Thesis advisor: John Ebel / The New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) is well known for producing some of the largest intra-cratonic earthquakes within the North American Plate. The common hypothesis for the geological structure within the NMSZ is that stress is released across three major faults: the Cottonwood Grove Fault, the New Madrid North Fault, and the Reelfoot Thrust Fault. Evidence exists that would suggest an alternative model of geologic deformation in the area: that stress is being released across more than these three faults. A geologic and geophysical investigation was done to investigate a hypothetical fault west of Dyersburg, TN to test the alternative multi-fault hypothesis. A seismically created sand blow was logged in close proximity to the fault projection. Weathering of the sand blow indicated that the age of the sand blow came from a seismic event prior to the 1811-1812 earthquakes. There was no evidence to confirm this sand blow was created by a hypothetical fault in close proximity. A seismic exploration of the area was done across four seismic lines, primarily mapping Quaternary-age Mississippi River flood plain deposits. These seismic surveys yielded no evidence to suggest the presence of an additional fault. Across all surveys no evidence was found to conclusively support any existing theory on fault movement in the NMSZ. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (February 28, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The New Madrid Seismic Zone is well known for its historical seismicity, most notably the 1811-12 New Madrid, MO earthquakes and to a lesser extent the 1895 Charlston, MO earthquake. It has been 124 years since an earthquake larger than M 5.1 occurred in the area. The debate of whether the New Madrid Seismic Zone is an active system or a system in decline has remained a contentious topic when interpreting the intricacies and challenges of an intraplate seismic system. This thesis focuses on an overlooked parameter in the already complex issue regarding the seismic hazard of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. In the early part of the 20th century the Little River Drainage District excavated 9.7 x 109 metric tons of overburden and drained approximately 5000 km2 from within the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Our model demonstrates that the Little River Drainage District resulted in a likely perturbation of the seismic system. The overburden removal, coupled with a reduction of the water column has moved the system away from failure when interpreted in the context of regional stress orientation in relation to the geographic orientation of the Little River Drainage District. This potentially explains the apparent lack of moderate to large events over the past century in the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S. in C.E.)--School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. Directed by Glenn J. Rix. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-97).

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2009. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed April 29, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-131).

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-74).

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF SHIBAJI CHATTERJEE, for the Master of Science degree in Geology, presented on APRIL 23, 2009, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: GEOPHYSICAL STUDIES OF THE HERALD-PHILLIPSTOWN FAULT AND OTHER SHALLOW STRUCTURES NEAR CARMI, ILLINOIS. MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr John L. Sexton Four seismic reflection profiles from the Wabash Valley area of southeastern Illinois successfully imaged the Herald-Phillipstown fault. From the reflection profiles and geophysical well logs, it was interpreted that the Herald-Phillipstown fault is an inverted flower structure. The main fault of the group is a steeply dipping normal fault with associated splay faults that are reverse in character. All the faults of this inverted flower structure are basement penetrating. Structural contour maps as well as maps of various reflector surfaces are prepared using two way travel time as well as depth. These maps show that the reflectors are undulating in character. Also distinct east-west rotational movements of the reflectors are observed along these faults and the main fault shows a curved geometry from south to north. The combination of the rotational movement, the curved nature of the fault plane and the undulating reflectors resulted in variation of offsets along these faults. The nature of faults of the inverted flower structure as observed on the seismic reflection profiles also indicates that there has been a change in the stress regime from extensional to compressional. Structural cross sections were generated using geophysical well logs from drill holes located along these seismic lines to analyze the nature of these faults at shallower depths. From these cross sections numerous shallow faults were observed and many of them can be correlated with those observed on seismic records indicating upward migration of basement penetrating faults into shallow younger sediments. Many of these faults, including the Herald-Phillipstown fault show evidences of reactivation.

Mississippi State University is one of the many public institutions in Mississippi located near a seismic hazard zone known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). Previous studies reveal the possibility of damage to the campus during an earthquake is in the order of ten percent. Risk assessment for building structures on campus was carried out using HAZUS-MH MR3 software package, for several earthquake scenarios defined to replicate historic and hypothetical earthquake events.The study predicts peak ground accelerations of 0.09g to 0.2g relating to 0.67% to 4.28% building loss ratios respectively, which amounts to a loss of $8.2 million to $53 million. Wood and reinforced masonry buildings show significant resistance to earthquakes compared to concrete and unreinforced masonry buildings. The results of this study suggest that there is a considerable seismic risk to Mississippi State University buildings from a seismic event originating in NMSZ.