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INFO Journal #68

Sharon Hill

Complicated biological machine
Joined
Dec 16, 2014
Messages
1,820
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
Does anyone have access to INFO journal #68 who can scan the article on Ringing Rocks for me?
 
Well, I have (or had) just about every INFO Journal above #43, but I can't find #68. I recently moved, so perhaps it's ended up in some dirty, oily corner of my parents' barn (with most of my other belongings). I'll post again if I ever find it.
 
Thanks. I received a scan from Patrick Huyghe.
 
I had to look up ringing rocks—Sharon Hill, have you ever experienced them?
To invite first hand observations, I bumped a thread in the Earth Mysteries section: Geological Curiosities

I figure you already know more about it than what I copied here, Sharon Hill, but I thought others would be interested.
I relied on Wikipedia for information: "Ringing rocks, also known as sonorous rocks or lithophonic rocks, are rocks that resonate like a bell when struck. . . . Ringing rocks are used in idiophonic musical instruments called lithophones. . . .
Although the sound is often described as metallic, it is most likely due to a combination of the density of the rock and a high degree of internal stress. The sound can be duplicated on a small scale by tapping the handle of a ceramic coffee cup. . . .
So far, there has been only one published scientific experiment on the source of the ringing ability. In the 1960s, a Rutgers University professor did an informal experiment where specimens of "live" and "dead" ringing rock boulders from the Bucks County park site were sawed into thin slices and then measured for changes in shape." Gibbons II, John F.; Schlossman, Steven (December 1970). "Rock Music". Natural History. American Museum of Natural History. 79 (10): 36–41.

Here's a sample of the sound they make:
I can't agree they sound like "the handle of a ceramic coffee cup."
 
Are they igneous rocks or sedimentary?
 
I had to look up ringing rocks—Sharon Hill, have you ever experienced them?
To invite first hand observations, I bumped a thread in the Earth Mysteries section: Geological Curiosities

I figure you already know more about it than what I copied here, Sharon Hill, but I thought others would be interested.
I relied on Wikipedia for information: "Ringing rocks, also known as sonorous rocks or lithophonic rocks, are rocks that resonate like a bell when struck. . . . Ringing rocks are used in idiophonic musical instruments called lithophones. . . .
Although the sound is often described as metallic, it is most likely due to a combination of the density of the rock and a high degree of internal stress. The sound can be duplicated on a small scale by tapping the handle of a ceramic coffee cup. . . .
So far, there has been only one published scientific experiment on the source of the ringing ability. In the 1960s, a Rutgers University professor did an informal experiment where specimens of "live" and "dead" ringing rock boulders from the Bucks County park site were sawed into thin slices and then measured for changes in shape." Gibbons II, John F.; Schlossman, Steven (December 1970). "Rock Music". Natural History. American Museum of Natural History. 79 (10): 36–41.

Here's a sample of the sound they make:
I can't agree they sound like "the handle of a ceramic coffee cup."
Yes. More than once. I visited Ringing rocks park in PA for the Spooky Geology piece but had previously found ringing rocks in PA by accident.
 
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