underwater acoustic research, should emphasize the speed 

 and attenuation of elastic, compressional, and shear waves; 

 special attention needs to be directed to the vertical 

 gradients of these properties and of a few others such as 

 density and porosity. 



5. Studies involving sedimentary processes and the 

 areal distributions of sediments should be encouraged be- 

 cause a thorough knowledge of these aspects of sediment 

 bodies will, in the end, be the key to prediction of geo- 

 acoustic properties over large areas and with depth in the 

 sea floor. 



37 



