This coastal recess
(bight) off the coasts of
Nigeria and Cameroon
is home to a 58-year-old
geological mystery.32 March/April 2021
COURTESYESAEarth
10
// BY CAROLINE DELBERT //T
HE EARTH MAKES A TINY SEISMIC RUMBLE TWICE A MIN-
ute, and after decades of study, scientists still can’t explain
why. It’s possible that the pulse is caused by an earthquake or
massive crashing waves—in fact, it’s highly probable that one
of these is producing the pulse. Still, we can’t rule out the fact
that it might be something entirely different: a seismic chirp
caused by the sun, or perhaps it’s a beacon to lost treasure. (We
can dream, right?)
The documentation of this event first occurred in 1962 when geolo-
gist Jack Oliver heard the microseism—an earthquake registering less
than a 2 on the Richter scale. Oliver, who helped establish the science
of plate tectonics, worked at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty
Geological Observatory and was limited by the lack of technology toEarth Keeps
Pulsating
Every 26
Seconds.
No One
Knows Why
Bight
of
Bonny