Title: Theoretical relationship between sound velocity and the physical properties of submarine sediment 

Author: LONG Jianjun  LI Ganxian 

Affiliation: School of Electromechanical Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology; Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology 

Abstract: Density and elastic modulus change ratios are introduced to describe the sound velocity of submarine sediment.The density change ratio is a composite parameter describing the sound velocity.It is expressed by three physical parameters:porosity,solid phase density and seawater density.The elastic modulus change ratio is also a composite parameter of sound velocity.It is expressed by three physical parameters,including porosity,solid phase modulus and seawater bulk modulus.The sound velocity formula can be developed into a Taylor polynomial formula of these two composite parameters.The change in the two composite parameters constitutes the sound velocity surface,which contains the complete information regarding velocity properties and sediment characteristics.The one-parameter velocity formula is a curve on the velocity surface.Each porosity-velocity empirical formula,which represents various sea locations and conditions,is transformed to a standard form.This result is the product of a reference velocity and a modulation function.Comparisons of the numerical calculation and measurements show that the derived modulation functions yield similar results.The difference between the velocity formula derived in this paper and the Wood velocity formula is due to the elastic modulus models.