Dispersion of interface waves in sediments with power-law shear speed profiles. II. Experimental observations and seismo-acoustic inversions

The propagation of seismic interface waves is investigated in soft marine sediments in which the density is constant, the shear modulus is small, and the profile of shear speed c, versus depth z is of the power-law form c(s)(z) = c(0)z(v), in which c(0) and v are constants (0 < V < 1). Both the phase speed V and the group speed U of interface waves scale with frequency as f(v/(v-1)) and they obey the simple relation U = (1 - v) V. These relations are derived in a simple way using ray theory and the WKB method; a companion paper [O. A. Godin and D. M. F. Chapman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 1890 (2001)] rigorously derives the same result from the solutions to the equations of motion. The frequency scaling is shown to exist in experimental data sets of interface wave phase speed and cr group speed. Approximate analytical formulas for the dispersion relations (phase and group speed versus frequency) enable direct inversion of the profile parameters co and v from the experimental data. In cases for which there is multi-mode dispersion data, the water-sediment density ratio can be determined as well. The theory applies to vertically polarized (P-SV) modes as well as to horizontally polarized (SH) modes (that is, Love waves). (C) 2001 Acoustical Society of America.