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Journal of the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A poroelastic model for ultrasonic wave attenuation in partially frozen brines

Jun Matsushima 1 4 Takao Nibe 1 2 Makoto Suzuki 1 Yoshibumi Kato 1 Shuichi Rokugawa 3
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

1 Frontier Research Center for Energy and Resources, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.

2 JGI, Inc., Meikei Building, 1-5-21 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0012, Japan.

3 Department of Technology Management for Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.

4 Corresponding author. Email: jun-matsushima@frcer.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Exploration Geophysics 42(1) 105-115 https://doi.org/10.1071/EG10045
Submitted: 25 August 2010  Accepted: 30 November 2010   Published: 25 February 2011

Abstract

Although there are many possible mechanisms for the intrinsic seismic attenuation in composite materials that include fluids, relative motion between solids and fluids during seismic wave propagation is one of the most important attenuation mechanisms. In our previous study, we conducted ultrasonic wave transmission measurements on an ice-brine coexisting system to examine the influence on ultrasonic waves of the unfrozen brine in the pore microstructure of ice. In order to elucidate the physical mechanism responsible for ultrasonic wave attenuation in the frequency range of 350–600 kHz, measured at different temperatures in partially frozen brines, we employed a poroelastic model based on the Biot theory to describe the propagation of ultrasonic waves through partially frozen brines. By assuming that the solid phase is ice and the liquid phase is the unfrozen brine, fluid properties measured by a pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance technique were used to calculate porosities at different temperatures. The computed intrinsic attenuation at 500 kHz cannot completely predict the measured attenuation results from the experimental study in an ice-brine coexisting system, which suggests that other attenuation mechanisms such as the squirt-flow mechanism and wave scattering effect should be taken into account.

Key words: attenuation mechanism, Biot theory, partially frozen brines, poroelastic, ultrasonic attenuation.


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