Seafloor sediments of different geographical areas in the southern South China Sea (continental shelf, continental slope, and Okinawa Trough) were gravity cored at 21 locations. Sound velocities (V) of the samples were measured at 15-cm increments immediately upon retrieval, and porosity, wet bulk density, and mean grain size were measured later in the laboratory. Empirical equations from previous studies were applied to predict V of sediment samples from the measured physical properties and it was found that the sound velocities derived from the existing equations did not closely match the measured sound velocities. Therefore empirical equations were reconstructed based on the measured data that represent the relationships between physical and acoustic properties of the different geographical area in the study area. Possible explanations for the discrepancies between the measured data and those of previous studies were investigated and found that physical properties, sediment types, geographical area, etc. are important factors that influence sound velocity. The empirical equations of this report should be preferred for prediction of sediment sound velocity for high-frequency acoustic experiments.

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A new in-situ seabed acoustic measurement system is developed for direct in-situ measurement of sediment geoacoustic properties (compressional wave velocity and attenuation). The new in-situ system consists of two parts: the deck control unit and the underwater measurement unit. The underwater measurement unit emits sonic waves that propagate through the seafl oor sediment, receives the returning signals, and transmits them to the deck control unit for waveform display and analysis. The entire operation is controlled and monitored in real time by the deck control unit on the research vessel and can provide recording of full waveforms to determine the sound velocity and attenuation. This paper outlines the design of the system, the measurement process, and demonstrates its application in tests carried out on seabed sediment off the Qingdao coast, China. The test results show that the system performed well and rapidly provided accurate in-situ acoustic velocity and attenuation estimates of the seafl oor sediment.Keyword : seafl oor sediment; in-situ measurement; sound velocity and attenuation.