The heart rate of hummingbirds can be incredibly rapid, ranging from around 200 to 1200 beats per minute. A human heart rate, in comparison, ranges from around 60 to 100 beats every minute. The slowest heartbeat award of any warm-blooded animal must surely go the the blue whale. Believe it or not, their heart rates have been recorded as low as two beats per minute! It seems that the bigger an organism is, the slower its heart rate is. But what if the Earth had a heartbeat? How many beats per minute would our planet pulse at? Well, it turns out, some scientists say that the Earth does indeed have a heartbeat, and it pulses every 26 seconds. But what causes the Earth’s heartbeat? Let’s find out more about this intriguing subject.
The Earth’s Heartbeat
These faint tremors are known as “microseisms” and in certain ways resemble little earthquakes. Yet, this slight resemblance is where the connection ends. While scientists have proposed various theories as to the cause of the tremors, no definitive source has yet been discovered. Now, back to the human heart for a bit. Our heartbeats are produced by electrical signals that prompt our heart muscles to expand and contract. But what is the trigger for the Earth’s consistent pulse? This question was first raised in the early 1960s after it was first documented by Jack Oliver, a geologist. Oliver himself believed that the pulse may originate from somewhere around the equatorial or southern Atlantic Ocean.
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Unfortunately, he did not possess the complex instruments required to look any further into it. As seismologist from the University of Colarado, Michael Ritzwoller, explained, “Jack didn’t have the resources in 1962 that we had in 2005 – he didn’t have digital seismometers, he was dealing with paper records.” However, since then, many scientists have focused their time on trying to figure out what causes the pulse. Every 26 seconds, seismic station computers all over the world record the Earth’s heartbeat. These pulses are most apparent in North America, West Africa, and Europe.
Causes of the Earth’s Heartbeat
Seismologists and geologists have proposed various causes for the occurrence of this event, such as volcanoes, ocean waves, and fractures in sediments. Originally, the pulses were thought to be caused by wave activity in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. The contours of the ocean floor, special depth conditions, and the coast have been identified as potential causes. Because of how the waves hit and generate resonance on the seafloor, they may spread as earthquake waves in the crust of the Earth.
Yingjie Xia of the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics in Wuhan proposed that the reason was actually volcanoes. A third theory suggests that the tremors are caused by fluid flowing via fractal fissure networks in sediments beneath the ocean floor. This heartbeat, however, is not the only strange and unexplained occurrence in nature. Some people also say they hear a humming sound. This high-frequency buzzing sound has become so prevalent around the world that it has become known as “The Hum”. Whether we will ever get to the bottom of these unusual phenomena is yet to be seen.