Behavioral responses of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) to playbacks of broadband pile driving sounds

The high under-water sound pressure levels (SPLs) produced during pile driving to build offshore wind turbines may affect harbor porpoises. To estimate the discomfort threshold of pile driving sounds, a porpoise in a quiet pool was exposed to playbacks (46 strikes/min) at five SPLs (6 dB steps: 130–154 dB re 1 μPa). The spectrum of the impulsive sound resembled the spectrum of pile driving sound at tens of kilometers from the pile driving location in shallow water such as that found in the North Sea. The animal's behavior during test and baseline periods was compared. At and above a received broadband SPL of 136 dB re 1 μPa [zero-peak sound pressure level: 151 dB re 1 μPa; t₉₀: 126 ms; sound exposure level of a single strike (SEL_ss): 127 dB re 1 μPa² s] the porpoise's respiration rate increased in response to the pile driving sounds. At higher levels, he also jumped out of the water more often. Wild porpoises are expected to move tens of kilometers away from offshore pile driving locations; response distances will vary with context, the sounds' source level, parameters influencing sound propagation, and background noise levels.     

基于GSLS模型TI介质衰减拟声波方程

随着计算机硬件技术的发展以及高分辨率勘探需求的增加,我们希望能够更准确地模拟地下介质,得到更丰富的地层信息.然而,传统的声学假设并不能描述实际地层所存在各向异性和黏滞性,使得成像分辨率较低.为了实现深部储层的高精度成像,本文同时考虑了介质的各向异性和黏滞性,从TI介质弹性波的基本理论出发,结合各向异性GSLS理论,并通过声学近似方法导出基于GSLS模型的各向异性衰减拟声波方程.数值模拟表明该方程既能准确地描述各向异性介质下的准P波运动学规律,又能体现地层的吸收衰减效应;模型逆时偏移结果表明,在实现成像过程中考虑各向异性和黏滞性的影响,能对高陡构造清晰成像,且剖面振幅相对均衡,分辨率较高.     

From noise correlation to resonant ultrasound spectroscopy in rock acoustics

This article introduces an alternative experimental procedure for measuring the elastic properties of a solid material at laboratory scale, using both the principles of passive seismic interferometry and resonance ultrasound spectroscopy. We generate noise into the studied sample with a pneumatic air blow gun, and we cross‐correlate the signals recorded with two passive piezoelectric sensors put in soft contact with the sample surface. Resonance phenomena are induced in the sample, but in contrast with conventional resonance ultrasound spectroscopy experiments, we have no control over the injected frequencies that are sent all together within the noise spectrum. The spectrum of the correlogram is a good approximation of the resonance spectrum of the vibrating sample and can be inverted in terms of the elastic moduli of the constituent material of the sample. The experimental procedure is validated on samples made of standard materials (here, aluminium and Plexiglas) by consistently comparing the inverted elastic velocities with the velocities independently measured with the conventional technique of ultrasonic pulse transmission. Moreover, we got similar positive results on dry rock samples, such as Vilhonneur limestone. These encouraging preliminary results open up promising prospects for monitoring fluid substitution in rock samples using the technique described in this paper.     

Properties of low‐frequency trapped mode in viscous‐fluid waveguides

We derived the velocity and attenuation of a generalized Stoneley wave being a symmetric trapped mode of a layer filled with a Newtonian fluid and embedded into either a poroelastic or a purely elastic rock. The dispersion relation corresponding to a linearized Navier–Stokes equation in a fracture coupling to either Biot or elasticity equations in the rock via proper boundary conditions was rigorously derived. A cubic equation for wavenumber was found that provides a rather precise analytical approximation of the full dispersion relation, in the frequency range of 10^?3 Hz to 10³ Hz and for layer width of less than 10 cm and fluid viscosity below 0.1 Pa· s [100 cP]. We compared our results to earlier results addressing viscous fluid in either porous rocks with a rigid matrix or in a purely elastic rock, and our formulae are found to better match the numerical solution, especially regarding attenuation. The computed attenuation was used to demonstrate detectability of fracture tip reflections at wellbore, for a range of fracture lengths and apertures, pulse frequencies, and fluid viscosity.     

Calibrating multi-frequency acoustic backscatter systems for studying near-bed suspended sediment transport processes

The utilisation of sound backscattered from sediments in suspension, to measure profiles of near-bed particle size and concentration, has been gaining increasing acceptance and usage by sedimentologists and coastal engineers over the past two decades. To obtain the sediment parameters from the backscattered signal requires an inversion to be conducted on the signal and this necessitates a system calibration. The calibration can be carried out by detailed acoustic and electronic measurements, or alternatively by measuring the backscattering from suspensions with known scattering characteristics. Here, we explore the latter approach and describe in some detail the calibration of a triple frequency acoustic backscatter system. The aim is to provide coastal scientists involved in using acoustics as a tool for sediment transport research, with a clear exposition of the calibration process. Suspensions of glass spheres of varying particle size were used as the calibration scatterers. To interpret the signal backscatter from the suspension of glass spheres a simple model for sphere scattering is presented. The results show that consistent calibration results can be obtained in a relatively simple and robust manner.     

The biological oceanography of the East Australian Current and surrounding waters in relation to tuna and billfish catches off eastern Australia

The surface and sub-surface biological oceanography of tuna fishing grounds within the East Australian Current (EAC) was compared in 2004 with two other fishing areas further offshore. Our aim was to determine whether the biological oceanography of the region could explain the distribution and intensity of pelagic fishery catches inside and outside the EAC at that time. The EAC fishing area was noticeably warmer, less saline and lower in nutrients than waters in the other fishing areas. The EAC waters were dominated by large diatoms, the biomass of which was significantly higher than in the seamount and offshore areas, apparently the result of a cold core eddy beneath the EAC surface filament. Over the seamount and offshore more typical Tasman Sea waters prevailed, although the presence of a relatively deeper oxygen minimum layer over the seamount suggested topographically induced mixing in the area. Notably, sub-surface zooplankton and micronekton biomass was significantly higher around the seamount than in the two other areas. The offshore region was characterised by frontal activity associated with the Tasman front. Micronekton net biomass was generally highest in surface waters in this region. Examination of tuna catch records at that time showed yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) dominated the catches of the EAC, whereas swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) were the main species caught offshore. We suggest the yellowfin tuna concentrate in waters that are not only warmer but where prey species are concentrated near the surface. Offshore, deeper living species such as swordfish and bigeye tuna (T. obesus) can take advantage of prey species that are distributed deeper in the water column and along the flanks of the many seamounts in the region, or that are concentrated at fronts associated with the Tasman Front. Although only a snapshot of the region, relatively consistent catch data over time suggests the underlying biological oceanography may persist over longer time periods, particularly during the Austral spring.     

Elastic properties of seafloor sediments from the modelling of amplitudes of multiple water waves recorded on the seafloor off Bear Island,North Atlantic

Wide‐angle seismic data acquired by use of air‐guns and ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) contain strong direct water arrivals and multiples, generally considered as noise and thus not included in the modelling. However, a recent study showed that standard ray‐tracing modelling of the water multiples recorded off the Bear Island, North Atlantic, provided a reliable estimate of the velocity distribution in the water layer. Here, we demonstrate that including the amplitudes in the modelling provide valuable information about the V_P contrast at the seafloor, as well as the V_P/V_S ratio and attenuation (Q_P) of the uppermost sediments. The V_P contrast at the seafloor is estimated at about 250 m/s, within a precision of approximately ±30 m/s. The V_P/V_S ratio in the uppermost sedimentary layer is modelled in the range 2.25–2.50 and the Q_P factor is estimated at 1000 for the water, 30–50 for the uppermost layer and 40–50 for the second sedimentary layer. The values obtained for the sediments suggest a lithology dominated by silty clays, with porosity below average.     

Measurement of bedload gravel transport: The calibration of a self-generated noise system

Self-generated noise (SGN) is a passive acoustic technique for the measurement of bedload transport through the acoustic detection of intergranular collisions using a submerged hydrophone system. SGN is of interest because of the possibilities it offers to the measurement of transport parameters at the frequencies of turbulent or oscillating current scales. This paper describes the background of the technique, and reports the results from laboratory experiments on the relationship between SGN and the absolute transport rate.     

S‐wave kinematics in acoustic transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis

Acoustic transversely isotropic models are widely used in seismic exploration for P‐wave processing and analysis. In isotropic acoustic media only P‐wave can propagate, while in an acoustic transversely isotropic medium both P and S waves propagate. In this paper, we focus on kinematic properties of S‐wave in acoustic transversely isotropic media. We define new parameters better suited for S‐wave kinematics analysis. We also establish the travel time and relative geometrical spreading equations and analyse their properties. To illustrate the behaviour of the S‐wave in multi‐layered acoustic transversely isotropic media, we define the Dix‐type equations that are different from the ones widely used for the P‐wave propagation.     

Research Note: A workaround for the corner problem in numerically exact non-reflecting boundary conditions

Simulations of wave propagation in the Earth usually require truncation of a larger domain to the region of interest to keep computational cost acceptable. This introduces artificial boundaries that should not generate reflected waves. Most existing boundary conditions are not able to completely suppress all the reflected energy, but suffice in practice except when modelling subtle events such as interbed multiples. Exact boundary conditions promise better performance but are usually formulated in terms of the governing wave equation and, after discretization, still may produce unwanted artefacts. Numerically exact non-reflecting boundary conditions are instead formulated in terms of the discretized wave equation. They have the property that the numerical solution computed on a given domain is the same as one on a domain enlarged to the extent that waves reflected from the boundary do not have the time to reach the original truncated domain. With a second- or higher-order finite-difference scheme for the one-dimensional wave equation, these boundary conditions follow from a recurrence relation. In its generalization to two or three dimensions, a recurrence relation was only found for a single non-reflecting boundary on one side of the domain or two of them at opposing ends. The other boundaries should then be zero Dirichlet or Neumann. If two non-reflecting boundaries meet at a corner, translation invariance is lost and a simple recurrence relation could not be found. Here, a workaround is presented that restores translation invariance by imposing classic, approximately non-reflecting boundary conditions on the other sides and numerically exact ones on the two opposing sides that otherwise would create the strongest reflected waves with the classic condition. The exact ones can also be applied independently. As a proof of principle, the method is applied to the two-dimensional acoustic wave equation, discretized on a rectangular domain with a second-order finite-difference scheme and first-order Enquist–Majda boundary conditions as approximate ones. The method is computationally costly but has the advantage that it can be reused on a sequence of problems as long as the time step and the sound speed values next to the boundary are kept fixed.