Hey, I'm Flor Lichten, and you're listening to Science Friday.

And now it's time to play Name That Tune.

No, it's not a peaceful garden fountain.

It's not a babbling brook. You're actually listening to tiny air bubbles burst out of glacier ice as it melts. Those sounds aren't just the best white noise you've ever heard. They're a possible

source of data for researchers trying to better understand the rate of climate change and the

impact of glacial meltwater. Joining me now is Dr. Aaron Pettit. She's a professor of geophysics

and glaciology at Oregon State University. and part of her work involves finding ways to

safely monitor the behavior of some of the world's biggest glaciers.

Erin, welcome to Science Friday.

Hi, Flora.

Thanks for inviting me.

Yeah.

Oh, thanks for being here.

Okay.

So in that clip we played, it really does sound so much like trickling water, but it's not. What are we

hearing exactly? Yeah, so when glaciers form, they form from snowfall high in the mountains,

and that process ends up trapping air bubbles as the snow gets compressed into ice. And those little

tiny bubbles travel through the glacier

from way high up, whether it's central Greenland, Antarctica, or just up in the mountains within the

U.S. And they eventually make their way all the way down to the end of the glacier. And there's

thousands, millions, cajillions of them in there. And as it the end of the glacier and there's there's thousands millions

cajillions of them in there and as it melts out each little air bubble is

...