Raw high-resolution single- and dual-channel seismic field data from the 2006 MERC I Eilat-Aqaba survey

The first high-resolution seismic survey, MERC I, in the area offshore Eilat in the northern Gulf of Aqaba was conducted from 29 October to 16 November 2006 and included the acquisition of 261 seismic lines with a total length of 426 km. The survey was carried out in two phases: deep survey (water depths of 100–700 m) onboard the R/V Etziona and a shallow phase (water depths of less than 100 m) onboard a fishing vessel called Danny-Boy. The high-resolution geophysical survey used a GeoResources GeoSparker200 seismic source generated by electrical spark at energies of 300–1000 J and seismic frequencies of 200–3000 Hz. During the deep survey, the system used two hydrophone arrays (i.e. dual-channel), one towed parallel to the sparker, and the other offset about 50m attempting to receive more seismic energy across steep slopes. In the shallow survey only one hydrophone array (i.e. single-channel) was towed parallel to the sparker. The seismic acquisition parameters are described in the associated documents. Funding was provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development Middle East Regional Cooperation program (MERC) under contracts TA-MOU-05-M25-004 and TA-MOU-08-M29-036.