1996/01/01 by S. S. Fu, R. H. Wilkens, Roy H Wilkens +2 · 39 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · #Acoustics #Attenuation #Channel (broadcasting) #Core (optical fiber) #Geology #Geomorphology #Geophysical Methods and Applications #In situ #Meteorology #Oceanography #Optics #Paleontology #Physics #Ridge #Seafloor spreading #Sediment #Seismic Imaging and Inversion Techniques #Telecommunications #Underwater Acoustics Research
paper · doi:10.1121/1.414506
published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 99(1), 234-242 (Acoustical Society of America)
openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
The acoustic lance is an instrument developed to obtain in situ compressional wave velocity and attenuation (Q−1) profiles for a sedimentary layer of several meters thickness at the sediment–seawater interface. The self-contained instrument consists of ten independent recording channels with a linear array of receivers embedded in the seafloor below a broadband acoustic source. It provides in situ recording of full waveforms to determine interval velocity and attenuation. The system can be attached to a gravity corer or to a specially designed probe. A comprehensive experiment was carried out in Mid-Atlantic Ridge sediment ponds where the lance made in situ measurements, and core samples were recovered. Core data agree well with in situ data in one location, but disagree in other locations. Lance data indicate that the sediment ponds have similar in situ velocity distributions, with an acoustic channel much thinner than that predicted by earlier investigators.