New measurements of compressional wave attenuation in deep ocean sediments

Abstract

In many situations of low frequency acoustic propagation in the ocean, the acoustic properties of the bottom are an important factor. One quantity of which few measurements have been made or reported is the compressional wave attenuation profile. This paper reports attenuation measurements based upon measurements from explosive sources which encountered the ocean bottom several times. It was found that compressional wave attenuation coefficients at 100 m depth are approximately 0.015 dB/m-kHz in terrigenous turbidite sediments and 0.03 dB/m-kHz in calcareous sediments. These values are as low as, and lower than, the smallest previously reported estimates.