Low-frequency sound absorption and attenuation in marine medium

Original experimental data are analyzed on the low-frequency sound attenuation in the Mediterranean, Black, and Baltic Seas, Sea of Japan, and the north-western region of the Pacific Ocean. In these regions, waters significantly differ in their temperatures and salinities. The analysis is aimed at obtaining an expression for calculating the low-frequency absorption coefficient in sea water. The analysis uses the previously published data on the measured (by the temperature discontinuity method) low-frequency relaxation times associated with boron present in sea water. The dependence of the absorption on the pH value (which was revealed in the 1970s) and the experimental data on sound absorption at frequencies higher than 5–10 kHz are also taken into account. As a result of the analysis based on the assumption that low-frequency relaxation takes place, an expression is proposed that relates the low-frequency absorption to the temperature, salinity, and pH value and equally well describes the experimental frequency dependences of attenuation for the four regions at hand (except for the Baltic Sea). Increased attenuation coefficients are noticed for shallow seas and deep-water regions where waters are influenced by intense currents, strait zones, and zones of mixing waters of different origin, i.e., for the ocean areas where, in addition to the attenuation, sound scattering by inhomogeneities of the marine medium and sound energy leakage into the sea floor are significant.