高屏海域TOPAS底質資料分析研究

This study establishes the acquisition and
processing capabilities of the TOPAS subbottom
profiling system, and also evaluates
the techniques of estimating the acoustic
properties of seafloor sediments offshore
southwestern Taiwan from TOPAS subbottom
profiling data. This brief report
summarizes the research work carried out for
this project and presents the major results. A
complete written report with detailed
documentation will be submitted separately.
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Over 1,100 km of TOPAS profile data
have been acquired offshore southwestern
Taiwan. These data were processed and
analyzed, then correlated with corresponding
geo-acoustic properties derived from core
sample analyses. Major results of this study
are:
1. The quality and reliability of the
TOPAS profile are affected by the roughness
of the seafloor topography and by the proper
selection of system parameters during data
acquisition.
2. There is a good correlation
between the sedimentary properties and the
characteristics of the TOPAS profile images.
Sandy sediments usually present images of
high seafloor reflection but little penetration,
while silty and muddy sediments show good
layering structures below seafloor and deep
penetration of the sonar energy.
This study demonstrates that a rough
estimation of the seafloor sedimentary
properties can be achieved using TOPAS
profile data.