Experimental studies of low-frequency reverberation on the continental slope in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Experimental data obtained on the continental slope near the Kamchatka peninsula for the reverberation at the frequencies 230, 600, and 850 Hz in the cases of coincident and spaced source and receiver of sound are presented. The data include the dependences of the reverberation level on time for both directional and omnidirectional receiving systems, as well as the dependences of the reverberation level on the duration of the probing pulses and on the sea depth at the source site. It is shown that, at the frequency 230 Hz, a substantial contribution to the reverberation is made by the reflection and scattering on the shelf near the coastline and in the region of the "depth drop." At the frequencies 600 and 850 Hz, the predominant mechanism is bottom and surface scattering in the region of the continental slope. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".