1.5D inversion of lateral variation of Scholte‐wave dispersion

Reliable models of in‐situ shear‐wave velocities of shallow‐water marine sediments are important for geotechnical applications, lithological sediment characterization, and seismic exploration studies. We infer the 2D shear‐wave velocity structure of shallow‐water marine sediments from the lateral variation of Scholte‐wave dispersion. Scholte waves are recorded in a common receiver gather generated by an air gun towed behind a ship away from a single stationary ocean‐bottom seismometer. An offset window moves along the common receiver gather to pick up a local wavefield. A slant stack produces a slowness–frequency spectrum of the local wavefield, which contains all modes excited by the air gun. Amplitude maxima (dispersion curves) in the local spectrum are picked and inverted for the shear‐wave velocity depth profile located at the center of the window. As the window continuously moves along the common receiver gather, a 2D shear‐wave velocity section is generated. In a synthetic example the smooth lateral variation of surficial shear‐wave velocity is well reconstructed. The method is applied to two orthogonal common receiver gathers acquired in the Baltic Sea (northern Germany). The inverted 2D models show a strong vertical gradient of shear‐wave velocity at the sea floor. Along one profile significant lateral variation near the sea floor is observed.