Attenuation of sound in marine sediments: A review with emphasis on new low-frequency data

In many situations, the acoustic properties of the bottom are important, and considerable effort has been directed at their elucidation over the whole frequency range of interest to underwater acoustics. At low frequencies, experimental measurement of these properties is particularly difficult and uncertainty exists in the values of some key parameters. The determination of compressional and shear wave attenuation has been especially challenging and it is not surprising that debate has persisted as to the magnitude of this property and its overall dependence on frequency at low frequencies. This paper attempts to examine this question through a review of the relevant literature from rock mechanics and underwater acoustics, with a special emphasis on low-frequency data.