Precision Correlations Between the Geoacoustic Parameters of an Unconsolidated, Sandy Marine Sediment

Abstract

A recently introduced theoretical model of wave propagation in an unconsolidated, sandy marine sediment is discussed in this article. Essentially, the model consists of four analytical expressions, which specify four wave properties of the sediment, namely the speed and attenuation of the compressional and the shear wave. These expressions contain just three unknown constants, which must be evaluated from data. A technique is described in which these constants are determined from measured values of the compressional wave speed, the shear wave speed, and the shear wave attenuation. This technique is applied to preliminary data from O.N.R.s SAX'99 recent experiment on a sandy sediment in the Gulf of Mexico. From the fully specified equations, the fourth wave property, the attenuation of the compressional wave, is computed and found to lie within 0.5 dB/m of the measured value. Based on this limited evidence, it appears that the wave properties of an unconsolidated sediment are highly correlated and predictable. According to the theory, the causal connections between the wave properties originate in the sliding of one micro/asperity against another on the surfaces of contact between contiguous grains in the medium.