tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post8802047461052191556..comments2024-03-17T18:37:36.377-07:00Comments on Geotripper: The Keeler Earthquake SwarmGarry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-75243040916477346032011-05-04T09:18:14.135-07:002011-05-04T09:18:14.135-07:00They're baaack! 4.5 on 5/3/11 with continuing...They're baaack! 4.5 on 5/3/11 with continuing aftershocks in the same spot the 2009 swarm happened. Shallow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-25891529501003125832009-11-04T20:50:43.437-08:002009-11-04T20:50:43.437-08:00A correction on my history note above from Roger V...A correction on my history note above from Roger Vargo:<br /><br />Keeler was a depot, but not for silver and lead in the 1800's. It<br />wasn't even there during Cerro Gordo's bonanza period (c 1868-1876).<br />Keeler was the terminus of the Carson and Colorado railroad which was<br />completed in 1883. Cerro Gordo is pretty much ghosted by then. The<br />town was called Hawley at the time.<br /><br />Keeler's depot for ore and the tramway came after the turn of the<br />century during Cerro Gordo's zinc period with L.D. Gordon in charge<br />(c 1911-1920).<br /><br />During the bonanza period, most ore was not carried off the mountain.<br />Transportation was too expensive. The Owens Lake Silver and Lead Co.<br />did transport its ore down to Swansea for processing. Both at Swansea<br />and in Cerro Gordo, the ore was processed (concentrated) into<br />silver-lead dory bars weighing 83-85 pounds each and containing, at<br />best, about 20% silver. The Union mine produced about 120 of these<br />bars daily at its peak. These bars or "loaves" as they were called<br />were transported to LA by wagon. The Bessie Brady steamship was used<br />after about 1872 to transport the loaves across the lake to Cartago,<br />then back on to wagons. This saved about four days of travel.<br /><br />The railroad "across the lake" was the Southern Pacific standard<br />gauge line from Mojave, but it wasn't built until 1910 for the aqueduct.<br /><br />The freight wagons went to LA, then (initially) to the harbor at San<br />Pedro. Later, the LA-San Pedro RR was completed, and the wagons<br />unloaded in LA. The loaves were transported by steamship (frequently<br />the Orizaba) to the Selby Smelter in San Francisco (and sometimes to<br />Wales in the UK) for refining. The recovery of lead paid for the<br />transportation and smelting costs, and the silver recovered was pure profit.<br /><br />While it's too late in the season now, if you're interested we could<br />talk about a late spring field trip to Cerro Grodo for your students.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Roger Vargo<br />(occasional Cerro Gordo caretaker)<br />and wrangler of assorted facts<br /><br />Explore Historic California!<br />www.explorehistoricalif.com<br />www.trips.explorehistoricalif.comGarry Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-89377992899844848612009-11-04T20:48:46.020-08:002009-11-04T20:48:46.020-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Garry Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-46574669860778002172009-10-20T12:58:25.371-07:002009-10-20T12:58:25.371-07:00The folks at the Array Network Facility at UCSD ha...The folks at the Array Network Facility at UCSD have a great page for this swarm, with an interactive Google map of all the events: http://anf.ucsd.edu/spevents/2009/274/b/<br /><br />These are the guys responsible for data collection from the USArray experiment. I think they make pages when a significant earthquake occurs.Jim Jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-11458412632681379352009-10-11T16:47:40.600-07:002009-10-11T16:47:40.600-07:00Thanks for the information about the sand volcanoe...Thanks for the information about the sand volcanoes. That's pretty cool. When we were out there, I was thinking about how all the loose fill and sand would liquify. I guess it really did.<br /><br />My husband, Dana, lived in Santa Cruz in 1989 and experienced the Loma Prieta quake first hand. Not long after, I joined him. When we decided to move from the area, Dana insisted it be to a place that was geologically interesting. Lone Pine fit the bill!Linda Jhttp://www.amateurgeologist.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-81985727991974168622009-10-11T16:07:25.849-07:002009-10-11T16:07:25.849-07:00Thanks for your comments, Linda. I should have rem...Thanks for your comments, Linda. I should have remembered Horseshoe Meadows Road, I've been on it enough times! If there were sand volcanoes, that would be the result of saturated silt and sand beneath the surface being shaken loose ("liquefying") and rushing up to the surface in little gushers of sand and water. They were common in agricultural fields around Santa Cruz and Watsonville after the 1989 quake. I've wanted to live in a place like Lone Pine! The mountains are too far away in the Central Valley.Garry Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-16878481574165030582009-10-11T15:43:45.828-07:002009-10-11T15:43:45.828-07:00You have an interesting site, Gary. I'm glad I...You have an interesting site, Gary. I'm glad I found it.<br /><br />Technically the road you took the pictures from is named Horseshoe Meadows Road, although you're right, it leads up to the trail head for the Cottonwood Lakes region.<br /><br />We live in Lone Pine and we've been enjoying the quakes. (Conversation in our house - "There goes another one - what do you think the magnitude was?" Then we keep refreshing the USGS pages until the earthquake appears.)<br /><br />The next day after the first quake was Saturday, so that morning we headed out for the epicenter using GPS coordinates. While we had fun looking, we did not find any cracks in the sand, nor did we experience any aftershocks while we were out there.<br /><br />My husband said there were reports of "sand volcanoes" very close to the Owens Lake shoreline in the area. Supposedly the shaking threw some sand in the air forming little piles. This info probably came from workers out on the lake itself.Linda Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-4839758821377740662009-10-11T12:33:20.042-07:002009-10-11T12:33:20.042-07:00Yes, there is a geothermal plant just east of Coso...Yes, there is a geothermal plant just east of Coso Junction, and it is within the boundaries of China Lake Naval Weapons Center (or whatever name it goes by now).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-84718435885653237072009-10-07T19:59:29.560-07:002009-10-07T19:59:29.560-07:00oh....I didn't even consider the CA 'movem...oh....I didn't even consider the CA 'movement' part-- <br />just visualized the Gulf of California'a seawater simply oozing upwards via the San Andreas fault line because of all the recent activity thereabouts. (Yes, I need Geology 101.) Thanks for response.~carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05602870080974446112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-76055702770660685882009-10-07T17:06:03.864-07:002009-10-07T17:06:03.864-07:00Yes, California will be an island, after a few ten...Yes, California will be an island, after a few tens of thousands of magnitude 8 quakes once every century or two that move it northwest at an average rate of 2" per year! We'll be able to see it pretty clearly in about 20 million years!Garry Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-50057276350962200912009-10-07T06:18:41.176-07:002009-10-07T06:18:41.176-07:00I just had a (geology-buff type) revelation !!
W...I just had a (geology-buff type) revelation !! <br /><br />With all the swarming by Keeler, the Salton Sea, and following the San Andreas fault south thru large quakes in upper Baja California grabens on down to the tip of the Gulf of California.... <br /><br />I NOW can see why southern CA actually Could end up as an Island!! (And, I'd laughed at the chicken littles who said that. Guess I won't be around long enough to have beachfront property, tho.)~carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05602870080974446112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-86306291372550548322009-10-06T22:58:24.623-07:002009-10-06T22:58:24.623-07:00Thanks for all the comments! I haven't heard o...Thanks for all the comments! I haven't heard of any surface ruptures; the quakes may be too small to generate them. I remember the ones from the Landers quake: they were spectacular. <br /><br />I am not aware of any geothermal plants in the area, but I would not be surprised if they were there. A large part of the Coso Range is on military lands and presumably closed to development.Garry Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-91915650167510041692009-10-06T15:33:20.831-07:002009-10-06T15:33:20.831-07:00Thanks for the photos from the area! The swarm loo...Thanks for the photos from the area! The swarm looks to me like background seismicity related to the rotation/translation of the Sierra Nevada microplate. It would be nice if it were due to the dewatering of Owens Lake, but the lake wasn't very deep.Andrew Alden, Oakland Geology bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17369367151045054784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-8980378683716935342009-10-05T22:34:54.956-07:002009-10-05T22:34:54.956-07:00Thank you Mr Hayes for your research and answering...Thank you Mr Hayes for your research and answering a question that just did not seem right to me for a while and explaining these event (aka swarm earthquakes) within this area of California near Keeler. I had researched these quakes earlier this year with no clear answer and associated these earthquakes to mining and the old abandoned mines shafts in the area, until reading these post today. <br /> I have also noticed these swarms quakes for some time as well in Puerto Rico, which is almost as common on a daily bases too.Everchangingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-21473800885471258342009-10-05T18:34:10.847-07:002009-10-05T18:34:10.847-07:00Am wondering....
Is there a Geothermal plant near...Am wondering....<br /><br />Is there a Geothermal plant near Keeler/Olancha?<br />(As by The Geysers & 'Cerro Prieto' geothermal fields, which are also swarming, big-time.)<br /><br />...& if SO, might be more than a coincidence (?)~carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05602870080974446112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-71707759609926276722009-10-03T14:12:08.127-07:002009-10-03T14:12:08.127-07:00We've been in Lone Pine for the past week. It...We've been in Lone Pine for the past week. It sure has been rockin' and rollin' for the past 2 days! Latest was at abour 4:25am. Even though I'm a Californian I didn't understand what a "swarm" was until this week!Journeyin' Lady...https://www.blogger.com/profile/05712089169025491257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-81078727228650353002009-10-03T11:22:36.947-07:002009-10-03T11:22:36.947-07:00It's been many years since I've been up on...It's been many years since I've been up on that road; thanks for the reminder of how spectacular the view is. Have there been any reports of surface ruptures? I would think they would be easy to spot in the flat sediments.Lockwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960762797349483760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-38389920048690042962009-10-03T11:11:09.716-07:002009-10-03T11:11:09.716-07:00Thanks for the Info. I have been watching this swa...Thanks for the Info. I have been watching this swarm on the usgs page for a couple of days. Nice to see some real details.MarkLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08135611282566610398noreply@blogger.com