Low Frequency Acoustic Characterisation of Unconsolidated Synthetic Sediment Samples

P035 LOW FREQUENCY ACOUSTIC CHARACTERISATION OF UNCONSOLIDATED SYNTHETIC SEDIMENT SAMPLES Introduction 1 Unconsolidated gravel deposits are frequently encountered in the context of high-resolution CHIRP and boomer seismic surveys of marine continental shelves for submarine engineering and exploration purposes. The acoustic and geotechnical properties of such sediments however are poorly understood resulting in imaging and interpretation problems with the resultant seismic data. Hence there is a need to investigate the acoustic properties of clastic and biogenic gravel deposits typically encountered on the seafloor and immediate subsurface (sub-bottom) of continental shelves at sonic frequencies similar to those used in marine surveying and