Clark
- Echo sounding (or sonar) is the stransmitting of ultrasonic sound waves to the seafloor to measure the time it takes for the reflected waves to return to the surface.
- By knowing the speed of the sound waves, the distance traveled by the sound is calculated, as well as the depth of the ocean floor, which will be half of that distance.
- Before sonar was created, scientists measured the ocean floor by using weighed strings to mark off the depth of the floor.
Fleisher
- The exact speed of sound in seawater depends on the temperature, salinity, and pressure.
Ganeri
- Sound travels through seawater abut five times faster than through air.
Graham
- Sound waves bounce off solid objects and send back echoes.
- Sonar uses the time gap between sending out the sound waves and recieving their echoes to estimate the distance of the ocean floor.
- Fish can be picked up using sonar. Many scientists have then used sonar as a method for finding sea monsters within the oceans or lakes.
- Sound travels better through water, but light does not travel well through water.
- SONAR= Sound Navigation And Ranging (ranging means measuring distances).
Markle
- In the past, people have found the depth of the ocean by lowering a weighted line marked in six-foot increments (one fathom) to measure the distance to the ocean floor.
- Recording the depth of a series of points using sonar will create a plot of the seafloor. Sea Beam systems send out multiple sound waves in order to plot a larger area of the ocean floor.
- Sound waves travel approximately 5,000 feet per second through seawater.
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