| 9/26/2005 8:55:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Quake study
CU research team looks for answers
by Jason Starr
Mail Staff Writer
Just how likely is an earthquake in Chaffee County?
A research team from the University of Colorado at Boulder is launching a study this fall to get closer to an answer.
By setting global positioning systems to fixed objects throughout the central Colorado Rockies and New Mexico, the team will study the miniscule movements of the Rio Grande Rift, which flows north from New Mexico into the San Luis Valley.
Scientists believe magma from the earth’s mantle is flowing to the surface at the rift, causing a spreading of the earth’s crust. The movement of GPS instruments at 24 stations along the rift area will help researchers determine the direction and distance the earth there is moving.
“Our project will determine exact rates of movement along the rift and assess the earthquake hazards it poses,” said Anne Sheehan, an associate professor of geological sciences at CU.
The closest of the 24 GPS sites to Salida will be the two on either side of the San Luis Valley – near Alamosa and Del Norte – and the one near Fairplay. There also will be a cluster of sites near the Interstate 70 corridor to determine how far north the rift goes, Sheehan said.
The three-year study, funded by the National Science Foundation, also hopes to detect any vertical movement in Colorado’s mountains using a GPS site in Aspen.
“We’re hoping we will get some estimates on the vertical (movement)” Sheehan said.
The research team includes scientists and students from CU and the University of New Mexico. They will try to educate local schoolteachers and governmental agencies interested in the area’s earthquake potential about the study.
“Salida would be a real good spot for getting a school involved because you’re real close to where the action is,” Sheehan said.
Any teachers interested in preparing lesson plans based on the study can contact Sheehan at (303) 492-4597. Information on the study also is available at http://cires.colorado.edu.
The team will begin installing GPS instruments this winter and start taking measurements in summer 2006.
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