map of fault lines in kentuckymap of fault lines in kentucky

Most of the movement along Kentucky's faults occurred in the distant past. The quake woke a lot of people in the northeast up to the Virginia Seismic Zone (VSZ) below the Mason Dixon and the consequential effects it could have on major cities along the East Coast. Left: All is well in this newly built home until water from percolation, drains, lawn sprinklers, leaking sewers, or water mains soaks swelling soil beneath the foundation. 8). Yes, Kentucky is in a seismic zone. 3) were developed from a complicated process that started with a group of engineers, seismologists, and others using the national seismic hazard maps developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and engineering science. 5 earthquake lasted approximately 10 minutes. This map shows the major fault lines in the US! The 7. August 1, 2012 McKeown Weir and others, 1984), though Borella and Osborne (1978) suggested that the area of the Jessamine dome Deposition of the Upper Harris (1978) combined the Rome trough with Denison and others (1984, fig. The fault also passes through Ballard, McCracken, Livingston, and Marshall counties before it reaches its terminus at the Tennessee border. Kentucky (Nuttli, 1979, p. 68). The potential for significant shaking and ground movement can cause considerable damage to structures in the region. According to aNew York Postreport in 2017, On average, the region has witnessed a moderate quake (about a 5.0 on the Richter scale) every hundred years. Geologists in Kentucky keep a careful eye on the New Madrid area, in hopes that they can develop methods for predicting future quakes. A recently assembled series of studies on the New Madrid region (McKeown Jeptha Knob, first described by Bucher (1925), has recently been described in detail by Cressman (1981). 02% in any given year. Six states that are most at risk for earthquakes are Alaska, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Modifications to the landscape require careful planning to mitigate negative impacts. The USDA-NRCS can provide guidance on the application of these liners to new construction, and for treatment of existing leaking ponds. An Equal Opportunity University. 0000001185 00000 n Illinois basin.--The Illinois basin is a major structural downwarp in the eastern midcontinent, occupying large document.write(thisYr); Madrid earthquake region (McKeown, 1982), which includes much of western Kentucky. 877.778.7827 . The Madrid Fault Line, also known as the Madrid-Cullman Fault Zone, is a seismically active fault zone located in the Southern United States, stretching from northeast Alabama to central Tennessee. The The vertical component has been stretched or vertically exaggerated in the above diagram. In the upland areas of Madison County, which encompasses 70 percent of the county, most drilled wells will not produce enough water for a dependable domestic supply. The various colors and line types indicate different ages of the most recent earthquakes on the fault and how well the location of the fault is constrained. East and west of the axis of the Arch, strata gradually dip beneath the surface into two bowls or depressions in the Earth's crust, called basins. . The fault passes through Winston, Blount, Cullman, and Marshall counties, as well as portions of Madison, Jackson and Dekalb counties, before continuing into northern Mississippi. Earthquakes are rarely felt in Kentucky, and major damaging earthquakes are extremely unlikely. The most recent major earthquake in Ky was the M4. The EFZ runs east-west through the far western part of the state and into Tennessee, while the CU runs through eastern and southeastern Kentucky. These fault lines are all part of the larger New Madrid Seismic Zone, a region spanning 7 states and known for its earthquake activity. Published descriptions or examples of faults in Kentucky coal mines cite faults through the Western Kentucky No. Buschbach and Atherton (1979) suggest that The basin Borden Formation (Mbf) at the east margin of sheet 3 about 4 mi south of the Ohio River. Cressman (1981) suggested that Mississippian doming over a pre All files associated with this page are copyrighted 1997 Lying in the central area of the North American Plate, the seismic zone is about 45 miles (70 km) wide and about 125 miles (200 km) long. Offset along faults may be measured in inches to thousands of feet. Discontinuities and obstacles:Where a fault intersects a mined coal seam, the coal seam will be offset, generally causing an abrupt end to the seam into rock on the other side of the fault plane. Although some reports indicate an Early the geologic map layers are set at 20% transparent by default). 0000001314 00000 n No, Kentucky is not on a major fault line. Map of active US fault lines in the USA by USGS. Ordovician) deposition. Therefore, the term "Illinois basin" is used herein to avoid confusion.) While the state is not located in an area that is highly prone to earthquakes, it is located in an area with a moderate level of seismic activity. The sulfur content of coals may also increase or decrease near faults because of past fluid migration that led to deposition or removal of sulfates from the seam. All files associated with this page are copyrighted 1997 Getting the basin filled with water as soon as possible after construction prevents drying and cracking, and possible leakage, of the clayey soil liner. P, Elliott County peridotite intrusion. The arch thus separates the Appalachian basin Zoom in instead. Mo., a few miles from the border of westernmost Kentucky (Heyl and McKeown, 1978). been described by Black (1964). Creek but has fewer and smaller faults; fault scarps along this system exposed by strip mining of the coal Hawaii sits atop the Ring of Fire and experiences around 900 earthquakes each year. Although the arch was a positive structural element through much of the Paleozoic, strata were northeastern Kentucky (Dever and others, 1977). These structures are described by the following categories: The block diagram shown above, represents a slice through Kentucky, as if a giant knife had cut the State to a depth of 3,000 feet. central area, and a downdropped peripheral belt. The Appalachian basin is divided structurally into an eastern highly deformed part, the fold-and-thrust northwestward over Pennsylvanian rocks with a total displacement of about 7.5 mi (Rice, Sable, and others, Many surface-fault traces are mapped on 7.5-minute geologic quadrangle maps for Kentucky, and can be viewed online on the digital geologic map information service. Fault gouge is commonly mineralized. In the end, some 3,000 to 5,000 square miles (7,800 to 13,000 square km) were visibly scarred with the effects. Most polygon layers have some transparency set (e.g. The fault line, located in the Midwest region of the United States, is responsible for a higher risk of damaging earthquakes. Contact the Webmaster for questions and comments. The epicenter was in the vicinity of New Madrid, New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), region of poorly understood, deep-seated faults in Earth's crust that zigzag southwest-northeast through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky, U.S. These faults roughly parallel the trend of the Cincinnati Arch and are related to the origin of the stresses that upbowed the Arch, deep beneath the surface of Kentucky. Carroll County - Carrollton. No, there is no tectonic plate located in Kentucky. In the remainder of the major creek valleys throughout the county, some wells will produce enough water for a domestic supply except during dry weather. In essence, these faults acted as a hinge line that cracked and broke when the Appalachian Basin was subsiding. Beneath the Surface [Geologic Structures]. may have originated much earlier, however: Schwalb (1969, p. 9) identified a Cambrian-Ordovician basin of Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. However, there is evidence that Kentucky may be experiencing a spike in seismic activity since 2009, with more frequent tremors occurring throughout the state. indicating growth faulting with a total throw at the top of the Precambrian of 5,000 ft along the northern Newton, J.H., McDonald, H.P., Preston, D.G., Richardson, A.J., and Sims, R., 1973, Soil survey of Madison County, Kentucky: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 103 p. Sparks, T.N., Dever, G.R., Jr., and Anderson, W.H., 2001, Geologic map of the Harrodsburg 30 x 60 minute quadrangle, central Kentucky: Kentucky Geological Survey, ser. Nelson (1981, 1983) provided examples of mining adjacent to and through faults in southern Illinois. (1983, p. 24). Beneath the Surface [Geologic Structures]. structure of the embayment by Austin and Keller (1982) is consistent with this model. What are the most dangerous fault lines in the USA? A recent seismic study of the crustal The The rule-of-thumb is one foot of compacted clay for each 8 feet of water depth. Soderberg and Keller (1981) suggest that it is underlain by a deep-seated graben of late Precambrian age, Geological Survey OF-89-0106, Plate 11, 151 p. Carey, D.I., and Stickney, J.F., 2001, Ground-water resources of Madison County, Kentucky: Kentucky Geological Survey, Open-file Report OF-01-73, 30 p. Blue Grass Area Development District, 2003. 15). Although the number and exact location of fault lines in Kentucky is still being studied and mapped, it is believed that the 16 known fault zones were formed as glaciers receded and shifted landforms in the area. The hard dolomite of the Boyle formation was undercut by weathering of the softer shale of the Crab Orchard Formation, which caused the dolomite to fracture and fall. To select data from a rectangular area, hold the Ctrl key (use Cmd key on Macs) and drag the pointer. The fault shown cutting the Cincinnati Arch in the block diagram is part of the Lexington Fault Zone. surveys of the area (Black and others, 1977) show a close relationship between gravity and magnetic data Englund and Roen (1963) suggested a meteor-impact origin for the structure on the basis of the presence of rocks as young as latest Ordovician, which are capped in the central part by undeformed earliest Silurian (photo by Edward Nuhfer), Homes constructed in areas of steep slopes can cause earth movements if not properly planned, as shown in the photographs above and below. The quake was felt for over 200,000 square miles, including in the Carolinas, Alabama, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The Pennyrile fault system (Green River fault zone of Lidiak Because movement of the earths crust has occurred along the fault plane, rocks in the roof and floor may be highly fractured and sheared near the fault, which can weaken roof strata along the fault, leading to potential roof falls. The most dramatic fault shown in the block diagram is the Pine Mountain thrust fault, which occurs in southeasternmost Kentucky. Road cut design must take into account how weathering will affect various rock types. In addition to the physical destruction caused by the 9. Underlying shale may restrict percolation in some areas. The quake occurred at 8:59 am local time and was felt from Jackson to the west, into Indiana and further east to Berea. The threat is so great, the BBC even did a nifty video on the potential MegaQuake threat. The Appalachian basin in Kentucky contains several major structural features: the Kentucky River and Irvine-Paint Creek fault systems, the Pine Mountain thrust fault, and the Waverly arch of northeastern Kentucky (fig.16). the presence of an ancestral Mississippi Embayment. Geophysical Caldwell County - Princeton. If faults were active during peat/coal accumulation (called syndepositional faults), coals may split or change thickness across faults. Resource maps of most of the mined coal beds in western Kentucky show that a large number of mines are bounded by faults. In eastern Kentucky, surface faults are relatively well mapped and relatively far apart, so mine operators know where they are and do not commonly encounter unexpected faults. lineament, defined by aeromagnetic and gravity data, which lies across the easternmost tip of Kentucky; In 1996, the Education Committee of the Kentucky Geological Survey, in conjunction with the Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists, established the Earth Science Education Network (ESEN). to thicken into the Appalachian basin. It hugs the borders of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois, and it birthed massive quakes in 1811 and 1812 that temporarily reversed the flow of the Mississippi River. In Mississippi, the fault line passes through the following counties: Tishomingo, Itawamba, Pontotoc, Prentiss, as well as part of Tippah and Alcorn counties. Faults may be associated with increased fracturing of bedrock in the immediately adjacent area. rifting in eastern Kentucky (Rome trough: Harris, 1975; Ammerman and Keller, 1979) and post-Ordovician The faults along the southern border of the Western Kentucky Coal Field (part of the Illinois Basin in Kentucky) include the Pennyroyal Fault System. The fractures are covered by thick layers of rock, which in turn are . At the surface it is represented 16), resulting in the geophysical features of the region that may be useful in understanding the nature of the seismicity. Major cities like Portland, Seattle and Vancouver lie along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which scientists say has the capability of a 9.0 or 10 magnitude earthquake 16 times more powerful than the 1906 quake which ravaged San Francisco. They are covered by the Tertiary strata and are not visible at the surface, so they all appear to stop at the Tertiary on the geology map. 2 of the geologic map; the Irvine-Paint Creek fault system extends well into sheet 3 as well. Summaries of the geology in each of Kentucky's counties by Kentucky students. These structures appear on sheet In 1811-1812, three earthquakes measuring between 7-8 (out of the standard magnitude scale of 1.0-10.0) in magnitude originated from this fault. Computer Simulation of a Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone This animation shows the simulated ground motion of the Earth's surface that could occur in the central U.S. region for a magnitude 7.7 strike-slip earthquake on the southern section of the New Madrid seismic zone. place of about 35,000 ft (Colton, 1970, p. 13). 7 earthquakes in the past, and is capable of producing earthquakes with magnitudes of up to 9. The following brief descriptions of the four structural provinces include discussions of their regional setting, most movement on faults at the southern end of the Illinois basin took place at the end of the Paleozoic. As an alternative, use your computer or device screen capture tool to make an image of the map. One of the most potentially dangerous fault lines lies north of California, stretching between Oregon and Washington. Major structural elements within the basin in Kentucky are the Rough Fractured limestone, such as that found in Richmond, can result in leaky reservoirs or embankments. View the KGS World Wide Web site at: www.uky.edu/kgs. the Nashville dome in central Tennessee through central Kentucky to northwestern Ohio, where it Fault gouge formed from movement along the fault. For more information on the groundwater resources of the county, see Carey and Stickney (2001). 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