The United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of the Interior

Jeffrey C Wynn

A system for mapping and characterizing a hydrocarbon plume in seawater by measuring seawater capacitance. Multiple streamer cables are towed in the sea behind a ship, each at a different depth, simultaneously. Each streamer cable includes transmitters and receivers at the free end thereof. The free ends of the streamer cables pass through the plume and the transmitters transmit an electrical current into the plume. The receivers detect any secondary signals produced by capacitive effects of the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon and dispersant surrounded by conductive seawater in response to the inducing electrical current. Pre-amplifiers connected to the receivers and a two-step calibration procedure and various grounding and shielding steps provide noise rejection. An electronics system on board the ship processes the secondary signals to provide immediate development of detailed maps of plume location, and to provide tracking and characterization of how the plume changes shape and character over time.

Measuring seawater capacitance in three dimensions as well as time

A method is provided for detecting minerals and metal-containing materials which are located in sediment deposits on the sea floor and which exhibit an induced polarization response. In this method, a streamer cable is towed in the sea behind a ship. The cable has transmitters and receivers at the free end thereof and the cable is towed such that this free end is close to or trenches into the sea floor. The transmitters are used to transmit a square wave electrical current into the sediment of the sea floor while the receivers are used detect to any secondary signals produced by an induced polarization source located on or in the sea floor in response to the electrical current. The secondary signals are processed to determine measurement parameters characteristic of the source of the secondary signals so as to identify the source and using simultaneously acquired global positional data, to determine the location of the source.

Induced polarization method using towed cable carrying transmitters and receivers for identifying minerals on the ocean floor

A system is provided for detecting minerals and metal-containing materials which are located in sediment deposits on the sea floor and which exhibit an induced polarization response. A streamer cable, which, in use, is towed in the sea behind a ship, includes a series of transmitters and receivers at the free end thereof. The cable is towed such that the free end is in contact with to the sea floor and the transmitters are used to transmit a square wave electrical current into the sediment there. The receivers are used to detect any secondary signals produced by an induced polarization source located on or beneath the sea floor in response to electrical current. Pre-amplifiers connected to the receivers provide noise rejection. On-board electronics process the secondary signals to determine measurement parameters characteristic of the source thereof so as to identify the source. A computer uses this information, together with simultaneously acquired global position data, to determine the location of the source.

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Camas, WA, United States of America

Jeffrey C Wynn