Correction for effects of temperature and pressure on sound speed in shallow seafloor sediments

Three types of sediments were selected to measure their sound speed under changing temperature and pressure conditions in laboratory. The effects of temperature and pressure on sound speed in sediments and their trends were analyzed. The results showed that, with increasing temperature and pressure, the sound speed exhibits an increasing trend in all selected sediments. For each sample, the ratio of the sound speed in sediments to that in seawater almost remained unchanged at different pressures and temperatures, with a maximum fluctuation of 1.09% for temperature dependence and 0.68% pressure dependence. Combining the analysis of experimental results and sound speed correction procedure given by Hamilton, specific correction formulas of sound speed for temperature and pressure were presented. The laboratory-measured sound speed in the experiment and the sound speed obtained in the South Yellow Sea were corrected to reduce the effects of temperature and pressure using the correction formulas. The results show that the correction formulas with constant sound speed ratio are effective for correcting the sound speed measurement errors caused by changes in temperature and pressure. As a further consideration, the effects of the fluctuation of sound speed ratio on sound speed correction were analyzed.