Naval Mine Impact Burial Prediction using Seafloor Database,Experiment, and GIS Technologies |
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| Authors: | Chris Jenkins Thomas Wever |
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| Institution: | 1. INSTAAR, University of Colorado , Boulder, Colorado, USA chris.jenkins@colorado.edu;3. Forschungsanstalt der Bundeswehr für Wasserschall und Geophysik , Kiel, Germany |
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| Abstract: | The possibility of naval mines buried in the seafloor poses difficulties for navies concerned with port and seaway operations. To devise countermeasures, predictions of degrees of impact burial over wide areas of seabed must be made. Under ideal conditions, this is done with a knowledge of local seabed shear strengths, but in practice, such data are rarely available. We describe an alternative prediction method. Probabilistic predictions of mine impact burial are made across areas of variable seafloor by combining data on sedimentary character directly with experimental impact burial results. The most useful seafloor characteristics are mud content and consolidation. The predictions are relatively accurate (SD 1–22%), and are computable in detail over wide geographic areas. They are of a form immediately useful for naval operations (including calculations of risk) and are easily displayed in geographic information systems (GIS). An example is shown for the northern Gulf of Mexico. |
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| Keywords: | naval mine impact burial probabilistic prediction seabed seafloor character |
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