PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MARINE SEDIMENTS AS RELATED TO SEISMIC VELOCITIES

An investigation of the dependence of seismic velocities on different physical properties of naturally occurring fresh-water sediments in Lake Erie has been conducted. Cores from one lake bottom were collected and the longitudinal seismic wave velocities as well as the physical properties (grain density, bulk density, porosity, median diameter, and phi deviation) were measured. The data were fitted with a second-order polynomial in all the physical properties to the seismic velocity. Independent variables were ranked according to their individual effect upon the sum of the squares of the regression residuals. A variance-analysis table was set up, and the coefficients were tested by a series of F ratios at certain probabilities. As porosity and bulk density are linearly related, these were not included together in the same model. There are strong indications that the porosity and its square together with the median diameter play a significant role in determining the seismic velocity at the probability of 0.90. At the higher probability of 0.99, the median diameter proved insignificant. The cubic term of porosity is insignificant at the 0.50 level. © 1969 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.