Resonant oscillations between the solid earth and the atmosphere

K Nishida; N Kobayashi; Y Fukao

doi:10.1126/science.287.5461.2244

Resonant oscillations between the solid earth and the atmosphere

Science. 2000 Mar 24;287(5461):2244-6. doi: 10.1126/science.287.5461.2244.

Authors

K Nishida¹, N Kobayashi, Y Fukao

Affiliation

¹ Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan. Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.

PMID: 10731142
DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5461.2244

Abstract

Continuously excited free oscillations of the whole Earth have been found in the ground noise in a frequency band of long-period surface waves. Here we report evidence of an annual variation of this phenomenon, indicating that the excitation source is not within the solid Earth. There is evidence that these seismic free oscillations resonate with acoustic free oscillations of the atmosphere. The observed amplitudes suggest that the excitation source is at or just above Earth's surface.