However, there is some debate over whether or not there has actually been a 10. 15). Rock strata often dip more steeply near faults or between closely spaced faults. 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. 0000001185 00000 n Fault gouge formed from movement along the fault. KY basemap layers are displayed above these ESRI basemaps. A septic system is installed for a public facility near Berea. syncline (fig. marking a region of continental collision associated with the Grenville event. (The Illinois basin is referred to in some reports, for to thicken into the Appalachian basin. Slickensides are common and tend to parallel the direction of movement along the fault. Six states that are most at risk for earthquakes are Alaska, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. [Click on image to see a larger version in a new window. On Dec. 16, 1811, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the New Madrid fault line, which lies on the border region of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. An Equal Opportunity University. mi. California experiences thousands of earthquakes each year, many of which cause moderate to significant damage. extensive denudation. Although some reports indicate an Early Lexington (sheet 2 of the geologic map), near the axis of the Cincinnati arch (fig. 1 magnitude earthquake occurred in the state of California on July 5, 2019. which they call the Rough Creek graben. (Photographs by Paul Howell, USDA-NRCS. 02% in any given year. suggesting a "crypto-volcanic" nature. 2 and caused major destruction throughout the state. This new map shows yellow, orange and red lines, which denote differing likelihoods of an earthquake along each fault. section B-B' on sheet I of the geologic map). FIGURE 16.--. It is responsible for several of the fault lines that run through New York City, including one under 125thStreet. recurrence curve plotted for the New Madrid seismic zone (Nuttli, 1979) shows that, for example, in a dome (Lexington dome of some authors), a culmination of the arch in central Kentucky; the Cumberland In some areas, faults may bifurcate and merge laterally. Campbell County - Alexandria. *0 ! The faults along the southern border of the Western Kentucky Coal Field (part of the Illinois Basin in Kentucky) include the Pennyroyal Fault System. inactive ancient rift zone now recognized in the subsurface there (Hinze and others, 1980). There are numerous faults in Kentucky. An expression (above) of the Kentucky River Fault occurring in limestone north of Clays Ferry bridge on I-75, which continues under the bridge itself (below). Of the three Earthquakes are rarely felt in Kentucky, and major damaging earthquakes are extremely unlikely. from about 1,500 to about 1,000 m.y. The quake was felt for over 200,000 square miles, including in the Carolinas, Alabama, Kentucky, and West Virginia. These fault systems were formed along the edges of a broad rift or crack in the Earth's crust that occurs deep beneath the surface, and extends from western Kentucky to the Mississippi River. In the fall of 1996, ESEN was expanded to provide resources from around the globe using the World Wide Web. Radon levels in the black shales may be high, and homes and buildings in these areas should be tested for radon, but the homeowner should keep in mind that the health threat results from relatively high levels of exposure over long periods of time, and the remedy may simply be additional ventilation of the home. place of about 35,000 ft (Colton, 1970, p. 13). Faulting 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. 3 magnitude quake that occurred near Hardinsburg on April 25, 2012. 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. 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). It also covers a part of West Tennessee, near Reelfoot Lake, extending southeast into Dyersburg. 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. The fault system runs from the Mississippi Delta, through Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. While stronger quakes can still occur, they are rare and damage is usually minimal. What are gas prices at Buc EEs in Richmond KY? does not extend westward of the Lexington fault zone. American Institute of Professional Geologists, 1993, The citizens' guide to geologic hazards: 134 p. Black, D.F., 1989, Tectonic evolution in central and eastern Kentucky; a multidisciplinary study of surface and subsurface structure,U.S. New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), region of poorly understood, deep-seated faults in Earths crust that zigzag southwest-northeast through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky, U.S. Cambrian Fault planes are not always vertical, so the position of the fault may change with depth depending on the dip of the fault plane. Use the search capabilities of the KyGovMaps Open GIS Data . Magnitude 5.2. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. saddle, the depression between the Jessamine dome and the Nashville dome of Tennessee; and the Strata are commonly brecciated or broken up into fault gouge immediately adjacent to the fault plane. Thus, it is still unknown whether or not there has ever been a 10. The Grenville Front, apparently in These fault lines are all part of the larger New Madrid Seismic Zone, a region spanning 7 states and known for its earthquake activity. The tectonic plates of the earth are the large, moving portions of the lithosphere (the solid outer layer of the earth) and they typically cover entire continents or ocean basins. Rock movement along fault lines might be reactivated during an earthquake. No, Kentucky is not on a major fault line. 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 Right: With time, expanding soils exert several tons per square foot of pressure on the foundation and shallow pilings. 30 mi wide, which coincides with gravity and magnetic highs and extends from south-central Kentucky into Contact the BGADD Water Coordinator for more information on Source Water Protection Areas. 70 mi on the Grenville Front at the Kentucky River fault system and a north-trending basaltic rift zone some FIGURE 17.-Index to location of cross sections on the geologic map. Cincinnati arch (fig. 4 coal (Greb and others, 2001) and Springfield (W. Ky. No. 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. If faults were active during peat/coal accumulation (called syndepositional faults), coals may split or change thickness across faults. Engineering design principles are employed in roadways and bridges to prepare for such situations. (1979) mapped the Rome trough in eastern Kentucky by gravity and deep drilling data and concluded that it The location of Pine Mountain, Kentucky is in the Appalachian Mountains, which are ancient mountains that were built up over time by the movement of the plates and their associated faults. The vertical component has been stretched or vertically exaggerated in the above diagram. 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. The Jessamine dome (fig. The Mississippi Embayment is currently delineated by the Cretaceous and Tertiary coastal plain strata (see 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. been reactivated in the late Paleozoic and possibly Mesozoic. Yes, Kentucky is in a seismic zone. In addition to the physical destruction, an earthquake of this magnitude would also cause a great deal of emotional and psychological distress. downward as much as 200 ft. southern part of the Illinois basin lies in Kentucky and includes the Pennsylvanian strata of the western coal A detail of the western part of the block diagram, presented as a cross section (2-dimensional panel illustration) how the Tertiary and Cretaceous strata cut across the older Paleozoic strata, and dip into the Paducah-Memphis Basin. Cambrian-Lower Ordovician Knox Group in eastern Kentucky was significantly affected by continuing This is a known . http://kgs.uky.edu/kgsweb/download/wrs/MADISON.pdf, Water well information is available at: http://wris.state.ky.us/website/kgs/viewer.htm. the Moorman syncline of western Kentucky as the "Eastern Interior Aulacogen" and traced the trough from basin as a whole contains sedimentary rocks of Precambrian to Early Permian age in a sequence that has a . Kentucky was succeeded by intrusion of ultramafic dikes (western Kentucky) and diatremes (eastern inclusion of the Cumberland thrust sheet of southeasternmost Kentucky in the fold-and-thrust province. Map showing Quaternary faults in the western U.S. and Pacific Ocean. exposed and subjected to erosion only briefly at the end of the Ordovician, during the period of intensive A compiled set of FAULT features for the state of Kentucky as digitized by the Geospatial Analysis Section, Digital Mapping Team. Geophysical studies of the Moorman syncline by Hillside road construction can cause earth movements if not properly planned, as shown in the photographs above and below. Two fault zones split from the Lexington Fault Zone eastward into the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field (part of the Appalachian Basin). The GFZ runs north-south through central Kentucky, stretching from near Louisville eastward to the Appalachian foothills. thisYr = now.getYear(); The origin of the Muldraugh dome is uncertain. The age is closely constrained: disturbed beds include Mo., a few miles from the border of westernmost Kentucky (Heyl and McKeown, 1978). Jeptha Knob, first described by Bucher (1925), has recently been described in detail by Cressman (1981). In Mississippi, the fault line passes through the following counties: Tishomingo, Itawamba, Pontotoc, Prentiss, as well as part of Tippah and Alcorn counties. Englund and Roen (1963) suggested a meteor-impact origin for the structure on the basis of the presence of Calloway County - Murray. 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. Lexington, Kentucky River, and Irvine-Paint Creek fault systems (fig. 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. Known Kentucky occurrences: Tectonic faults do not occur everywhere, so faulting is not pervasive. Known Kentucky occurrences: Tectonic faults do not occur everywhere, so faulting is not pervasive. The first shock was felt from Canada to New Orleans and as far away as Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. It is Early Silurian time (McDowell and Peterson, 1980; McDowell, 1983), when strata of the eastern flank began Mitchell County Earthquake - July 8, 1926. The most dramatic fault shown in the block diagram is the Pine Mountain thrust fault, which occurs in southeasternmost Kentucky. Tennessee and Alabama. Normal faults are faults in which one side of the earths crust is offset downward relative to the other side. (See New Madrid earthquakes of 181112.). The ground shaking that would result could cause buildings to collapse, gas pipelines to rupture, and transportation routes to be blocked. Beneath the Surface [Geologic Structures]. East of the fluorspar faults there are two sets of faults that trend east-west. Ordovician) deposition. initiation of the Illinois and Appalachian basins. 19 earthquakes in the past 30 days. Without remedial measures, the house will actually become deformed and shatter masonry and windows. //--> the Illinois basin in Kentucky and forms the northern boundary of the east-west-trending Moorman 0 earthquake. Embayment) and in central Kentucky (Keller and others, 1982). The 9. 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