Structural geology

Case Analysis 1. What are the facts in the case? John is the chief seismologist at one of the leading research facilities in North America who holds a P.H.D from one of the most prestigious university in the country. John has developed a method for predicting earthquake with 80% accuracy rate. From his investigation, he discovered that there is a 80% chance that an earthquake will occur with a magnitude of 7.3 in one of the four fault lines in southern california within two days. While three of the four faults are less populated, the fourth one is San Andreas. It is populated city and an earthquake there could be catastrophic. 2. What is the issue/dilemma? The issue is how John should proceed with reporting his finding. At a first glance, one can conclude that it is logical to just report the finding to the media so that the public will be informed. However, there are a couple of things at stakes here. If it turns out that he was wrong and the earthquake does not hit any of the four fault line, it may be problematic for receiving funding in the future. Also, if he is wrong, his career is at stake. He is the one that developed this new process, he will be discredited if he is wrong. 3. What are the John’s options? After finding his result, John has a few options available to him on how he should proceed next. John can either report his findings to the people or the media so that they can prepare or he may not report because it is a career risk that he can not make. 4.…

Is the Hayward Fault line moving the earth’s surface, and if so where is the evidence to prove it? There are various methods to prove that the Hayward Fault is creeping, and the evidence is viewable such as offset curbsides, building that are being torn apart, and cracks in the earth’s surface. The Hayward Fault is a strike-slip fault meaning it moves up, and down, thus giving us multiple locations in which the surface is affected. There are five different locations that I chose on the Hayward…

Introduction Brahmaputra River, the peculiar drainage pattern of large Southeast Asian rivers, reflects a complicated tectonic history of crustal deformation in the Himalaya and river re-organization. In general, the Himalayas are divided into three tectono-lithologic domains: the Lower Himalayas, the Higher Himalayas and the Tethys Himalayas (Amano and Taira, 1992); surprisingly this river flows through over these three domains (Fig.1). The mineral assemblages are correlated with these…

Introduction Postulated to be the result of either a long-runout landslide, or a structural pop-up, the Poverty Hills present a unique problem in the geologic community. Located on the western-most edge of the Basin and Range Province in eastern California (Fig.1), and within the Owens Valley basin, flanked by the Sierra Nevada and Inyo/White mountain ranges to the west and east, respectively. The hills are of particular interest as they represent an unusual combination of lithologies,…

CHAPTER ONE 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION Pan African Orogen (PAO) was formerly introduced by Kennedy (1964) to designate the peak of a wide spread orogenic thermo-tectonic episode characterized by intense period of reactivation and crustal formation. The term Pan African Orogen was used to describe the structural differentiation of Africa into cratons and mobile belts during the Neoproterozoic to earliest Paleozoic time (Kennedy, 1964). However, Kröner (1984) reformulate…

What is the Anthropocene? What is the Anthropocene, and why is it important? According to Paul Robbins, John Hintz, and Sarah A Moore (2014), the Anthropocene is an expression that is occasionally used in order to describe our current geologic epoch. It is said to have started from the time people first started having a control over ecosystems; influencing environmental ecologies all over the world (Robbins, Hintz, & Moore, 2014 p.4). With this definition, it is implied that humans have had a…

marine fossils. Starting in the Himalaya’s, it is written in: “Exploring Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology, “Marine fossils are also found high in the Himalayas, the world’s tallest mountain range, reaching up to 29,029 feet (8,848 m) above sea level.” These fossils are found on the top of the highest mountains in the world. Coiled marine cephalopods which are fossil ammonites are one example that proves aquatic life was at one time in Nepal of South Asia. Furthermore, fossils and…

I could picture the Earth in my head. The blues of water, greens of vegetation, and whites of clouds, all the essentials of life swirling together as if left by brush strokes. I had been seeing it since my first earth science class in elementary school, glaring out at me from textbooks as if demanding an answer. How could you do this? The question reverberated in my head, the dull ache of cognitive dissonance setting in as I peered out the window. I didn’t have an answer. None of us did. That’s…

The Lock Haven Formation stretches across the state of Pennsylvania. Named after Lock Haven, Pennsylvania when first described in 1977 by Faills and Wells. The Formation was adopted by the United State Geological Survey, and assigned as one of the four formations to the Susquehanna Group. Replaces most of the wrongs formerly believed to be included in the Chemung formation (National Geologic Map Database). The Formation can be seen in Bradford, Blair, Cameron, Centre, Clinton, Lycoming, Mckean,…

The summer before 6th grade, I was introduced to what would become one of the greatest passions I have in life: geology. This realization occurred while I visited the Grand Canyon and Garden of the Gods National Parks in the western United States. Consequently, while I explored these natural wonders, I found I wanted to discover and know the secrets these rocks held about their geological history, their specific formations, and other geological wonders such as the Tibetan Plateau and the Door to…