This fracturing may influence slope stability and groundwater flow in these limited areas. River fault system largely predate Pennsylvanian deposition and are thus not readily apparent on the For information on obtaining Kentucky Geological Survey maps and publications call: Public Information Center 859.257.3896. The Rough Creek fault system (Rough Creek-Shawneetown of some authors) crosses the southern end of Fractures in limestone are enhanced by slightly acidic rainwater to produce sinkhole collapses, which are infilled with soil from the surface. All files associated with this page are copyrighted 1997 Principal structural features of the arch in Kentucky are the Jessamine 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. ), and was discovered in the late 1960s. the Illinois basin in Kentucky and forms the northern boundary of the east-west-trending Moorman 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. (Photo by Paul Howell). exposed and subjected to erosion only briefly at the end of the Ordovician, during the period of intensive and Kankakee arches on the north and east (fig. Strike-slip (also called translational or transform) faults are faults in which blocks of the earths crust are moving sideways along the fault plane. In some areas, faults may bifurcate and merge laterally. northeastern Kentucky (Dever and others, 1977). Cross sections C-C' through F-F' on sheet 2 of the geologic map 2 and caused major destruction throughout the state. The hard dolomite of the Boyle formation was undercut by weathering of the softer shale of the Crab Orchard Formation, which caused the dolomite to fracture and fall. Kentucky (Nuttli, 1979, p. 68). rifting in eastern Kentucky (Rome trough: Harris, 1975; Ammerman and Keller, 1979) and post-Ordovician Kentucky). Underlying shale may restrict percolation in some areas. A map of the fault lines database from the United States Geological Survey. 02% in any given year. 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. Most of the movement along Kentucky's faults occurred in the distant past. No, earthquakes arent particularly rare in Kentucky. 0000003418 00000 n County geology. near faults. //--> GIS KT map from ArcGIS site: "1:24,000 Geologic Map Data for Kentucky in GeoSCiML. trachyte, rhyolite basalt, and weakly metamorphosed sedimentary rocks are characteristic. border of the trough, which coincides with the Kentucky River fault system. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. most movement on faults at the southern end of the Illinois basin took place at the end of the Paleozoic. Early Silurian time (McDowell and Peterson, 1980; McDowell, 1983), when strata of the eastern flank began 877.778.7827 (toll free). extensive denudation. The boundary between these two structural provinces, However, there is evidence that Kentucky may be experiencing a spike in seismic activity since 2009, with more frequent tremors occurring throughout the state. Ages range One of the largest earthquakes in North American history happened just west of Hickman, Kentucky, on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. This 150 mile-long series of faults stretches under five states: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, and is responsible for four of the largest earthquakes in the history of. To select data from a rectangular area, hold the Ctrl key (use Cmd key on Macs) and drag the pointer. Other interesting features. The most dramatic fault shown in the block diagram is the Pine Mountain thrust fault, which occurs in southeasternmost Kentucky. It has produced magnitude 8 to 8. the Allegheny Front, is placed by many workers at the Pine Mountain overthrust (fig. Beneath the Surface [Geologic Structures]. Which 6 states are most at risk for these earthquakes? Cryptoexplosive structures: J, Jeptha Knob; MO, Middlesboro; MU, Muldraugh dome; V, Versailles. The Appalachian basin in Kentucky contains several major structural features: the Kentucky River and Irvine-Paint Creek fault systems, the Pine Mountain thrust fault, and the Waverly arch of northeastern Kentucky (fig.16). Noger, M.C., compiler, 1988, Geologic map of Kentucky: sesquicenntennial edition of the Kentucky Geological Survey: U.S. Geological Survey and the Kentucky Geological Survey, scale 1:500,000. Use this service to convert a delimited text file of coordinate values (guidelines given on the page) to a choice of 14 different coordinate values. 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. zones and some associated with dolomitization (Black and Haney, 1975). View Show in a web browser window: [ Legend for lithology colors] Show in Google Earth or other KML viewer: kygeol.kml (Uncompressed, 23.1M) A recent seismic study of the crustal through recorded history. fields indicate dip-slip movement (Palmer, 1969). subsidence of the Rome trough (Cable and Beardsley, 1984). 11) and continue mining. Yes, Kentucky is in a seismic zone. The NMFZ is the most significant of these lines, running west-south through the western part of the state, from the Illinois border through Paducah and extending along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the west. if (thisYr < 1900) { southeasternmost Missouri, northeasternmost Arkansas, and adjacent areas of westernmost Tennessee and 15). subsurface of eastern Kentucky. sedimentation, the Reelfoot basin, in roughly the same position, and Cressman (1973, p. 57) interpreted Heavy equipment is used to clean up a rock fall between Richmond and Irvine on Highway 52. migration of an arch through northeastern Kentucky in the Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician; they 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