First Look at OBS Data!

September 30^th, 2014:

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We have our first look at data!! Ernie Aaron merged some of the raw data from the Scripps OBSs with navigation files from the R/V Marcus Langseth such that we can start seeing the seismic waves recorded in the in ENAM project.  In Figure 1, the hydrophone record of OBS 209, which was recovered on Sept. 21^st, is shown as a function of space and time. To be clear, this is original seismic data. There are still post-processing methods and inversions to apply to the data back on shore that will help extract the seismic velocity structure down to upper mantle boundary along Line 2 or any of the other seismic lines. Until then, however, here is what we learned thus far.

To remind all, the experimental setup for this study is as follows. We on the R/V Endeavor placed OBSs on the seafloor at a spacing of approximately 15 km along Line 2. The R/V Langseth then cruised along Line 2 from ESE to WNW with airgun shots spaced every 200 meters. The OBSs were then recovered and the hydrophone and geophone data were downloaded.

Figure 1. Traces recorded from OBS 209 (bottom) with various arrivals identified by color. The dashed line shows the multiple of Slope D. Cartoon (top) shows representative raypaths of seismic waves that produced the arrivals indicated in the trace records (Figure Credit: Kate Volk).

The acoustic signal was then segmented into separate traces using the GPS-coordinated time of each shot. Ten seconds of each trace were then plotted, by shot number (Figure 1). In this data panel we see the direct wave from the R/V Langseth shots to the instrument (Figure 1; Slope B), seismic reflections and refractions from the Earth below (Figure 1; Slopes A, C, and D), and a later multiple of these seismic refractions (Figure 1; dashed magenta line), after they bounced between the seafloor and sea surface.  

The direct wave travels directly from the seismic source to the OBS, helping us identify the location of the OBS on the seismic line. Using the time it took for the direct arrival to reach the OBS at this location and the acoustic velocity of water (1500 m/s), we can estimate the depth to the OBS. In the case of OBS 209, the R/V Langseth traveled over the device around shot 2200 and it was deployed in approximately 3000 meters of water (Figure 1).

The general slope of the seismic refractions in the space-time diagram gives an indication of the speed at which these seismic waves travelled at large depth.  The data in Figure 1 have been plotted such that waves traveling with a seismic velocity of 7000 m/s, such as those turning near the crust-mantle boundary, will appear as flat events. Slower seismic waves will dip towards larger time away from the OBS, while faster waves will slope towards smaller travel times.  

The OBSs show seismic arrivals that are recorded over a very wide range of source-receiver distances. The seismic waves recorded close to the instrument (< 10 km), are the direct wave from the airguns through the water column to the instrument (Figure 1; Time 2). As you move farther from the instrument (longer offset from source to OBS), the seismic waves move through deeper materials with faster acoustic velocities and those waves reach the instrument before the direct waves (Figure 1; Times 1 and 3). At longer offsets, the primary response comes from seismic waves that travel along deep materials with very fast seismic velocities (Figure 1; Time 4). When combining all the traces together, the slope between similar acoustic responses in traces can be used to infer the seismic velocity of the seismic wave, which can be used to infer the properties of the Earth.

For example, between 60 – 80 km and 100 – 120 km, we identify acoustic responses that are relatively flat (Figure 1; Slope D), indicating that the sound wave is moving through material with an acoustic velocity of 7000 m/s. This is important because it confirms that we are imaging down to the crust-mantle boundary, which will allow us to get a well-constrained seismic velocity profile throughout the crust beneath the margin of the US East Coast.

Until next time,

Dylan Meyer aboard the R/V Endeavor