ISGS - December 2004 Activity Highlights

Workshop at UI Highlights Possible Effects of Central U.S. Earthquakes

At a workshop held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus on December 2, the head of the ISGS Engineering Geology Section explained how the destructive effects of an earthquake on buildings, utilities, and other infrastructure can be increased or reduced locally by the nature of the geologic materials present at a particular site. The ISGS expert was one of four speakers at the workshop. The workshop was organized by the University's Office of Facilities and Services, the Illinois Capital Development Board, the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Plumbing Engineers, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers. (Contact: R. Bauer)

ISGS Helps Rockford Officials Consider Effects of Development Project

A representative of the City of Rockford contacted the ISGS for assistance in finding sources of information about factors such as environmental site assessments, wetlands, noise impacts, air quality, coastal zone impacts, wild and scenic rivers program, farmland protection, and threatened and endangered species that they believed should be considered in planning a proposed development project in the city. The ISGS staff supplied information for those areas about which they have expertise and referred the representative to other agencies to supply other information. In an e-mail thanking the ISGS, the Rockford official referred to the ISGS information as a "treasure of gold." (Contact: A. Erdmann)

ISGS Helps Characterize Site for High-Energy Physics Experiment

Geophysicists from ISGS lowered the Survey's geophysical instruments and a special television camera rented from Mt. Sopris Instruments into two 600-foot test holes drilled at the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant site. The collected data will be used by a geological consultant to characterize the geology of the site for physicists, led by a research group at the University of Chicago, who are designing a series of high-energy physics experiments at the plant site. The downhole televiewer used for the project provides a full 360-degree view of the rocks in the wall of the drill hole, allowing the consultant to have a direct view of the materials and the orientation of any fractures that may be present in them. (Contacts: T. Young; C. Blakley)

Coal Bed Methane Workshop Attracts 120 Participants

In Evansville, Indiana, during a two-day workshop organized by the Midwest Regional Office of the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council, the head of the ISGS Coal Section reviewed the basic geology of coal bed methane production. Other speakers from the Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky Geological Surveys discussed the latest results from analyses of coal and black shale samples processed under projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's Office of Coal Development. Participants were especially interested in hearing the report from BPI, Inc., which has been producing coal bed methane in Indiana since 1999 and will soon begin producing and selling gas from a field it is developing in Saline County, Illinois. This workshop fulfilled one of the requirements of the grants from the sponsors. (Contacts: D. Morse; I. Demir; S. Elrick)

School District Seeks Help in Considering Mineral Value

A quarry in Joliet is strongly interested in purchasing or leasing an adjacent land parcel owned by the Laraway School District 70-C in order to mine the stone beneath it. The ISGS mineral economics expert advised school district officials about the quantity of limestone that underlies the parcel, its potential market value, and methods of approaching the valuation of the land under the circumstances. The ISGS also will help the officials understand the geology and general quality of the stone in the area. (Contact: S. Bhagwat; D. Mikulic)

ISGS Analyses May Uncover Cause of Problems at Lockport Fen

For the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ISGS has been using its x-ray diffraction instruments to determine the mineral composition of samples from the Lockport Prairie Fen. USFWS wants to determine whether recent changes in water quality at the preserve that are affecting the plant community are influenced by the soil materials. (Contact: K. Keith)

Updated 07/08/2012 SLD