Geoacoustic provinces of the northern South China Sea based on sound speed as predicted from sediment grain sizes

The determination of geoacoustic provinces has important applications in assessing the responses of sedimentary environment and processes. Suitable geoacoustic provinces have not yet been identified in the northern South China Sea, which is an excellent study site for examining sediment acoustic pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine geophysical researches 2019-12, Vol.40 (4), p.571-579
Main Authors: Tian, Yuhang, Chen, Zhong, Hou, Zhengyu, Luo, Yun, Xu, Antao, Yan, Wen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic data
Acoustic properties
Continental shelves
Continental slope
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Fluvial sediments
Geophysics/Geodesy
Identification
Ocean floor
Oceanography
Offshore Engineering
Original Research Paper
Particle size
Pleistocene
Provinces
Quaternary
Ratios
Relict sediments
Rivers
Sea level
Sea level changes
Sediments
Sound
Sound velocity
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Summary:The determination of geoacoustic provinces has important applications in assessing the responses of sedimentary environment and processes. Suitable geoacoustic provinces have not yet been identified in the northern South China Sea, which is an excellent study site for examining sediment acoustic properties. To determine the geoacoustic provinces of sediments in the northern South China Sea, 270 position samples were collected and analysed. Two-parameter empirical equations linking sediment grain-size components to sound speed were applied to sediments from the continental shelf and slope to accurately calculate sound speed in seafloor sediments, especially in the absence of site-specific acoustic data. Based on the ratios of sound speed within the sediments, two geoacoustic provinces are identified. Province I, which is characterized by low sound speed, primarily consists of fine-grained sediments discharged from the Pearl River. Province II, which is characterized by high sound speed, can be further divided into Province II-A and Province II-B. Province II-A is composed of mixed modern and relict sediments originating from the Pearl River and the southwest coast of Taiwan during a Pleistocene drop in sea level. Province II-B consists of coarser relict sediments caused by sea level change during the late Quaternary.
ISSN:0025-3235
1573-0581
DOI:10.1007/s11001-019-09387-5