Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223

www.elsevier.com/locate/margeo

Sur¢cial seabed sediment properties derived from seismic

pro¢ler responses
Angela Davis  , Ronald Haynes, Jim Bennell, Dei Huws
School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales Bangor, Menai Bridge, Anglesey LL59 5EY, UK
Received 10 December 1999; accepted 20 July 2000

Abstract

As a result of the complex and variable nature of sea floor sedimentary environments and the problems
associated with obtaining representative samples of sea floor materials, it has long been accepted that geophysical
methods hold the greatest potential for rapid assessment of sea floor sediment physical property variability. This
paper presents results of two experimental geophysical studies aimed at developing in situ sea floor sediment
classification methodologies applicable to siliciclastic environments. At one of the two study sites, Irvine Bay in the
Clyde Sea, an area of approximately 10 km2 was intensively surveyed using a boomer seismic profiler and digital data
acquisition system. Three core samples recovered in the area were used to calibrate seabed reflection responses at spot
locations, and once calibrated, the entire geophysical dataset was inverted to produce maps showing the spatial
distribution of sediment physical properties (porosity, density and grain size distribution) at the seabed surface. Very
good agreement was found between seismic predictions of sediment properties and physical measurements made on
independent core and grab samples. Similar levels of agreement were found for seismo-acoustic predictions made after
surveying a transect in the Southern Baltic Sea. On the basis of these experimental studies it appears that, with only
limited ground truth information, it is possible to invert high-resolution seismic reflection data to produce
quantitative information on the spatial distribution of sea floor sediment physical properties. ß 2002 Elsevier
Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: seismic re£ection; acoustic properties; sea £oor sediment; physical properties

1. Introduction supply, prevailing and palaeo-climatic and oce-

Depositional and post-depositional processes
play the primary role in determining the nature
and spatial distribution of sea £oor sediments.
These processes in turn are strongly in£uenced
by factors such as geological setting, sediment
* Tel.: +44-1248-382-845; Fax: +44-1248-716-367.
E-mail address: a.m.davis@bangor.ac.uk (A. Davis).
anographic conditions, sea level change and tec-
tonic events (e.g. earthquakes), as well as anthro-
pogenic activity. In the broadest terms, the
physical and geotechnical properties of the sedi-
ment pro¢le depend on the nature of the sediment
components, the processes of pro¢le formation
and the alteration of the pro¢le after formation.
Given the complex and variable nature of sea
£oor sedimentary environments and the problems
associated with obtaining representative samples

0025-3227 / 01 / $ ^ see front matter ß 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 2 5 - 3 2 2 7 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 2 3 5 - 3

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

210 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223
of sea £oor materials, it is perhaps not surprising
that marine geoscientists and others increasingly
have been looking to geophysicists to provide the
necessary ‘remote sampling’ to help resolve ques-
tions relating to sediment property variability.
Within this paper, data from two experimental
studies will be presented in an attempt to demon-
strate the scope for remote physical property pre-
diction based on conventional sub-bottom pro¢ler
methodologies.
2. Seismo-acoustic sensing
It has been known for some time that seismo-
acoustic re£ection responses provide valuable in-
formation on sea £oor sediment character (Hay-
nes et al., 1993). Perhaps the earliest practical
application of seabed acoustic character recogni-
tion was by ¢shermen who, once echo-sounders
were installed on ¢shing vessels, noticed that the
seabed echo returns provided qualitative informa-
tion on seabed ‘hardness’. This result was merely
an observation of the re£ectivity of the sediment^
water interface, i.e. the partitioning of energy as a
direct consequence of the acoustic impedance con-
trast at the seabed surface.
A material’s characteristic acoustic impedance,
Z, is dependent on its compressional wave veloc-
ity, V, and bulk density, b, where
Z ¼ Vb ð1Þ
The re£ection coe⁄cient, R, is de¢ned as the
ratio of the re£ected amplitude to the incident
wave amplitude. For a seismo-acoustic wave inci-
dent normal to a re£ecting interface, the re£ection
coe⁄cient is given by:
Z 2 3Z 1
R¼ ð2Þ
Z2 þ Z1
where subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the medium
above and below the re£ecting interface.
The amplitude and sign of the re£ection coe⁄-
cient is thus dependent on the acoustic impedance
MARGO 2996 23-4-02
contrast at the interface. For re£ection at the sedi-
ment^water interface, R will be positive when the
sediment’s acoustic impedance is greater than that
of the overlying water mass. The inverse situation
produces a negative re£ection coe⁄cient. In shal-
low water environments, in instances where the
sediments are fully saturated, the re£ection coe⁄-
cient at the sediment^water interface will be pos-
itive. In instances where the sediment is partially
saturated, i.e. partially gas-saturated, the gas in
the sediment pore space acts to reduce both the
sediment’s velocity and bulk density producing a
negative re£ection coe⁄cient and an accompany-
ing phase reversal. In seismo-acoustic surveying
the phase reversal provides one means of identify-
ing gas-charged sediments. While typical normal
incidence re£ection coe⁄cients between sediment
layers are generally less than 0.1, the seabed sur-
face is often a strong re£ector (R up to 0.3).
From the above, it is seen that the factors gov-
erning the re£ection coe⁄cient are those that af-
fect the bulk density and velocity. Leading from
this, a number of researchers over several decades
have investigated theoretical and empirical rela-
tionships between a range of physical and seis-
mo-acoustic properties and have concluded that
it should be possible to predict in situ physical
properties on the basis of seismo-acoustic re£ec-
tion responses (critically summarised in Haynes et
al., 1993). Advances in computer technology
which have enabled high-resolution, high-¢delity
seismic re£ection data to be digitally recorded and
processed now make this a practical reality.
3. Research developments at UWB
Over the past three decades at the University of
Wales Bangor (UWB), a continuing theme of the
Marine Geophysics Research Group has been the
development of geophysical remote sensing meth-
odologies for quantitative site investigation. The re-
search rationale has primarily been a quest for an
improved understanding of geophysical^geotechni-
cal property relations to aid studies of sediment
property^process interactions, but the research has
also often been driven by interests in enhancing the
role of geophysics in o¡shore site investigation.
 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223 211

Fig. 1. Map showing the location of the Clyde Sea study site.

Attention has largely concentrated on investi-
gating the benthic boundary layer, with several
probes and bottom-towed systems designed and
developed to provide information on the in situ
state of the uppermost few metres of the sediment
column. In the 1970s and early 1980s, sea £oor
sediment property data were acquired using two
separate static probes (Jackson et al., 1980): an
acoustic probe was used to directly measure the
sediment compressional wave velocity, and an
electrical probe to measure the sediment electrical
resistivity. The electrical probe was further devel-
oped and modi¢ed to allow data to be acquired
while the electrical sensors (focused electrode ar-
rays) were towed along the seabed. Subsequently,
the electrical resistivity system was incorporated
into a bottom-towed seismic shear wave sledge,
allowing pseudo-underway, simultaneous measure-
ment of sea £oor sediment electrical and shear
wave properties (Davis et al., 1989). Over the
past decade, this system has been used in a range
of sedimentary environments to map the physical
characteristics of the sur¢cial sediment layer (e.g.,
Davis et al., 1996). Over the same time period,
desk and laboratory studies have attempted to ex-
plore fundamental relations between geophysical
propagation, sediment properties and sediment be-
haviour, providing the means for geophysical^
physical property prediction based on the acquired
in situ geophysical data (Davis, 1996).
Recent research at UWB has concentrated on
surface-towed systems, and has been directed to-
wards developing methodologies for extracting
‘property signi¢cant’ information from seismic re-
£ection responses recorded whilst surveying with
a conventional boomer pro¢ler and digital data
acquisition system. The rationale behind UWB’s
current methodology has already been presented
and discussed in Haynes et al. (1993).
Two papers published in Geo-Marine Letters

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

212 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223
(Davis et al., 1996; Haynes et al., 1997) presented
preliminary results of practical experiments car-
ried out in siliciclastic and carbonate environ-
ments as part of the US Naval Research Labora-
tory’s co-ordinated CBBL research program
(Coastal Benthic Boundary Layer Program).
These preliminary publications demonstrated the
potential for using the seismic re£ection responses
to provide semi-quantitative information on the
sea £oor sediment character. In addition, infer-
ences on sediment property variability were
made on the basis of spatial change in the relative
re£ection strength and bottom re£ectivity var-
iance. The studies presented in this paper attempt
to take seismo-acoustic physical property predic-
tion a stage further, using laboratory-derived con-
trol data (in the form of measured physical prop-
erties) to calibrate the re£ection response thereby
enabling quantitative ‘continuous’ acoustic map-
ping of a range of in situ sediment properties.
Results of the two experimental surveys will be
presented in the form of separate case studies.
Both relate to siliciclastic sedimentary environ-
ments as, at the present time, geoacoustic behav-
iour in siliciclastics is better understood than in
carbonates, making geophysical^physical property
prediction a more viable proposition.
4. Clyde Sea case study
4.1. Aims and objectives
In May 1995, a series of geophysical experi-
ments were successfully carried out in Irvine
Bay, Scotland, an area of the eastern Clyde Sea
near Glasgow, Scotland (Fig. 1). The aims and
objectives of the experiments were:
(i) to acquire high-quality, high-resolution dig-
ital sub-bottom pro¢ler data in a suitable format
for processing and analysis of the sea £oor re£ec-
tion response;
(ii) to acquire data in an area o¡ering appro-
priate ground truth information to enable calibra-
tion of the sea £oor re£ection response and ulti-
mately, to allow in situ validation of seismo-
acoustic physical property predictions;
(iii) to process the acquired seismic data to pro-
MARGO 2996 23-4-02
vide maps of the physical property distribution in
the area using empirically based geophysical^geo-
technical processing algorithms developed at
UWB.
Data were acquired onboard the University’s
research vessel R/V Prince Madog during a col-
laborative research cruise with the UK Defence
Research Agency. The area selected for the re-
search study was chosen on the basis of available
British Geological Survey (BGS) and Admiralty
Research Establishment (ARE) data (see later)
and on the basis of knowledge gained during an
earlier experimental programme within the Clyde
Sea (Huws et al., 1991).
4.2. Geological setting
Preliminary information on sub-surface geology
and sur¢cial sediment distribution was obtained
from published BGS Sea Bed Sediments and Qua-
ternary Geology maps of the area (British Geo-
logical Survey, 1985) and from the relevant BGS
report (Deegan et al., 1973).
4.3. Holocene: sea £oor sediment distribution
Deegan et al. (1973) describe the sur¢cial Ho-
locene sediments in terms of three broadly de¢ned
facies which are applicable within most of the
Firth of Clyde region.
Coarse facies. This facies is composed predom-
inantly of gravelly sediments and clean sands;
originally termed coarse littoral facies because it
generally is associated with nearshore, shallow
water environments. It mostly is lithic in origin.
For the Ayrshire coast, this facies is generally re-
stricted to water depths less than 35 m (British
Geological Survey, 1985).
Transitional facies. The transitional facies com-
prises muddy sands and sandy muds. It divides
the shallower water facies from the deep silty
clay facies (described below). It is present in the
transitional zone where the gravels and clean
sands grade into mud. Along the Ayrshire coast,
such areas generally occur over a small bathymet-
ric range: between water depths of 30 to 50 m
(Huws, 1993).
Deep silty clay facies. This facies is composed of
 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223
muds and is present in all the deep waters of the
Clyde Sea where tidal currents are weak. Along the
Ayrshire coast, the facies generally is observed in
water depths of greater than approximately 50 m.
The sur¢cial Holocene sediments are believed
to be derived from the subaerial and submarine
erosion of Devensian boulder clay within the
Clyde Basin (Deegan et al., 1973). Along the Ayr-
shire coast, the coarse facies is thought to be par-
tially derived from the erosion of the lower parts
of the raised beach present in the region. The
muds of the deep silty clay facies are postulated
to be derived from £uvial and coastal sources
which are deposited from suspension in deep
low-energy basins: once deposited they show little
evidence of re-suspension and transportation.
The present day distribution of sur¢cial sedi-
ment is governed primarily by varying marine en-
ergy conditions (tidal and wave current action).
These two physical forcing mechanisms are medi-
ated to a large degree by the bathymetry of the
region (Deegan et al., 1973). There is, therefore, a
strong correlation between water depth and sur¢-
cial sediment type within this region.
4.4. Quaternary geology
From the BGS map (British Geological Survey,
1985), it is reported that the Quaternary deposits
thin toward land in nearly all areas of the Clyde
Sea. They appear on sparker records as acousti-
cally layered sediments exhibiting horizontal or
sub-horizontal internal re£ectors. However, where
cored, the acoustic re£ectors do not appear to be
related to lithological changes, and appear instead
to be related to changes in water content associ-
ated with di¡erent compaction or other physical
changes (British Geological Survey, 1985).
Beneath these acoustically layered sediments,
which generally are homogeneous silty clays,
borehole information indicates the presence of
sti¡ clay with sand, pebbles or cobbles. This de-
posit, interpreted as till, is generally less than 15 m
thick.
The onset of marine conditions in late-glacial
times produced conditions suitable for the depo-
sition of the acoustically layered deposits. In deep
water areas, the deposits are silty clays but in
MARGO 2996 23-4-02
213
shallower waters a¡ected by post-Weischselian
sea level changes (both eustatic and isostatic),
the facies can become littoral.
4.5. Data acquisition
4.5.1. Navigation
The navigation system onboard the survey ves-
sel was a Trimble NavTrac di¡erential global po-
sitioning system (DGPS). This is a 6-channel GPS
receiver that can operate in either 2-D or 3-D
mode. The di¡erential GPS relies on error correc-
tions transmitted from a reference station placed
at a known location, and in di¡erential mode the
NavTrac has an accuracy to the order of 5 to
10 m. The navigation data were logged to PC
every 2 s, or directly to the various acquisition
systems onboard the vessel.
4.5.2. Bathymetry
The site bathymetry was determined using the
vessel’s hull-mounted transducer operating at a
frequency of 200 kHz. The raw data ^ 35 NE to
SW trending and 12 NW to SE trending pro¢les,
the latter concentrated in the northern part of the
survey area ^ were tidally corrected using the tidal
harmonic constants for the port of Troon, ob-
tained from the Admiralty Tide Tables for 1995.
The ¢nal corrected depths are quoted relative to
Chart Datum (C.D.) for Troon.
The bathymetry plots (Figs. 2 and 3) show a
general southwest to northeast shallowing of
water depth, from depths in excess of 52 m
C.D. in the southwest to depths shallower than
12 m C.D. in the extreme northeast. This de-
crease in depth is relatively gentle until the
northernmost third of the survey area, where
there is an appreciable steepening of the slope
towards the coast. The bathymetry of the area
can therefore be thought of as comprising a gent-
ly sloping deep-water basin to the southwest with
a rapidly shelving slope in the northern part of
the region.
Looking at the northern part of the survey area
in more detail (Fig. 3), a couple of features are
worthy of mention. These are two ridges : one
trending roughly east^west and the other north-
east^southwest. The north-east trending ridge
214 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223

Fig. 2. Map showing the bathymetry of the Clyde Sea study site. Depths are in metres relative to C.D.

forms a topographic high at a depth of about 4.5.3. Seismic re£ection data

35 m, near 55.576‡N 4.754‡W, which appears to
be surrounded by deeper water. The second ridge
forms a distinct spur indicated most clearly at
55.577‡N 4.736‡W. Results presented later indi-
cate that these two features markedly a¡ect the
sedimentological and acoustical regime of the
area.
High-resolution digital seismic re£ection data
were acquired using an EG and G Uniboom sur-
face towed source and a separately towed, multi-
element, single-channel streamer (EG and G
model 265). The Uniboom source was chosen as
it is known to have a repeatable broad-band sig-
nature (McGee et al., 1992), and because it is

Fig. 3. Expanded bathymetry map for the northern part of the Clyde Sea study site. Depths are in metres relative to C.D.

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223 215

Fig. 4. Map showing the grab sampled mean grain size (P) distribution, Clyde Sea study site.

extensively used in the o¡shore industry to survey
the near surface sediment layers. The boomer was
operated at a pulse energy of 175 J and ¢red at a
nominal period of 500 ms. Data were recorded
digitally on an Elics-Delph 2 marine digital ac-
quisition system with a sampling rate of 40 kHz.
The Elics-Delph system is a digital acquisition
system designed speci¢cally for the task of ac-
quiring and processing high-resolution seismo-
acoustic data from sub-bottom pro¢ling and so-
nar systems. Analogue data were recorded on
thermal paper using a Dowty model 3700 thermal
recorder.
Sub-bottom pro¢les were initially interpreted to
provide information on subsurface structure and
seismic character of the various sedimentary units,
en route to constructing a seismic stratigraphy for
the area. The second stage interpretation was di-
rected towards the extraction of physical/geotech-
nical information from the digital seismic re£ec-
tion response, concentrating on the seabed
surface.
4.5.4. Grab and core sampling
Thirty grab samples and three short (0.5^1 m)
gravity cores were collected to provide a range of
ground truth information. Cores were both
X-rayed and logged for compressional wave ve-
locity prior to extrusion from the core barrel. In
the laboratory the core material was analysed for
grain size characteristics, moisture content, specif-
ic gravity of the grains, bulk density, porosity and
shear strength. Grab samples were analysed for
grain size distribution, with the data from all
the samples used to produce grain size distribu-
tion maps for the survey area (Fig. 4). All labo-
ratory tests were carried out according to BS1377
(British Standards Institution, 1961).
4.6. Physical property predictions from the
re£ection response
4.6.1. Processing the seismo-acoustic data
The raw boomer data (data from 10 NE^SW
trending, equally spaced survey lines) were com-

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

216 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223

Fig. 5. Map showing sea £oor re£ection coe⁄cient distribution for the Clyde Sea study site.

piled and processed to enable maps of the relative
bottom re£ectivity strength and shot-to-shot re-
£ectivity variance to be produced for the seabed
surface. The bottom re£ectivity variance i.e. the
shot-to-shot variance of the relative bottom re£ec-
tivity strength, was calculated over a window of
40 shots. Ground truth data from the laboratory
core analyses were then used to calibrate the rel-
ative re£ectivity strength at the ¢xed core loca-
tions, allowing conversion of the relative bottom
re£ectivity strengths to absolute measures of the
bottom re£ection coe⁄cient. The bottom re£ec-
tion coe⁄cient (or acoustic impedance) values
could then be inverted (see below) to produce geo-
physically determined maps of the bulk density,
porosity and mean grain size of the sea £oor sedi-
ments.
Calibration and inversion. Calibration of the
seismo-acoustic data (seabed re£ection response)
was carried out using the porosity and density
information from the three gravity cores and
published empirical relationships. Using the em-
pirical equations of Richardson and Briggs
(1993), it was possible to determine an empiri-
cally derived re£ection coe⁄cient for each of
the cores for both density and porosity data. A
linear regression technique was then used to de-
termine the linear relationships between re£ection
coe⁄cient and bottom re£ectivity strength, mak-
ing it possible to produce a re£ection coe⁄cient
map for the entire area (Fig. 5). Thenceforth, the
same empirical relationships (Richardson and
Briggs, 1993) were used to invert the seismo-
acoustic data for the sur¢cial sediment bulk den-
sity and porosity distributions. Richardson and
Briggs’ study also provided the empirical rela-
tionship used to invert the acoustic data for grain
size distribution.
4.6.2. Sediment type and grain size
The acoustically derived sea £oor sediment
types, de¢ned in terms of mean grain size, indicate
that the south-western two-thirds of the area sur-
veyed comprises sandy mud (Fig. 6). This is in

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223 217

Fig. 6. Map showing acoustically derived sea £oor mean grain size (P) distribution, Clyde Sea study site.

agreement with the published BGS map for the
area (British Geological Survey, 1985). As men-
tioned previously, there is a high degree of corre-
lation between the grain size of the sur¢cial sedi-
ments and the bathymetry. An examination of the
seismo-acoustic data also shows a close relation-
ship between bathymetry and the seabed re£ection
coe⁄cients. For example, two topographic ridges
in the area are associated with areas of elevated
re£ection coe⁄cients, providing an independent
test of the strong inter-relationship between sea
£oor sediment type and bathymetry.
Throughout the area there is good visual corre-
lation between high re£ection coe⁄cients and low
P grain size values (coarser grained sediments),
the latter obtained from the analysis of the grab
samples. Similarly, there is a high degree of cor-
relation between the acoustically derived modi¢ed
Folk sediment classi¢cation (based on the re£ec-
tion coe⁄cients) and the same obtained from grab
samples. Further, examining the spatial distribu-
tion of sur¢cial sediment across the survey area
for both acoustically derived and grab sample
data, the contour boundaries between di¡erent
sediment types appear markedly similar in posi-
tion and form.
4.6.3. Bulk physical properties (bulk density and
porosity)
Maps of acoustically derived bulk density and
porosity (Figs. 7 and 8) display similar trends to
those seen for mean grain size distribution. Again,
there seems to be a close inter-dependence be-
tween bathymetry and acoustically derived prop-
erties, not unexpected on the strength of the ear-
lier discussion.
4.6.4. Re£ectivity variance as a sediment
classi¢cation aid
Bottom re£ectivity variance can be used in a
semi-quantitative manner to broadly discriminate
between di¡erent types of sea £oor as the param-
eter varies as a function of the sea £oor sediment
roughness. For the Irvine Bay survey, there was a
high degree of visual correlation between the bot-
tom re£ection coe⁄cient and the shot-to-shot var-

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

218 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223

Fig. 7. Map showing acoustically derived bulk density (g/cm3 ) distribution, Clyde Sea study site.

iance; the areas of high bottom re£ection coe⁄-
cients generally having correspondingly high val-
ues of shot-to-shot variability. This relationship is
to be expected as it is more probable that coarser
grained sediments are both more highly re£ective
and more highly scattering; the latter is both as a
consequence of the larger particle size and be-
cause these coarser sediments are more likely to
exhibit bedforms (e.g. ripples).
Most signi¢cantly, shot-to-shot variance as a
sediment discriminator allows areas where bottom
surface scattering may be a problem (to acoustic-
physical property prediction) to be recognised.
With regard to the Irvine Bay data, areas of out-

Fig. 8. Map showing acoustically derived porosity (%) distribution, Clyde Sea study site.

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223
cropping bedrock or glacial till could be identi¢ed
by a combination of very high sea £oor re£ection
coe⁄cients (i.e. values above the upper limit for
normal marine sediments), and/or high shot-to-
shot bottom re£ectivity variance. Clearly knowl-
edge of bottom surface scattering is important if
the results of acoustic surveys are to be used with
con¢dence in sea £oor sediment property predic-
tion.
4.6.5. Independent validation of the acoustic
interpretation
To provide a second independent test of the
validity of the acoustic interpretation, a subset
of the acoustically derived physical property
data was compared with a published data set pro-
duced from an independent laboratory study of
the physical properties of the Irvine Bay sedi-
ments. The referenced data were gamma-density
core logs acquired by the Admiralty Research Es-
tablishment (UTH Tech Memo, 1989). The ARE
logs comprised a series of discrete density mea-
surements at 10-cm intervals down the length of
each core. Comparison of acoustically derived
densities with the gamma-density data yielded ex-
cellent agreement, lending support to the acoustic
physical property classi¢cation methodology.
5. Baltic Sea study
5.1. Aims and objectives
The second case study included in this paper
relates to a series of seismo-acoustic seabed clas-
si¢cation experiments carried out in the southern
Baltic Sea in the context of the Coastal Benthic
Boundary Layer Project (CBBL), sponsored by
the US O⁄ce of Naval Research. A 2000-m test
line was established in the northern part of Eck-
ernfo«rde Bay to enable a comparison between re-
mote acoustic prediction of sediment properties
and in situ properties obtained from core samples.
A number of di¡erent ‘state of the art’ acoustic
sediment classi¢cation systems were run over the
test line, including the US Naval Research Labo-
ratory’s ASCS, Florida Atlantic University’s Full
Spectrum FM pro¢ler, and UWB’s EGpG Uni-
MARGO 2996 23-4-02
219
boom-based system. The following covers the au-
thors’ contribution to the CBBL experiments, i.e.
seabed classi¢cation based on data acquired with
the Uniboom system.
5.2. Geological setting
The sur¢cial deposits in Eckernfo«rde Bay and
the surrounding part of the southern Baltic Sea
are almost entirely glacial and post-glacial silici-
clastics. Along the CBBL test line the section is
predominated by thin sediment in¢lled basins
which overlie and smooth an irregular surface
probably of glacial origin (see re£ection pro¢les
in Fig. 9). While some areas within and surround-
ing Eckernfo«rde Bay are characterised by shallow
gas in the near surface Holocene sediment cover
(particularly the deeper water areas), based on
observations of sub-bottom pro¢ler records the
sediments along the test line appeared to be pre-
dominantly gas-free.
5.3. Seismic data acquisition and processing
The sub-bottom pro¢ler used to acquire the
data in Eckernfo«rde Bay was the same as that
used in the Clyde Sea. The Uniboom was towed
at a speed of around 4 knots along the test line
and was triggered two times a second giving a
horizontal spacing of approximately 1 shot every
metre. The data were digitally recorded on a Ma-
rine Geophysical System (MGS) Marine Digital
Acquisition System (MDAS), with a sampling
rate of 40 kHz.
The digital data were post-processed back at
UWB. Processing initially consisted of ‘pre-pro-
cessing’ to remove the ‘trend’ and to correct for
geometrical spreading. (A spherical divergence
correction was applied to account for travel
path di¡erences as a function of changing water
depth). An amplitude envelope was then calcu-
lated and used for detection of the sea £oor and
direct wave. For physical property prediction pur-
poses, the calibration of the seismo-acoustic data
was carried out using porosity and density infor-
mation from two box cores (BC-662 and BC-652)
collected and analysed by CBBL co-workers.
Once calibrated at the core locations, the seis-
220 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223

Fig. 9. Sub-bottom pro¢les and pro¢les of sur¢cial sediment re£ectivity strength along the southern Baltic Sea test line.

mo-acoustic data for the remainder of the test line
were inverted for physical properties following
similar procedures to those used to convert the
Clyde Sea data.
5.4. Results
The sub-bottom pro¢les and pro¢les of sur¢cial
sediment re£ectivity strength along the test line
are shown in Fig. 9. The displayed bottom re£ec-
tivity strength values have been smoothed over 40
shots. The calibrated bottom re£ection coe⁄cient
pro¢le and acoustically derived sediment physical
properties (porosity, bulk density and grain size)
are shown in Fig. 10. This ¢gure shows that at the
start of the line (54‡30.73PN 10‡06.00PE), based

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223 221

Fig. 10. Calibrated bottom re£ection coe⁄cient pro¢le and acoustically derived sediment physical property pro¢les, southern Bal-
tic Sea test line.

on the acoustic prediction, the sea £oor sediment
was a high-porosity, low-density soft mud and
that there was a change in sediment physical char-
acteristics along the line towards a low-porosity
sand at the end of the line (54‡31.16PN
10‡08.10PE). The comparison between the pre-
dicted sur¢cial acoustic sediment properties and
the measured properties from the remaining box
cores (BC 663, 658 and 651) show very good
agreement in the case of both bulk density and
porosity, with di¡erences between the predicted
and measured properties generally much less
than 5%. The di¡erences between the predicted
and measured grain sizes (all box cores) show
somewhat larger variation. This result is expected
as the empirical relationship between grain size
and re£ection coe⁄cient used in the inversion
routine had a much smaller correlation coe⁄cient
(than that of the porosity and density relation-
ships).

MARGO 2996 23-4-02

222 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223
6. Discussion
Because of the highly variable nature of marine
sediments and the problems associated with physi-
cally sampling sea £oor materials, geophysical re-
mote sensing methodologies probably hold the
greatest potential for sea £oor sediment classi¢ca-
tion/ characterisation for a range of geological,
environmental and engineering applications.
Within the case studies presented in this paper,
it has been demonstrated that, with only limited
ground truth information, it is possible to invert
seismic re£ection responses from high-resolution
seismic sub-bottom pro¢ler data to provide an
initial estimate of the bulk properties of the sur¢-
cial sediment cover. The level of con¢dence of the
geophysical prediction is dependent on the seismic
data quality, the quality and accuracy of the
ground truth information, and the quality of the
predictor equations used within the seismic inver-
sion routines. The equations used in this study,
from Richardson and Briggs (1993), are derived
from laboratory analyses of sur¢cial sediments
covering a range of siliciclastic sediment environ-
ments. As such, and based on the ¢ndings of these
studies, they would appear applicable for provid-
ing a ¢rst order estimate of the in situ physical
properties of the sediments within the study sites.
Regarding the individual predictions, Richardson
and Briggs’ bulk density versus impedance and
porosity versus impedance plots indicate a high
degree of correlation, hence, given accurate
ground-truthing of high-quality seismic data, the
level of con¢dence of the acoustic property pre-
dictions can be considered to be high. While there
is some scatter in Richardson and Briggs’ grain
size versus impedance plots leading to a lower
level of con¢dence in the acoustic grain size pre-
diction, the correlation between the acoustically
predicted mean grain size distribution and the
prediction based on measured grab samples for
Irvine Bay seems su⁄ciently close to lend support
to the case for adopting the methodology for de-
riving all three properties.
Concerning accuracy of the spatial prediction,
this is dependent on the source repetition rate and
on the density of survey line spacing. With re-
gards the acoustic property ‘sampling depth’ (ver-
MARGO 2996 23-4-02
tical resolution), the seismo-acoustic wavelength
ultimately determines the depth of investigation.
Assuming the ‘sur¢cial response’ is a quarter
wavelength and that the dominant frequency of
the boomer signal is 1000 Hz, then for a sediment
velocity of around 1600 m/s, the sample depth is
of the order of 40 cm. The predicted physical
properties can therefore be assumed representa-
tive of the uppermost 40 cm of the sediment col-
umn. This depth range is consistent with depths
achieved by the bottom-towed sea £oor resistivity
and shear wave systems (Jackson et al., 1980;
Davis et al., 1989) developed at UWB in the
1970s and 1980s and mentioned previously
(although the shear wave system is able to sense
the shear wave velocity structure down to several
metres below the seabed surface). Interestingly,
electrical and shear wave data obtained with
UWB’s bottom-towed geophysical sledge in an
adjacent and partially overlapping area of Irvine
Bay (reported in Huws et al., 1991), mimic the
trends seen in the acoustically predicted property
distributions presented in this paper (Figs. 6^8),
lending support to the argument for an integrated
geophysical approach to sea £oor site investiga-
tion.
7. Summary and conclusions
To summarise, the two case studies presented in
this paper have shown that it is possible to obtain
meaningful sur¢cial sediment physical properties
from inversion of digital boomer data. Given that
the seismic data were acquired with routinely op-
erated, commercially available systems, these
studies might well provide the necessary justi¢ca-
tion for extending the scope of seismic pro¢ling in
site investigation practice.
Looking to the future, research at UWB is now
focusing on developing methods of remotely in-
vestigating the physical properties of the subsur-
face to depths coincident with high-resolution site
surveys (0^40 m). To this end, a laboratory pro-
gramme has been initiated which aims to investi-
gate the in£uence of consolidation (depth of bur-
ial) on sediment acoustic^physical property
relations. It is anticipated that this work will re-
 A. Davis et al. / Marine Geology 182 (2002) 209^223
sult in a set of inversion equations applicable for
use in the inversion of subsurface re£ection re-
sponses.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their thanks to the captain
and crew of the R/V Prince Madog for their help
with data acquisition in the Clyde Sea and to the
Defence Research Agency for providing funding
for the experiments. Data for the southern Baltic
case study were acquired during experiments on-
board the German Naval Research Vessel Planet.
Thanks are due to the captain and crew of the
Planet for help during experiments, and to CBBL
colleagues, in particular Mike Richardson, the
project leader.
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