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Monitoring and Studying Audible Sounds Inside Different Types of Soil and Great Expectations for its Future Applications

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Abstract

A majority of seismological studies are concerned with soil properties in low frequencies (1–10 Hz), but little is known about these properties in the audible sound domain (20–20,000 Hz). This is probably due to the high attenuation of the high frequencies within the soil, resulting in a minimal effect on buildings. For this study, 172 stations were recorded over different types of soils using variable types of P-wave and S-wave geophones to examine the variation of soil properties in the range of audible sound (20–3000 Hz). High resolution 32 bit spectrograms for the sounds recorded within every soil sample were analyzed. Moreover, a model for empty room was built in the subsurface to study changes in sound caused by the existence of large voids or cavities in the subsurface. The sound wave was able to differentiate between rigid, hard soil and softer, weaker soil. While high-strength rocks or soils tend to show sharp sound pitches (300–3000 Hz), weaker soils show lower sound pitches (20–100 Hz). The existence of subsurface voids or cavities tend to make sound pitches more regular, higher and sharper than those in the surrounding soils. This is most probably due to resonance of sound in closed places (e.g. a violin). Soil energy levels and how they change due to the soil’s excitation were studied. Soil research in the field of audible sounds is considered an emerging field with several applications (e.g. geological hazards, water exploration, and oil exploration and so on). There is a need for special high-resolution equipment to be developed for the same. This equipment should be capable of recording wide range of sound frequencies preserved in the soil and directly producing high-resolution spectrograms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysics Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

    Mohamed A. Gamal, Mohamed H. Khalil & George Maher

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  1. Mohamed A. Gamal
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  2. Mohamed H. Khalil
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  3. George Maher
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Correspondence to George Maher.

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Gamal, M.A., Khalil, M.H. & Maher, G. Monitoring and Studying Audible Sounds Inside Different Types of Soil and Great Expectations for its Future Applications. Pure Appl. Geophys. 177, 5397–5416 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-020-02583-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-020-02583-0

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