Characteristics of Background Noise in the Oldest-1 Array Deployed on the Oldest Part of the Pacific Plate

Abstract

ABSTRACT We characterize the sources of background noise recorded by an ocean-bottom seismometer array deployed on the oldest oceanic lithosphere of the western Pacific plate. This igneous oceanic crust is blanketed up to 1000 m cover of sediments, making it a unique place to investigate correlations between sediment thickness and background noise levels in the marine environment. Although the data are limited, we found that the thicker sediments attenuated short-period noise levels and amplified long-period noise levels, in agreement with observations made for seismic arrivals in onshore sedimentary basins. Comparison of the noise levels from our Oldest-1 deployment with those (1) in the western Pacific basin, (2) near the Mariana trench, and (3) offshore New Zealand indicates that the Oldest-1 has the highest noise levels in the double-frequency (secondary) microseism band by up to 7 dB. This result was unexpected given the greater water depths (averaging 5800 m) for the Oldest-1 array. However, even at these great depths, we find a strong correlation between significant wave heights and background noise levels in the short-period microseism band (2–5 s). In addition, the Oldest-1 array was subjected to a great number of intense close typhoons than the other arrays and was proximal to a great number of taller seamounts than the other arrays. Finally, tracking noise source azimuths using station pairs led to the identification of a possible new source for the single-frequency microseism band in the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea and Australia.