The squeaky sands of the Great Lakes

At a Lake Michigan beach, sand makes noise under the foot. The sand squeaks when you step.

It is a pleasant sound, rather deep and somewhat muffled by the sand. The sound comes loudly at the surface. With just the right humidity, it can be quite loud.

The sound is like a low pitched squeeeak for the duration of the foot drag. I hypothesize that this sound-making works similar to a phonographic record playing, or the sound of worn disc brake rotors.

There should be microscopic grooves worn into the surfaces of the sand grains by the glaciers slowly grinding the rocks into sand. I imagine the sound of the glaciers gradually flowing and pushing against the bedrock to be a decades long, ever so slightly varying, squeeeeeeaaak. The grooves worn into the sides of the sand grains would be formed by the vibrations of this sound.

These recorded sounds could then be played back when the sand grains are rubbed together in a correct manner, as demonstrated in this video.

 

Video link

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