Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1981. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science / Vita. / Includes bibliographies. / by John Crowe. / Ph.D.

Measuring the impact of physical disturbance on macrofaunal communities and sediment composition is important given the increased demand for the exploitation and disturbance of marine ecosystems. The aim of the present investigation was to provide a comprehensive study about the extent to which the disturbance (especially aggregate dredging) may affect benthic ecosystem function. The first part of the thesis concerns a field investigation of the impacts of dredging on the benthic community and related ecosystem function which was measured by different approaches including traditional methods based on benthic community structure and a more novel approach based on the functional traits of benthic organisms. The assessment was done by comparing dredged sites (Area 222, southeast England) with nearby undisturbed reference sites from the years 2001 to 2004 and in 2007. In general, low dredging intensity did not appear to impose great impacts on the benthic community and related ecosystem function compared to the higher intensity activity. Most of the analyses suggested that the community at the high dredging intensity site had yet to recover at the end of this study period. Among many factors related to the recovery of the benthic community was sediment composition where gravel deposits appeared to support a faster biological recovery. Meanwhile, the recovery of species with specific traits, such as tube-building and filter feeding also indicate a faster recovery for the whole community. The experimental work to determine different impacts of Hediste diversicolor on its surrounding depending on its relative size is discussed in Appendix 1.

Thesis: Ph. D., Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis examines abiotic processes controlling the transformation and distribution of carbon compounds in seafloor hydrothermal systems hosted in ultramafic rock. These processes have a direct impact on carbon budgets in the oceanic lithosphere and on the sustenance of microorganisms inhabiting hydrothermal vent ecosystems. Where mantle peridotite interacts with carbon-bearing aqueous fluids in the subseafloor, dissolved inorganic carbon can precipitate as carbonate minerals or undergo reduction by H2(aq) to form reduced carbon species. In Chapters 2 and 3, I conduct laboratory experiments to assess the relative extents of carbonate formation and CO2 reduction during alteration of peridotite by C02(aq)-rich fluids. Results from these experiments reveal that formation of carbonate minerals is favorable on laboratory timescales, even at high H2(aq) concentrations generated by serpentinization reactions. Although CO2(aq) attains rapid metastable equilibrium with formate, formation of thermodynamically stable CH4(aq) is kinetically limited on timescales relevant for active fluid circulation in the subseafloor. It has been proposed that CH4 and potentially longer-chain hydrocarbons may be sourced, instead, from fluid inclusions hosted in plutonic and mantle rocks. Chapter 4 analyzes CH4-rich fluid inclusions in olivine-rich basement rocks from the Von Damm hydrothermal field and the Zambales ophiolite to better understand the origin of abiotic hydrocarbons in ultramaficinfluenced hydrothermal systems. Comparisons of hydrocarbon abundances and stable isotopic compositions in fluid inclusions and associated vent fluids suggest that fluid inclusions may provide a significant contribution of abiotic hydrocarbons to both submarine and continental serpentinization systems. / by Niya Gueorguieva Grozeva. / Ph. D.

The Gulf of Mexico Basin Opening project (GUMBO) is a study of the lithological composition and structural evolution of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) that uses Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) data from four transects in the Northern GoM. I examine 39 OBS shot records in the easternmost transect for shear wave arrivals and pick shear wave travel times from the 11 usable records. I then carry out a tomographic inversion of seismic refraction travel times. I use the resulting shear-wave velocity model in conjunction with a previously constructed P-wave model to examine the relationship between Vp and Vs. I compare velocities in the sediment and basement with empirical velocities from previous studies for the purpose of constraining lithological composition below the transect and make an interpretation of the structural evolution of the eastern GoM. The seismic velocities for crust landward of the Florida Escarpment are consistent with normal continental crust. Seaward of the Escarpment, velocities in the upper oceanic crust are anomalously high (Vp = 6.5 – 7 km/sec; Vs = 4.0 – 4.6 km/sec). A possible explanation for this observation is that GoM basalt formation consisted of basaltic sheet flows, forming oceanic crust that does not contain the vesicularity and lower seismic velocities found in typical pillow basalts. Increased magnesium and iron content could also account for these high velocities. Seismic refraction and reflection data provide a means of investigating the nature of the Moho in the northeastern GoM. I use a finite difference method to generate synthetic record sections for data from eight instruments that are part of the two easternmost GUMBO seismic lines (lines 3 & 4). I then vary the thickness of the Moho in these synthetic models and compare the results with the original receiver gather to examine the effects this variability has on amplitudes. The data from the instruments chosen for these two lines are representative of continental and transitional crust. The finite difference models indicate that the Moho beneath GUMBO 3 is ~1500 m thick based on the onset and amplitudes of PmP arrivals. All five instruments display consistent results. The instruments along GUMBO 4 suggest a Moho almost twice as thick as GUMBO 3 on the landward end of the transect that grades into a Moho of similar thickness (1750 m) in the deep water GoM. The three instruments used to model the Moho in this area show that the Moho ranges from ~1750 to 3500 m in thickness. The sharper boundary beneath continental crust in GUMBO Line 3 supports other evidence that suggests magmatic underplating and volcanism in the northern GoM during the mid-Jurassic. The thicker Moho seen on the landward end of GUMBO Line 4 that is overlain by continental crust was likely unaffected by GoM rifting. Therefore, the Moho beneath the Florida Platform might be as old as the Suwannee Terrane, and complex Moho structure is not uncommon for ancient continental crust. / text

Depuis les séismes dévastateurs de 1999 d’Izmit et de Duzce, la partie immergée de la Faille Nord Anatolienne (FNA)en Mer de Marmara fait l’objet d’une intense surveillance. Malgré cela, la micro-sismicité demeure mal connue. Par ailleurs, alors que la connexion avec le système pétrolier du Bassin de Thrace est établie, le rôle du gaz sur la sismicité n’a pas été identifié.Dans ce travail, nous avons analysé des données d’OBS (Ocean Bottom Seismometers) acquises dans la partie ouest de la Mer de Marmara (en avril-juillet 2011 et septembre-novembre 2014), à partir de méthodes non-linéaires –NonLinLocet d’un modèle 3D de vitesses. Une grande partie de la sismicité se produit à des profondeurs inférieures à 6 km environ : le long de failles secondaires, héritées de l’histoire complexe de la FNA ; ou dans des couches de sédiments superficiels (< 1 km) riches en gaz. Cette sismicité superficielle semble être associée à des processus liés au gaz, déclenchés par les séismes profonds de magnitude M1 > 4.5 qui se produisent régulièrement le long de la MMF.Par ailleurs, 2 familles de signaux de courte durée (<1s), dits ≪ SDE ≫ (pour Short Duration Event) apparaissent sur les enregistrements : 1) les SDE se produisant à raison de quelques dizaines de SDE/jour, en réponse à des causes locales (i.e. bioturbation, activité biologique, micro-bullage de fond de mer, mouvements à l’interface eau/sédiment), etc ; 2) lesSDE se produisant par ≪paquets≫, dont certains sont enregistrés sur les 4 composantes (y compris l’hydrophone) et apparaissent de manière périodique, toutes les 1.8 s environ, en réponse à diverses causes qui restent à déterminer (parmi lesquelles : les mammifères marins ; l’activité humaine ; la sismicité ; le dégazage ; les ≪trémors≫ sismiques ; etc). / Since the devastating earthquakes of 1999, east of Istanbul, the submerged section of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), in the Sea of Marmara (SoM) has been intensively monitored, mainly using land stations. Still, the micro-seismicity remains poorly understood. In addition, although the connection of the SoM with the hydrocarbon gas system from the Thrace Basin is now well established, along with the presence of widespread gas within the sedimentary layers, the role of gas on seismicity is still not recognized.Here, we have analyzed Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) data from two deployments (April-July 2011 and September-November 2014) in the western SoM. Based on a high-resolution, 3D-velocity model, and on non-linear methods (NonLinLoc), our location results show that a large part of the micro-seismicity occurs at shallow depths (< 6 a 8 km): along secondary faults, inherited from the complex history of the North-Anatolian shear zone; or within the uppermost (< 1 km), gas-rich, sediment layers. Part of this ultra-shallow seismicity is likely triggered by the deep earthquakes of intermediate magnitude (Ml > 4.5) that frequently occur along the western segments of the MMF.In addition, OBSs also record at least two families of short duration (<1 sec) events (SDEs): 1) “background SDEs” occurring on a permanent, at a rate of a few tens of SDEs/day, resulting from many possible, local causes, e. g.: degassing from the seafloor, biological activity near the seabed, bioturbation, etc; 2) “swarmed SDEs”, among which some are recorded also on the hydrophone, and characterized by a periodicity of ~ 1.8 seconds. The causes of these SDEs still remain to be determined (among which: anthropogenic causes, marine mammals, gas emissions, regional seismicity, tremors from the MMF, etc).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Applied Ocean Sciences)--Joint Program in Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), February 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-170). / Sound propagation in shallow water is highly dependent on the interaction of the sound field with the bottom. In order to fully understand this problem, it is necessary to obtain reliable estimates of bottom geoacoustic properties that can be used in acoustic propagation codes. In this thesis, perturbative inversion methods and exact inverse methods are discussed as a means for inferring geoacoustic properties of the bottom. For each of these methods, the input data to the inversion is the horizontal wavenumber spectrum of a point-source acoustic field. The main thrust of the thesis work concerns extracting horizontal wavenumber content for fully three-dimensionally varying waveguide environments. In this context, a high-resolution autoregressive (AR) spectral estimator was applied to determine wavenumber content for short aperture data. As part of this work, the AR estimator was examined for its ability to detect discrete wavenumbers in the presence of noise and also to resolve closely spaced wavenumbers for short aperture data. As part of a geoacoustic inversion workshop, the estimator was applied to extract horizontal wavenumber content for synthetic pressure field data with range-varying geoacoustic properties in the sediment. The resulting wavenumber content was used as input data to a perturbative inverse algorithm to determine the sound speed profile in the sediment. It was shown using the high-resolution wavenumber estimator that both the shape and location of the range-variability in the sediment could be determined. / (cont.) The estimator was also applied to determine wavenumbers for synthetic data where the water column sound speed contained temporal variations due to the presence of internal waves. It was shown that reliable estimates of horizontal wavenumbers could be obtained that are consistent with the boundary conditions of the waveguide. The Modal Mapping Experiment (MOMAX), an experimental method for measuring the full spatial variability of a propagating sound field and its corresponding modal content in two-dimensions, is also discussed. The AR estimator is applied to extract modal content from the real data and interpreted with respect to source/receiver motion and geometry. For a moving source, it is shown that the wavenumber content is Doppler shifted. A method is then described that allows the direct measure of modal group velocities from Doppler shifted wavenumber spectra. Finally, numerical studies are presented addressing the practical issues associated with using MOMAX type data in the exact inversion method of Gelfand-Levitan. / by Kyle M. Becker. / Ph.D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-45). / Grain size is an important material property that has significant effects on the viscosity, dominant deformation mechanism, attenuation, and shear wave velocity of the oceanic upper mantle. Several studies have investigated the kinetics of grain size evolution, but have yet to incorporate these evolution equations into large-scale flow models of the oceanic upper mantle. We construct self-consistent 1.5-D steady-state Couette flow models for the oceanic upper mantle to constrain how grain size evolves with depth assuming a composite diffusion-dislocation creep rheology. We investigate the importance of water content by examining end-member models for a dry, wet, and dehydrated mantle (with dehydration above -60-70 km depth). We find that grain size increases with depth, and varies with both plate age and water content. Specifically, the dehydration model predicts a grain size of -11 mm at a depth of 150 km for 75 Myr-old oceanic mantle. This results in a viscosity of -1019 Pa s, consistent with estimates from geoid and glacial rebound studies. We also find that deformation is dominated by dislocation creep beneath -60-70 km depth, in agreement with observations of seismic anisotropy in the oceanic upper mantle. The calculated grain size profiles are input into a Burger's model system to calculate seismic quality factor (Q) and shear wave velocity (Vs). For ages older than 50 Myrs, we find that Q and Vs predicted by the dehydration case best match seismic reference models for Q and the low seismic shear wave velocity zone (LVZ) observed in the oceanic upper mantle. / by James R. Elsenbeck, II. / S.M.

Macroinvertebrates constitute the backbone of megafaunal communities in benthic ecosystems around the globe. Many macroinvertebrates have vital roles in benthic ecosystems, ranging from enhancing habitat complexity to providing staple food sources for other organisms. Regardless of how familiar macroinvertebrates are to the general public, very few studies have attempted to describe benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages across large spatial scale in the continental shelf waters of the Pacific Northwest. This study describes different subtidal macroinvertebrate assemblages off Washington and Oregon based on species-substrata associations and the key species that distinguish one assemblage from another. Two data sets were used for this study: underwater footage collected by the submersible Delta during 1993-1995 geological surveys, and footage collected by the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hammerhead during macroinvertebrate surveys in late summer 2011. Footages from these surveys were used to document species-substrata associations and distinguish different assemblages based on species composition similarities and dissimilarities. In addition, I determined if a specific group of invertebrates, Asteroids (Echinodermata), were useful in explaining different assemblage patterns, after all other environmental parameters were taken into account. Findings of this study can be used not only to shed light on the structure of macroinvertebrate communities in the Pacific Northwest, but also as baseline data for future research on the direct and indirect effects of potential offshore installations on macroinvertebrate communities across the continental shelf waters. / Graduation date: 2012

Overpressure, or abnormally low effective pressures, is hazardous in drilling operations and construction of sea-bottom facilities in deepwater environments. Estimation of the locations of overpressure can improve safety in these operations and significantly reduce overall project costs. Propagation velocities of both seismic P and S wave are sensitive to bulk elastic parameters and density of the sediments, which can be related to porosity, pore fluid content, lithology, and effective pressures. Overpressured areas can be analyzed using 4C seismic reflection data, which includes P-P and P-SV reflections. In this thesis, the effects on compressional (P) and shear (S) wave velocities are investigated to estimate the magnitude and location of excess pore pressure utilizing Eaton’s approach for pressure prediction (Eaton, 1969). Eaton’s (1969) method relates changes in pore pressure to changes in seismic P-wave velocity. The underlying assumption of this method utilizes the ratio of observed P-wave velocity obtained from areas of both normal and abnormal pressure. This velocity ratio evaluated through an empirically determined exponent is then related to the ratio of effective stress under normal and abnormal pressure conditions. Effective stress in a normal pressured condition is greater than the effective stress value in abnormally overpressured conditions. Due to an increased sensitivity of variations in effective pressure to seismic interval velocity, Ebrom et al. (2003) employ a modified Eaton equation to incorporate the S-wave velocity in pore pressure prediction. The data preparation and subsequent observations of seismic P and S wave velocity estimates in this thesis represent a preliminary analysis for pore pressure prediction. Six 2D receiver gathers in the regional dip direction are extracted from six individual ocean-bottom 4C seismic recording nodes for P-P and P-SV velocity analysis. The receiver gathers employed have minimal pre-processing procedures applied. The main processing steps applied were: water bottom mute, 2D rotation of horizontal components to SV and SH orientation, deconvolution, and frequency filtering. Most the processing was performed in Matlab with a volume of scripts designed by research scientists from the University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology. In this thesis, fluid pressure prediction is estimated utilizing several 4C multicomponent ocean-bottom nodes in the Atlantis Field in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Velocity analysis is performed through a ray tracing approach utilizing P-P and P-SV registration. A modified Eaton’s Algorithm is then used for pore pressure prediction using both P and S wave velocity values. I was able to successfully observe both compressional and shear wave velocities to sediment depths of approximately 800 m below the seafloor. Using Hamilton (1972, 1976) and Eberhart-Phillips et al. (1989) regressions as background depth dependent velocity values and well-log derived background effective pressure values from deepwater Gulf of Mexico, I am able to solve for predicted effective pressure for the study area. The results show that the Atlantis subsurface study area experiences a degree of overpressure. / text

L'estiu de 2005, es varen instal·lar un sismòmetre de fons marí (OBS, sigles en anglès d'Ocean Bottom Seimometer) permanent, de tres components i banda ampla, i un sensor diferencial de pressió, a les immediacions de la plataforma petrolífera Casablanca (Repsol Investigaciones Petrolíferas S.A.), a uns 150 m de fondària i 50 km de la costa de Tarragona. Aquesta iniciativa, pionera a l'Estat espanyol, es va portar a terme en el marc del projecte Casablanca (REN2003-06577), concedit pel Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia a l'Institut Geològic de Catalunya (IGC) i l'Observatori de l'Ebre, amb l'objectiu de caracteritzar la detectabilitat de l'OBS i millorar el coneixement de la sismicitat i el risc sísmic a la zona. L'any 2007, després d'una reinstal·lació dels sensors en què es varen introduir millores, la transmissió satèl·lit en temps real del senyal al centre de recepció de dades sísmiques a l'IGC de Barcelona va possibilitar la integració de l'OBS a la xarxa sísmica de Catalunya.L'anàlisi de soroll sísmic ambiental a l'emplaçament de l'OBS Casablanca mostra nivells alts als tres components, especialment a baixes freqüències i a la banda microsísmica. Així mateix, s'observen variacions estacionals i la influència de les condicions meteorològiques i oceanogràfiques. La comparació dels nivells de soroll a l'OBS Casablanca amb el d'un altre OBS situat a la mar de Ligúria, amb una instrumentació semblant, però instal·lat a una fondària de 2500 m, mostra un comportament més sorollós a Casablanca, probablement a causa de la menor profunditat a què està situat.Tot i el seu comportament sorollós, l'OBS Casablanca ha enregistrat diversos sismes locals, regionals i telesismes. Malgrat la petita magnitud i l'escassesa de terratrèmols locals succeïts durant el període de funcionament de l'OBS, l'estació ha mostrat la seva utilitat de cara a la millora de les localitzacions hipocentrals dels sismes propers amb epicentre a la mar. Noves dades permetran la validació d'aquest resultat.El senyal de l'OBS Casablanca, juntament amb el d'estacions situades a la Península Ibèrica, el nord d'Àfrica i les Illes Balears, s'ha pogut utilitzar amb èxit en un estudi de tomografia d'ones superficials amb soroll sísmic ambiental realitzat al NE de la Península. El procediment de l'estudi tomogràfic ha inclòs un tractament del senyal a fi de minimitzar l'energia aportada pels terratrèmols i normalitzar les amplituds a totes les freqüències. Mitjançant el càlcul de la correlació creuada per a tots els parells d'estacions disponibles durant un període de més d'un any, s'ha trobat un senyal equivalent a la funció de Green del medi, que ha possibilitat la mesura de la velocitat de grup i de fase. La representació dels resultats en forma de mapes de dispersió mostra zones d'altes i baixes velocitats, coherents amb les principals estructures geològiques de l'escorça i part del mantell superior. / Durante el verano de 2005, se instalaron un sismómetro de fondo marino (OBS, siglas en inglés de Ocean Bottom Seismometer) permanente, de tres componentes y banda ancha, y un sensor diferencial de presión, en las inmediaciones de la plataforma petrolífera Casablanca (Repsol Investigaciones Petrolíferas S.A.), a unos 150 m de profundidad y 50 km de la costa de Tarragona. Esta iniciativa, pionera en España, se llevó a cabo en el marco del proyecto Casablanca (REN2003-06577), concedido por el Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia al Institut Geològic de Catalunya (IGC) y al Observatori de l'Ebre, con el objetivo de caracterizar la detectabilidad del OBS y mejorar el conocimiento de la sismicidad y el riesgo sísmico en la zona. En el año 2007, después de una reinstalación en la que se introdujeron mejoras, la transmisión satélite en tiempo real de la señal al centro de recepción de datos sísmicos del IGC en Barcelona posibilitó la integración del OBS a la red sísmica de Cataluña.El análisis del ruido sísmico ambiental en el emplazamiento del OBS Casablanca muestra niveles altos en las tres componentes, especialmente a bajas frecuencias y en la banda microsísmica. También se observan variaciones estacionales y la influencia de las condiciones meteorológicas y oceanográficas. La comparación de los niveles de ruido en el OBS Casablanca con los de otro OBS situado en el mar de Liguria, de instrumentación similar, pero instalado a 2500 m de profundidad, muestra un comportamiento más ruidoso en Casablanca, probablemente a causa de la menor profundidad a la que está situado.Aunque de comportamiento ruidoso, el OBS Casablanca ha registrado numerosos seísmos locales, regionales y teleseísmos. A pesar de la pequeña magnitud y la escasez de terremotos locales durante el periodo de funcionamiento del OBS, la estación ha mostrado su utilidad de cara a la mejora de las localizaciones hipocentrales de los seísmos cercanos con epicentro en el mar. Nuevos datos permitirán la validación de este resultado.La señal del OBS Casablanca, junto con la de estaciones situadas en la Península Ibérica, el norte de África y las Islas Baleares, se ha podido utilizar con éxito en un estudio de tomografía de ondas superficiales con ruido sísmico ambiental realizado al NE de la Península. El procedimiento del estudio tomográfico ha incluido el tratamiento de la señal para minimizar la energía aportada por los terremotos y normalizar las amplitudes para todas las frecuencias. Mediante el cálculo de la correlación cruzada para todos los pares de estaciones disponibles durante un periodo de más de un año, se ha obtenido una señal equivalente a la función de Green del medio, que ha posibilitado la medida de la velocidad de grupo y de fase. La representación de los resultados en forma de mapas de dispersión muestra zonas de altas y bajas velocidades, coherentes con las principales estructuras geológicas de la corteza y parte del manto superior. / During the summer of 2005, a three-component broad-band permanent ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) and a differential pressure gauge were deployed near the Casablanca oil platform (Repsol Investigaciones Petrolíferas S.A.) at a depth of about 150 m and 50 km away from the Tarragona coast (NE Iberian Peninsula). This initiative, pioneer in Spain, was carried out within the framework of the Casablanca project (RES2003-06577), given by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia to the Institut Geològic de Catalunya (IGC) and to the Observatori de l'Ebre. The aim of this project was to characterize the OBS detection threshold and to improve the knowledge of the seismicity and seismic risk in the area around. In 2007 satellite transmission was implemented to have continuous and real time data, which allowed integrating the OBS into the Catalan Seismic Network.A seismic ambient noise analysis at the Casablanca OBS site shows high levels on the three components, especially at low frequencies and at the microseismic band. Seasonal variations and the meteorological and oceanographic conditions influence are also observed. The comparison between Casablanca OBS noise levels and those from another OBS placed at the Ligurian Sea, equipped with similar instrumentation but installed at a depth of 2500 m, shows that the Casablanca site is noisier, probably due to its shallower deployment.Despite its noisy behaviour, the Casablanca OBS has recorded a number of local and regional earthquakes and teleseisms. Only few close small events have occurred during the OBS running period. Nevertheless, the station has shown its utility to improve hipocentral locations of close earthquakes with the epicentre offshore.The Casablanca OBS signal, together with that from stations placed at the Iberian Peninsula, northern Africa and Balearic Islands, has been successfully used in a surface wave tomographic study from ambient noise in the NE Iberian Peninsula. The tomographic study includes a signal processing to minimize the energy from earthquakes and to normalize the amplitudes for all frequencies. A signal equivalent to the Green function has been obtained through the cross-correlation between all the possible station pairs during a period longer than one year, allowing the measurement of group and phase velocities. The results, which are presented as dispersion maps, show areas of high and low velocities that are coherent with the main crust and upper mantle geological structures.