Toward a quantitative near-bottom seismic profiler

This paper describes the development and application of a system for quantitative near-bottom seismic profiling at 4 kHz. Developed as part of the Deep Tow Instrumentation System of the Marine Physical Laboratory, this system represents a capability which is relatively unique in terms of lateral resolution. This capability was developed in order to observe small-scale horizontal variations in acoustic reflectivity of the sea floor as well as similar properties for shallow, layered structures in bottom sediments. The system provides real time computer processing and quantitative displays of processed data in several forms. These displays include a high resolution grey scale display of equivalent plane wave pressure (compensating for Fish altitude), a three-dimensional contourogram display of equivalent intensity, and a plot of integrated equivalent energy for travel-time sections (typically corresponding to 0–5 and 5–55 m into the bottom). These quantitative displays provide a real-time capability for mapping reflectivity of the sea floor and sub-bottom reflectors within a survey area and for estimating acoustic attenuation in marine sediments from observations of layer reflectivity as a function of depth of burial. Such determinations of attenuation can be made directly from the composite computer display which is produced on a facsimile recorder. The data from this system suggest that small scale variations are common to many areas of the sea floor, with poorly explained variations of up to 10 dB over lateral distances of less than 50 m. Values of effective attenuation determined by this system show good agreement with values measured directly in the San Diego Trough, and suggest unusually low values for highly calcareous sediments on the Carnegie Ridge.