Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5757954 | Marine Pollution Bulletin | 2017 | 12 Pages |
Abstract
Marine Vibroseis (MV) may provide a marine seismic sound source that has less environmental impact than conventional airguns. Modelled sound levels from a realistic MV array and airgun array with similar downward energy at frequencies <Â 100Â Hz were compared under three scenarios: shallow, deep, and slope. Changing the layout of the MV array's higher frequency sources reduced sound exposure levels (SELs) by 4Â dB. At 100Â m range this MV was 20Â dB lower in peak-to-peak sound pressure level vs. the airgun array, decreasing to 12Â dB lower at 5Â km, the maximum modelled range for peak levels. SELs were less clear-cut, but for both shallow and deep water, MV produced 8Â dB lower SELs than the airguns at 100Â km range because of MV's reduced bandwidth. Overall, MV produced lower broadband SELs, especially at long range, and lower peak pressure, especially at short range, than airguns.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Oceanography
Authors
Alec J. Duncan, Linda S. Weilgart, Russell Leaper, Michael Jasny, Sharon Livermore,