Some interpretational aspects of time cross-sections based on seismic reflection data from the Sea of Okhotsk

The results of investigations in the Sea of Okhotsk by the seismic reflection method are considered with special attention paid to the acoustic anomalies. Two types of such anomalies are definable in the basin: local (“gas channel”) and areal (“turbid sequences”). It is shown that the acoustic anomalies distinguishable in the single channel seismic profiling (SCSP) records are characteristic of sediments with partial gas filling. Many local anomalies documented on the Sakhalin slope are spatially connected with zones of faulting. The simultaneous presence of acoustic anomalies and BSR in the upper part of the section serves as a reliable diagnostic feature of gas hydrates. The dispersion of the velocities in the wave packet characterizing the acoustic anomaly associated with the lower part of the sedimentary cover in the Kurile Basin points to the significant thickness of the gas-bearing sediments in the latter.