Ringing Rocks
Encyclopedia
Ringing Rocks are rocks that have the property of resonating like a bell when struck, such as the Musical Stones of Skiddaw
in the English Lake District
as well as the stones in Ringing Rocks Park, in Upper Black Eddy, Bucks County
, Pennsylvania
USA and the Bell Rock Range of Western Australia. Ringing rocks are also known as sonorous rocks or lithophonic
rocks, as used in idiophonic
musical instruments called lithophone
s.
at 40.56316°N 75.12689°W. The ringing rocks in that area are diabase
. In 1965, geologist Richard Faas of Lafayette College
took a few of the rocks back to his lab for testing. He found that when the rocks were struck they created a series of tones at frequencies lower than the human ear can hear. An audible sound is only produced because these tones interact with each other. Although Faas's experiments explained the nature of the tones, they did not identify the specific physical mechanism in the rock which made them.
-peridotite
intrusion in the Musgrave Block
of Western Australia
, near Warburton
, 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) south of the Wingellina community in the Ngaanyatjarra
lands. It is composed of massive, heavily indurated intrusive rocks and forms a prominent 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) long range of mountains and hills. The intrusion is called the Bell Rock Range because, when struck, the rocks ring like a bell. It is also the site of an exploratory gold mine.
Musical Stones of Skiddaw
The Musical Stones of Skiddaw is a lithophone made of a type of hornfels rock found in Cumbria, England. Constructed between 1827 and 1840, the instrument has entertained royalty; it is now housed at the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery in Cumbria....
in the English Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
as well as the stones in Ringing Rocks Park, in Upper Black Eddy, Bucks County
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
- Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
USA and the Bell Rock Range of Western Australia. Ringing rocks are also known as sonorous rocks or lithophonic
Lithophone
A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination or in succession...
rocks, as used in idiophonic
Idiophone
An idiophone is any musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument's vibrating, without the use of strings or membranes. It is the first of the four main divisions in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification...
musical instruments called lithophone
Lithophone
A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination or in succession...
s.
Ringing Rocks Park
Ringing Rocks Park is a county park in Upper Black Eddy, PennsylvaniaUpper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania
The village of Upper Black Eddy aka "UBE" is located in northern Bucks County, Pennsylvania who have second homes here due to the early american 18th and 19th century charm, rural character of the area and short distance from the "City" located only 58 miles to the east.Upper Black Eddy...
at 40.56316°N 75.12689°W. The ringing rocks in that area are diabase
Diabase
Diabase or dolerite is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. In North American usage, the term diabase refers to the fresh rock, whilst elsewhere the term dolerite is used for the fresh rock and diabase refers to altered material...
. In 1965, geologist Richard Faas of Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
took a few of the rocks back to his lab for testing. He found that when the rocks were struck they created a series of tones at frequencies lower than the human ear can hear. An audible sound is only produced because these tones interact with each other. Although Faas's experiments explained the nature of the tones, they did not identify the specific physical mechanism in the rock which made them.
Bell Rock Range
The Bell Rock Range is a large ultramafic gabbroGabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
-peridotite
Peridotite
A peridotite is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock, consisting mostly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium, reflecting the high proportions of magnesium-rich olivine, with appreciable iron...
intrusion in the Musgrave Block
Musgrave Block
The Musgrave Block is an east-west trending belt of Proterozoic granulite-gneiss basement rocks approximately 500km long. The Musgrave Block extends from western South Australia into Western Australia....
of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, near Warburton
Warburton, Western Australia
Warburton or Warburton Ranges is an Indigenous Australian community in Western Australia, just to the south of the Gibson Desert and located on the Great Central Road and Gunbarrel Highway...
, 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) south of the Wingellina community in the Ngaanyatjarra
Ngaanyatjarra
Ngaanyatjarra is an Indigenous Australian cultural group in the Western Desert, Central Australia.-Meaning and origin of the name:Ngaanya literally means 'this' and -tjarra means 'with/having' ; the compound term means 'those that use "ngaanya" to say "this"'...
lands. It is composed of massive, heavily indurated intrusive rocks and forms a prominent 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) long range of mountains and hills. The intrusion is called the Bell Rock Range because, when struck, the rocks ring like a bell. It is also the site of an exploratory gold mine.
List of sites
- Ringing Rocks Park - Upper Black Eddy, PennsylvaniaUpper Black Eddy, PennsylvaniaThe village of Upper Black Eddy aka "UBE" is located in northern Bucks County, Pennsylvania who have second homes here due to the early american 18th and 19th century charm, rural character of the area and short distance from the "City" located only 58 miles to the east.Upper Black Eddy...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - Ringing Rocks Park - Lower Pottsgrove Township, PennsylvaniaLower Pottsgrove Township, PennsylvaniaLower Pottsgrove Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 12,059 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - Bell Rock Range - Western Australia, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- Musical Stones of Skiddaw - Cumbria, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- Ringing Rocks Point of Interest - Ringing Rocks, MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - The Hill of the Bells (Cerro de las Campanas) - Querétaro, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
- The Ringing Stone - Tiree, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Further reading
- James Pontolillo and John Pontolillo, 1993, Ringing Rocks Sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, INFO Journal #68. [Comprehensive review of all known ringing rock sites in PA and NJ.]
- Andrew E. Stroud, 2008, "Ringing Rock Boulder Fields in SE Pennsylvania", Phactum October 2008 (Brief description of three public sites and a discussion on the geology of the boulder fields.)