Specific Features of the Influence of the Lower Boundary of a Waveguide on the Angular Structure of the Sound Field in the Shelf Zones in the Northwest Part of the Black Sea

We analyze the possibility of existence of critical angles of incidence of sound waves along two paths of propagation of sound typical of the northwest shelf of the Black Sea from the viewpoint of the characteristics of the lower boundary of a waveguide and the space and time structure of the field of sound velocity. The lower boundary of the waveguide may possess the property of acoustic transparency both in the case of a subsurface sound channel and under the conditions of negative refraction if the bottom is formed by fine-aleurite silts responsible for significant losses in the process of propagation of sound. The angles of total internal reflection exist for bottoms formed by shell rocks under all hydrological conditions typical of this region. At the same time, for bottoms formed by fine-aleurite silts, these angles exist only for a certain vertical structure of the field of sound velocity, which enables one to use the range of angles in which the losses caused by the reflections of sound waves from the bottom can be neglected.