulate matter. At the time of sampling, the suspensate which had been moved seaward over the slope was detected adjacent to submarine canyons and highly turbid areas on the outer shelf. The chemical and mineralogical composition of the suspensates, and sediments in the adjacent eastern Atlantic basin are similar to those found in the water column seaward of the West African continental shelves and yet distinct from the Sahelian dust which is considered the major source of sedimentary material for the tropical and semi-tropical areas of the deep eastern basin. These findings suggest that materials from this shelf area could be a more important input to the deep sea than was previously realised.     

Bathymetry of three deep-sea channels in the northeast and central Tufts Abyssal Plain

The drainage pattern in the northeast and central Tufts Abyssal Plain is described in detail. Satellite navigation on the systematic survey has allowed precise location of the major channel systems of the northeast Pacific Ocean. Two hundred channel profiles were collected from the echograms showing the Moresby-Scott, Mukluk, and Horizon Channel Systems trending in either a southwestward or westward direction across this section of the Tufts Plain. The channel profiles illustrate the prominence of the higher and wider right-hand levee (facing downstream). The Moresby-Scott Channel System disperses in the form of several distributaries throughout the area studied, and is probably responsible for much of the sediment deposits. Unlike the Moresby-Scott, the Mukluk extends throughout the survey area as a solitary channel with one minor branch. The Horizon Channel crosses the Sedna Fracture Zone east of the Sedna Seamount and terminates in distributary fashion in the central portion of the Tufts Plain. The Moresby-Scott, Mukluk, and Horizon Channels form one major system which encompasses the entire northeast and central Tufts Abyssal Plain.