A study on forecasting sound velocity of sea-floor sediments based on the time-average method

When predicting the sound velocity of sea-floor sediments, is not appropriate to sum up a uniform empirical equation from the sea-floor sediment data of different sea areas, where the sea-floor sediment’s physical properties are even completely different. Not only the data are discrete too, but the parameters in the equation are lack of exact physical meaning. Based on the idea of Wyllie’s time-average equation, a sea-floor sediment sound velocity forecasting model is established with the relationship of distance, time and velocity. In the model, the introduced parameter coupling coefficient stands for the impact of stacking and coupling mode of a solid-liquid two-phase system on a sound propagation.The measurement data of sea-floor sediment samples from offshore Luhuitou, the southern and northern South China sea are applied to verifying the model, and three different sound velocity forecasting equations are fitted out. The conclusion is the model can exactly reflect the relation between sound velocity and porosity, moreover, the parameters in the model have physical meaning.