A seafloor electromagnetic receiver for marine magnetotellurics and marine controlled-source electromagnetic sounding

In planning and executing marine controlled-source electromagnetic methods, seafloor electromagnetic receivers must overcome the problems of noise, clock drift, and power consumption. To design a receiver that performs well and overcomes the abovementioned problems, we performed forward modeling of the E-field abnormal response and established the receiver＇s characteristics. We describe the design optimization and the properties of each component, that is, low-noise induction coil sensor, low-noise Ag/AgCI electrode, low-noise chopper amplifier, digital temperature-compensated crystal oscillator module, acoustic telemetry modem, and burn wire system. Finally, we discuss the results of onshore and offshore field tests to show the effectiveness of the developed seafloor electromagnetic receiver and its performance： typical E-field noise of 0.12 nV/m/rt（Hz） at 0.5 Hz, dynamic range higher than 120 dB, clock drift lower than 1 ms/day, and continuous operation of at least 21 days.

Observations of the Karimata Strait througflow from December 2007 to November 2008

In order to quantitatively estimate the volume and property transports between the South China Sea and Indonesian Seas via the Karimata Strait, two trawi-resistant bottom mounts, with ADCPs embedded, were deployed in the strait to measure the velocity profile as part of the South China Sea-Indonesian Seas trans- port/exchange （SITE） program. A pair of surface and bottom acoustic modems was employed to transfer the measured velocity without recovering the mooring. The advantage and problems of the instruments in this field work are reported and discussed. The field observations confirm the existence of the South Chi- na Sea branch of Indonesian throughflow via the Karimata Strait with a stronger southward flow in boreal winter and weaker southward bottom flow in boreal summer, beneath the upper layer northward （reversal） flow. The estimate of the averaged volume, heat and freshwater transports from December 2007 to March 2008 （winter） is （-2.7±1.1）×10^6 m^3/s, （-0.30±0.11） PW, 2008 （summer） is （1.2±0.6）×10^6 m^3/s, （0.14±0.03） PW, （-0.18±0.07） × 106 m3/s and from May to September （0.12±0.04）×10^6 m^3/s and for the entire record from December 2007 to October 2008 is （-0.5±1.9）×10^6 m^3/s, （-0.05±0.22） PW, （-0.01±0.15）×10^6 m^3/s （nega- tive/positive represents southward/northward transport）, respectively. The existence of southward bottom flow in boreal summer implies that the downward sea surface slope from north to south as found by Fang et al. （2010） for winter is a year-round phenomenon.