Storm Energy May Be Converted to Seismic 'Noise' (IMAGE)

Washington University in St. Louis

Storm Energy May Be Converted to Seismic 'Noise'

Caption

In the days of sail, sailors dreaded rounding the Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, because of the violence of the storms in Drake Passage. Geologists at Washington University think that water waves excited by these and other storms in the Southern Atlantic Ocean may be converted to seismic waves off the west coast of Africa and travel through the solid earth to seismometers, which pick them up as "noise."

Credit

Dave Munroe/National Science Foundation

Usage Restrictions

Please credit as shown

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.