Estimating deep sediment sound speed from head waves at the New England shelf break.

Abstract

Head-wave arrivals generated by explosive sources and recorded on a vertical line array were analyzed to estimate deep sediment sound-speed structure at the New England shelf break. Arrival times associated with two subsurface interfaces were identified using beamformed elevation angles and fit with a linear travel-time model. The resulting geoacoustic model includes layers with sound speeds of 1728 ± 14 and 2324 ± 55 m/s located 137 ± 36 and 410 ± 53 m below the seafloor, respectively. Predicted head-wave arrival times derived from the model are consistent with corresponding arrivals observed on an independently deployed seabed recorder.