# Where is the most quiet place on earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666 "2012-01-06T21:12:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/41 "2012-01-08T11:06:49Z")
> [@UFC\_Is\_Sux](#): > > My guess would be the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. But the caveats in the OP are so confusingly written and contradictory that I honestly don’t know if it would qualify or not. > > It isn’t on the “surface” but it is technically an “outdoor” environment “(“Surface” ruling out indoor environments, caves, orbitals or similar places.)” Nope, not an indoor environment, cave, orbital, or similar place. And it has water but it isn’t “splashing” water as specified in the OP. > > So, who knows? You don’t think being inside a submersible counts as being indoors? :dubious: I suppose if you were at the bottom of the Marianas Trench and not in a submersible you would not hear anything, but that is because you would be dead. Also, there are animals down there I believe. Do you have any reason to believe that they do not make any noise? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/42 "2012-01-08T12:28:35Z")
> [@quietnessseeker](#): > > Too bad this map does not tell about winds on the ocean… may the Sargasso Sea could qualify for being especially quiet due its low average winds…? From a practical standpoint, there’s going to be a lot of ship-related noise on any body of water. Also, submersibles aren’t all that quiet. Plus there’s the guy driving the sub, who won’t shut the hell up. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/43 "2012-01-08T16:53:41Z")
I stepped out into the back yard in the middle of the night recently and I never heard it so quiet. No wind, no traffic at ALL which is very odd, even far off. It was eerie. I did hear a dead leaf fall on the deck and it made me jump. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/44 "2012-01-08T18:06:41Z")
Central Alaska in the forest in the wintertime. Due to the geography and the extreme cold, there is no wind movement in the Fairbanks area. Fairbanks is in a large bowl-shaped valley. I once stopped on the way to Chena Hot Springs. It was eerily quiet. Nothing in the forest moved, just me. Like **jjim** and **chacoguy** , when I stood still I could hear my heartbeat. I saw more stars in the sky than I’d ever seen before or since. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/45 "2012-01-08T18:37:24Z")
An elevator with lots of people and at least on of them has farted. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/46 "2012-01-08T20:04:08Z")
Does the quiet place need to be outdoors? An anechoic chamber would technically be the quietest place on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/47 "2012-01-08T21:43:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > …Any desert is all-but-silent when the wind isn’t blowing. You only have to go a few miles outside Las Vegas & it’s silent. …Just remember that the desert outside Vegas is filled with holes. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/48 "2012-01-09T01:07:34Z")
> [@Enlightening\_Meditation](#): > > Does the quiet place need to be outdoors? An anechoic chamber would technically be the quietest place on Earth. Yes, according to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/49 "2012-01-10T18:55:39Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Also… does wind make noise when there’s nothing to obstruct it? For example, if it’s blowing over a sheer sheet of ice? If not, then it would sound windy if you were there, but it would be silent if you weren’t. In “Billy Connolly: Journey to the Edge of the World” Billy was standing on the tundra of the Yukon with no animals or trees around and only a mountain some distance away and commented on the quiet. He noted that it wasn’t silent due to the wind. It may be available as video somewhere, but I can’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/50 "2012-01-10T19:14:47Z")
atop a mast on a listless ship in the Doldrums… I’ve done it. Very quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/51 "2012-01-10T19:20:17Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I stepped out into the back yard in the middle of the night recently and I never heard it so quiet. No wind, no traffic at ALL which is very odd, even far off. It was eerie. I did hear a dead leaf fall on the deck and it made me jump. I had a moment like that a couple weeks ago - we had a thick blanket of fog that hung around for a couple days and cut visibility down to around 30 feet. Normally I can hear the noise from a highway about 1/2 mile away, but I went on the back porch and for the first time in several years, I heard absolutely nothing - no birds, no cars, no computers whirring, nothing. I instantly became relaxed, and it felt like stress was rolling off my shoulders in waves. After about 30 seconds of that, one of my kids let out an ear-piercing scream and a three-way grudge match broke out in one of the bedrooms that the whole neighborhood could probably hear. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/52 "2012-01-10T19:30:21Z")
> [@ecoaster](#): > > atop a mast on a listless ship in the Doldrums… > I’ve done it. Very quiet. As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean? ---
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/53 "2012-01-10T19:39:11Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean? Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down, 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! All in a hot and copper sky, The bloody sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/54 "2012-01-10T23:08:32Z")
[Toad Lake](http://heimville.com/California/Mount_Shasta.htm) near Mount Shasta in the Trinity National Forest is the quietest place I’ve ever been. It’s about 7,000 feet elevation but still far below the tree line, so there’s little wind, if any, by the shoreline. Basically an alpine lake with very large redwoods everywhere and four hike-in campsites that are always empty. ---
**Author:** ![Stathol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71e660/32.png) [@Stathol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stathol)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/55 "2012-01-11T23:11:49Z")
Things that will contribute to a quiet environment: [ul][li]The attenuation of sound in air is mostly a function of the relative humidity. High frequencies attenuate more at high relative humidity, while low frequencies attenuate more at low relative humidity. However, that’s a very non-anthropological point of view. As far as frequencies in the _human_ hearing range go, low relative humidity is better. At the very high end of that range – 16-20KHz, which many adults have difficulty hearing – About 30% is ideal. If you don’t care about that slice of the spectrum, then the drier the better.[/li][li]Far from human activity[/li][li]As few animals as possible, especially crickets, tree frogs, and birds.[/li][li]Plenty of wind breaks to reduce wind noise[/li][li]Cold climate. It isn’t necessarily true that colder is better in terms of attenuation, however it is a lesser factor than relative humidity. To the extent that your dry climate is going to be getting any precipitation, it would be preferable to get it as snow rather than rain. Snowfall is generally quieter than rainfall, and having everything blanketed in snow is added bonus for sound dampening. For that matter, a place that stays covered with snow fairly constantly might be preferential to a drier location simply for this reason.[/li][/ul] IMHO, a cabin in a wooded, high-altitude valley (i.e. situated between mountains) sounds like a pretty good bet in terms of all of the above. ---
**Author:** ![kevinnash123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85f322/32.png) [@kevinnash123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevinnash123)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/56 "2012-01-12T10:33:58Z")
I think “Alaska” ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/57 "2012-01-13T18:18:21Z")
All this talk about windy deserts and noisy animals…I think \*\*beowulff \*\*nailed it, with post #4: > [@beowulff](#): > > A forest after a snowstorm (with no wind) is eerily silent. Dense Boreal forest, in mid-winter, after heavy snowfall, is an extremely silent natural environment. There is no wind, there are no frogs, crickets or singing birds, nothing is moving, any and all sounds from afar are muffled by the vertical masses of snow covering the trees. I can hear my neurons firing when standing there, provided the noisy cell division isn’t going on too actively at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/58 "2012-01-14T00:41:58Z")
As a practical example and speaking from experience - a mountain just above timberline - there are no trees (source of wind), little if no vegetation (no insects) and in my experience at Mt. Hood (Oregon) no craggy peaks to channel the wind. I find the silence there to be an experience my ears have never encountered anywhere. Every time I’m there I’m astonished that the complete lack of sound affects me so deeply. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666/59 "2012-01-14T01:41:55Z")
How abot a deep cavern or mine shaft? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-most-quiet-place-on-earth/608666.md?page=2)