After sunset, Mount Everest makes an eerie noise. | | Image: Unsplash
major highlights
- Researchers led by glaciologist Evgeny Podolsky have found the source of these frightening noises on Mount Everest
- They spent three weeks on the Trakalding Trumbau Glacier, which overlooks Mount Everest.
- They put sensors on the ice and measured vibrations deep in the glacier
Researchers led by glaciologist Evgeny Podolsky have pinpointed the source of these frightening sounds.
Researchers took a week-long trek through Nepal’s Himalayas in 2018 to test the seismic activity of the Trakalding-Trambau Glacial System there.
They spent three weeks on a glacier overlooking Mount Everest.
They placed sensors on the ice and measured vibrations deep inside the glacier. This is the same technique used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes.
After they returned to the surface, the team examined seismic data and confirmed that the nighttime sounds were associated with extreme cold.
They found that the noise was caused by a sharp drop in temperature after sunset that caused the ice to crack.
Dave Hahn, leader of the expedition that has climbed Everest 15 times, said he heard “ice and rock crumbling at various points around the valley” as fellow climbers rested. .
Dr. Podolski reportedly told the Daily Mail:
At night, the temperature can drop as low as -15°C.
“We found that local ice is very sensitive to this high rate of change,” the researchers say in the journal. Geophysical Research Letter.