Sound absorption based on ocean measurements. Part II: Boric acid contribution and equation for total absorption

The absorption of sound in seawater is considered as the sum of three contributions: those from pure water, magnesium sulfate, and boric acid. Contributions from other reactions are small and are not included. The pure water and magnesium sulfate contributions obtained from analyses of extensive oceanic measurements, including many in the Arctic, were discussed in Part I. In Part II, an analysis is made of all reported measurements in the low-frequency region (0.2–10 kHz) to evaluate the contribution of boric acid. This is done by subtracting the pure water and magnesium sulfate contributions determined in Part I from the total absorption to give a more accurate estimate of the boric acid contribution than previously obtained. The three contributions are then combined to form an equation with both a theoretical basis and a satisfactory empirical fit that will be useful to researchers and engineers in the field of underwater sound. The equation applies to all oceanic conditions and frequencies from 200 Hz to 1 MHz.