Physical mechanism of the variation of longitudinal wave velocity with porosity in seafloor sediments

Abstract

In order to reveal the response mechanism of longitudinal wave velocity and related parameters, through the statistical analysis of the measurement data of seafloor sediments, it is found that there is a minimum value of the change of longitudinal wave velocity with porosity of seafloor sediments. The minimum values of the empirical formula for the change of longitudinal wave velocity with porosity of sediments in different sea areas and their critical porosity values are uniformly analyzed. The calculation shows that the minimum variation range of longitudinal wave velocity with porosity of sediments in different sea areas is between 1468.59 and 1520.22 m/s, and the corresponding critical porosity value changes between 0.69 and 0.88. The analysis shows that the empirical formulas of different scholars belong to the unified mathematical expression derived from acoustic theory. The study shows that the essential reason for the formation of the minimum of longitudinal wave velocity in seafloor sediment is that the coupling of sediment grains affects the propagation of longitudinal wave. It is further revealed that the physical mechanism of the change of longitudinal wave velocity is that the change of contact or suspension state of seafloor sediment grains in seawater affects the elastic stress-strain relations of sediments.