The Oklahoma Seismic Gap

The larger M4 thrusts are trying to fill in the Oklahoma Seismic Gap.  As I have said, there is no great explanation for this, but now I'm suspecting that they simply aren't injecting there.  That would be for 2 reasons, one is that the rock is tight all the way down, and the other is that they simply haven't got there yet.

I like to think they inject near cities and towns, so they can go for a beer at lunch.  This picture shows that the gap is totally empty.  Maybe the earthquakes don't like it because there's nobody to scare!  :)

Update:  Another M4.1 in Kansas.  They're much stupider than OK, no seismometers, and no fault plane solution.  :)

Update2:  They got a focal plane solution.

Totally normal (tension).  This is usually the first failure mode of stressed rock.  It results in very little PGV, unlike a thrust.

Update3:  It's looks like a record for significant earthquakes.  I'll be long in bed before the date closes.  I'm really beginning to think that all the mechanisms will converge, and this monster is much bigger than New Madrid.  I'll feel the big one here in Toronto!

Cottage Report - S29

It continued with a wonderful fall.

The maples are in full glory and everybody should be out to see them.

On the drive up, we had to brake hard twice for turkeys crossing the road.  They would make quite a mess on the grill.  Don't stop dangerously, or you may cause an accident.  They are better than a moose.  :)

I owe a poem for the cottage next door.

The Vampires Next Door

They don’t have the teeth, and blood makes them weep,
But I know they are Vampires by the hours they keep.

We believe in Early to Bed, and Early to Rise,
But next door, late is best, something to prize.

The sunrise is beautiful, and a wonder to me,
But for the Vampires, it is a sight they will never see.

They have breakfast at Noon, a time for our lunch,
Perhaps they could combine, and call it a Brunch,
But no, they have Lunch at Dinner, with nary a peep,
And for their Dinner, we are already fast asleep.

They are very nice, to a degree that is fine,
And one evening they invited us for Peaches and Wine,
I responded, that we were sleepy as can be,
But he cried out, “Good God, it’s only seven thir-tee!”

But perhaps they aren’t Vampires, as my thoughts are in swirls,
For Heaven has ‘blessed’ them, with three teenage girls!

Solar Farms Up North

Sometimes I don't have to take pictures, since I can always steal one.  I took the north route to the cottage over by Beaverton and ran into two of these monstrosities being built.  That annoyed me more than the two times I had to stop for turkeys.  :)

These are fine for California deserts, but now you have to subtract the carbon value of the farm land, and the fact that you aren't getting any sun.  These things will never pay back the carbon it took to build them.

As I zoomed by I was imagining the 10 foot snow drifts coming with the end of our binomial temperature blurp.  I suppose you could feed in the cheap electricity to melt the snow off the panels.  :)  Then why not trickle in a bit and sell it at ten times the cost?

Related to the Texas Conspiracy, I was thinking that in Canada we have as many conspiracies, but nobody ever mentions them -- too embarrassing.