The Marine Technology and Environmental Research group of the University of Bremen has been specializing in high-resolution seismo-acoustic investigations since over a decade. The group is headed by Prof. Dr. Volkhard Spieß and currently consists of three post-docs and four PhD as well as several Master students.

The group's activity focuses on the acquisition, processing, and interpretation of multi-frequency seismic and acoustic data. The main research directions include sediment transport processes and deposition patterns, cold vents and associated shallow structures, and the occurrence of gas hydrates and free gas within the sub-seafloor.

Tasks

The contribution will cover the acquisition, processing, and interpretation of multi-frequency, multi-scale seismic data to characterize and quantify the gas charge in the shallow subsurface (0 - 100m below seafloor). The work includes both a mapping and a methodological part. Gas quantification has rarely been done in shallow water with an imaging technique such as airgun seismics, which provides the only way to completely penetrate the gas-charged sediment unit, thus allowing approaches such as AVO analysis, tomography, surface wave analysis. A comparison within the seismo-acoustic frequency range from airgun through boomer to echosounder, swath sounder and side scan frequencies shall provide a multiscale study on attenuation, patchiness, reflectivity etc. The joint interpretation of these data sets will include the generation of frequency-dependent seismic attributes, which are quite sensitive to variations in gas content.