Geoacoustic Characteristics of Shelf Sediment in the South Sea and Southeastern Sea of Korea

Physical and geoacoustic properties of inner shelf sediment in the South and Southeastern Seas of Korea have been studied based on six piston core samples. The sediments are largely composed of homogeneous mud except the core from the southeasternmost part of the area. Both physical and geoacoustic properties and mean grain size are relatively uniform with sediment depth, suggesting little effect of sediment compaction and/or consolidation. Mean grain size appears to be the most Important variable to determine the physical and acoustic properties. In contrast, the attenuation shows more or less fluctuations. Correlations between physical properties and sediment texture show slight deviations from those of the compared data, caused by the difference of sedimentary processes, mineral composition, and the difference of measurement system. In particular, the velocity is lower (approximately 20-30 m/s) than that of the previous data measured in the same area. This is probably due to the difference in velocity measurement system (particularly, error by a length of sample). We propose new relationships for physical and geoacoustic characteristics of shelf sediment in the study area.