Acoustic Dinosaur Era: the warming oceans could give the "sound" of the Cretaceous

temperatures directly affect the acidity of the ocean, which in turn changes the acoustic properties of the research suggests that seawater that global warming may provide the oceans of the Earth the same hi-fi quality sound that had more 100 million years ago, during the age of dinosaurs.
The purpose of this communication is to update surprising that whales vocalize in the range of low frequency sounds, typically less than 200 Hz, and the new research predicts that by 2100, global warming seawater acidification will suffice for lower frequencies near the ocean surface travel significantly further than it does now - maybe twice as far.
Rhode Island acoustic David G. Browning, principal investigator of the research team will present their findings at the 164th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), held October 22 to 26 in Kansas City, Missouri. It explains the fundamental change in this way: "We call it the Cretaceous acoustic effect, because the acidification of the oceans forced by global warming that seems to be back to the same conditions that existed ocean acoustic 110 million years, during the age of dinosaurs. '
His work is based on recent research by other researchers who have analyzed the historical levels of boron in bottom sediments for the reconstruction of the acidity of the oceans during the past 300 million years. Using boron absorption characteristics and impact on transmission of low frequencies, Browning and his colleagues were able to predict the sounds-cape of ancient oceans conclude that 300 million years ago, during the Paleozoic transmission Soundstage often in the ocean was similar to current conditions. They also found that the best transmission of the ocean becomes more acidic, reaching its highest transmission value of about 110 million years - low frequency sound to move twice as far.
"This knowledge is important in many ways," says Browning. "It affects the prediction of the design and performance of sonar systems. Affects the estimation of levels of low frequency noise in the marine environment. And this is something we should keep in mind to improve our understanding of the ambient sound marine mammals and the effects of human activity on the environment. "
If work is to validate this model, future divers could hear the ocean with the same clarity that dinosaurs.