Seismic imaging of S-wave structures of shallow sediments in the East China Sea using OBN multicomponent Scholte-wave data

The shear-wave (S-wave) structures of shallow marine sediments are important for offshore geotechnical studies, deep crustal S-wave imaging, multicomponent seismic exploration, and underwater acoustics studies. We have applied the multicomponent Scholte-wave analysis technique to an active-source shallow marine seismic profile in the East China Sea. Scholte waves have been excited by shots from a 5450 inch3 air-gun array and their recordings have been conducted at the seafloor using ocean bottom nodes (OBNs). First, we extract the common-receiver gathers (CRGs) and correct for the time drift simultaneously using a forward and inverse fast Fourier transform resampling algorithm. Three CRGs of seismic sensors are used for Scholte-wave analysis. Raw sensor CRGs are rotated to the inline, crossline, and vertical coordinate system. The rotated tilt and roll angle are directed using the inner electric compass log value, and the shot inline azimuth is estimated using the particle motion method. Then, the velocity spectra are calculated from the inline and vertical components using the phase-shift method. Higher Scholte-wave modes dominate on the horizontal components, whereas the stronger fundamental mode dominates on the vertical components. The multicomponent velocity spectrum stacking method is adopted to produce the final dispersion energy image. Up to four modes of dispersion curves are retrieved within the 1.1–4.3 Hz frequency band. The multimode dispersion curve inversion is constructed for imaging the shallow sediments. The results suggest a low [Formula: see text] of 180–650 m/s and few lateral variations within the top 0.5 km of shallow marine sediments in the East China Sea. This model can provide an important reference for offshore geotechnical investigations, especially for OBN multicomponent seismic exploration data processing. The use of OBNs has high feasibility in [Formula: see text] imaging for shallow marine sediments when combined with the Scholte-wave dispersion-curve inversion.