Geophony
Geophony, from the Greek prefix, geo, meaning earth-related, and phon, meaning sound, is a neologism used to describe one of three possible sonic components of a soundscape. It relates to the naturally occurring non-biological sounds coming from different types of habitats, whether marine or terrestrial. Typically, geophony refers to the sounds of natural forces, such as water, wind, and thunder, occurring in wild, relatively undisturbed habitats. But geophony is not limited to that narrow definition since these audio sources can be experienced nearly everywhere the effects of wind and water are expressed. The term was first used by Drs. Stuart Gage and Bernie Krause to describe certain soundscape phenomena recorded as part of a bioacoustic study in 2001–2002 commissioned by the National Park Service, and done in Sequoia/King's Canyon National Park. Geophony is one of three terms used to define the general sources of sound that occur within a soundscape. The other two are biophony, and anthropophony.
