Posted on 08/03/2005 7:02:59 PM PDT by Flavius
PARKFIELD, Calif. - Geologists drilling a borehole into the San Andreas Fault to better understand the physics of earthquakes have hit a seismically active section of the fault for the first time. ADVERTISEMENT
The scientists, who began drilling in 2004, finally entered the fault zone about two miles below the surface of the Earth on Tuesday. The entire borehole will be covered with steel and cement at the end of the month so scientists can later install instruments to measure future temblors.
"It's the first time we've been inside the earthquake machine," said Bill Ellsworth, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.
The drilling is part of a project, known as the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth, to rig a patch of private ranchland near Parkfield with instruments to observe earthquakes up close and to better understand what happens during stress buildup of the ground. Parkfield is one of the world's most seismically active areas.
Parkfield — located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles — straddles the San Andreas Fault, which is the meeting of the Pacific and North American plates as they grind along 800 miles through the state.
Sounds like a villian in a James Bond movie.
Did they have her permission. (sorry, couldnt help myself)
Art Bell will eat this up with a spoon. He loves this under the earth stuff.
Parkfield is a cool little town.
ap ^ | 8.3.05 | 24:21
PARKFIELD, Calif. - Geologists who were drilling a borehole into the San Andreas Fault to better understand the physics of earthquakes have hit a seismically active section of the fault for the first time.
Shortly after the drill probe reached the active area, California began slowly sliding west and southwest. As San Francisco plopped into the Bay, a tsumani formed that has overtaken the coast of Japan. Mexico sunk without a trace.
Parkfield is a cool little town.
Let's just hope that Superman is in the vicinity.
Earthquakes. Online dictionaries are your friend.
"What are temblors?"
Earthquakes
"What's that sound?"
"Whoops, there goes Kalifornia...hmmm maybe we should have drilled over there."
This is not news.
Stupid jokes aside (directly above, ahem)
if one were to capitalize the the word in question, and write it Temblors, then one could be referring to a small mountain range some miles East of Parkfield, adjacent also to the Southern San Joaquin Valley's, West side. The Temblors are not much in the way of mountain ranges, and most of it---
is as near dry as a bone.
Southeast of Parkfield would be more precise.
If one refers to the map in this post, they lay
right under the red line beginning again to the SE of
Parkfield, ranging S to Hwy 166 or thereabouts.
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