The absorption of ultrasound in insulators is due to phonons that are in resonance with the ultrasonic wave. For strong ultrasonic waves, the resonant phonons can be separated into a group of drifting particles and a group of particles captured by the potential relief of the wave. The latter particles follow coherently the motion of the wave and absorb ultrasound at a rate governed by the relaxation of the particles on thermal phonons. Therefore, the absorption decreases as the fourth root of the intensity. 13 refs.