HR: 0800h
AN: MR11B-0936    [Abstracts]
TI: Integrated Site Characterization for the Proposed Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) at Kimballton, Virginia
AU: * Shumaker, A N
EM: niven@vt.edu
AF: Virginia Tech, Dept. of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AU: Henika, W S
AF: Virginia Tech, Dept. of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AU: Hole, J A
AF: Virginia Tech, Dept. of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AU: Imhof, M G
AF: Virginia Tech, Dept. of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AU: Burbey, T J
AF: Virginia Tech, Dept. of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AU: Bodnar, R J
AF: Virginia Tech, Dept. of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AB: The National Science Foundation has announced a plan to establish a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) for interdisciplinary research in physics, geosciences, biosciences and engineering. The proposed laboratory will extend to a depth of about 2000 meters and will consist of a series of research facilities for long term study. To date, 8 sites in North America have been proposed to host DUSEL. One of these sites, known as Kimballton, is located near Butt Mountain in Giles County in southwestern Virginia. The Kimballton site is in the Valley and Ridge Province of the southern Appalachians and consists of repeated sequences folded and thrusted Paleozoic dolomite, limestone and clastic rocks. The site is located near the active Kimballton mine, which extends to 700 meters depth in the Butt Mountain Synclinorium and produces chemical-grade lime from the Five Oaks Formation. Surface and mine geology at Kimballton have been projected to the DUSEL horizon, and indicate that the facility would be hosted in Ordovician limestone of the Saint Clair thrust sheet that lies beneath the Narrows thrust fault. Two 3 km seismic reflection lines were acquired along the top of Butt Mountain to characterize the subsurface geology in the vicinity of the DUSEL site. Preliminary interpretations of the seismic data are consistent with the structural model derived from surface geology. A 2.2 km borehole from the top of Butt Mountain to the DUSEL horizon will be drilled to further constrain the geology and to construct an integrated 3D subsurface model.
UR: http://www.phys.vt.edu/~kimballton/
DE: 8015 Local crustal structure
DE: 8102 Continental contractional orogenic belts
DE: 0905 Continental structures (8109, 8110)
SC: Mineral and Rock Physics [MR]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting