Converted shear waves as seen by ocean bottom seismometers and surface buoys

1977 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1291-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian T. R. Lewis ◽  
James McClain
Keyword(s):  
Shear Waves ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Sediment Layer ◽  
S Waves ◽  
High Attenuation ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismometers ◽  
Sedimentary Layer ◽  
Low Shear

abstract It is found that ocean bottom seismometers (O.B.S.) deployed in sedimented areas produce markedly different seismograms from surface hydrophones. These differences are found to be due to ringing on the O.B.S. records produced by converted shear waves trapped in the sediment layer. These shear waves do not propagate into the water and hence the hydrophone record is much “cleaner” than the O.B.S. record. It is also shown that the presence of refracted shear waves like P-S-P and P-S-S may be related to the presence of a sedimentary layer in some areas. It is suggested that the disappearance of refracted S waves in some areas without sediment is related to high attenuation and/or very low shear velocities caused by cracks and inhomogeneities in the crust. Under sedimented areas the cracks may be sufficiently filled so as to substantially reduce the attenuation and/or increase the bulk shear velocity.

Seismicity off the coast of Northern California determined from ocean bottom seismic measurements

1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 2001-2015
Author(s):  
Bruce Auld ◽  
Gary Latham ◽  
Ali Nowroozi ◽  
Leonardo Seeber
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Sediment Layer ◽  
Fracture System ◽  
Resonance Effects ◽  
Average Shear ◽  
Land Station ◽  
Coastal Land ◽  
Seismic Measurements

abstract Approximately 190 local earthquakes (Δ < 4°) with suboceanic epicenters have been recorded over a 14-month period by the Ocean Bottom Geophysical Station of the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory. The station is located 200 km west-northwest of San Francisco and 220 km south of the Mendocino Fracture Zone at a water depth of 3.9 km. Most of the observed earthquakes are spatially related to the Mendocino fracture system. Only 20 per cent of the earthquakes recorded at the ocean bottom station were observed at an equidistant land station at Point Arena, California. P and S phases detected at the ocean bottom bottom have greater amplitudes and higher frequencies than the same phases recorded at the nearby land station. This is ascribed to a combination of near-receiver crustal resonance effects and attenuation on transmission across the continental/oceanic interface. Observations of Sn and epicentral locations support the hypothesis that the Mendocino fracture system is a transform fault. Phases converted from P to S at the base of the sediment layer beneath the ocean bottom station are used to compute the average shear-wave velocity and thickness of the sediment layer. The resulting values are 0.34-0.40 km/sec for the average shear velocity and a sediment thickness of 0.78-0.88 km. A phase tentatively identified as the False S of Byerly is observed on records from a coastal land station, but is not observed on the ocean bottom records.

Migration-Based Local Event-Location Workflow for Ocean-Bottom Seismometer (OBS) Records in Subduction Zones: A Practical Approach for Addressing a Large Number of Events

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinji Yoneshima ◽  
Kimihiro Mochizuki
Keyword(s):  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Subduction Zones ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Japan Trench ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismometer ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Local Earthquakes ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismometers ◽  
Event Location

ABSTRACT An efficient event-location workflow is highly desired to analyze large numbers of local earthquakes recorded by ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) in subduction zones. The present study proposes a migration-based event-location approach for evaluating OBS records to examine local subduction-zone earthquakes. This approach can significantly reduce the amount of manual time picks compared with conventional methods. The event-location workflow was designed to detect arrival onsets of both P and S phases. Synthetic tests have shown that the proposed migration-based event-location method is robust against different types of noise, such as environmental noise and local spike noise. This workflow was then applied to real OBS data in the off-Ibaraki region at the southern end of the Japan trench. The results show that this approach is applicable to real data from subduction-zone events: It gives reasonable agreement with manual time picks for both P and S waves and reasonable error bars, and it demonstrates a clear down-dip trend of seismicity. The results also show fair agreement with event distributions from previous studies of the off-Ibaraki region. This proposed workflow can be used to examine the seismicity of local earthquakes around the subduction zone using OBSs. This approach is especially effective when the seismicity is high and/or in cases in which long-term OBS monitoring has recorded a large number of events.

scholarly journals Microearthquake seismicity and focal mechanisms at the Rodriguez Triple Junction in the Indian Ocean using ocean bottom seismometers

2001 ◽  
Vol 106 (B12) ◽  
pp. 30689-30699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Katsumata ◽  
Toshinori Sato ◽  
Junzo Kasahara ◽  
Naoshi Hirata ◽  
Ryota Hino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Triple Junction ◽  
Focal Mechanisms ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismometers ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Comparison of the S/N ratios of low-frequency hydrophones and geophones as a function of ocean depth

1981 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1649-1659
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Brocher ◽  
Brian T. Iwatake ◽  
Joseph F. Gettrust ◽  
George H. Sutton ◽  
L. Neil Frazer
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Continental Margin ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismometer ◽  
Scotian Shelf ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismometers ◽  
Particle Velocities ◽  
Refraction Data

abstract The pressures and particle velocities of sediment-borne signals were recorded over a 9-day period by an array of telemetered ocean-bottom seismometers positioned on the continental margin off Nova Scotia. The telemetered ocean-bottom seismometer packages, which appear to have been very well coupled to the sediments, contained three orthogonal geophones and a hydrophone. The bandwidth of all sensors was 1 to 30 Hz. Analysis of the refraction data shows that the vertical geophones have the best S/N ratio for the sediment-borne signals at all recording depths (67, 140, and 1301 m) and nearly all ranges. The S/N ratio increases with increasing sensor depth for equivalent weather conditions. Stoneley and Love waves detected on the Scotian shelf (67-m depth) are efficient modes for the propagation of noise.

scholarly journals The GITEWS ocean bottom sensor packages

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1759-1780
Author(s):  
O. Boebel ◽  
M. Busack ◽  
E. R. Flueh ◽  
V. Gouretski ◽  
H. Rohr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Warning System ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Bottom Pressure ◽  
Tsunami Early Warning ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismometers ◽  
First Results ◽  
Sensor Package

Abstract. The German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) aims at reducing the risks posed by events such as the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. To minimize the lead time for tsunami alerts, to avoid false alarms, and to accurately predict tsunami wave heights, real-time observations of ocean bottom pressure from the deep ocean are required. As part of the GITEWS infrastructure, the parallel development of two ocean bottom sensor packages, PACT (Pressure based Acoustically Coupled Tsunameter) and OBU (Ocean Bottom Unit), was initiated. The sensor package requirements included bidirectional acoustic links between the bottom sensor packages and the hosting surface buoys, which are moored nearby. Furthermore, compatibility between these sensor systems and the overall GITEWS data-flow structure and command hierarchy was mandatory. While PACT aims at providing highly reliable, long term bottom pressure data only, OBU is based on ocean bottom seismometers to concurrently record sea-floor motion, necessitating highest data rates. This paper presents the technical design of PACT, OBU and the HydroAcoustic Modem (HAM.node) which is used by both systems, along with first results from instrument deployments off Indonesia.

scholarly journals Effective buoyancy ratio: a new parameter to characterize thermo-chemical mixing in the Earth's mantle

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 2675-2697
Author(s):  
A. Galsa ◽  
M. Herein ◽  
L. Lenkey ◽  
M. P. Farkas ◽  
G. Taller
Keyword(s):  
Mixing Time ◽  
Initial Density ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Dense Layer ◽  
Earth’S Mantle ◽  
A Value ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Chemical Mixing ◽  
Buoyancy Ratio ◽  
Low Shear

Abstract. Numerical modeling has been carried out in a 2-D cylindrical shell domain to quantify the evolution of a primordial dense layer around the core mantle boundary. Effective buoyancy ratio, Beff was introduced to characterize the evolution of the two-layer thermo-chemical convection in the Earth's mantle. Beff decreases with time due to (1) warming the compositionally dense layer, (2) cooling the overlying mantle, (3) eroding the dense layer by thermal convection in the overlying mantle, and (4) diluting the dense layer by inner convection. When Beff reaches the instability point, Beff = 1, effective thermo-chemical convection starts, and the mantle will be mixed (Beff = 0) during a short time. A parabolic relation was revealed between the initial density difference of the layers and the mixing time. Morphology of large low shear velocity provinces as well as results from seismic tomography and normal mode data suggest a value of Beff ≥ 1 for the mantle.

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