Waves in Lakes Make Waves in the Earth
Beneath the peaceful rolling waves of a lake is a rumble, imperceptible to all but seismometers, that ripples into the earth like the waves ripple along the shore.
In a study published today in the Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, scientists at the University of Utah report that these small seismic signals can aid science. As a record of wave motion in a lake, they can reveal when a lake freezes over and when it thaws. And as a small, constant source of seismic energy in the surrounding earth, lake microseisms can shine a light on the geology surrounding a lake.
"It's kind of a new phenomenon," says Keith Koper, director of the University of Utah Seismograph Stations and co-author of the study. "We don't really know how it's created."
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