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By
A thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at North Carolina Central
University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of
Science in the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences.
Durham
2011
Approved by:
Eastern Tennessee contains one of the most seismically active regions in the eastern
North America. The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ) is about 300 kilometers
long and extends from northwestern Georgia through eastern Tennessee [Study Area:
34ºN to 37ºN; 86ºW to 82.5ºW]. It is the second most active earthquake zone in the
United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Only the New Madrid Seismic Zone is
releasing more seismic strain energy. Unlike the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the ETSZ
did not experience any destructive earthquake in historical time; however, its
The spatial dimensions of the ETSZ and its association with potential field anomalies
suggest that collecting and organizing all the relevant data into a GIS geodatabase could
software can be used to acquire, share, maintain, and modify geospatial data sets. In this
work, ArcGIS 9.3 is used to build a geodatabase which includes topography, earthquake
information such as locations, magnitudes and focal mechanisms, potential field data, P
and S wave velocity anomalies inferred from tomographic inversions of local events,
seismic transects, digital geological maps and others relevant datasets. Raw datasets
were downloaded from several earth science institutions and were edited before being
2
imported to ArcGIS. Various geoprocessing techniques, such as geo-referencing,
digitizing, and surface interpolation were used to manipulate and analyze these data.
We show how this compilation can be used to analyze the spatial relationships between
earthquake locations and the velocity anomaly models. We utilized the chi-squared
method to determine if we should reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis. Our null
hypothesis was that the Earthquake locations, also referred to as points and events, were
spatial randomness The idea behind this project is to build an information resource that
will eventually encompass data related to intraplate seismicity in the entire central and
eastern United States. The database will be made available to researchers, students, the
general public and engineers concerned with geohazards, and will be used to develop
educational materials for upper level undergraduate and graduate GIS and earth science
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.............................................................................................. 8
LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ 10
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 12
Data Input.................................................................................................................. 22
Data Processing......................................................................................................... 29
Seismicity.................................................................................................................. 33
Magnetic anomaly..................................................................................................... 35
Geology..................................................................................................................... 42
Elevation ................................................................................................................... 43
Stress ......................................................................................................................... 45
Utilities...................................................................................................................... 48
Determining variables............................................................................................... 55
Limitations ................................................................................................................ 59
VI. CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 71
VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................. 74
X. APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................ 97
7
I. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Figure I.1: Seismicity and geology of the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone, major geologic
provinces: Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and Cumberland Plateau. blue
circles represent earthquake epicenters, solid black line represent the NY- AL lineament,
Figure II.1: Cartoon representation of the Seismotectonic model presented in this study,
(Johnston et al 1985)......................................................................................................... 17
Figure II.2Aeromagnetic anomaly of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone. Dashed lines
indicate the New York-Alabama, Ocoee, and Clingman potential field lineaments. King
& Zietz, 1978; Nelson & Zietz, 1983; Johnston et al., 1985 ............................................ 19
Figure III.1 A represents the dataset before the natural neighbor tool was used to
Figure 3.2 slip Focal mechanisms from the eastern Tennessee seismic zone scaled Focal
mechanism data compiled by Chapman et al., 1997 and Dunn. 2004. Red dots represent
earthquake location from SEUSN and CERI, green line represents the NY-AL lineament.
........................................................................................................................................... 35
Figure III.3 Aeromagnetic anomaly of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone. Dashed lines
indicate the New York-Alabama, Ocoee, and Clingman potential field lineaments. King
& Zietz, 1978; Nelson & Zietz, 1983; Johnston et al., 1985 ............................................ 37
Figure III.4: Bouguer gravity anomaly of the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone. Dashed
lines indicate the New York-Alabama lineament and the bold green line the Clingman
8
potential field lineament (King & Zietz, 1978; Nelson & Zietz, 1983; Johnston et al.,
1985) ................................................................................................................................. 39
Figure III.5: Map layers showing the tomographic results for P-wave velocity, each layer
is represented for depths ranging from 0 - 20 km. The white dots represent the
earthquakes located in this work. The data is provided by CA Powell CERI University of
Memphis ........................................................................................................................... 41
Figure 3.6 Three-dimensional representation of the digital elevation model of the ETSZ
(nationalmap.gov) ............................................................................................................. 44
Figure III.7 Two-dimensional representation of the digital elevation model of the ETSZ
stress orientations (SH) from the World Stress Map database (Heidbach et al., 2008).... 47
Figure 5.1 Graphical representation of layers in the Vp model and the bin classes with
Figure V.3: Graphical representation of layers in the Vp/Vs model and the bin classes
II.
9
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table III.1:Input data sets for the geodata layers compiled in this study. ........................ 25
Table III.2: Table contains information for the latitude, longitude and the corresponding
magnetic intensity for that point location. The highlighted portion of the table is required
to extrapolate the data (Data from the University of El Paso PACES) ............................ 30
Table III.3 Specifications for the North America aeromagnetic survey. (USGS book to
Table V.1: Combined chi-square results and significance level for earthquake locations in
defined.
10
11
III. INTRODUCTION
Study Area
The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ) is an intraplate seismically active region,
which extends from northwest Georgia through east Tennessee [Study Area: 34ºN to
37ºN; 86ºW to 82.5ºW]. It is the second most active earthquake zone east of the Rocky
Mountains, the New Madrid Seismic Zone being the most active (Powell et al., 1994).
Most of the seismicity of this region occurs in the 300km by 50km wide area located in
the Valley and Ridge physiographic province of the southern Appalachians. There is a
long recorded history of seismicity in the region with magnitude range of 0.2 - 4.6
(Dunn, 2004) Although the ETSZ has never produced a damaging earthquake, the
largest earthquake recorded occurred on 29 April 2003 in Fort Payne, Alabama, with
1994). Like most intraplate seismic regions, the earthquake distribution has no clear
association with the surface geology. The cause of seismicity in the ETSZ is unknown,
however, the earthquakes appear to cluster in a region along the New York-Alabama
(NY-AL) magnetic lineament (Powell et al., 1994). The New York-Alabama lineament,
which strikes NE-SW and spans 1600 km beneath much of the Appalachians in the
eastern United States, the earthquakes in the ETSZ are mostly located to the east of this
1978)
Figure III.1: Seismicity and geology of the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone, major geologic provinces: Piedmont,
Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and Cumberland Plateau. blue circles represent earthquake epicenters, solid
black line represent the NY- AL lineament, while the green line represents the Clingman lineament
Objective of the Study
The objective of this research is to develop a working geodatabase for the Eastern
Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS format such as ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that
can be used to improve our understanding of the seismicity in the area. The stated
ArcGIS v.9.3, the most widely accepted GIS format. The data layers to be
and focal mechanisms; potential field data; P and S wave velocity anomaly
results from tomographic inversions of local events; digital geological maps and
others relevant datasets from data compiled by the state geological surveys of the
relationship between earthquake locations and other data layers, for example,
velocity anomalies.
15
IV. PREVIOUS STUDIES
Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ) is about 300 km by 50 km wide area, which
extends from northwestern Georgia through east Tennessee (Error! Reference source
not found.). It is the second most active earthquake zone *east of the Rocky Mountains
after the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) [Study Area: 34ºN to 37ºN; 86ºW to
82.5ºW]. The ETSZ is located mostly within the Valley and Ridge physiographic
within a foreland fold and thrust belt northwest of the Blue Ridge-Piedmont mega thrust
sheet indentor (Hatcher et al., 2007). The depth of seismicity in the area is estimated to
be approximately 5km - 26km, starting at the base of the Paleozoic cover and extending
down to mid-crustal depths of the Grenville age basement. Consequently, the earthquake
distribution has no clear association with the surface geology. (Dunn, 2004; Vlahovic et
Because intraplate earthquakes in the eastern North America are not usually
accompanied by surface ruptures and due to fact that the distribution of earthquakes
does not match any known surface faults, it is unclear what is responsible for the origin
of earthquakes and if the zone is capable of producing damaging earthquakes (Powell et.
al, 1994). The earthquakes are most likely related to a basement faults buried underneath
the Paleozoic cover (Powell et al 1994). The existence, extent and location of these
faults can only mapped by the use of indirect techniques, for instance, geophysical
with magnitude range of 0.2 - 4.6, the largest event recorded in this region was a
magnitude 4.6 earthquake that occurred on April 29, 2003 near Fort Payne, AL (U.S.
this region happen over a very long area, which is characteristic of a major fault;
however, geologists have been unable to successfully map a fault zone in the basement
Johnston et al. (1985) stated that the seismicity of the region does not seem to be
associated with the geological provinces and faults mapped at the surface of the
Appalachians, but that most of the ETSZ earthquakes lie between the NY-AL lineament
and the Clingman/Ocoee system (Error! Reference source not found.). The NY-AL
magnetic lineament trends to the northeast from Alabama to Albany, New York, and is
expressed on the map as a sharp gradient in the magnetic field (Steltenpohl et al., 2010).
The earthquake foci in the ETSZ are mostly located to the east of this geophysical
within the NY-AL lineament. The Clingman lineament is located to the southeast of the
seismic zone, and is a less prominent magnetic anomaly than the NY-AL lineament
(Johnston et. al, 1985; Powell et. al, 1994; Steltenpohl et al., 2010). The NY – AL
lineament separates two major crustal blocks, the stable craton of the continental interior
and the Appalachian block of the continental margin. The source of the anomaly may be
largely within the basement rocks, and the NY- AL lineament is interpreted as an
ancient strike slip fault between these two crustal blocks (Steltenpohl et al., 2010). Both
lineaments separate basement blocks of distinctly different magnetic signatures and are
interpreted to be the result of major faults active during the Grenville orogeny (Nelson &
Zietz, 1983; Hatcher et al., 1987) that took place 1 billion year ago.
18
Figure IV.2Aeromagnetic anomaly of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone. Dashed lines indicate the New
York-Alabama, Ocoee, and Clingman potential field lineaments. King & Zietz, 1978; Nelson & Zietz, 1983;
Johnston et al., 1985
Local tomographic study by Vlahovic et al., (1998) suggested that earthquakes tend to
occur not in regions of extremely high or low velocities, but in transitional zones
between the two and that the regions of high and low velocity are produced by different
rock composition. Most recent results based on arrival time tomography of more than
19
1000 local earthquakes by Powell et al. (2011) also stated that there was a spatial
correlation between the velocity and earthquake locations with most active part of the
average P and S wave velocities and low Vp/VS ratio. One proposed model that
explains current seismicity in the ETSZ is that earthquakes are the result of present day
beneath Appalachian thrust sheets (Bollinger & Wheeler, 1988). Powell et al. (1994)
proposed that the faults in the ETSZ may have originated from Iapetan rifting, but stated
that the faults may have been modified by Paleozoic compression or a Mesozoic
extension. They also proposed that slip along the east and north-striking planes may be
combined into a through-going strike slip fault along the NY-AL lineament.
20
21
V. METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses all data sources and methodologies that will be used in this
when they are implemented. After an overview of GIS, this chapter will introduce
areas, such as transportation planning, natural resource and environmental studies, utility
Data Input
The two most commonly employed spatial data types are raster and vector data (Zeifel
2004). Either of these can represent a spatial object in GIS. Raster data represent the area
of continuous interest as a matrix of square cells where cell size defines the spatial
resolution of the data. Each raster cell contains a value, representing a property or
attribute of interest, for example the elevation layer, the cell value is the elevation at the
center of the cell.. In vector data format, points, polylines, and polygons represent
themes, or coverages. Raster images to vector graphics or vector to raster conversion can
be performed in GIS; however, multiple conversions may introduce the data loss and
A GIS database is the collection of geospatial data that are stored in a computer system.
The type of geodatabase that will be used to implement this project is a file geodatabase
that allows for a multiuser, multiplatform interface. The file geodatabase can scale up to
1TB in size for each data set with the option of rising the size limit up to 256 TB for
exceptionally large image data sets (ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 Help, Types of Geodatabases).
File geodatabase has a more efficient storage than other formats with each data set
stored in a separate file and all data sets organized in file folder. The ETSZ file
geodatabase contains raster datasets, TIN datasets and feature classes. The data layers
and focal mechanisms), geologic data (physiographic provinces, rock units, and fault
lines), magnetic anomaly data, gravity anomaly data, velocity anomaly data, hydrologic
data, and stress data. Data is organized by layers, coverages, or themes, with each theme
representing common features. Layers or themes are related with precise geographic
coordinates recorded for each theme. For example, physiographic provinces can be seen
as a theme in a GIS map to represent different geology. The most important part of
building the geodatabase is cataloging the metadata. Metadata is data about data, it
describes the attributes and contents of an original document or work, and it helps the
(ISO) standards. The standard FGDC style sheet has seven categories. The seven
purpose of the data, point of contact (person or organization responsible for the
database).
accuracy of spatial objects, accuracy of assigned values in the dataset, how data
coordinate system.
• Entity and attribute Information- Information about the content of the dataset. A
(such as the date on which the metadata was created, contact responsible for
24
To maintain the integrity of the datasets in the geodatabase, the data was loaded into a
geodatabase using Spatial Data Standards for Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment
types, attribute tables, relationships, domains and ranges. The geodatabase template
contains predefined SDSFIE attribute table naming conventions and definitions. The
design criterion for using the SDSFIE geodatabase template is that it follows the FGDC
standards. The definition for all variables in the attribute for each data is described in the
appendix III
Table V.1:Input data sets for the geodata layers compiled in this study.
Data
Entity Dataset Feature type
Source
Geology
(km) Southeaster
25
n U. S.
Seismic
Network
(SEUSN),
Nationalma
Surface Geology Unit age
p.gov
Chapman et
Same as earthquake
Focal Mechanism al., 1997
data but including
(point) and Dunn.
strike, dip, rake
2004
Nationalma
Fault (line) Fault type
p.gov
National
elevation
Geological
Survey)
The
Aeromagnetic Magnetic intensity
University
Potential field Anomaly (point, raster nanotesla (nT)
of Texas at
cell) 1km resolution
El Paso
of Texas at 26
El Paso
P and S wave
x 4 km)
World
Database
Survey,
Utilities United
Type of fuel,
Structures (dams States
location, name of
Nuclear plant (point) Nuclear
facility
Regulatory
Commission
U.S.
Geological
United
States
27
All data pertaining to the project was acquired by desk-based research and was collected
as vector shape files, raster cell or directly from the analog hard copies (excels
spreadsheets and text files). Hard copy maps were scanned, rectified into a raster format,
and manually digitized into a vector format if needed. Data descriptions and values for
individual spatial objects in the vector layers were input into attribute tables of the
layers. ArcGIS 9.3 suite, a Geographic Information System (GIS) and geodatabase
management software, which allow users to acquire, share, maintain, and modify
geospatial datasets was the primary software used to create the database.
All data collected for the project with no coordinate system or data that already had a
defined projection were projected to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The
North American Datum is the most widely used projection by the USGS for the United
States data; this is the official horizontal datum for use in the North and Central
Geodatabase Management
The geodatabase has the ability to store several types of information in an off-the-shelf
database management system (DBMS). This information may range from raster features
and vector features to attribute information (attributes are data that describe the
features (tables), metadata, and relationship (Zeiler, 1999). Geodatabases usage in GIS
has a lot of advantages to the users, such as centralized data storage, maintenance of data
integrity, and more accurate data entry. Geodatabases can be easily created and managed
using the tools in ArcCatalog and ArcMap. All the crucial files for the project were
28
eventually bundled into this geodatabase system, thereby condensing the project into one
Data Processing
The constructions of files in GIS data formats into the geodatabase were performed in
Displaying XY Values
Point values can be displayed as features from tables containing X and Y coordinates
(longitude and latitude) brought into ArcMap and then converted into shapefiles or
geodatabase feature class. There are several table formats that ArcMap can read in order
to bring point data into ArcMap as an Event theme. These include DBase, TXT, CSV
and XLS spreadsheets. Files in these formats can be created in Microsoft Excel and
added to ArcMap. For example, the longitude and latitude positions of the earthquake
locations in the study area were obtained and added as point shapefile data in ArcMap.
The systematic process for this tool is available in the APPENDIX C, Datasets in which
- Aeromagnetic data
- Velocity anomaly
- Earthquake location
- Dams
29
- Synthetic earthquakes (that is, fake earthquake locations used for the random
The portion of the table below displays the information required to display XY values
Table V.2: Table contains information for the latitude, longitude and the corresponding magnetic intensity for
that point location. The highlighted portion of the table is required to extrapolate the data (Data from the
University of El Paso PACES)
30
Interpolation (Vector to raster)
between known values. Interpolation can be used to create continuous data (raster) from
31
Natural neighbor interpolation finds the closest subset of input samples to a query point
and applies values to them based on the surrounding areas in order to interpolate a value.
This tool was used to interpolate most datasets that were to be viewed as continuous
data. For example magnetic anomaly data, gravity anomaly data, velocity anomaly
Figure V.1 A represents the dataset before the natural neighbor tool was used to interpolate it to image B
32
Data Compilation
Seismicity
correlation between seismicity and mapped faults. The dataset for this study contains
1039-recorded earthquakes that range in magnitude from 0.2 to 4.6, with depth of
seismicity in the area estimated to be approximately 5km - 26km (Dunn 2004). This
information was obtained from Powell (Center for Earthquake Research and
Information, Memphis, TN). The original earthquakes from ETSZ were relocated for use
in the 3D velocity model; the locations will slightly differ from the earthquake location
in the catalog. The earthquake epicenters appear clustered to the southeast of the NY-AL
lineament and are bound to the southeast by the Clingman/Ocoee system (Figure V.4).
This gives rise to the possible spatial correlation of the earthquake locations and the
geophysical anomalies (Dunn, 2004; Vlahovic et al., 1998; Powell et al., 1994).
The seismic data from the ETSZ was used to demonstrate the usefulness of the database
by determining the relationship of this dataset and the velocity anomaly dataset
(discussed later in the paper). A chi-squared analysis was performed using this dataset to
test the hypothesis that earthquakes hypocenters are independent from the body-wave
velocity field obtained from tomographic inversion. Earthquake events occurring within
each depth slice were selected out using the steps described in APPENDIX C. Above
hypothesis was also tested with randomly generated earthquake locations and the
velocity anomaly datasets. A comparison will be made between the real data and the
33
synthetic data by looking at the calculated chi-square, earthquake distribution between
Focal Mechanisms
Focal mechanisms are a representation of the potential fault orientation and slip
direction at the earthquake source. One plane represents the fault plane and contains the
slip vector, while the other plane, known as the auxiliary plane, has no structural
significance but is oriented normal to the slip vector (Cronin 2004). Focal mechanisms
are commonly deduced from first motion polarities observed on the available
enough seismometer coverage of an earthquake event, the 3-D focal mechanism pattern
which nodal plane represents the fault from a single event with no other information.
The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone focal mechanism studies reveal a maximum
approximately north-south (right lateral) or east-west (left lateral) oriented nodal planes
southwest (right lateral) or southeast-northwest (left lateral) possible nodal plane pair
solution. The 26 focal mechanism solutions provided in the database were obtained from
34
Figure V.2 Focal mechanisms from the eastern Tennessee seismic zone scaled Focal mechanism data compiled
by Chapman et al., 1997 and Dunn. 2004. Red dots represent earthquake location from SEUSN and CERI,
green line represents the NY-AL lineament.
Magnetic anomaly
especially in cases where the structures are scarce or absent (USGS 2002). Airborne
measurement of the earth's magnetic field over all of North America provides gridded
data describing the magnetic anomaly caused by variations in earth materials and
from Alabama to New York and framing most active part of ETSZ from the northwest
and the less prominent Clingman lineament to the southeast. The magnetic anomaly
data, which are in essence individual points, were obtained from The University of
35
Texas at El Paso (UTEP) online gravity and magnetic database
is a digitized version of two compilations, one by the U.S. Geological Survey and
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (USGS/SEG, 1982), and Bond and Zietz (1987).
The database is searchable by latitude and longitude so the data downloaded is strictly
the section of the grid of interest in a simple ASCII format. The USGS magnetic data
cover the period 1945 to 2001. The grid values represent total intensity in nanotesla
(nT); the flight lines were acquired at 305m above the ground (USGS, 2002). The data
was then interpolated at the sample points of the flight lines. The data was then gridded
Table V.3 Specifications for the North America aeromagnetic survey. (USGS book to accompanty magnetic
anomaly map:2002)
systems
36
Figure V.3 Aeromagnetic anomaly of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone. Dashed lines indicate the New York-
Alabama, Ocoee, and Clingman potential field lineaments. King & Zietz, 1978; Nelson & Zietz, 1983; Johnston
et al., 1985
Gravity anomalies
Gravity anomalies are produced by density variations within the rocks of the Earth's
crust and upper mantle. Mapping of these density variations is the primary use of gravity
anomalies. The gravitational fields vary slightly from place to place due to the
composition and structure of Earth's crust, the observed Bouguer anomaly map can be
37
interpreted in terms of rock density variations at depth. The Bouguer gravity anomaly
data grid was obtained from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) online gravity
by latitude and longitude so the data downloaded is the region of interest in a simple
ASCII format. This database is result of a collaborative effort by the U.S. Geological
Survey, the National Imagery and Mapping Administration (NIMA) National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NSF, NASA and The University of Texas at
El Paso. The data were compiled from about 2 million gravity anomaly values derived
from surface, airborne, and satellite measurements. The gravity measurements were
reduced to Free-air and Bouguer anomalies using the new standards recommended by
Hinze et al. (2005) which uses a single reference ellipsoid as the vertical and horizontal
data as well as for the theoretical gravity calculation. Bouguer gravity anomalies were
calculated using a standard crustal density of 2670 kg/m3 (2.67 grams/cc). To eliminate
the minor effects of noise, the derivative gravity data were slightly smoothed by upward
continuation to a level of 2,000 meters above the surface. (North American Gravity
Database Committee, USGS 2003). The Bouguer gravity anomaly over Appalachian
mountains is characterized by a generally asymmetric gravity low and this gravity low
38
Figure V.4: Bouguer gravity anomaly of the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone. Dashed lines indicate the New
York-Alabama lineament and the bold green line the Clingman potential field lineament (King & Zietz, 1978;
Nelson & Zietz, 1983; Johnston et al., 1985)
Velocity Anomalies
Seismic tomography uses the P and S wave travel times as well as the surface wave data
to map the velocity variations of the Earth’s interior. The travel time residuals
(difference between observed and theoretical travel times from the hypocenter to the
39
seismometers) are then used to invert for the velocity structure of the region (Iyer 1993).
An inversion of the P-wave and S-wave arrival time residuals was used to create a
velocity model, P- and S-wave arrival-time data for ETSZ earthquakes were taken from
the Southeastern U. S. Seismic Network Bulletins (SEUSN) for the years 1984 - 2002
and from the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) catalog for the
years 1993 – 2009 (Powell et al. 2011). There are 1,039 earthquakes present in the
dataset, the velocity models are imaged over the depth range from the surface to 20.0 km
The cell sizes were based on source-receiver distribution and synthetic resolution tests
(Powell et al. 2011). The velocity anomaly were used in this thesis to show practical
application of the database. A chi-squared (goodness of fit test) analysis was performed
with the velocity anomaly data (Vp, Vs, Vp/Vs) and the earthquake locations (depths
ranging from 0 – 20 km). The chi-squared test was also performed with randomly
generated earthquake locations. A comparison was made between the real data and the
between the bins and the histogram distribution of the chi-square analysis.
40
0 - 4km
4 - 0km
4 - 8km
8 - 12km
12 - 16km 16 - 20km
Figure V.5: Map layers showing the tomographic results for P-wave velocity, each layer is represented for
depths ranging from 0 - 20 km. The white dots represent the earthquakes located in this work. The data is
provided by CA Powell CERI University of Memphis
The velocity anomaly data was provided by Christine A. Powell of the Center for
format which was imported into Microsoft excel spreadsheet. The attributes contained in
41
these datasets are latitude, longitude and the corresponding velocity (in km/s) at each
point. The data in the excel spreadsheet (APPENDIX C) to create feature points for each
lat/long value with its corresponding velocity. Using the natural neighbor spatial analyst
tool, the newly created points were interpolated using the steps described in appendix p.
Geology
Eastern Tennessee seismic zone is located within the Valley and Ridge region of the
Appalachians containing Paleozoic age rocks ranging from Early Cambrian through
Early Permian age. The generalized geologic map of the conterminous United States,
published by the U.S. Geological Survey, contains surficial geology that displays the
geologic age of the rock layers. U.S. Geological Survey map was compiled using data
from various sources: Tennessee Geological Survey, Georgia Geological Survey, North
42
Figure V.6: Geologic map of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Solid blue line represents the New York-
Alabama lineament and the bold green line the Clingman potential field lineament and the soild black lines
represents the mapped surface faults in the seismic zone( USGS 2004)
Elevation
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) describes the land terrain relief; this data covers the
features on the landside of the shoreline. The regions elevation data was obtained from
resolution of the DEM is in 1 arc-second (approx. 30m), higher resolution data of the
43
region displaying arc second (approx. 10m). The vertical accuracy of NED is ±7~15m
(USGS 2007).
Figure V.7; Three-dimensional representation of the digital elevation model of the ETSZ (vertically
exaggerated 1.5 times) with a resolution of 30m (1 arc-second). USGS (nationalmap.gov)
44
Figure V.8 Two-dimensional representation of the digital elevation model of the ETSZ with a resolution of
30m (1 arc-second). USGS (nationalmap.gov)
Stress
An important addition to the database is crustal stress, which is the driving force behind
seismicity. Investigations into stress patterns indicate that horizontal stress orientations
and relative magnitudes are broadly uniform over large regions of the earth (e.g. Zoback
45
& Zoback, 1989). The world stress map (WSM) is a compilation of the present day
tectonic stress data. The stress indicators include earthquake focal mechanisms, well
bore breakouts and drilling-induced fractures, in-situ stress measurements (over coring,
hydraulic fracturing, and borehole slotter), and young geologic data (from fault-slip
analysis and volcanic vent alignments) (Heidbach et al 2008). In the study area, there are
four data points, two of which occur to the southeastern region of the seismic zone, as a
result of thrust faulting caused by hydraulic fracturing. In addition, the other two, which
occur to the north east of the zone, are as a result of strike-slip faulting induced by well
bore breakouts and drilling-induced fractures. The stress map in Figure V.9 was created
by CASMO, a web-based HTML-form that creates stress maps using the data from the
determined from borehole data (Heidbach et al., 2008). This is roughly parallel to the
orientation of the magnetic lineaments and is consistent with stress estimates inferred
46
from focal mechanism data (Chapman et al., 1997).
Figure V.9 Stress map showing measurements of maximum horizontal compressive stress orientations (SH)
from the World Stress Map database. The Blue stars represent thrust faulting caused by hydraulic fracturing,
while the green triangles represent strike-slip faulting induced by well bore breakouts and drilling-induced
fractures (Heidbach et al., 2008).
From Figure V.9 the abbreviations in the map legend represent NF- normal faulting, SS-
47
Utilities
Damaging earthquakes can affect water, sewer, gas and power utilities. Since the
magnitude 9.0 March 11, 2011 earthquake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, the
safety of nuclear power in the United States has also become once again the major
source of concern. Thus, the locations of all operating nuclear power reactors in the
United States and the reactor type were included in this database. Also included in this
dataset are buildings, roads and trails, railroads, pipelines, and transmission lines, which
were downloaded from the USGS nationalmap.gov. According to the metadata that
48
Figure V.10 Red stars represents nuclear plants located in the ETSZ, purple dots represent earthquake locations
(U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission )
- The transportation data theme consists of roads, airports, railroads, and other
features associated with the transport of people or commerce. The data includes
the location, classification and names for major roads in the study area.
49
Figure V.11:Highway road map in the study area yellow line represents interstate highways, green –state
routes, purple line- state highways and red- US highways(U.S. Geological Survey)
function, name, location, and other detailed information about the structure.
- The hydrographic data includes information about the surface waters in the study
area.
50
Figure V.12 hydrographic map of the ETSZ region, green squares represent dam locations(U.S. Geological
Survey)
51
52
VI. DATABASE APPLICATION
As mentioned in the objective of this project, this chapter will demonstrate usefulness of
distribution and the velocity anomaly layer. Through various studies, it has been
suggested that the earthquake distribution in the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone was
spatially correlated with potential-field anomalies (King and Zietz, 1978;, Powell et al.,
1994, Vlahovic et al., 1998). Powell et al. (2011) stated that there was a spatial
correlation between the velocity field and earthquake locations with most active part of
the ETSZ southeast of NY-AL magnetic lineament being characterized by higher than
average P and S wave velocities and low Vp/VS ratio. By using the chi-square goodness
of fit statistical method, quantify the relationship between the earthquake locations and
the velocity anomaly models of ETSZ for the P- wave, S-wave (Vp and Vs) and the ratio
of P-wave to S-wave (Vp/Vs). This analysis will be used to test the analysis made by
Powell et al, 2011. A chi-squared test was also performed with hypocenters randomly
generated from a uniform distribution: comparison was made between the real data and
the synthetic data while looking at the calculated chi-square, earthquake distribution
between the bins and the histogram distribution of the chi-square analysis.
Chi -Square
The chi-square test was used to determine whether the frequencies we observe fit what
we might expect (also known as the Chi- square goodness of fit). According to Gravetter
and Wallnau 2007 (pg 581), “The chi-square statistic is a measure of how much the
Equation VI.1 : Formula for Chi-Squared goodness of fit, observed represents the actual count in a given cell,
while expected represents a theoretical count for that cell
The Chi-square values for this analysis will be calculated using the Equation VI.1, in
this study the observed counts of earthquakes, will be compared to the expected counts
of earthquakes for each of the velocity anomaly layer in the Eastern Tennessee Seismic
Zone. There are 1,039 earthquakes present in the dataset used in the analysis of chi-
event locations and the velocity anomaly layer. Alternative hypothesis (Ha) is a positive
statement of the null hypothesis i.e. there is a relationship between the variables under
analysis. If the difference between expected and observed counts is large, the chi-square
value (Equation VI.1) will be large, and there will be enough evidence against the null
Determining variables
The observed number of earthquakes in each layer is determined in the following way:
• The velocity anomaly layer is reclassified into 5 bins (very high, high, normal,
low, and very low) using the spatial analyst reclassify tool.
• From the reclassified layer a raster count for each bin value is determined, then
• Using the Hawth’s intersect point tool a frequency count of earthquake events
fall within the classified fields, this frequency of the earthquakes that intersect
the classified bins are then added as attributes to the original point layer.
From this process, we determined the number of observed earthquakes in each bin for
each layer.
The expected number of earthquakes in each bin was determined using the equation
below:
55
Equation VI.2 Formula used to determine number of expected earthquakes
If the null hypothesis was valid, i.e. if the earthquakes were uniformly distributed and
had no relationship with the velocity field, the total number of expected earthquakes
falling in a bin should equal the total number of observed earthquakes in that bin. This
would result in a low chi-square value. If on the other hand the earthquakes either were
number of events in a given bin would significantly deviate from the expected one,
which would result in a high chi-square value. Based on that chi-square value, and
provided that the number of degrees of freedom is known (Equation VI.3), the
probability associated with the null hypothesis can be deduced from the probability
A probability threshold has to be defined, that will be used to determine whether the null
hypothesis is valid or not. This threshold is called level of significance (denoted alpha)
and is commonly set to a value of 5% to 10% (0.05 or 0.1). Here we consider a level of
56
significance of 5% (0.05). If the probability (denoted as p) associated with the null
hypothesis is less than this threshold, the hypothesis is rejected, and otherwise it is
considered as valid. The p-value is a probability, with a value ranging from zero to one
Then, for a given number of degrees of freedom Equation VI.3, a critical chi-square
value associated with the chosen level of significance can be determined from the table
i. If the calculated chi-square value is greater than the critical value from the table,
in other words if the p-value is lower than alpha, then you “reject the null
hypothesis”
ii. If the chi-square value is less than the critical value, i.e. if the p-value is greater
Our null hypothesis is that the epicenter locations, also referred to as points and events,
spatial randomness in the velocity models. 1064 local earthquakes in the Eastern
Tennessee Seismic Zone were used to determine this spatial relationship. Most
earthquakes occur to the southeast of the NY- AL lineament and occur at depths ranging
from 5 to 26 km. The velocity anomaly datasets, which all have a thickness of 4 km in
57
1 -4-0(above sea level)
2 0 –4
3 4–8
4 8 – 12
5 12 – 16
6 16 - 20
Each layer of the velocity model was classified into 5 bins (very high, high, normal, low,
and very low). The 1-D Velocity Model (Vlahovic et al 1998) was used as a basis to
45.0 8 4.62 -
58
Limitations
Horizontal errors < 2 km and vertical errors < 4 km may be present in the earthquake
hypocenter locations due to, among other factors, station spacing, arrival time reading
errors and velocity model uncertainties (Powell et al 2011). The chi-square values for
layer 1 was not computed for any of the velocity models due to the fact that the total
number of observed earthquakes in this layer is less than 5, therefore the computed
59
60
VII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This research was designed to test the possibility of random distribution of the
earthquake in each velocity anomaly layer. A brief summary of the results the all of the
Chi-Square analyses and their corresponding p-values displayed in the following tables.
determine if the earthquake location in ETSZ is related to the velocity anomaly of the
region.
Null Hypothesis: No relationship exists between the earthquake locations and the
Alternative Hypothesis: A relationship exists between the earthquake locations and the
The threshold values used for the analysis of the chi-square values are
- Level of significance: α = 0.05 (5% with a confidence level of 95% that the
results of the test are real and repeatable, and not just random)
- Degree of freedom: df = 4
- Critical value: = 9.49(value from the chi-square distribution table based on the
Table VII.1: Combined chi-square results and significance level for earthquake locations in each layer are
shown for each tomographic inversion model.
The results in
Ho fail to
Chi-square P-value reject
Layer
Values (y/n)
63
Table VII.1 show the calculated chi-square value for each layer in each model. The
variables with p-values< 0.05 show that there is a relationship between the calculated
tomographic inversion of p, s-wave arrival time and the earthquake events at these
layers. Therefore rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis
Vp Model
Figure VII.1 Histograms juxtapose observed and expected number of earthquakes in the Vp velocity anomaly
model of the ETSZ.
It can be inferred from the graph that observed earthquakes in the Vp model show a
significant difference from the expected in the low – normal bins. The chi-square value
most commonly used to cite statistical expression sources within the social sciences
64
χ2([df], N = [total sample size]) = [Chi-squared obtained], p = [p-value]. (American
In layer 2, the analysis was performed with, the p-value (0.19) is greater than alpha (0.
05), therefore it fails to reject null hypothesis [χ2 (4, N =131) = 6.12, p = 0.19]. In this
layer, it appears that the observed earthquakes are preferentially located in the normal
bin (6.05km/s), this means that the variables are independent of each other, and there is
no relationship between the calculated tomographic inversion of p-wave arrival time and
the earthquake events at this layer. This result is to be expected because previous studies
suspect that features in the basement – below the decollement, may control the
approximately 5km - 26km (Johnston et al., 1985; Powell et al., 1994; Vlahovic et al.,
In layer 3, fails to reject null hypothesis [χ2 (4, N =178) = 8.50, p = 0.07]: this means
that the variables (as observed in layer 2) are independent of each other and there is no
relationship between the calculated tomographic inversion of p-wave arrival time and
the earthquake events at this layer. It appears that the observed earthquakes are
preferentially located in the normal bin (6.24km/s), this result does not support the
observations by Powell et al 2011 that earthquakes prefer high velocities but as stated
In layer 4, the null is rejected [χ2 (4, N =239) = 26.25, p = 0.00], this means that the
variables are dependent on each other and there is a relationship between the calculated
tomographic inversion of p-wave arrival time and earthquake occurrence in this layer.
65
There appears to be a significant difference between the observed earthquakes and the
earthquakes in the normal (6.35km/s), the observed earthquakes in this layer are
preferentially located in the normal bin, this differs from observations expected which is
that the earthquakes prefer high velocities. Although the distribution of the earthquakes
in this layer does not support the Powell observations, the layer still supports the
hypothesis that there is a relationship between the earthquake locations and the velocity
In layer 5, the null was rejected [χ2 (4, N =233 = 19.29, p = 0.00], there appears to be a
major difference between the observed earthquake and the expected as the earthquakes
in this layer occur preferentially in the normal bin (6.43km/s) similar analysis made for
In layer 6, [χ2 (4, N =191) = 24.23, p = 0.00], the null hypothesis was rejected; the
observed earthquakes in this layer tend to occur in the region of low velocity (6.42km/s).
Similar analysis made for layer 4 was made for this layer; Powell et al (2011) observed
that for the Vp model the earthquakes prefer to occur in the region of high velocity.
66
Vs Model
Figure VII.2: Graphical representation of layers in the Vs is similar to the Vp model graphical representation
in fig 2.2
The earthquake distribution in the Vs model is somewhat similar to the trend observed in
the Vp model. In layer 2, fails to reject the null hypothesis, [χ2 (4, N =133) = 8.85, p =
0.06]. The earthquake distribution for this layer preferentially occur in the region of high
velocity (3.52km/s).this result partly supports the observation made by Powell that
earthquake prefer locations with high S-wave velocity. Although it it fails to reject null,
In Layer 3 the null hypothesis was rejected [χ2 (4, N =178) = 53.52, p = 0.00], the
earthquakes in this layer tend to favor regions of high velocity (3.64km/s) and the
normal (3.59km/s). The results from this layer fully support Powell et al observations
67
first, that the earthquakes and the velocity models are spatial correlated secondly that the
In layer 4 the null is rejected [χ2 (4, N =235) = 35.35, p = 0.00], with earthquakes in this
layer tend to occur in region of high velocity (3.71km/s) and the normal (3.66km/s). The
result for the analysis of this is similar to the analysis made in layer 3, which is that it
also fully support Powell et al observations first, that the earthquakes and the velocity
models are spatial correlated secondly that the earthquakes in this layer prefer high s-
wave velocity.
Similar to the conclusion made in layer 3 and 4 for the null was rejected the distribution
in layer 5 [χ2 (4, N =233) = 126.09, p = 0.00] The earthquakes in this layer tend to occur
In layer 6 the null is rejected [χ2 (4, N =191) = 54.50, p = 0.00] with earthquakes in this
layer tend to occur in region of very high velocity (3.8km/s) and the normal (3.7km/s).
The results in the layer also support the analysis made by Powell et al that earth the
earthquakes in the seismic zone prefer Vs ratios and that that the earthquakes and the
68
VII.1.1.1.1 Vp/Vs model
Figure VII.3: Graphical representation of layers in the Vp/Vs model and the bin classes with the observed
earthquakes and the expected earthquake
Powell et at (2011) observed that in the Vp/Vs models the earthquakes tend to prefer
regions of low velocity and this exactly what is observed in Figure VII.3 The
earthquake distribution in Vp/Vs layers all appear to prefer very low to low velocity
ratios.
In layer 2, fails to reject null hypothesis χ2 (4, N =133) = 3.15, p = 0.53], and as stated
earlier the earthquakes in this layer prefer the regions of low velocity. However,
according to the chi-square value calculated the earthquake distributions in this layer are
In layer 3, the earthquake events tend to occur preferentially in the low and normal bin
(1.74km/s). The null hypothesis was rejected for this layer χ2 (4, N =177) = 39.86, p =
69
0.00], this supports the analysis made by Powell et al, that the earthquakes prefer low
Vp/Vs ratios.
in layer 4 the null was also rejected [χ2 (4, N =237) = 41.36, p = 0.00] the distribution
of earthquakes tend to occur in the region of low velocity(1.76km/s) which supports the
In layer 5 the earthquake distribution are preferentially located in the region of very low
velocity (1.72km/s) the null hypothesis for this layer was also rejected χ2 (4, N =204) =
39.53, p = 0.00]. This proves that a relationship exists between the earthquake locations
and the velocity field inferred from body-wave travel time tomographic inversion and
70
71
VIII. CONCLUSION
The purpose of this study was to build in a GIS database for the Eastern Tennessee
database offers benefits to the potential users who are interested in doing a study on the
flexibility. On the other hand, GIS is just a tool. It has some limitations, such as needing
trained staff or someone who is well versed in use of this tool. The process of building a
seismic, geophysical map etc. All of these data were then geo-referenced and entered
into the geodatabase. The data sources included the US Geological Survey, Center for
Earthquake Research and Information NMSZ Earthquake Catalog, World Stress Map,
etc. All the data pertaining to the research were computed into Spatial Data Standards
for Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment (SDSFIE) to maintain the integrity of the
datasets in the geodatabase. In addition, all data referencing and data integrity were
Also part of this project was to quantitatively explore possible relationship between
using the chi-squared method to determine if the earthquake distributions in the velocity
variables involved in the analysis are independent of each other and there is no
relationship between the calculated tomographic inversion of p-wave arrival time and
the earthquake events at this layer. In addition, it appears that the observed earthquakes
in these two layers are preferentially located in the normal bin which does not supports
the observations that made by Powell et al 2011, that the earthquakes prefer high Vp
ratios. For layer 4, 5, and 6 the null was rejected stating that that the variables are
dependent on each other and there is a relationship between the calculated tomographic
inversion of p-wave arrival time and earthquake occurrence in this layer. However for
these layers the earthquakes are preferentially located in the normal velocity rations, this
differs from observations expected that Powell made which is that the earthquakes prefer
high velocities.
For the Vs model, the earthquakes in each layer appear to support the analysis made by
Powell et al that earthquakes prefer high Vs ratios as the earthquakes tend to occur in
regions of high velocity. All the layers rejected the null hypothesis except layer 2; it fails
to reject null.
For the Vp/Vs model, Powell et at (2011) observed that in the Vp/Vs models the
earthquakes tend to prefer regions of low velocity and this exactly what is observed in
Figure VII.3 The earthquake distribution in Vp/Vs layers all appear to prefer very low to
Bankey, Viki, Cuevas, Alejandro, Daniels, David, Finn, Carol A. , Hernandez, Israel,
Hill, Patricia, Kucks, Robert, Miles, Warner, Pilkington, Mark, Roberts, Carter, Roest,
Walter, Rystrom, Victoria, Shearer, Sarah, Snyder, Stephen, Sweeney, Ronald, Velez,
Julio, Phillips, J.D., and Ravat, D., (2002) Digital data grids for the magnetic anomaly
map of North America: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-414. U.S.
Chapman, M.C., C.A. Powell, G.C. Vlahovic, and M.S. Sibol (1997). A statistical
analysis of earthquake focal mechanisms and epicenter locations in the Easter Tennessee
Seismic Zone. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 87, no. 6, 1522-1536.
Dunn, M.M., and Chapman, M.C. (2006), Fault Orientation in the Eastern Tennessee
Fisher R. A. (1925). Statistical Methods for Research Workers, Edinburgh: Oliver and
Heidbach, O., Tingay, M., Barth, A., Reinecker, J., Kurfeß, D., and Müller, B., The
Hough, S.E., Seeber, L., and Armbruster, J.G., (2003) Intraplate triggered Earthquakes:
2221.
Johnston, A.C., Reinbold, D.J., and Brewer, S.I., (1985) Seismotectonics of the Southern
King, E.R., and Zietz I. (1978). The New York-Alabama lineament: geophysical
evidence for a major crustal break beneath the Appalachian basin. Geology 6, 312-318.
Kucks, Robert P., 1999, Bouguer gravity anomaly data grid for the conterminous US
Powell, C.A., Withers, M., Vlahovic, G., Arroucau, P., Cox, R.(2011). Three-
Dimensional P- and S-Wave Velocity Models for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Powell, C.A., Bollinger G. A., Chapman M.C., Sibol M.S., Johnston A.C., and Wheeler
R.L. (1994). A Seismotectonic model for the 300-kilometer long eastern Tennessee
Beikman, Helen M., (1994) Geology of the Conterminous United States at 1:2,500,000
Scale -- A Digital Representation of the 1974 P.B. King and H.M. Beikman Map: U.S.
Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-11, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.
Steltenpohl, M.G., Zietz, I., Horton, J.W. Jr, and Daniels, D.L (2010). New York-
Alabama Lineament: A Buried Right-Slip Fault Bordering the Appalachians and Mid-
Vlahovic, G.C., Powell C.A., Chapman M.C., and Sibol M.S. (1998). Joint hypocenter-
velocity inversion for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone. Journal of Geophysical
Wheeler, R.L., (1995). Earthquakes and the cratonward limit of Iapetan faulting in
Zoback, M.D. and Zoback, M.L. (1981). State of Stress and Intraplate Earthquakes in
77
78
X. APPENDIX A
83
Layer Bin observed Raster Count %RC expected obs-exp o-e^2 Χ2
very low(1.72) 49 853 21.38917 50.69 -1.69 2.86 0.06
84
1 3.84 6.64 10.83
85
XI. APPENDIX B
Content Citation
Title of Content: STATE_AREA
Type of Content: Downloadable Data
Content Publisher: NCCU DEEGS
Publication Date: 20110527
Content Description
Content Summary: The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ) is an intraplate seismically
active region, which extends from northwest Georgia through east Tennessee [Study Area:
34ºN to 37ºN; 86ºW to 82.5ºW]. It is the second most active earthquake zone east of the
Rocky Mountains, the New Madrid Seismic Zone being the most active (Powell et al., 1994).
Most of the seismicity of this region occurs in the 300km by 50km wide area located in the
Valley and Ridge physiographic province of the southern Appalachians.
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, by the Department of
Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University. This
geodatabase was developed for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS
format such as ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that can be used to improve our understanding of the
seismicity in the area.
Time Period of
Content
Date: May 2011
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -87.059204
East Coordinate: -82.139893
North Coordinate: 36.871887
South Coordinate: 33.871277
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, State_area
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Spatial Data
Information
Data Type: vector digital data
Data Format: File Geodatabase Feature Class
Data Projection: Geographic
Content Citation
Title of Content: EARTHQUAKE_HYPOCENTER_POINT
Type of Content: Downloadable Data
Content Publisher: NCCU DEEGS
Publication Date: 20110527
Content Description
Content Summary: Precise locations of earthquake hypocenters are important for
identifying potentially seismogenic features, especially in intraplate regions where there is
little or no correlation between seismicity and mapped faults. The earthquakes that range in
magnitude from 0.2 to 4.6, with depth of seismicity in the area estimated to be
approximately 5km - 26km
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, by the Department of
Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University. This
geodatabase was developed for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS
format such as ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that can be used to improve our understanding of the
seismicity in the area.
Time Period of
Content
Date: May 2011
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As needed
87
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -85.930969
East Coordinate: -82.499023
North Coordinate: 36.814087
South Coordinate: 34.341125
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, Earthquake_hypocenter_point
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Spatial Data
Information
Data Type: vector digital data
Data Format: File Geodatabase Feature Class
Data Projection: Geographic
Content Citation
Title of Content: GEOLOGIC_FEATURE_AREA
Type of Content: Downloadable Data
Content Publisher: NCCU DEEGS
Publication Date: 20110527
Content Description
Content Summary: The generalized geologic map of the conterminous United States,
published by the U.S. Geological Survey, contains surficial geology that displays the geologic
age of the rock layers.
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, by the Department of
88
Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University. This
geodatabase was developed for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS
format such as ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that can be used to improve our understanding of the
seismicity in the area.
Time Period of
Content
Date: May 2011
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -90.310425
East Coordinate: -75.097595
North Coordinate: 39.465881
South Coordinate: 30.060730
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, Geologic_feature_area
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Spatial Data
Information
Data Type: vector digital data
Data Format: File Geodatabase Feature Class
Data Projection: Geographic
Content Citation
89
Title of Content: SURFACE_WATER_CENTERLINE
Type of Content: Downloadable Data
Content Publisher: NCCU DEEGS
Publication Date: 20110527
Content
Description
Content Summary: Dataset includes information about the surface
waters in the study area.
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-
spatial database for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, by the
Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences of North
Carolina Central University. This geodatabase was developed for the
Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS format such as
ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that can be used to improve our understanding of the
seismicity in the area.
Time Period of
Content
Date: May 2011
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -87.058777
East Coordinate: -82.141602
North Coordinate: 36.858887
South Coordinate: 33.873291
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content
Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, Surface_water_centerline
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Spatial Data
Information
Data Type: vector digital data
90
Data Format: File Geodatabase Feature Class
Data Projection: Geographic
Content Description
Content Summary: Gravity anomalies are produced by density variations within the rocks
of the Earth's crust and upper mantle. Mapping of these density variations is the primary use
of gravity anomalies. The gravitational fields vary slightly from place to place due to the
composition and structure of Earth's crust, the observed Bouguer anomaly map can be
interpreted in terms of rock density variations at depth. The Bouguer gravity anomaly data
grid was obtained from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) online gravity and
magnetic database (http://irpsrvgis00.utep.edu/repositorywebsite/) and is searchable by
latitude and longitude so the data downloaded is the region of interest in a simple ASCII
format
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, by the Department of
Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University. This
geodatabase was developed for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS
format such as ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that can be used to improve our understanding of the
seismicity in the area.
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -86.202515
East Coordinate: -82.379822
North Coordinate: 37.003113
91
South Coordinate: 33.828491
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data,
Gravity_anomaly_pnt
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content Description
Content Summary: Aeromagnetic anomaly mapping is useful in providing information
about the geology especially in cases where the structures are scarce or absent (USGS
2002). Airborne measurement of the earth's magnetic field over all of North America
provides gridded data describing the magnetic anomaly caused by variations in earth
materials and structure (USGS 2002). The observed magnetic field is characterized by
significant anomalies, particularly, the northeast trending NY-AL lineament extending roughly
from Alabama to New York and framing most active part of ETSZ from the northwest and the
less prominent Clingman lineament to the southeast.
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, by the Department of
Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University. This
geodatabase was developed for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS
format such as ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that can be used to improve our understanding of the
seismicity in the area.
92
Time Period of Content
Date: May 2011
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -86.000427
East Coordinate: -82.500671
North Coordinate: 36.874084
South Coordinate: 34.001709
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, Magnetic_anomaly_pnt
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Alabama, Georgia
Content Description
Content Summary: the data set includes Seismic tomography for the p-wave travel times
93
as well as the surface wave data to map the velocity variations of the Earth's interior. The
travel time residuals (difference between observed and theoretical travel times from the
hypocenter to the seismometers) are then used to invert for the velocity structure of the
region
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, by the Department of
Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University. This
geodatabase was developed for the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in an accepted GIS
format such as ArcGIS 9.3 so that it that can be used to improve our understanding of the
seismicity in the area.
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -86.994019
East Coordinate: -82.137573
North Coordinate: 36.832092
South Coordinate: 33.862488
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, Velocity_anomaly_vp2
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Alabama, Georgia
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use limitations of this data set.
Content Citation
Title of Content: Velocity Models
Type of Content: Downloadable Data
Content Publisher: NCCU DEEGS
Publication Date: 20110527
Content Description
Content Summary: REQUIRED: A brief narrative summary of the data set.
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, Department of Environmental, Earth
and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University so that it that can be used to
improve our understanding of the seismicity in the area.
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West -87.059204
Coordinate:
East -82.139893
Coordinate:
North 36.871887
Coordinate:
South 33.871277
Coordinate:
Coverage Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky,
Area: Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, Etsz_vp_vs_1
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Alabama, Georgia
95
Data Format: File Geodatabase Raster Dataset
Content Description
Content Summary: REQUIRED: A brief narrative summary of the data set.
Content Purpose: The purpose of this data set is to be part of the geo-spatial database for
the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone.
Supplemental Information: Established in May 2011, Department of Environmental, Earth
and Geospatial Sciences of North Carolina Central University so that it that can be used to
improve our understanding of the seismicity in the area.
Content Status
Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: As Needed
Spatial Domain
West Coordinate: -86.006195
East Coordinate: -82.490537
North Coordinate: 36.879715
South Coordinate: 33.995956
Coverage Area: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
Content Keywords
Theme Keywords: Geological Data, Magneticanomaly
Place Keywords: Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
96
Spatial Data Information
Data Type: vector digital data
Data Format: File Geodatabase Raster Dataset
Data Projection: Geographic
97
XII. APPENDIX C
All feature classes in a feature dataset must have the same spatial references. A feature
dataset can be added to the feature class either by importing existing map or creating a
Coordinate system
The coordinate system can be modified to another system or projection according to our
needs. We have several options to set the coordinate system for any feature class.
• Go to “view” menu and choose “Data Frame Property” and select Coordinate
System tab
• In coordinate system box select Modify, click select and follow the steps by
selecting the coordinate system you want. In the case of this project, NAD 1983
To display features that meet specific criteria. In this step, I will use the earthquake dataset to
describe this process. I will select and locate depths of earthquakes greater than 4km but less
than 8km.
1. In ArcMap, from the Selection menu, choose Select By Attributes, which allows you
2. In the Layer dropdown list, choose layer of interest “EARTHQUAKE” . For Method,
3. In the Fields list, scroll down and double-click on attribute of interest “DEPTH.”
4. Enter query you are interested in, in this case it is earthquakes that occur within a depth
that are greater than 4 but less than 8. Input the following query “ DEPTH ≥ 4 AND
≤8
DEPTH≤
5. Click Apply. Move the Select By Attributes dialog out of the way, so you can see the
map display.
7. Right click earthquake layer, click export data (make sure drop down menu indicates
This procedure outlines steps to merge Digital Elevation Model data into a single file
using ArcMap.
1. From the Spatial Analyst dropdown menu, select Raster Calculator. The Raster
2. In the expression box at the bottom of the window enter the following text DEM
ETSZ= Merge(. Where "DEMETSZ" will be the name of the merged DEM and
"Merge" is the command for Spatial Analyst to merge the grid files together.
3. Input the following query ([DEM1], [DEM2],….] however many DEM grids you
wish to merge. It is critical to have the proper query or the calculator will not
work.
Some of the data included in the geodatabase were downloaded as excel files with
Lat/Lon values, the data will only be presented as a table without a geometry. The
following step detail how to create a feature from a table with XY coordinates.
2. Right-click on the new layer and choose from the menu “Display XY Data.”
3. Choose the fields from your table that you want to populate with X and Y data.
4. This will add your coordinate points to the Map Project as an Event Layer.
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