The Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon (Rio de Janeiro State) sediments and bottom characteristics were analyzed using high-resolution (10 kHz) sub-bottom profiles associated with particle size analyses of 44 bottom sediment samples. Four types of echo-characters were identified revealing the strong relation with the particle size distribution and bottom morphology. In areas of acoustic penetration, the basement delineates buried sugar-loaf hills and infilled-valley features. The total sediment thickness can reach as much as 16 meters along the paleovalleys, which are aligned in a NE-SW direction, parallel to the regional basement orientation observed on the coastal massifs. There is a predominance of organic rich muddy sediments, infilling the paleovalleys which are the main sites of shallow gas occurrences within the lagoonal sediments.
shallow seismic; Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon; sedimentary processes
