In situ geoacoustic systems and measurements in a variety of carbonate and siliciclastic environments

In situ geoacoustic data collected from the Dry Tortugas and Marquesas as part of the Coastal Benthic Boundary Layer Special Research Program using a new suite of in situ probes developed by the Naval Research Laboratory agree well with predicted values of shear wave velocity. When compared with data from a number of siliciclastic environments, it is evident that for a given porosity, carbonate sediments always have a higher shear wave velocity than siliciclastic sediments. This is because the effective porosity in carbonate sediments is interparticle porosity, only part of the bulk porosity but in siliciclastic sediments, the measured bulk porosity and interparticle porosity are the same