Why Earth is constantly ringing like a bell?
Our planet is mysteriously oscillating all the time— at low frequencies— and scientists have come up with an explanation for this baffling phenomenon!
Seismologists have long known that Earth can oscillate like a planet-sized bell after the shock of an earthquake. More mysterious is why our planet is also oscillating all the time—at low frequencies and barely detectable by instruments.
A new study suggests a surprising answer: waves at the bottom of the ocean.
Long ocean waves can actually travel thousands of miles from coast to coast, hugging the seafloor. The immense pressure of these waves on the ocean bottom generates the oscillation waves – very slow, with periods of up to 300 seconds – that makes the whole Earth resonate.
A second and better known mechanism explains the faster oscillations. They are the result of waves colliding in the oceans, generating seismic waves with periods of less than 13 seconds.
Together, the authors say two mechanisms account for the tiny seismic waves that continuously rock our planet. Understanding these small oscillations could help seismologists separate signal from noise, picking out ever fainter seismic signatures from earthquakes or nuclear explosions far away.
[…] ocean waves that collide and drag along the seabed responsible for the ringing noise? Finally do earthquakes contribute to the humming […]