Percolation and Its Effect on EchoQuilt Readings

Percolation — rising bubbles dislodging ceiling silt — produces a distinct acoustic signature that can confuse naive sound mapping. EchoQuilt filters percolation-driven pseudosound from true conduit reflections. Knowing how your instrument handles percolation makes the difference between a clean quilt and a noisy one.

A Ox Bel Ha survey team noticed the same chamber produced two completely different quilt reconstructions on two sequential dives, twenty minutes apart. The first dive showed a clean phreatic room with regular wall geometry. The second dive showed the same room cluttered with apparent reflectors that had no physical correspondence. Review of the audio log identified the cause: the second dive had spent longer under a ceiling pocket, and percolation had generated a shower of dislodged silt particles that produced pseudosound throughout the reconstruction.