Hindustan Times ·
Why some sand dunes 'sing' while most stay silent: The science behind the mysterious hum
The phenomenon that Marco Polo believed was associated with spirits can now be described through granular mechanics and acoustics.
There are accounts of odd noises coming out of some of the sand dunes dating back to ancient times. During his journey through the Gobi Desert in Asia in the 13th century, Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo wrote about music made by ghosts, which he believed were desert spirits. It is an extraordinary natural occurrence that goes by the names of singing or booming sands.
It appears in various places across the world, including the Nevada Sand Mountain, Morocco’s Erg Chebbi, and Omani deserts. If sand slides down the steep slope of a dune under the influence of either the wind or a step, it can produce a sound like a deep hum that continues for several minutes and is even comparable in volume to the sound of a passing motorcycle.
