From Storm Dunlop
One possible explanation for the strange booming sounds explored by Kate Ravilious (18 February, p 47), which was not mentioned, is the collapse of marine sediments, although the mechanism involved is uncertain.
Given the quantity of sediment deposited by the river Ganges in the bay of Bengal, this may well account for such noises in that area – known as Barisal guns.
The occurrence of unexplained booms at great distances from large bodies of water has also been put down to the well-known meteorological phenomenon of anomalous propagation of sound in the atmosphere.
East Wittering, West Sussex, UK
