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Two small earthquakes occurred within an hour of each other Thursday, May 10, 2012 just north of Vincennes, Indiana across the Wabash River from Russellville, Illinois.

The first earthquake (magnitude 2.7) was felt by only a few people near the epicenter. The second earthquake was slightly stronger (magnitude 3.1) and was felt by many people in Vincennes and weakly in several other locations in the region including Lawrenceville, Bridgeport, and Robinson, IL. Both earthquakes were barely detectable above the background noise at the ISGS seismometer in Champaign.

First earthquake:
      May 10, 2012
      Time: 22:07:19 UTC (18:07 Indiana, 17:07 Central Time)
      Magnitude 2.7 depth 8.8 km
      Location: 38.816 N 87.465 W 14 km WNW of Bicknell, Indiana

Second earthquake:
      May 10, 2012
      Time: 22:54:05 UTC (18:54 Indiana; 17:54 Central Time)
      Magnitude 3.1 depth 11 km
      Location 38.807 N 87.460 W 6 km ESE from Russellville, IL
Contact: Tim Larson

Robert J. Finley was one of the University of Illinois' 2012 Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence (CAPE) award recipients. Rob is the Director of the Advanced Energy Technology Initiative at the Prairie Research Institute's ISGS. As a world-renowned expert in geological carbon sequestration, Dr. Finley is an excellent ambassador for the University of Illinois. Rob has brought international attention to Illinois because of his projects and accomplishments. He has testified in hearings before Congress, traveled to Asia and Europe to showcase his team's work, and hosted international delegations of researchers from around the world.

Rob has been responsible for a federally funded program of nearly $100M coming to the University to address the capture of CO₂ to reduce our impact on the earth's atmosphere and slow the potential climate change caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. His efforts have positioned the State of Illinois as a global leader to develop opportunities for geologic carbon capture and sequestration, and his programs have provided interdisciplinary platforms for scientists, faculty, and students to come together and contribute to a major research effort. Contact: Rob Finley

The ISGS has many services available to the public from drilling with sampling up to 500' to 3-D Visualization and geologic modeling.
      More information on services

Hydraulic Fracturing Concerns Discussed

David Morse of the ISGS met in the Lt. Governor's office in the State House with officials from the Illinois EPA, and Illinois Departments of Agriculture, Public Health and Safety, Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and Natural Resources to discuss pending legislation and concerns about hydraulic fracturing of gas shales in Illinois. He described the fracturing process and the potential for use of large scale fracturing technology to recover natural gas from the New Albany Shale. Smaller scale fracturing of conventional oil and gas reservoirs has been conducted for the last 50 years without environmental problems. Surface containment of flow-back fluids from the very large fracturing operations and disclosure of the chemical constituents of hydraulic fracturing fluid were the main concerns discussed. Contact: Dave Morse

Educating 5^th Graders about Geology Gains Awards

On April 9, the ISGS' Joan Crockett and Barb Stiff were awarded Certificates of Recognition from the Champaign Unit 4 School District for support of science education. They completed a field guide of the Kickapoo area, developed and conducted an exciting erosion demonstration on a point bar at Kickapoo, provided curriculum resources on the glacial geology in Illinois, and advised Unit 4 regarding development of a new 5^th grade geology curriculum.

Joan and Barb had the able assistance of Dan Adomaitis, Curt Abert, Drew Phillips, and Dave Morse on the Kickapoo trip, and Dan and Curt contributed at Champaign curriculum planning meetings as well. The day in the field... Read more about the Kickapoo trip

Southern Illinois Mega-erratic Revisited: a 2.66 Billion Year-old Find

In December 2010, the ISGS reported on one of the largest glacial erratics (~22×10×11 feet with an estimated weight of ~100 tons) ever found in Illinois. But what made this finding unique was its location in southern Illinois (near Texico in Jefferson County), about 50 miles north of the southernmost extent of continental glaciation in the northern hemisphere. We reported that this erratic is an exotic rock that was brought to Illinois by continental glaciers about 150,000 years ago as ice sheets scoured, scraped, and plucked pieces of bedrock during their southward advance. The erratic was identified as being pink granite that most likely originated from the Canadian Shield north of Lakes Huron and Superior, and was transported to its far southern location.

So that we could more definitively trace the erratic's origin and path to southern Illinois, small pieces of the erratic were removed and sent to the Arizona Laserchron Center at the University of Arizona, so that the age of the rock could be determined. The chosen technique was... Read more about the erratic trip

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ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
E. Donald McKay, III, Director
615 E. Peabody
Champaign, IL 61820
217-244-2414
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