C.
Methods of Exploring the Ocean
Instrumentation for Marine Exploration
Historical exploration in the ocean is well-documented
and detailed information is available in the literature.
From North Atlantic seafloor contouring for laying
telegraph cables between 1850-1860.
"Challenger" expedition (1873-1876), the 1st scientific and
journey 127,000 km around the world.
The return of the ship was barely noticed by the public.
Today, many instruments have been devised to study the
ocean which are mainly acoustic sources.
Instrument Acoustic source Penetration Uses
Echo sounder 50 – 500 kHz 10 cm Measuring water depth
Seafloor morphology
Side scan sonar 12 – 210 kHz Surface Surveying object on the
seafloor
Sub-bottom 3.5 kHz 10 – 50 m Surficial sediment
profiler
Reflection seismic 5 – 500 Hz 10 m – 10 Identifying geological layering
km and internal structure
Refraction seismic 5 – 500 Hz 10 m – 10 Often used for locating
km bedrock
Echo Sounders
Single-Beam Echo sounder is used to measure water
depth by sending acoustic pulses via a tranducer.
Until a few years ago,
geologists used this to plot
isobars.
Lately, multibeams echo
sounder where sound waves are
propagated, giving a wide
swath in a single tranducer.
This provide an acoustic
backscatter image and Vel of sound in
approximately 120 spot water(1,5000 m/s).
measurements of water depth
across ship track
Side Scan Imaging Survey
Side Scan Imaging Survey - Side-scan imaging surveys
use sonar to efficiently create a precise acoustic image of
large areas of the sea floor.
It provides an acoustic picture of the seafloor which can
be viewed as if it were an unrectified, aerial photograph
Towed from a surface vessel or mounted on a ship, it
uses transducers that emit fan-shaped acoustic pulses down
toward the seafloor across a wide angle perpendicular to
the path of the sensor through the water.
Uses a frequency range of 100 KHz to 1 MHz.
Uses two transducers to cover both sides.
can be deployed on small ships or boats.
Relatively low cost and portable
Sub Bottom Profiling Survey
Sub bottom profilers identify and measure various
marine sediment layers that exist below the sediment/
water interface.
Technique similar to a single-beam echo sounders.
Some of the acoustic signal will penetrate the seabed and
be reflected at the boundary between two layers with
different acoustic impedance.
Performance depends on output power, pulse length,
frequency, and processing techniques
Acoustic Geophysics: Sub-Bottom Profiling
Can penetrate as deep as 300 m into the seafloor
Low-frequency acoustic reflection is used for deep
substrate penetration
High-frequency acoustic is used for identifying different
sediment layers in the shallow seabed (silt, gravel,
bedrock
Marine Seismic
Seismic Reflection
produces a profile of
the subsurface
geology.
A towed seismic
source emits acoustic
low frequency (high
penetration) energy at
regular intervals.
Transmitted acoustic energy is reflected from boundaries
between the various layers of different acoustic
impedance (ie the water-sediment interface or between
geologic units).
Visible boundaries
from the seismic
record are detected
from the 2 way
travel times.
Recently, micro-
seismic acoustic
signal was used to
map different water
column. Fig. Aerial shot of a seismic vessel towing an
acoustic source and hydrophones. Credit:
International Association of Geophysical
Detailed analysis of acoustic reflections
Contractors
suggests that vertical mixing of oceanic water
is enhanced at greater depths, thanks to weak
stratification and the roughness of the
Seismic Refraction occurs when seismic signal has been
refracted between layers of contrasting seismic velocity.
Sound is generated on the surface using harmer, gun or
explosive and the shock wave data is recorded by a linear
array of sensors.
It is used to located the bedrock, to find buried
archeological sites or access subsurface geological hazard
Thank you very much
