Discovery of boric acid as cause of low frequency sound absorption in the ocean

Author

Fisher, Howard ; Simmons, V.P.

Author_Institution

Scripps Instn. of Oceanography, Marine Phys. Lab., Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

fYear

1975

fDate

22-25 Sept. 1975

Firstpage

21

Lastpage

24

Abstract

Laboratory measurements of sound absorption using the resonator technique have confirmed that sound absorption in sea water is about ten times greater than the predicted value and that it is due to boric acid. In conjunction with the acoustic measurements done in a 200 liter spherical glass resonator, the relaxation frequency of the boric acid was measured using the temperature-jump technique for chemical kinetic studies. A three state chemical reaction is required for a quantitative explanation of the observed absorption and relaxation frequency. Besides providing confirmation of effect discovered by long range sound propagation work at sea, it has revealed a new aspect of boron chemistry.

Keywords

acoustic resonators; acoustic variables measurement; acoustic wave absorption; acoustic wave propagation; hydrogen compounds; ocean chemistry; oceanographic techniques; seawater; underwater sound; H₃BO₃; acoustic measurement method; boric acid; boric acid relaxation frequency; boron chemistry; chemical kinetic analysis; long range sound propagation; low frequency sound absorption; resonator technique; sea water; spherical glass resonator; temperature-jump technique; Absorption; Acoustic measurements; Chemicals; Frequency measurement; Glass; Laboratories; Oceans; Resonant frequency; Sea measurements; Temperature measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

OCEAN 75 Conference

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/OCEANS.1975.1154163

Filename

1154163