Acoustic propagation in the South China Sea: Internal waves and sand dunes

Abstract

Very large subaqueous sand dunes were discovered on the upper continental slope of the northeastern South China Sea (SCS) in the spring of 2007 during the ONR 322OA-funded NLIWI Acoustics field experiment. The dunes’ formation mechanism is hypothesized to be the internal solitary waves (ISW) which generate from tidal forcing on the Luzon Ridge on the east side of the SCS, propagate west across the deep basin with amplitudes regularly exceeding 125 m, and dissipate large amounts of energy via turbulent interaction with the continental slope, suspending and redistributing the bottom sediment. These internal waves and sand dunes are important acoustical features, as it is expected that they will cause significant anomalies in the acoustical field. Data analysis and modeling are presented to quantify the degree to which these features impact broadband (850-1200 Hz) signals propagating along an acoustic transect oriented perpendicular to the internal wave fronts and sand dune crests.