Relating tensile strength to acoustic and biological properties of sediments along a mud-sand gradient in Mobile Bay, AL

• DOI: 10.1121/10.0008550
• Publication Date: 2021-11-18T23:54:43Z
• Authors: Kelly M. Dorgan; Grant Lockridge; Madeline R. Frey; W. Cyrus Clemo; Gabriel R. Venegas; Kevin M. Lee; Megan S. Ballard; Nina Stark; Nick Brilli; Joseph Calantoni
• Keywords: Penetrometer; Speed of Sound

Nearshore and estuarine sediments experience varying sediment inputs that create sharp gradients in properties over fairly small vertical horizontal distances. In this study, we explored the sand-mud transition cores collected from Mobile Bay, AL, with acoustic geotechnical approaches. A custom built instrument was used to measure depth profiles of tensile strength at cm-scale resolution. These measurements were compared sound speed attenuation across a range frequencies. Cores exhibited gradient sand mud study area sandy layer on top muddier most cores. This explicitly examines relationship between strength-related such as cohesion can be measured situ more easily than textural (e.g., porosity grain size). We compare our data normal incidence portable free fall penetrometer well infaunal community composition better relate acoustic, geotechnical, biological sediments.