The Mesozoic and Cenozoic were characterized by uplift and minor faulting, associated with The cross section shows numerous faults cutting across and offsetting the strata beneath the surface of Kentucky. been reactivated in the late Paleozoic and possibly Mesozoic. Thankfully, there were only minor reported injuries and no deaths associated with the quake. Major structural elements within the basin in Kentucky are the Rough From AIPG (1993). County geology. NEXT||PREVIOUS||TABLE OF CONTENTS. 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. recurrence curve plotted for the New Madrid seismic zone (Nuttli, 1979) shows that, for example, in a Pennsylvanian system compiled by Coskren and Rice (1979) from data derived from drilling records and KY basemap layers are displayed above these ESRI basemaps. initiation of the Illinois and Appalachian basins. The. 15). The Versailles cryptoexplosive structure was discovered during the cooperative mapping project and has The epicenter was in the vicinity of New Madrid, A fault line is a place in the earth where two plates move against each other which causes movements in the Earths crust. In 2011, New Yorkers were jolted by a5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the East Coast from New Hampshire all the way down through Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Freeman (1951, p. Getting the basin filled with water as soon as possible after construction prevents drying and cracking, and possible leakage, of the clayey soil liner. The following brief descriptions of the four structural provinces include discussions of their regional setting, According to the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, The Sangre de Cristo Fault, which lies at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, and the Sawatch Fault, which runs along the eastern edge of the Sawatch Range, are two of the most prominent potentially active faults in Colorado and that Seismologists predict that Colorado will again experience a magnitude 6.5 earthquake at some unknown point in the future.. document.write(d.getFullYear()); The Mississippi Embayment is currently delineated by the Cretaceous and Tertiary coastal plain strata (see Originally, the network provided a group of geologists who served as resource persons for teachers. A compacted clay liner, or artificial liner, may prevent pond failure. A compiled set of FAULT features for the state of Kentucky as digitized by the Geospatial Analysis Section, Digital Mapping Team. If faults were active during peat/coal accumulation (called syndepositional faults), coals may split or change thickness across faults. sedimentation, the Reelfoot basin, in roughly the same position, and Cressman (1973, p. 57) interpreted 16; not labeled on the geologic map) occupies most of central Kentucky, as Radon gas, although not widely distributed in Kentucky in amounts above the Environmental Protection Agency's maximum recommended limit of 4 picocuries per liter, can be a local problem. 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. Legend Issues: Some legend items may not print in the layout. If faults were active just after peat/coal accumulation, roof rocks may change rock type or thickness across faults. Mo., a few miles from the border of westernmost Kentucky (Heyl and McKeown, 1978). parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky and lying between the Ozark uplift on the west and the Cincinnati If a quake of that magnitude were to occur, it would result in widespread damage across much of the midwestern states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The fault zone covers a surface area of 8,846 km2 (3,426 sq. When strata moves along a fault an earthquake occurs. An Equal Opportunity University. A report this week from theLos Angeles Times took a look at what a devastating earthquake could do to Los Angeles and the lessons to be learned from the calamitous 6.3 magnitude quake in 2011 that all but flattened Christchurch, New Zealand. thisYr = thisYr + 1900; rocks as young as latest Ordovician, which are capped in the central part by undeformed earliest Silurian While the majority of these earthquakes were of a low magnitude, some of them caused significant damage. These fractures can also contribute to roadway failure. Butler County - Morgantown. The quake was felt for over 200,000 square miles, including in the Carolinas, Alabama, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Recent geophysical, geological, and seismological studies of the Reelfoot basin, which underlies the Jackson https://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/wfs/sgmc2. In areas overlying limestone, septic system leaks can occur through fractures in the limestone, contaminating groundwater. Earthquakes still occur on these faults, but most are so small that they are barely felt. The USDA-NRCS can provide guidance on the application of these liners to new construction, and for treatment of existing leaking ponds. In some cases, coals become mineralized (calcite veins, etc.) Bullitt County - Shepherdsville. Across a span of millions of years, this gradual, periodic movement can result in thousands of feet of offset along a fault. 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. 0000001550 00000 n Stresses exerted by swelling soils have caused this block wall surrounding a condominium complex (not in Madison County) to tilt and break. show the general aspect of this broad uplift and the high-angle fault systems that transect it. Other interesting features. In Tennessee, the fault line continues from northern Mississippi, and passes through Chester, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin, and Wayne counties, before entering western Kentucky. 16). The first shock was felt from Canada to New Orleans and as far away as Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. We obtained all three digitized sets of fault locations. Kentucky Geological Survey. area dominated by numerous closely spaced high-angle faults trending northeastward from the Mississippi var d = new Date(); A magnitude The fractures are covered by thick layers of rock, which in turn are overlaid by deep, unstable alluvial material relating to the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers. Normal faults are faults in which one side of the earths crust is offset downward relative to the other side. Breckinridge County - Hardinsburg. The downbow in eastern Kentucky is part of the Appalachian Basin, which extends from Pennsylvania to Alabama. Through millions of years, strata have gradually dropped downward above the rift, along the southern edge of the Rough Creek faults and the northern edge of the Pennyroyal Faults. Click the map to show data near to the point you clicked. Fish and Wildlife, 2003, National Wetlands Inventory, http://www.nwi.fws.gov/, Copyright 2003 by the University of Kentucky, Kentucky Geological Survey. Movement may not occur along a fault for hundreds or thousands of years, and then the fault may move an inch to several feet all at once. States located along the Madrid Fault Line include Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Cumberland Plateau of Kentucky and Tennessee. suggesting a "crypto-volcanic" nature. 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 seismic exploration, energy waves are directed into the ground and are reflected by the different grouping of rocks back up to the surface and recorded. Known Kentucky occurrences: Tectonic faults do not occur everywhere, so faulting is not pervasive. The Rough Creek fault system (Rough Creek-Shawneetown of some authors) crosses the southern end of For more information on the groundwater resources of the county, see Carey and Stickney (2001). 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. Output includes the KY county and KY 1:24,000 quadrangle where the coordinate is located and links to map views. Rough Creek fault system through at least Early Permian time. Geophysical studies by Soderberg and the Nashville dome in central Tennessee through central Kentucky to northwestern Ohio, where it His compilation shows complexities of the structural fabric on the Cincinnati arch in Kentucky. This new map shows yellow, orange and red lines, which denote differing likelihoods of an earthquake along each fault. Embayment across a gentle, northwest-trending arch (Heyl and others, 1965; Pinckney, 1976; Trace and the Moorman syncline of western Kentucky as the "Eastern Interior Aulacogen" and traced the trough from East of the fluorspar faults there are two sets of faults that trend east-west. Ages range It started at 8:11pm GMT on May 22nd 1960 and ended at approximately 8:21pm GMT. Middle Ordovician age and the Lexington Limestone (01) of Middle and Late Ordovician age. been described by Black (1964). Earthquakes in Kentucky mostly occur due to seismic activity associated with the New Madrid and Wabash Valley Seismic Zones, though there can be earthquakes caused by other seismic events. indicated by the outcrop area of the oldest rocks exposed in the State, the High Bridge Group (Ohb) of 1 magnitude earthquake occurred in the state of California on July 5, 2019. The Irvine-Paint Creek fault system extends eastward from central Data set is derived from the 7.5-minute geologic quadrangle maps (scale 1:24,000); then attributed, edgematched, and compiled for statewide coverage. 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. } Successful pond construction must prevent water from seeping through structured soils into limestone solution channels below. 9) coal (Greb and Williams, 2000). now = new Date; 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. Fault planes are not always vertical, so the position of the fault may change with depth depending on the dip of the fault plane. Kentucky is far enough inland that it does not border any part of the North American Plate. The oldest rocks at the surface in the State occur in central Kentucky, because older rock strata is pushed upward along a broad bulge, called the Cincinnati Arch, which in Kentucky, stretches from Covington in the north, to just west of Dale Hollow Lake in the south. But while Americans are aware of the San Andreas fault and the seismic activity in California, which has wreaked havoc in San Francisco and Los Angeles, there are other, lesser-known fault lines in the United States that fly dangerously under the radar. 70 mi on the Grenville Front at the Kentucky River fault system and a north-trending basaltic rift zone some beyond the surface faults shown on the map (sheets 2 and 3), as a concealed system that extends into West