Imaging of Buried Archaeological Materials: The Reflection Properties of Archaeological Wood

Effective marine archaeological site management demands detailed information on not only the spatial distribution of artefacts but also the degradation state of the materials present. Although sonar methods have frequently been used in an attempt to detect buried wooden shipwrecks they are currently unable to indicate their degradation state. To assess the sensitivity of acoustic measurements to changes in the degradation state of such material, and hence the potential for sonars to quantify degradation, laboratory measurements of compressional wave velocity, as well as bulk density for oak and pine samples, in varying states of decay, were undertaken. These data enabled the calculation of theoretical reflection coefficients for such materials buried in various marine sediments. As wood degrades, the reflection coefficients become more negative, resulting in the hypothesis that the more degraded wood becomes, the easier it should be to detect. Typical reflection coefficients of the order of −0.43 and −0.52 for the most degraded oak and pine samples in sand are predicted. Conversely, for wood exposed to seawater the predicted reflection coefficients are large and positive for undegraded material (0.35 for oak, 0.18 for pine) and decrease to zero or slightly below for the most degraded samples. This indicates that exposed timbers, when heavily degraded, can be acoustically transparent and so undetectable by acoustic methods. Corroboration of these experimental results was provided through comparison with high resolution seismic reflection data that has been acquired over two shipwrecks.     

Waveform Shaping of Sonar Transducers for Improving the Vertical Resolution in Sub-bottom Sediments Profiling

Vertical resolution is of fundamental importance in sonar exploration and is directly related to the duration of the acoustic pulse generated by the transducer. The shorter the radiated pulse, the higher the vertical resolution. Many sub-bottom profiling sonar systems use piezoelectric transducers because they are reversible and well understood. Piezoelectric projectors are normally resonant transducers, which are intrinsically narrowband. A piezoelectric transducer is usually driven by a tone-burst. However, it is possible to use Fourier techniques to find a pre-compensated electrical driving function so that the transducer radiates a prescribed wider band acoustic waveform. This technique can be applied to synthesize zero-phase cosine-magnitude, Gaussian, and bionic pulses, with a conventional sandwich transducer. Zero-phase cosine-magnitude waveforms provide minimum length pulses (and therefore maximum resolution) within a prescribed frequency band.The aim of this paper is to illustrate the synthesis of wideband acoustic pulses using an underwater piezoelectric projector. The conventional acoustic waveform radiated when a Tonpiltz transducer is transiently excited using a “click” and allows its frequency response function to be measured. This function is used to design the electrical signal which then drives the transducer so that it radiates the shortest pulse compatible with its mechanical response. The significant resolution enhancement of the waveform shaping process is illustrated by its application to a sediment wedge model.     

Modern swathe sounding and sub-bottom profiling technology for research applications: The Atlas Hydrosweep and Parasound Systems

This chapter describes two separate but complementary research echosounder systems originally developed by Krupp Atlas Elektronik GmbH for the new German oceanographic research vessel Meteor.The Hydrosweep is a Hydrographic wide-swathe sweep survey echosounder for both shallow and deep water applications providing accurate bathymetric surveys and terrain-following navigation capabilities.The Parasound system is a hull-mounted dual channel parametric narrow-beam deep sea survey and sub-bottom profiling echosounder enabling particularly high vertical and horizontal resolution of seabed features.     

Types and characters of sub-bottom acoustic reflection in eastern part of Bohai Sea

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Long-term Sensor Drift Found in Recovered Argo Profiling Floats

We recovered three Argo profiling floats after 2 to 2.5 years of operation, and recalibrated their temperature, conductivity, and pressure sensors. The results demonstrate that these floats exhibited a significant drift in salinity of −0.0074 to −0.0125, primarily due to the conductivity sensor drift. Combined with the recalibration result for another previously recovered float, the indication is that the negative salinity drift increases nearly in proportion to the operating period of floats. The increasing rate is −0.0041 (±0.0015) year⁻¹, which yields a salinity drift of −0.016 (±0.006) for the expected float lifetime of four years. The present result suggests that reducing the float surfacing time would improve the accuracy of the salinity measurements.     

Preconditioned Optimizing Utility for Large-dimensional analyses (POpULar)

I present the derivation of the Preconditioned Optimizing Utility for Large-dimensional analyses (POpULar), which is developed for adopting a non-diagonal background error covariance matrix in nonlinear variational analyses (i.e., analyses employing a non-quadratic cost function). POpULar is based on the idea of a linear preconditioned conjugate gradient method widely adopted in ocean data assimilation systems. POpULar uses the background error covariance matrix as a preconditioner without any decomposition of the matrix. This preconditioning accelerates the convergence. Moreover, the inverse of the matrix is not required. POpULar therefore allows us easily to handle the correlations among deviations of control variables (i.e., the variables which will be analyzed) from their background in nonlinear problems. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of POpULar, we illustrate two effects which are often neglected in studies of ocean data assimilation before. One is the effect of correlations among the deviations of control variables in an adjoint analysis. The other is the nonlinear effect of sea surface dynamic height calculation required when sea surface height observation is employed in a three-dimensional ocean analysis. As the results, these effects are not so small to neglect.     

Stability of Temperature and Conductivity Sensors of Argo Profiling Floats

After recalibration of the temperature and conductivity sensors of three Argo profiling floats recovered after operations for four to nine months, the results indicate that the floats basically showed no significant drift, either in temperature or salinity, and adequately fulfilled the accuracy requirement of the Argo project (0.005°C for temperature and 0.01 psu for salinity). Only the third float showed a significant offset in salinity of about −0.02 psu, as expected from comparison between the float data and the shipboard conductivity-temperature-depth data. This offset was caused by the operational error of the PROVOR-type float, in which the surface water was pumped immediately after the launch, fouling the conductivity sensor cell. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sedimentary characteristics and the implications of cobalt-rich crusts resources at Caiwei Guyot in the Western Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Cobalt-rich crust has attracted increased attention due to their economic value. Studies have indicated that seamounts in the Western Pacific Ocean are rich in cobalt-rich crust resources. The Caiwei Guyot in Western Pacific Ocean is one of the cobalt-rich crust exploration areas contracted between China and the International Seabed Authority. A large volume of research has been conducted to elucidate the tectonic evolution, basement type, sediment type, gravity and magnetic anomaly characteristics, and geochemical characteristics of shallow surface sediments at Caiwei Guyot. However, a research gap exists on the sedimentary strata below the pelagic deposits and above the volcanic basement of the Caiwei Guyot. This paper summarizes that two main types of sediments existing on the top of Caiwei Guyot. The deposition thickness on the top of Caiwei Guyot is characterized by three sedimentary centers and exposed periphery. Pelagic sediments are difficult to form at the northeastern portion and edge area of Caiwei Guyot due to the strong bottom current environment, which makes these areas suitable for crust growth. This paper delineated three cobalt-rich crust prospective areas at the Caiwei Guyot with of significant implications for exploration and mining-lease-block selections at Caiwei Guyot.     

Overbreak and underbreak in underground openings Part 2: causes and implications

Summary The newly developed light sectioning method has been used to investigate some of the causes and costs of overbreak and underbreak. Investigations at the Aquamilpa Hydroelectric Project in Mexico have shown decreased overbreak and increased underbreak as a result of increased rock quality and decreased explosive energy. A new measure of explosive energy, the perimeter powder factor (PPF), has been defined and shown to be useful in the context of tunnel-wall rock damage. Tentative results indicate that explosive energy (PPF) may be a more important factor in producing underbreak, whereas rock quality may be a greater factor in producing overbreak. A site-specific equation is given for predicting overbreak or underbreak as a function of rock quality and explosive energy, with an evaluation of the cost of underbreak and overbreak.     

TRANSALP—deep crustal Vibroseis and explosive seismic profiling in the Eastern Alps

The TRANSALP consortium, comprising institutions from Italy, Austria and Germany, carried out deep seismic reflection measurements in the Eastern Alps between Munich and Venice in 1998, 1999 and 2001. In order to complement each other in resolution and depth range, the Vibroseis technique was combined with simultaneous explosive source measurements. Additionally, passive cross-line recording provided three-dimensional control and alternative north–south sections. Profits were obtained by the combination of the three methods in sectors or depths where one method alone was less successful.The TRANSALP sections clearly image a thin-skinned wedge of tectonic nappes at the northern Alpine front zone, unexpected graben or half-graben structures within the European basement, and, thick-skinned back-thrusting in the southern frontal zone beneath the Dolomite Mountains. A bi-vergent structure at crustal scale is directed from the Alpine axis to the external parts. The Tauern Window obviously forms the hanging wall ramp anticline above a southward dipping, deep reaching reflection pattern interpreted as a tectonic ramp along which the Penninic units of the Tauern Window have been up-thrusted.The upper crystalline crust appears generally transparent. The lower crust in the European domain is characterized by a 6–7 km thick laminated structure. On the Adriatic side the lower crust displays a much thicker or twofold reflective pattern. The crustal root at about 55 km depth is shifted around 50 km to the south with respect to the main Alpine crest.