• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
One of the 'loudest underwater sounds ever recorded' was heard in Earth's most remote location

Home> Science> News

Published 11:10 15 Mar 2024 GMT

One of the 'loudest underwater sounds ever recorded' was heard in Earth's most remote location

The powerful sound remained a mystery for years.

Prudence Wade

Prudence Wade

One of the loudest underwater sounds ever recorded left experts completely baffled.

The noise was reportedly heard in one of Earth’s most remote locations – Point Nemo in the southern Pacific Ocean.

The spot is about 2,688km from the nearest land, which means that when the International Space Station flies 400km above it, astronauts are the closest humans to the area.

Advert

Robert Brook / Getty
Robert Brook / Getty

The sound was recorded in 1997 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) after it was picked up by hydrophones - underwater microphones - placed across the ocean.

The noise has been nicknamed the 'bloop' and experts were perplexed as to what it could be.

One theory suggested by an NOAA Oceanographer, Chris Fox, is that sound could have been made by a marine animal.

Advert

He told CNN back in 2001: “There are a lot of things making noise down there. Whales, dolphins and fish, the rumblings of the Earth.”

But not everyone agreed with that theory, as the volume of the noise was so extreme that many said it had to be something else.

Another explanation put forward by Fox was that it was due to ice calving, which is the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier.

He said: “It think it may be related to ice calving. It always comes from the south. We’re suspecting that it’s ice off the coast of Antarctica, in which case it’s darn loud.”

Advert

Paul Souders / Getty
Paul Souders / Getty

The unexplained noise stumped scientists for years - but experts were later able to discover the source of sound.

And it turns out, Fox was right! The noise picked up back in 1997 was the sound of an icequake – the violent shaking of an ice field.

A retelling of the events on the NOAA websites said: “It was there, on Earth’s lonely southernmost land mass, that they finally discovered the source of those thunderous rumbles from the deep in 2005.

Advert

“The Bloop was the sound of an icequake – an iceberg cracking and breaking away from an Antarctic glacier.”

So, there you have it – the mystery is solved.

Ice loss has accelerated over the years in Antarctica. Huge chunks the size of London are breaking off, and experts say that icequakes are becoming more common due to climate change.

These rising temperatures could be the explanation for the recent movements of the world's biggest iceberg. It weighs nearly a trillion tons and is as tall as the UK's biggest skyscraper, The Shard, and last December - after remaining anchored to the ocean floor for decades - it started drifting northwards.

Featured Image Credit: AS N/YouTube / Jiojio/Getty
Earth
Science
Climate change

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
6 hours ago
8 hours ago
3 days ago
  • an hour ago

    Fake dentist who treated 'dozens' of patients arrested after worrying Google searches were exposed

    Fake it till you make it, or not in this case

    Science
  • 6 hours ago

    Biohacker who spends millions to ‘live forever’ reveals alarming mistake that caused his face to ‘blow up’

    Bryan Johnson has received blood transfusions from his son in a bid to live forever

    Science
  • 8 hours ago

    Doctor explains 'Ozempic penis' phenomenon after men begin reporting side effect

    Some men who use the weight loss drugs have noticed the bizarre side effect

    Science
  • 3 days ago

    Scientists issue warning after harmful species breed to form terrifying 'hybrid swarms'

    The new species can't be stopped from growing its colonies

    Science
  • Urgent warning issued to 1,000,000 US drivers to avoid gas stations amid toxic air
  • Scientists make shocking discovery about Earth's earliest oceans dating back over 2,000,000,000 years
  • Scientists sound alarm over concerning underwater activity puts major city at risk of sinking
  • 'Bomb cyclone' expected to cause severe damage in potentially the largest cyclone ever