The week of June 15th, 2009, the S.C. Geological Survey, USC Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, and USC Earth Science Research Institute conducted a two-mile seismic reflectivity study along Highway 27 north of Pringletown, in Berkeley County. The seismic work was to verify drilling results that showed evidence of faulting in the shallow subsurface. The shallow faulting was initially interpreted from regional geophysical data as marking the northern edge of the buried Jedburg basin. When a “thumper” is used, data collection becomes labor intensive and requires the continual movement of the thumper, geophones, and wires that send, receive, and transmit the seismic signals to the control “dog house.” Data collection also requires accurate GPS locations of the geophone stations, and the closing of the roads to minimize the interference with the signals.
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Kimberly Meitzen looks at blockade run over by motorist.
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Blocking road to protect the crew. |
Flags marked the seismic line, placed every 5 feet for 2 miles. |
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Matt Wellslager of the SC Geodetic Survey, recorded GPS locations for every flagged station. |
Geophones used to collect data. |
The crew connecting the geophones to record the data on a section of the seismic line. |
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Section of line with the geophones attached. |
Duke Brantley of ESRI, prepares to use the “thumper” or weight-drop mounted on a ATV. |
The "thumper" sends shock waves into the earth that are bounced back and captured by the geophones. |
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The only evidence that we were there. |
The "thumper" in action, with the “dog house” in the background. |
Mike Waddell of ESRI watches as data is collected in the “dog house”. |
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Repairs in the field are par for the course. |
Cooling the overheated solenoid with ice. Now, if we could just cool the crew. |
Making progress along the line. |
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Recovering the geophones. |
Picking up the geophones. |
Partial crew picture. |
