Natural Seismicity in and around the Rome Trough, Eastern Kentucky, from a Temporary Seismic Network

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 1831-1845 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Seth Carpenter ◽  
Andrew S. Holcomb ◽  
Edward W. Woolery ◽  
Zhenming Wang ◽  
John B. Hickman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Seismic Network ◽  
Earthquake Activity ◽  
Seismic Zone ◽  
Injection Wells ◽  
Eastern Kentucky ◽  
The North ◽  
Horizontal Compressive Stress ◽  
Natural Seismicity

Abstract The Rome trough is a northeast-trending graben system extending from eastern Kentucky northeastward across West Virginia and Pennsylvania into southern New York. The oil and gas potential of a formation deep in the trough, the Rogersville shale, which is ∼1  km above Precambrian basement, is being tested in eastern Kentucky. Because induced seismicity can occur from fracking formations in close proximity to basement, a temporary seismic network was deployed along the trend of the Rome trough from June 2015 through May 2019 to characterize natural seismicity. Using empirical noise models and theoretical Brune sources, minimum detectable magnitudes, Mmin, were estimated in the study area. The temporary stations reduced Mmin by an estimated 0.3–0.8 magnitude units in the vicinity of wastewater-injection wells and deep oil and gas wells testing the Rogersville shale. The first 3 yr of seismicity detected and located in the study area has been compiled. Consistent with the long-term seismicity patterns in the Advanced National Seismic System Comprehensive Catalog, very few earthquakes occurred in the crust beneath the Rome trough—only three events were recorded—where the temporary network was most sensitive. None of these events appear to have been associated with Rogersville shale oil and gas test wells. Outside of the trough boundary faults, earthquakes are diffusely distributed in zones extending into southern Ohio to the north, and into the eastern Tennessee seismic zone to the south. The orientations of P axes from the seven first-motion focal mechanisms determined in this study are nearly parallel with both the trend of the Rome trough and with the orientation of maximum horizontal compressive stress in the region. This apparent alignment between the regional stress field and the strikes of faults in the trough at seismogenic depths may explain the relative lack of earthquake activity in the trough compared with the surrounding crust to the north and south.

scholarly journals State of stress in central and eastern North American seismic zones

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Mazzotti ◽  
John Townend
Keyword(s):  
Local Stress ◽  
Seismic Zone ◽  
Postglacial Rebound ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Seismic Zones ◽  
The North ◽  
State Of Stress ◽  
Perturbation Source ◽  
Horizontal Compressive Stress ◽  
Hb S

We use a Bayesian analysis to determine the state of stress from focal mechanisms in ten seismic zones in central and eastern North America and compare it with regional stress inferred from borehole measurements. Comparisons of the seismologically determined azimuth of the maximum horizontal compressive stress (S HS ) with that determined from boreholes (S HB ) exhibit a bimodal pattern: In four zones, the S HS and regional S HB orientations are closely parallel, whereas in the Charlevoix, Lower St. Lawrence, and Central Virginia zones, the S HS azimuth shows a statistically significant 30°-50° clockwise rotation relative to the regional S HB azimuth. This pattern is exemplified by the northwest and southeast seismicity clusters in Charlevoix, which yield S HS orientations strictly parallel and strongly oblique, respectively, to the regional S HB trend. Similar ~30° clockwise rotations are found for the North Appalachian zone and for the 2003 Bardwell earthquake sequence north of the New Madrid zone. The S HB /S HS rotations occur over 20-100 km in each seismic zone, but they are observed in zones separated by distances of up to 1500 km. A possible mechanism for the stress rotations may be the interaction between a long-wavelength stress perturbation source, such as postglacial rebound, and local stress concentrators, such as low-friction faults. The latter would allow low-magnitude (<10 MPa) postglacial rebound stresses to locally perturb the preexisting stress field in some seismic zones, whereas postglacial rebound stresses have little effect on the intraplate state of stress in general. © 2010 Geological Society of America.

scholarly journals State of stress in central and eastern North American seismic zones

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Mazzotti ◽  
John Townend
Keyword(s):  
Local Stress ◽  
Seismic Zone ◽  
Postglacial Rebound ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Seismic Zones ◽  
The North ◽  
State Of Stress ◽  
Perturbation Source ◽  
Horizontal Compressive Stress ◽  
Hb S

We use a Bayesian analysis to determine the state of stress from focal mechanisms in ten seismic zones in central and eastern North America and compare it with regional stress inferred from borehole measurements. Comparisons of the seismologically determined azimuth of the maximum horizontal compressive stress (S HS ) with that determined from boreholes (S HB ) exhibit a bimodal pattern: In four zones, the S HS and regional S HB orientations are closely parallel, whereas in the Charlevoix, Lower St. Lawrence, and Central Virginia zones, the S HS azimuth shows a statistically significant 30°-50° clockwise rotation relative to the regional S HB azimuth. This pattern is exemplified by the northwest and southeast seismicity clusters in Charlevoix, which yield S HS orientations strictly parallel and strongly oblique, respectively, to the regional S HB trend. Similar ~30° clockwise rotations are found for the North Appalachian zone and for the 2003 Bardwell earthquake sequence north of the New Madrid zone. The S HB /S HS rotations occur over 20-100 km in each seismic zone, but they are observed in zones separated by distances of up to 1500 km. A possible mechanism for the stress rotations may be the interaction between a long-wavelength stress perturbation source, such as postglacial rebound, and local stress concentrators, such as low-friction faults. The latter would allow low-magnitude (<10 MPa) postglacial rebound stresses to locally perturb the preexisting stress field in some seismic zones, whereas postglacial rebound stresses have little effect on the intraplate state of stress in general. © 2010 Geological Society of America.

Geothermal condition and outlook for oil and gas deposits in the north-west Black Sea shelf

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 206-208
Author(s):  
V.G. Osadchyi ◽  
◽  
O.A. Prykhod'ko ◽  
I.I. Hrytsyk ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
West Black Sea

Mafias on the Move

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Varese
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
The North ◽  
Economic Transformations ◽  
At Will

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West. As this book explains, the truth is more complicated. The author has spent years researching mafia groups in Italy, Russia, the United States, and China, and argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonize new territories. Once there, they do not always succeed in establishing themselves. The book spells out the conditions that lead to their long-term success, namely sudden market expansion that is neither exploited by local rivals nor blocked by authorities. Ultimately the inability of the state to govern economic transformations gives mafias their opportunity. In a series of matched comparisons, the book charts the attempts of the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta to move to the north of Italy, and shows how the Sicilian mafia expanded to early twentieth-century New York, but failed around the same time to find a niche in Argentina. The book explains why the Russian mafia failed to penetrate Rome but succeeded in Hungary. A pioneering chapter on China examines the challenges that triads from Taiwan and Hong Kong find in branching out to the mainland. This book is both a compelling read and a sober assessment of the risks posed by globalization and immigration for the spread of mafias.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document