Chapter7Souerandunderground
Sedsight
Ifourworldhadalwaysbeeedinfog,wewouldprobablymakelittleuseofsight,andrelyoead。Ifthefogprovedopaquetoradiowaves,ourteleuniswouldnodoubthavetakenanacousti,too。Theoisaworldofjustthiskind:visibilityispoorduetothemaithewater,radiowavesquicklydie。Aerisfullofsound:fish,marinemammals,humandivers,submarines,aerrobotsalluseitforsubtleandsofsensation,unidsometimesattack。
Allthiswouldbeoastistlivingouryago。It’struethatLeonardodaViaround1490that‘Ifyoucauseyourshiptostop,aheheadofalohelacetheotherextremitytoyourear,yousatagreatdistanyou’,butookmuoti。
ItwasnotuntilWorldWarIthatlisteniersoundsofvesselsted,andnotuntilWorldWarIIthattheriessoftheuersoundscapebecameclear。Thishappelythroughtwobizarreevents。In1942,acoustiChesapeakeBay,whichhadbeeesubmarines,allalertedatoillaofdestroyersenthusiasticallydepth-chargedthearea—butaleoilslicksappearedandtheonlyvictimswerethousandsoffish。Laterthatsameyear,allaloerncoastsoftheUS,everyaieanythingeller,infearofaJapaneseinvasioedatondagain,thesoleresultwasamultitudeofdeadmarinelife。
IftheUSmilitaryhadknownalittlemoreaboutafishcalledtheuchembarrassmentandmanydeadfishcouldhavebeenavoided。Forallitsundistinguishedappearahissmallbrowurehasaveryloudvoideed—somethinglikeamagnifiedwoodpedcroakeriesgivevoiceeverydawn,alltogether,muchlikebirds。
Noisyfishwereanalmostpletesurprisetobiologists。Therewasahithertouiohedepthswereassilentastheywereproverbiallysaidtobe。Infact,whiletheoshadbeenroutiedfordiionaltravelandasasourceoffood,whatlaybehesurfacewaslargelyunknoarentlyrarelyeveedupon,beyondwildtalesofseamendsofsuhedarkuerworldseemstohavebeenregardedaswhollyalienandnoplaceforpeople—evensailardedthedepthsasforbiddeoryandmostofthemdidoswim。Whileartistsandsychologiststoo—ofteheseaasthewilddomainofrawheirattentionwasedthsurfae。Besurfaegativeregioobeasdevoidofsoundasitwasoflight。
However,fromtheearly1940s,listeningwithhydrophoermies)revealedjusthowdeep’reallyis,honyofsouendingwellaboveahehumanfrequenge,fromavastmultitudeofsources,mosttheifiable。Theloudestsoureareasturobeiesofsnappingshrimp。Infact,theupperlayeroftheseaishabadgeedbybreakingwaves,rain,andlightningaswellasbymarinelife。Inshallowareas,swirliisanadditional,omsourd。
Hearier
&woreasosilehesea:onephysical,theical。Thephysieistheimpedaairandwater,inceofwhichthesurfaceaairrbackalmostallsouhatland-dwellershearhebreakingofthe>
Submergeyourhead,andthebiologiaself:uheeardrumhaswaterononesideandairoher,andsoimpedaorepreventsmostsouering。Ifwehadnoeardrums(norair-filledmiddleears)wewouldprobablyhearverywelluer。
&eranimalsdon’tneedsuplicatedearsasours:sieraroundthemisasimilardensitytotheirffesh,souersahroughtheirwholebodieseasily,withouttheneedofpio,norofdrumsorwindowstotrafromooanother。Fishdohaveearbohs。Theyaremadeofcalciumate,thehighdensityofwhichprovidesasufltimpedaoallowvibrationbysouhismotionistraereonhaircells,which,likeours,sendnervesignalstothebraichesofhaircells,euromats,aredistributedontheskinsoffish。
Twootherstructuresaugmentthehearihefirst,theswimbladder,isanair-filledsacwhisliketheballasttanksofasubmarine,gthebuoyancyofitsownerasrequired,sothatthefishkorrisewithoutmusculareffort。Theswimbladdervibratesreadilytosoundwaves,andfunsasafairlysensitivehearinganuptoabout3kHz。Ithas,hreatdisadvantage:beingasiri,thesrovidesnoinformationaboutthedirewhidsarrive。
Itissupplementedbyasedstructure:thelateralline,afluid-filledtubethatrunsalongthesidesofthefishandfunsasadiresitivesoulowfrequencies(~160Hzto200Hz)。Uereoourears,hensoundwavesiionsinthebasilarmembraowhichtheyareattached,lateralliereociliaarepushedalybyiningsoundwaves,whisthatthedireofthesoundsaresely(afishseionofwatermolecules,ratherthanthepressuregesthatwedo)。Thismakesfishveryhardtocreepupon。
Teiquesandtransducers
&seriousteologicaluseofsouerwasthesouem,inwhiderwaterbellsplaearportscouldbedetectedbyshipsfittedwithprimitivehydrophoheformofiesinroofgs。Awatlisteheshipinstereoandcouldguidetheshiptoporteveninpoorvisibility。Thissystemwasfittedtomanyshipsintheperiod1875–1930,ingtheTitanidLusitania。By1923,therewerethirtybellsarou。Fromthe1910s,thesystemlacedbyeding,whiakingasouimingitsedwoutthedistanakheveloderwatersound:anotherexampleofthepulse-eique。
Fromeodernsonar(soundnavigati)systemsdeveloped。Inanaarsystem,short-durationsoundimpulses(‘piedfromavesseltoeobjetheirpath。AswellasdeterminingdistangesinthefrequencyofthereceivedpulsesareusedtocalculatetherelativevelocityofthestheDopplerefflect)。
Passivesonarsystemssimplylisteersouhoseofshipping。Autnitionteiquesallowdifflerenttypesofshippiifiedfrinesouhehummiricalsystems:eachvessel,infact,hasitsuureoracoustigerprint。ThisteiquebecameveryimportantintheColdWarfnizingandtraemyshipsandsubmariiveandpassivesonarsystemsaresometimesdeployedonbuoys(sonobuoys),edwithradiosystemstoreps。
Thehydrophorumentforuiostallthoseiodayarepiezoelectric,usuallybasedoicceramiccalledPZT(leadandtitaniumzirate)。Unlikemies,hydrophosometimesbeverylarge,ioachievedirealityatlowfrequehisreason,thesidesofsomesubmaripletelyplatedwithhydrophoheseffankarrays,astheyarecalled,areusuallymadeofpolyvinylidenediffuoride(PVDF)。
&erequivalentoftheloudspeakerisknorojector。Projectorshavealimitatioapplytoloudspeakers:whenthesurfacemovesinwardstocreatetherarefaphaseofasouiosiftherarefaalpressureislowerthanthatwater。Thebubblessdabsorbthesouheprreaterthedepth,thehighertheressurebeoresouheprojeproducebeforetheoof。
Fh-polis,suchasgeophysicalsurveyingforoilaiuoproduderwatersound。Inthese,asmallcavityischargedwithpressedairandarelayreleasesthepressuresuddenly,rapidlyfalargeairbubbleandanapanyingburstofsound。Thepulsefrequencyisaround20Hzto200Hzaudeisveryhigh(probablythe‘loudest’man-madesourtheoexglargeexplosioravelsthroughtheseabedasfromtheiweentherocklayersbel(upto10km)arraysofhydrophoowedhesurfaagetherefled,asareprocessedbyputerstoprovideathree-dimensionalmap。