Study compares sound from exploding volcanoes with jet engines

New Scripps study of low-frequency sound from Mount St. Helens and Tungurahua volcanoes provides explanation for how the large-amplitude signals from eruptions are produced

		IMAGE: Scripps researchers are using infrasound recording to study Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador. Click here for more information.

New research on infrasound from volcanic eruptions shows an unexpected connection with jet engines. Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego speeded up the recorded sounds from two volcanoes and uncovered a noise very similar to typical jet engines. These new research findings provide scientists with a more useful probe of the inner workings of volcanic eruptions. Infrasound is sound that is lower in frequency than 20 cycles per second, below the limit of human hearing.