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Analysis of Cornell University’s Seismic Networks for the Earth Source Heat Initiative

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dc.contributor.authorSuhey, Jane
dc.contributor.authorKatz, Zachary
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Maia
dc.contributor.authorFerris, Aaron
dc.contributor.authorPritchard, Matthew
dc.contributor.authorSalerno, Jeremy
dc.contributor.authorHubbard, Peter
dc.contributor.authorGustafson, J. Olaf
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-22T01:29:44Z
dc.date.available2021-03-22T01:29:44Z
dc.date.issued2021-03-21
dc.descriptionReport includes the main document and three supplemental filesen_US
dc.description.abstractAs part of efforts to achieve campus carbon neutrality by 2035, Cornell University launched the Earth Source Heat (ESH) project in 2007, to research the possibility of using deep geothermal heating to heat the campus. To effectively explore the availability of geothermal resources and the feasibility of extracting such resources, an accurate understanding of geologic features and regional seismicity is required. However, national and regional seismic networks do not have sufficient sensitivity to record seismicity in Tompkins County, NY. Thus, two seismic networks were installed to study the background seismicity in Tompkins County in advance of any proposed drilling as part of ESH. The first network (CorNET16) operated between 2015-2016 with 12 seismometers, while the current network installed from July 2019-present (CorNET21) includes 17 seismometers over a larger area. The installation of CorNET21 and analysis is completed under contract with Weston Geophysical Group with assistance from Cornell students, staff, and faculty. Preliminary analysis indicates about 359 seismic events in Tompkins County between August 2019-January 2021, including impulsive ground vibrations such as drilling, mine blasts, construction activities, as well a natural events such as microearthquakes. About 70 events were reviewed by a seismologist and a more accurate location was determined. Some natural microearthquakes have been observed, and efforts to separate these from the human-caused seismic events are ongoing. Events as small as magnitude negative 2 have been detected, but further work to assess the magnitudes and what small magnitude events might be missed is in progress. Re-analysis of the CorNET16 data using the same techniques used for CorNET21 finds about 20 seismic events in Tompkins County between 2015-2016 with the number of events and locations focused near or under Cayuga Lake similar to previous work. We suspect that more events were found by CorNET21 because of its increased sensitivity as well as change in the nature of seismic events. CorNET21 indicates dozens of seismic events each year within 10 km of the proposed geothermal drill site not visible in the national and regional seismic networks. Thus CorNET21 provides important information not otherwise available about local seismic events.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipCornell University and Cornell Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Futureen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1813/103518
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.subjectEarth Source Heat; Seismic events; Geothermalen_US
dc.titleAnalysis of Cornell University’s Seismic Networks for the Earth Source Heat Initiativeen_US
dc.typetechnical reporten_US
schema.accessibilityHazardnoneen_US

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S1_CorNET16_relocated_seismic_events.xlsx
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S1 Supplemental File 1: Excel file that of the 39 CorNET16 relocated seismic events shown in Figure 23. Columns indicate the identification number of the event “orid,” the origin time of the event, its latitude, longitude, and depth, along with the total number of seismic phases used in the solution “ndef.” Because the coda wave magnitudes are not considered reliable, they are not included here.
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S2_CorNET21_seismic_events.xlsx
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S2: Supplemental File 2: Excel file that of the 459 CorNET21 seismic events shown in Figures 12 and 15. Columns indicate the identification number of the event “orid,” the origin time of the event, its latitude, longitude, and depth, along with the total number of seismic phases used in the solution “ndef.” Because the coda wave magnitudes are not considered reliable, they are not included here.
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S3: Supplemental file 3: PDF Compilation of 451 figures for the CorNET21 seismic events shown in S2. See A1 for details about the information in each figure.
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Cornell Earth Source Heat Project: Technical Reports and Datasets