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Topic: geology

What is Karst topography and why should you care?

February 25, 2009 | Print This Post

 
karst-map

Karst Hydrology Initiative--Study area showing major karst hydrogeologic settings in the Interior Low Plateaus physiographic region. Areas underlain by Lower-Middle Ordovician limestones shown in brown, and areas underlain by Mississippian limestones shown in green. (USGS Map)

Karst topography describes a landscape abundant in sinkholes, disappearing streams and caves.

According to Dr. Phillip Kemmerly, professor of geology at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville sits in one of the most interesting areas of karst topography in the world.

Clarksville is part of a region known to geologists as the Western Highland Rim Plain. This region includes northern middle Tennessee and extends into western Kentucky where it is called the Pennyroyal Plain and Mammoth Cave Plateau. The only region in the world with more karst features is Slovenia in southern Europe.

Kemmerly divulges that of karst features, sinkholes pose the greatest risk to new and existing construction sites. «Read the rest of this article»

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Quake hits Illinois, disturbing vibrations reach south to Clarksville

By Curtis Davis | April 18, 2008 | Print This Post

 

The USGS equipment maps earthquake hazard zones on the spot.No, you’re not going crazy. There was an earthquake felt in middle Tennessee during the wee hours of the morning. An earthquake hit the Midwest today, originating 135 miles southeast of Springfield, Illinois, and merely 38 miles from Evansville, IN. At magnitude 5.4, the epicenter of the quake was 6 miles from West Salem, IL.

I was watching StarGate SG-1 when the floor shook. And it wasn’t the surround sound. I stood up as vibrations rattled the front door of the house, coming from that direction. The cats all freaked out and stared in the same unnerving direction I was staring in.

The vibrations grew, and the tremors then dissipated. By coincidence, I heard sirens going off down the road not long afterwards as I listened to the news, and checked online for any reports. Early reports to the United States Geological Survey spilled in from the IL/IN area. «Read the rest of this article»

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