Science Diary: Volcano - Eruption: The Pulse of the Planet daily radio program offers free legal online mp3 downloads, exploring the world of sound in nature, culture and science, with audio adventures, world music, extraordinary sound portraits, science diaries, and nature ring-tones; an amazing sonic experience.



Airdate: Apr 29, 2008
Scientist: Milton Garces, Ph.D.

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 EARTH SCIENCE ,Volcanoes ,Acoustics ,sound


Science Diary: Volcano - Eruption

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Geophysicist Milton Garces studies an active volcano's low frequency sound patterns in an effort to predict large-scale eruptions.
Transcript:

music; ambience: Volcano eruption sounds, wind

Such peace and tranquility belies the inferno that awaits us at the summit. I cant wait.

It is estimated that 500 million people live near active volcanoes around the world. Scientists are working on a new way to monitor volcanoes, using sound. Welcome to Pulse of the Planets Science Diaries, a glimpse of the world of science from the inside. Milton Garces is a geophysicist working with the infrasounds emitted by volcanoes. Infrasounds are extremely low-frequency noises, below the range of human hearing. Miltons hoping to find patterns in these sounds which may one day be used to predict large eruptions. He sent us this recording from atop Stromboli volcano in Italy.

Its windy. As we ascend, ash comes out of the volcano. We are in the bomb shelter. The idea is, if there is increased activity, explosive activity, you can run underneath one of the shelters and protect yourself so you dont get knocked down by a flying rock. (volcano sounds) The eruption you just heard now started with a lot of ash being ejected, and now it continues at a much lower level. As the light fades away, the incandescence coming from the vents becomes more apparent. Glowing rocks come out during the explosions. You can see steam, because its lighter in color than the ash an obscure, opaque gray. The explosions themselves have very low amplitudes of sound, and theyre mostly deep.

Well hear more about Milton Garces research in future programs.

Please visit our website at pulseplanet.com. Pulse of the Planets Science Diaries are made possible by the National Science Foundation. Im Jim Metzner.







 
Science Diary: Volcano - Eruption