The Influence of Bottom Sediment on the Propagation of Caustic Beams in Oceanic Waveguides

Abstract—Numerical modeling with the use of mode theory was used to investigate the regularities of the spatial (depth and horizontal distance) distribution of the acoustic field intensity formed by multiple interaction of a caustic beam with a layered bottom in a shallow oceanic waveguide with an underwater sound channel open to the bottom. It has been established that at the values of the sound velocity at the upper boundary in the sedimentary layer, less than the sound velocity at the bottom in the water layer, the formation of a multi-beam structure of the acoustic field is possible. It was found that, starting from certain distances, newly formed beams can play the main role in the spatial distribution of the acoustic field intensity.