#1 Slip-Strike Fault found under Appalachians
Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:37 pm
[quote]San Andreas-like fault found in eastern U.S.
Fault, from New York to Alabama, may be 500 million years old
For 30 years geologists have been puzzled by a remarkably straight magnetic line that runs between New York and Alabama along the Appalachians.
A more recent aerial magnetic survey of the Alabama end of the line suggests that it's probably a 500-million-year-old San Andreas-style fault that appears to have slipped 137 miles to the right in the distant past.
If so, it's no surprise that the most dangerous part of the eastern Tennessee seismic zone is right next to part of this magnetic line and has the second-highest earthquake frequency in the eastern United States.
"It's most likely a strike-slip fault," said Mark Steltenpohl of the University of Alabama at Auburn. “But it's all buried.â€
Fault, from New York to Alabama, may be 500 million years old
For 30 years geologists have been puzzled by a remarkably straight magnetic line that runs between New York and Alabama along the Appalachians.
A more recent aerial magnetic survey of the Alabama end of the line suggests that it's probably a 500-million-year-old San Andreas-style fault that appears to have slipped 137 miles to the right in the distant past.
If so, it's no surprise that the most dangerous part of the eastern Tennessee seismic zone is right next to part of this magnetic line and has the second-highest earthquake frequency in the eastern United States.
"It's most likely a strike-slip fault," said Mark Steltenpohl of the University of Alabama at Auburn. “But it's all buried.â€
