HR: 0800h
AN: OS41B-0601    [Abstracts]
TI: Depth Image and Seismic Geostrophy Across a Warm-Core Ring, Gulf of Mexico.
AU: * Seymour, J C
EM: joel@uwyo.edu
AF: University of Wyoming, Dept 3006 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071-3006 United States
AU: Holbrook, S W
EM: steveh@uwyo.edu
AF: University of Wyoming, Dept 3006 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071-3006 United States
AB: Recent research shows that marine seismic data contains information about the ocean overlying the seabed (Holbrook et al., 2003 and Nandi et al., 2004). We use industrial library data donated by Schlumberger ltd from a survey in the Gulf of Mexico in Aug 2001 to image water column reflections from an active source seismic survey. The GoM, in particular, is an area of interest to oceanographers and the oil industry and has been extensively surveyed by both. We reprocess legacy data to determine if we can use industrial seismic data to interpret ocean processes. The GoM is well known for a highly dynamic environment, being subject to Warm Core Rings (WCR) that periodically inject warm water from the Gulf Stream into the Gulf of Mexico. WCRs are ring events created periodically every few weeks spun off from the Gulf Stream due to turbulent flow at the mouth of the GoM. These are localized vortices of water, typically with a diameter of 100 kms that contain warm Gulf Stream water at their center and dissipate as they move north and west. We use Pre-Stack Depth Migration (PSDM) to construct a water column reflection image and model sound speeds along a cruise track. We image the seismic reflections across the warm core ring and apply seismic interpretation techniques to measure water column properties. The study demonstrates the ability of seismic data to investigate physical processes on a high-resolution space and time scale.
DE: 3025 Marine seismics (0935, 7294)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005