A possible seismic hazard
Posted by JAC on 1/25/2011, 4:45 pm
Already identified about 8 years ago.

https://www.aapg.org/explorer/2007/10oct/gulf_commentary.cfm

http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2002/11nov/rift_zone.cfm





The New Madrid seismic zone in Missouri has long intrigued scientists because, according to conventional geologic theory, large earthquakes clustered in a tectonically quiet region are difficult to understand.

But at least one AAPG member is challenging the crowd.

New Orleans independent geologist Jack M. Reed believes the origin of the earthquakes lies beneath the Gulf of Mexico.

That's not all.

Reed, a retired Texaco geologist-geophysicist who has been studying the region's geology for over 40 years, says the accepted theory of a quiet geologic evolution of the Gulf of Mexico Basin is fundamentally flawed and needs to be revised.

snip

Reed, over the years, has gathered evidence that supports plate motion in the Gulf basin. Thick salt and sedimentary sequences in the basin mask this tectonic motion, but there is enough basin and peripheral evidence to show plate readjustment is occurring -- evidence, he says, in the form of volcanics, earthquakes and rift zones that are accompanied by magnetic, refraction, seismic and gravity data.
Questions? Answers!

One piece of this evidence, according to Reed, is the apparent connection of the New Madrid seismic zone with the Gulf rift features to the south.

"This northeast trending earthquake zone appears to connect with the northeast trending Monroe Uplift, the LaSalle Arch and, possibly, to an active seismic zone located in and around Sabine Lake on the Texas-Louisiana border," he said.

snip

This reorganization of tectonic plates in the basin would cause major orogenic movements along the bordering areas.

The rift cutting northeast through the United States, where earthquake activity has been documented in New Madrid as well as other points, is just one of these major orogenic movements. Other geologic trends that illustrate this point include:

The Late Miocene Trans-Mexico neovolcanic belt, which extends across Mexico to the Gulf Coast but apparently it never extended into the deep Gulf of Mexico Basin.

The Tuxlas volcanic field is located south of this termination and these two volcanic features seem to be connected by a series of three submarine volcanoes.

"When the right-lateral transform of the Gulf plate is extended south it falls along the trend of the submarine volcanoes," he said. "This path also takes the transform slightly west of the Tuxlas volcanic field and slightly east of the trans-Mexico volcanic belt, indicating that transform movement may have displaced these two volcanic fields.

"South movement of the Gulf plate would be necessary for this volcanic shifting scenario," he added.

snip
Reed says "...if you want waterfront property you should buy land around Indianapolis. In a couple of million years this acreage could be overlooking the Strait of America that separates western (and) eastern America!"


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GOM Leaks - JAC, 1/25/2011, 7:16 am
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