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Very low frequency Ocean Bottom ambient seismic noise and coupling on the shallow continental shelf

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Abstract

Sources of very low frequency (0.01 to 1.0 Hz) ambient seismic noise in the shallow (<100 m) water continental margin sediments are investigated using Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS). The predominant seismic motions are found to be due to surface gravity (water) waves and water-sediment interface waves. Actual experimental measurements of seabed acceleration and hydrodynamic pressure are given, including side by side comparisons between buried and plate-mounted OBS units. OBS-sediment resonant effects are found to be negligible at the low frequencies under investigation. Wherever there exists relative motion between the seabed and the water, however, an exposed OBS is subject to ‘added mass’ forces that cause it to move with the water rather than the sediments. Calculations based on measured seabed motions show that a neutral density, buried seismometer has superior sediment coupling charactersitics to any exposed OBS design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geo-Acoustics Laboratory, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, 33149, Miami, Florida, USA

    Mark V. Trevorrow, Tokuo Yamamoto, Altan Turgut, Dean Goodman & Mohsen Badiey

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  1. Mark V. Trevorrow
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  2. Tokuo Yamamoto
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  3. Altan Turgut
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  4. Dean Goodman
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  5. Mohsen Badiey
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Trevorrow, M.V., Yamamoto, T., Turgut, A. et al. Very low frequency Ocean Bottom ambient seismic noise and coupling on the shallow continental shelf. Mar Geophys Res 11, 129–152 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285664

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285664

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