Are there more or less echos in mountains?

Question

I heard that they were less, but I don't know why that would be.

Answer 1

Your question is rather ambiguous. There are echos in mountains as well as cities. Cities tend to be noisier, so maybe there are more echos there. Squirrels can be pretty noisy too, and there are more mountains than cities, so take your pick. You should put a little thought into what you mean. A good question to ask yourself for this is, if there were a disagreement - a bet, say - how would you objectively determine the winner?

To hear your own echo, there needs to be an object far enough away from you for you to distinguish the reflected sound from your own because of the delay, large enough to reflect enough sound for you to hear it, solid enough to reflect sound efficiently, and with a broad side facing you so the sound is reflected back in your direction instead of somewhere else. A large distant building can satisfy these conditions. A shear cliff facing you, or a steep grade whose base is at a lower altitude can too.

Answer 2

More, depending on what type of a mountain. If it has a desert landscape with little/no vegetation it would be more because you voice bounces off of the mountian itself.

Less, if it's a mountain with a lot of trees, because the trees make the echo travel a shorter distance preventing the echo.

Answer 3

Although it does matter what other terrain you are comparing the echoes to, typically when we consider that mountains tend to have a jagged landscape and covered in foliage, the chances are seriously decreased of the sound waves resonating off those surfaces. Leaves. branches, and uneven surfaces will deteriorate the sound before it gets too far causing it to lose amplitude in the audio signal.

Answer 4

Mountains are full of trees and this suppresses the echo effect. Less.

Answer 5

OMG more. You should hear it hear when a storm hits. We are on a plateau of sorts surrounded on all 4 sides by the Carpathian mountains. It will bounce off one mountain and hit another. It sounds like it's never gonna stop. They will sometimes even overlap. All the car alarm for miles go off and people cross themselves...It's wild.

Answer 6

there are less because the air is so thin it can't really carry out sound that long
there are more echos in valleys or in a large closed room
because the sound bounces off of the wall and comes back at you

Answer 7

In mountains there more echos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_%28phenomenon%29

Answer 8

more

Answer 9

definitly more.