Resolution of low‐frequency attenuation anomalies in the Southern Hemisphere

During Project KIWI ONE [D. G. Browning et al., Nature 282, 820–822 (1979)] anomalously high values of low‐frequency attenuation were observed in the central South Pacific Ocean. Similar results were obtained along a track from New Zealand into the Southern Ocean during Project TASMAN TWO [R. W. Bannister et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62, 847–859 (1977)]. A recent analysis of oceanographic data by Mellen shows that both regions are included in a relatively high pH contour at the sound channel axis. The corresponding predicted values of attenuation are in reasonable agreement with the measured data.