Applied Underwater Acoustics

8.7. Seafloor Roughness

Seafloor roughness is a major contributor to scattering, reverberation, and bottom loss over the range of acoustic frequencies considered in this chapter. Penetration of high-frequency energy into the seafloor can also be enhanced by periodic bottom roughness features, such as sand ripples. The morphology of the seafloor encompasses a wide variety of spatial scales from large-scale tectonic features such as the mid-Atlantic Ridge to regional features such as sand ridges, coral reefs, and beach profiles and to fine-scale features associated with sand ripples or biogenic structures. Larger-scale features (morphology) are generally persistent over century-long time intervals and are created by tectonic or geological erosion ...