Posted on 12/15/2006 5:27:29 PM PST by blam
Source: University of Kentucky
Date: December 14, 2006
Researchers Complete Seismic Borehole In Kentucky
Drilling has been completed on the deepest borehole for seismic instruments in the eastern U.S. The four-inch diameter hole for the Central U.S. Seismic Observatory (CUSSO), located at Sassafras Ridge in Fulton County, Kentucky, reached a depth of 1,948 feet, where bedrock was encountered.
The location is near the most active part of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the source of at least three major earthquakes in the winter of 1811-12, before the region was heavily populated and developed. This location will allow instruments in the seismic hole to gather the maximum amount of data from the region's earthquakes for thorough evaluation of their effects on bedrock and soil and the resulting ground motions.
"Now that the well has been completed, our focus will be on getting instruments installed and collecting data vital to the region," says Jim Cobb, director of the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) and state geologist
The partners in the project, including the University of Kentucky, KGS, and several federal agencies, will now determine the type and number of instruments to place in the shaft and at what depths to place them.
Five partners involved in the project committed nearly $300,000 to the drilling project. Much of the funding came from the U.S. Department of Energy through the Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and Environment. The Department of Energy has an interest in the region's earthquakes due to uranium enrichment operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Edward W. Woolery of UK's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Zhenming Wang of KGS led the effort to plan and secure funding for the project. The next step in the process of completing the project will involve a workshop sponsored by the partners to gather input about the instruments to be placed in the observatory. The partners will apply to agencies such as the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and other sources of funding for the purchase and installation of the instruments.
When instrumentation is completed, the observatory will be added to the Kentucky Seismic and Strong-motion Network, a series of monitoring stations operated by KGS and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
It will add new data on the origin, location, magnitude, and depth of earthquakes in this region to the information currently gathered by the network's 26 instruments.
Data collected will help geologists and engineers better define the earthquake hazard in the region. Knowing the hazard has implications for economic development in the region as well as specific applications for ongoing activities at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
I know, I'm an engineer...
:D ("Old School" Designer/CAD Operator/Draftsman) here ....kinda figured that....take Hydrology; the Hec2 program...(please :)..more applied art, than science. :)
20 seconds warning probably wouldn't even help the first people to detect the signal of an impending earthquake. How would you possibly notify 75 million people in that time period?
And you thought they were wasting money on drilling holes ~ just wait'll you see how much that DNA workup is going to cost.
Whoo, boy!!!
Ping, I'm glad the earth moves for someone.
Hello -- Could you add me to your ping list? Thanks!
You've been added to the Bluegrass Ping list. Thanks.
I lived in Gibson County when I was a kid and one of my earliest memories is of my parents taking me to Reelfoot Lake on picnics and for Daddy to go fishing with my uncle. My husband, son and I went down there a few years ago to see the eagles in that area. They were having a few little tremors at that time.
I grew up in Henderson, KY, maybe 200 miles straight line from the New Madrid fault--we had tremors all the time. One year, I think about '68 we had about a 7.0 quake that crumbled part of city hall, knocked some houses off foundations, etc. Pretty scary and strange feeling with the ground rolling and rumbling around.
Hey, I'm going steal that from you: "The jam is gonna fly off the shelf if you do x, if you don't do y or if momma finds out about z"
Dangerous Echoes Of Ice Ages Past - [New Madrid Fault}
Source: Stanford
Published: 7 Mar )1 Author: Louisa Dalton
Posted on 03/09/2001 19:35:47 PST by RightWhale
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3aa9a113213a.htm
Seismic Activity in Country's Center Sparks Debate
CNN | 6/23/2005 | By KC Wildmoon
Posted on 06/24/2005 12:44:41 AM EDT by ex-Texan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1429494/posts
Bedrock was found at 1948 feet? It's about 3" at my house, except in some places where it protrudes right up through and above the grass.
That must be tough on lawn mower blades, huh?
You definitely have to set the blades high enough so they won't hit the rock. My lawn isn't exactly level! I like it, though. Funny thing is, I have 3 wells on my lot, they are about 17 feet deep, that's as far as you have to go to hit water. 'Course the water is full of calcium, but I think drinking it's good for us.
I suppose the water may be fairly close to the surface where you live too?
Yes, 30-50 feet but sulfurus. I went to 200 feet and got good clear artesian water.
Geololgist bump
Thanks for the ping!
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