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Physics of Sound in Marine Sediments pp 181–221Cite as

Geoacoustic Models of the Sea Floor

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Part of the book series: Marine Science ((MR))

Abstract

A “geoacoustic model” is defined as a model of the real sea floor with emphasis on measured, extrapolated, and predicted values of those properties important in underwater acoustics and those aspects of geophysics involving sound transmission. Such models are also important in other aspects of geology and geophysics. The real sea floor cannot be defined by any single geoacoustic model; therefore, it is important that acoustic and geophysical experiments at sea involving the sea floor be supported by a particular model of the area. These models can then be used to reconcile experiment and theory. However, it is possible to use geologic and geophysical judgment to extrapolate a general model over wider areas. A sufficient collection of models from diverse environments will allow predictions of bottom models in similar areas of the world’s oceans.

A geoacoustic model should detail the real sea floor. It can then be used in studies of reflection and refraction of compressional and shear waves over wide frequencies, in geologic studies of stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geologic history, and in various studies in the field of geophysics such as the reflection and refraction of sound, and gravity computations.

The production of a geoacoustic model of the sea floor requires assembly of data from a wide variety of sources in the fields of oceanography, geology, and geophysics. A model thus brings into focus and utility data from many scientific disciplines and operations at sea and in the laboratory. In general, a model details the true thicknesses and properties of various sediment and rock layers overlying the earth’s crust. The gross layering may be all that is required in some geologic and geophysical studies, but the acoustician must be supplied sufficient detail to study insonified areas at various sound frequencies. The information required for a complete geoacoustic model should include the following for each layer; in some cases, the state of the art allows only rough estimates, or information may be non-existent.

  1. 1.

    Properties of the overlying water mass from Nansen casts and velocimeter lowerings.

  2. 2.

    Sediment information (from cores, drilling, or geologic extrapolation): sediment types, grain-size distributions, densities, porosities, compressional and shear wave attenuations and velocities, and other elastic properties. Gradients of these properties with depth; for example, velocity gradients and interval velocities from sonobuoy measurements.

  3. 3.

    Thicknesses of sediment layers (in time) determined at various frequencies by continuous reflection profiling.

  4. 4.

    Locations, thicknesses, and properties of reflectors within the sediment body as seen at various frequencies.

  5. 5.

    Properties of rock layers. Those at or near the sea floor are of special importance to the underwater acoustician.

  6. 6.

    Details of bottom topography, roughness, relief, and slope, for example, as seen by underwater cameras, and deep-towed equipment.

Recent studies have provided restrictive parameters for any elastic or viscoelastic model for water-saturated sediments (e.g., velocity dispersion is negligible or absent, and the dependence of attenuation on frequency is close to f to the first power, at frequencies of most interest). These parameters and elastic and viscoelastic models which can be applied to marine sediments are reviewed, and a particular viscoelastic model (with concomitant equations) is recommended.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Naval Undersea Center, San Diego, California, 92132, USA

    Edwin L. Hamilton

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  1. Edwin L. Hamilton
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  1. Applied Research Laboratories, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Loyd Hampton

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© 1974 Plenum Press, New York

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Hamilton, E.L. (1974). Geoacoustic Models of the Sea Floor. In: Hampton, L. (eds) Physics of Sound in Marine Sediments. Marine Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0838-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0838-6_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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