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. hb```">&S ac`a8 _o9j{VkL*1{|icPGEO&u\w:=q$O\S-9 T ` ` @@ vfb3"|$2f b v` rY lY`a609060 `@X vH;3b :k0\U\(C&0@u0 FV\s Known Kentucky occurrences: Tectonic faults do not occur everywhere, so faulting is not pervasive. No, there is no tectonic plate located in Kentucky. 5 earthquake lasted approximately 10 minutes. Most polygon layers have some transparency set (e.g. Digital Map of the Hayward Fault Map showing active fault traces within the Hayward Fault Zone, including a virtual tour of the Hayward fault in the east San Francisco Bay Region that can be viewed in the Google Earth. Stresses exerted by swelling soils have caused this block wall surrounding a condominium complex (not in Madison County) to tilt and break. Thousands of earthquakes have been recorded in this region since 1974. Trends: Faults tend to have linear to slightly curving trends, so orientations can be projected in advance of mining. The pressures from mountain building caused the northeast edge of a block of Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian strata to be pushed upward, forming a 125-mile long ridge that we call Pine Mountain. Butler County - Morgantown. To select data from a rectangular area, hold the Ctrl key (use Cmd key on Macs) and drag the pointer. These structures appear on sheet The cross section shows numerous faults cutting across and offsetting the strata beneath the surface of Kentucky. Kentucky geologic map data A GIS database of geologic units and structural features in Kentucky, with lithology, age, data structure, and format written and arranged just like the other states. It. 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. Jeptha Knob, first described by Bucher (1925), has recently been described in detail by Cressman (1981). Contains faults, geologic units, and geologic contacts. 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. (See New Madrid earthquakes of 181112.). From AIPG (1993). The first shock was felt from Canada to New Orleans and as far away as Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. That is because the strata on the left side of the photo have moved downward relative to the strata on the right side of the photo. 16). The basin Dams should be constructed of compacted clayey soils at slopes flatter than 3 units horizontal to 1 unit vertical. The most dramatic fault shown in the block diagram is the Pine Mountain thrust fault, which occurs in southeasternmost Kentucky. [Click on image to see a larger version in a new window. In essence, these faults acted as a hinge line that cracked and broke when the Appalachian Basin was subsiding. 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. This print tool currently honors the default opacity/transparency of each layer (if you change the opacity of a layer, the updated rendering will NOT be printed). Denison and others (1984), in a report on basement rock types and age in All six states are at increased risk for experiencing damaging earthquakes and should be prepared with proper mitigation strategies. The origin of the Muldraugh dome is uncertain. 3 magnitude quake that occurred near Hardinsburg on April 25, 2012. Englund and Roen (1963) suggested a meteor-impact origin for the structure on the basis of the presence of Pennsylvanian system compiled by Coskren and Rice (1979) from data derived from drilling records and This is called a fault. Legend Issues: Some legend items may not print in the layout. Map showing Quaternary faults in the western U.S. and Pacific Ocean. The main fault lines located in Kentucky are the Rough Creek Fault, the Martin-Clifty Fault, the Green River Fault, the Horse Cave Fault, the Copper Creek Fault, the Brier Creek Fault, the Middlesboro Fault, the South Fork Fault, the Memphis-Ridgemont Fault, the Mott's Valley Fault, the Barren River Fault, the Pigeonroost Fault, the Elkton Fault, 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. 5) also show right lateral offset of about In some cases, coals become mineralized (calcite veins, etc.) Published descriptions or examples of faults in Kentucky coal mines cite faults through the Western Kentucky No. Summaries of the geology in each of Kentucky's counties by Kentucky students. The USDA-NRCS can provide guidance on the application of these liners to new construction, and for treatment of existing leaking ponds. Show in Google Earth or other KML viewer: https://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/sgmc2 (WMS, version 1.3.0), https://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/wfs/sgmc2 (WFS, version 1.1.0), Preliminary integrated geologic map databases for the United States : Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia, Detailed report of standardization procedures, Methods used to create several styles for lithology or geologic time. Two fault zones split from the Lexington Fault Zone eastward into the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field (part of the Appalachian Basin). https://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/wfs/sgmc2. This map shows the major fault lines in the US! and especially in western Kentucky. 16). 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. The broad, Reverse or thrust faults are faults in which one side is moved upward relative to the other side. Map of active US fault lines in the USA by USGS. The data in this package is compatible. A quake of this magnitude would have devastating consequences on infrastructure and could potentially trigger massive tsunamis. The 7. Harris (1978) combined the Rome trough with Appropriate preparation is needed when approaching faults underground, in case fluids or gases are encountered. In most cases, faulting impedes mining and forms the boundary of a mine, so adverse roof conditions adjacent to faults lead to entries along mine boundaries being abandoned. These fault lines are all part of the larger New Madrid Seismic Zone, a region spanning 7 states and known for its earthquake activity. In some cases, where offset is not too great, mine plans can be altered to ramp (adjust the dip of the excavated entries up or down) across the fault to the level of the coal on the other side of the fault. Normal faults are faults in which one side of the earths crust is offset downward relative to the other side. concurrent with this early period of arching has been demonstrated by Simmons (1966). Pronounced effects of arching are shown by pre-Middle Devonian Breckinridge County - Hardinsburg. How likely is Kentucky to have an earthquake? they postulate large-scale strike-slip displacement in basement rocks under the Appalachian basin, perhaps The Versailles cryptoexplosive structure was discovered during the cooperative mapping project and has McKeown 0 Earthquakes are rarely felt in Kentucky, and major damaging earthquakes are extremely unlikely. rocks as young as latest Ordovician, which are capped in the central part by undeformed earliest Silurian It was the first major earthquake in California since the 6. Most of the movement along Kentucky's faults occurred in the distant past. several thousand years (McKeown, 1982, p. 1), damaging earthquakes in the region have been common 0 earthquake. It was the largest tremor felt in the state since 2003. The fault shown cutting the Cincinnati Arch in the block diagram is part of the Lexington Fault Zone. This function will create two bookmark links to save the current map layout with or without the current extent: These basemaps are displayed above the ESRI basemaps. Offset along faults may be measured in inches to thousands of feet. At the surface it is represented The Grenville Front, apparently in sheet I of the geologic map). thrust that underlies the structurally complex Middlesboro syncline. Specifically, the region of Kentucky is in the Central and Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, which is classified as a high hazard by the United States Geological Survey. show the general aspect of this broad uplift and the high-angle fault systems that transect it. There, the Devonian (red on the section) and Mississippian (light blue on the section) strata appear to split upward on the eastern (right) side of the diagram. The town of Middlesboro, in far southeastern Kentucky (sheet 3), is located in a topographic basin that is the . The most recent major earthquake in Ky was the M4. Kentucky (fig. 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. northeastern Kentucky (Dever and others, 1977). This map courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows the major earthquake hazard areas within the United States based on fault lines. (Photo by Paul Howell). In the photo above, one can see that rocks on one side of the break in strata are different than rocks on the other side. There are numerous faults in Kentucky. The relative direction or motion of movement defines the type of fault. Chain-link fencing is used to prevent further rock falls on a road cut in Madison County. 19 earthquakes in the past 30 days. From AIPG (1993). Hawaii sits atop the Ring of Fire and experiences around 900 earthquakes each year. F21). 2 and caused major destruction throughout the state. A compiled set of FAULT features for the state of Kentucky as digitized by the Geospatial Analysis Section, Digital Mapping Team. The main fault lines located in Kentucky are the Rough Creek Fault, the Martin-Clifty Fault, the Green River Fault, the Horse Cave Fault, the Copper Creek Fault, the Brier Creek Fault, the Middlesboro Fault, the South Fork Fault, the Memphis-Ridgemont Fault, the Motts Valley Fault, the Barren River Fault, the Pigeonroost Fault, the Elkton Fault, the McKee Fault, the Newpaw Fault and the Pottsville Fault. The zone of radiating faults in far western Kentucky adjacent to the Tertiary strata are part of the Fluorspar District. Geophysical studies of the Moorman syncline by The resulting power outages, liquefaction, and flooding would further add to the destruction. and Pakiser, 1982) provides detailed descriptions of historic and modern seismicity and geologic and The fault system runs from the Mississippi Delta, through Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. (Cressman, 1981, p. 14). reports indicate that, although the most severe earthquakes (New Madrid type) may occur only every The quake was felt for over 200,000 square miles, including in the Carolinas, Alabama, Kentucky, and West Virginia. KGS Home > Geology of Kentucky Engineering design principles are employed in roadways and bridges to prepare for such situations. The New Madrid earthquakes of the winter of 1811-1812 were the largest in the history of the United States. ], [Click on image to see a larger version in a new window.]. View the KGS World Wide Web site at: www.uky.edu/kgs. The last time the VSZ caused so much chaos was in 1867 when it released an earthquake of 5.6-magnitude the strongest in Virginias history. Welcome to the Kentucky Geography Network. What states are on the Madrid fault line? dome (Lexington dome of some authors), a culmination of the arch in central Kentucky; the Cumberland This is a dramatic example of an angular unconformity, where layers of underlying strata dip in a different direction than the strata above them. 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. In the block diagram, one can see that the faults continue beneath the Tertiary strata. These fractures can also contribute to roadway failure. 0000001642 00000 n zones and some associated with dolomitization (Black and Haney, 1975). 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. Buschbach and Atherton (1979) suggest that This new map shows yellow, orange and red lines, which denote differing likelihoods of an earthquake along each fault. Click the map to show data near to the point you clicked. inactive ancient rift zone now recognized in the subsurface there (Hinze and others, 1980). This fracturing may influence slope stability and groundwater flow in these limited areas. A map of the fault lines database from the United States Geological Survey. Resource maps of most of the mined coal beds in western Kentucky show that a large number of mines are bounded by faults. Faults are common geologic structures across Kentucky, and have been mapped in many of the Commonwealth's counties. The intensity of the largest of the three main shocks has been given as XII, and the body-wave University of Kentucky. beyond the surface faults shown on the map (sheets 2 and 3), as a concealed system that extends into West Some wells in this area drilled along drainage lines that may produce enough water for a domestic supply except during dry weather. Remedies vary from mere maintenance that keeps drainage away from the house to expensive reconstruction of foundations. The exact cause for the rise in seismic activity is unclear, but some scientists speculate that it could be related to natural phenomena, underground activities such as energy or mineral extraction, or even human-induced activities. All files associated with this page are copyrighted 1997 Surface faults are well mapped, but unmapped faults or splinter faults branching from mapped faults are sometimes encountered. Cambrian We obtained all three digitized sets of fault locations. Virginia (Dever and others, 1977). 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. 0000003418 00000 n Rock movement along fault lines might be reactivated during an earthquake. 15), rose at the close of Early Ordovician time. Illinois basin.--The Illinois basin is a major structural downwarp in the eastern midcontinent, occupying large The KyGeoNet is the Geospatial Data Clearinghouse for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. exposed and subjected to erosion only briefly at the end of the Ordovician, during the period of intensive Early Silurian time (McDowell and Peterson, 1980; McDowell, 1983), when strata of the eastern flank began The Appalachian basin in Kentucky contains several major structural features: the Kentucky River and A variety of datasets can be located and downloaded, static map products can be viewed, and many web mapping applications and services are easily accessible. Prior site planning that takes geology into account is always preferable to dealing with problems after a structure is built. Geologists know what the rocks in the subsurface look like from data gathered during drilling beneath the surface for oil, natural gas, coal, industrial minerals, and water resources, and from seismic exploration. Exploration for oil and gas in Kentucky has resulted in considerable information on the nature of the Click the section headings to expand or collapse reports. 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. Thousands of milder aftershocks occurred daily for more than a year. rifting in eastern Kentucky (Rome trough: Harris, 1975; Ammerman and Keller, 1979) and post-Ordovician digital geologic map information service, 310 Columbia Ave, 228 Mining and Mineral Resources Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107. considerably more data, report a close correlation between gravity anomalies and basement lithology: Most polygon layers have some transparency set (e.g. Keller and others, 1982, p. 220). Branches of the fault extend into Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Fractures in limestone are enhanced by slightly acidic rainwater to produce sinkhole collapses, which are infilled with soil from the surface. HWmo6_0|I(8JSKN jSmEc&q2Hxsw:Bc$SLHqm(cd?v%:X(rx7LPd)sT|'r|K:G% _ c%*H4'%QH%o;desKS*9."|\ '-[QoE0(Z7`R The northernmost is called the Kentucky River Fault Zone, and the other is called the Irvine-Paint Creek Fault Zone. Kentucky, United States has had: (M1.5 or greater) 0 earthquakes in the past 24 hours. 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. NEXT||PREVIOUS||TABLE OF CONTENTS. Throughout the county ground water is hard or very hard and may contain salt or hydrogen sulfide, especially at depths greater than 100 feet. The 9. In some areas, faults may bifurcate and merge laterally. Mapped faults provide an obvious location and orientation that can be projected in advance of mining. 14), and then after some distance, crossed another fault. ), and was discovered in the late 1960s. No major damage was reported, although numerous cracks and water leaks appeared in homes in Hardinsburg. Output includes the KY county and KY 1:24,000 quadrangle where the coordinate is located and links to map views. Contact the Webmaster for questions and comments. No, Pine Mountain in Kentucky is not a fault line. County geology. 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. Carter County - Grayson. The quake was the largest earthquake ever recorded in magnitude and intensity, occurring off the coast of Valparaiso, Chile. First obvious indications of the arch occurred in This structure is not document.write(thisYr); The surface traces of faults are shown as black line segments on the geologic map, and offsets along some of the major faults are shown in the block diagram. by the Kentucky Geological Survey, Ages range View Show in a web browser window: [ Legend for lithology colors] Show in Google Earth or other KML viewer: kygeol.kml (Uncompressed, 23.1M) Overall, the Madrid Fault Line affects the following states: Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Cross sections and block diagrams (like the one above) can be used to illustrate why the units of geologic strata on the geologic map and corresponding land-surface features on the physiographic map occur where they do in the State. 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. amphibolites, and mafic granulites are found in the vicinity of highs. 1 magnitude earthquake occurred in the state of California on July 5, 2019. Contact the BGADD Water Coordinator for more information on Source Water Protection Areas. Cryptoexplosive structures: J, Jeptha Knob; MO, Middlesboro; MU, Muldraugh dome; V, Versailles. Slickensides are common and tend to parallel the direction of movement along the fault. (The Illinois basin is referred to in some reports, for It is also known as the Waynesville earthquake, although the epicenter was closer to Skyland. The quake was felt across much of the state and many neighboring states. 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. http://kgs.uky.edu/kgsweb/download/wrs/MADISON.pdf, Water well information is available at: http://wris.state.ky.us/website/kgs/viewer.htm. been described by Black (1964). Popular Kentucky Earth Science Publications. The Rough Creek fault system (Rough Creek-Shawneetown of some authors) crosses the southern end of Rough Creek graben, that was active as early as latest Precambrian or earliest Cambrian time and that has described a Precambrian (Keweenawan) rifting event that resulted in formation of the east-continent The vertical component has been stretched or vertically exaggerated in the above diagram. Kentucky and adjacent States, indicate that the dominant rock types east of the Grenville Front are granite southeasternmost Missouri, northeasternmost Arkansas, and adjacent areas of westernmost Tennessee and The threat is so great, the BBC even did a nifty video on the potential MegaQuake threat. <]/Prev 1512027>> The faults shown on the Madison County map represent seismic activity that occurred several million years ago at the latest. basin as a whole contains sedimentary rocks of Precambrian to Early Permian age in a sequence that has a 133 9 Arkansas experiences earthquakes due to having proximity to the New Madrid Fault Line. Oil, natural gas, and water can migrate along faults, leading to oil-, gas-, and water-charged sandstones in mine roofs near faults. An uplifting experience that will not be appreciated! example, Sable (1979), as the Eastern Interior basin; others, such as Snyder (1968), use the latter term to All files associated with this page are copyrighted 1997 Ordovician) deposition. The epicenter of the quake was located about 10 miles from the city of Ridgecrest and was located about 124 miles northeast of Los Angeles. 30 mi wide, which coincides with gravity and magnetic highs and extends from south-central Kentucky into geologic map; evidence of these features has been reported from Mississippian and older rocks in The most powerful earthquake to be ever recorded was a 9. The epicenter was in the vicinity of New Madrid, the Nashville dome in central Tennessee through central Kentucky to northwestern Ohio, where it place of about 35,000 ft (Colton, 1970, p. 13). No, earthquakes arent particularly rare in Kentucky.