ASA 128th Meeting - Austin, Texas - 1994 Nov 28 .. Dec 02

1aAO6. High-frequency bottom backscattering: Volume scattering from gassy mud.

Kevin B. Briggs

Michael D. Richardson

Seafloor Sci. Branch, Naval Res. Lab., Stennis Space Center, MS 39529

Darrell R. Jackson

Appl. Phys. Lab., Seattle, WA 98195

Bottom backscattering data at 40 kHz were collected from a stationary tripod deployed in a muddy embayment characterized by subsurface methane gas. Near-surface sediment geoacoustic, physical, and roughness properties were measured concurrently with the acoustic data in order to compare model predictions with measured backscatter strength as a function of grazing angle. In situ values for sediment compressional wave velocity and attenuation, sediment density values from diver-collected cores, and values for interface roughness parameters from underwater photogrammetry were used to calculate the parameters for the composite roughness model. The model prediction for scattering strength from the sediment--water interface fell well below the measured value, indicating that volume scattering from within the sediment was the dominant process. Data obtained by other investigators reveal a layer of free methane located approximately 1 m below the sediment--water interface. These gas bubbles were evidently responsible for the high level of backscattering observed. A fit of the volume scattering component of the composite-roughness model to the data provides a measure of the contribution of these bubbles to acoustic backscatter.