Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
Alaska burning: explosion near Eagle leads to mysterious geologic ground craters
Posted on December 8, 2012
December 8, 2012 – ALASKA - Residents
in the Yukon River community of Eagle are excited about a mysterious
geologic event that is emitting fire, steam and a sulfur smell. Yukon
Charley Rivers National Preserve lead Interpretative Ranger Pat Sanders
says it all started on Sept. 27. An explosion was heard, in Eagle, which
is rare so of course we were interested,” Sanders said. Sanders says on
Oct. 10, a fire was spotted about 2 miles up the Tatonduk River, known
locally as Sheep Creek. She says the fire spread to about 15 acres. “And
on the 15th of October we had snow and the fire was still going
although it appeared to be emitting steam and there was a sulfur smell,”
Sanders said. No one has been on the ground there yet, but over-flight
photographs reveal a slumping area that is steaming and looks a lot like
a mini volcano crater. Sanders says the area is about 25 miles
Northeast of Eagle and it’s located on Doyon land. She says both NPS and
USGS geologists suspect it is a shale oil rock deposit. Sanders says
the area has two slumping craters that cover about a five acre area.
“It’s been really interesting to watch because it’s still steaming and
still burning but if it is indeed oil shale as USGS suspects, oil shale
and sulfur, it could be as deep as a thousand feet which means it could
have been burning for some time from a lightning strike years ago and
it’s been burning underground and finally burned enough to cause a slump
or a crater like depression in the earth so until we actually get boots
on the ground and we don’t k
now
when that’s going to happen, we’re not going to know,” Sanders said.
Sanders says it’s difficult to tell from the hazy aerial pictures, but
the craters appear to be as deep as 150 to 200 feet and she says there
has been significant slumping since it was first observed. She says the
Hard Luck Creek fault is in the area and is an active fault. USGS
geologist Marti Miller says it’s more likely to be burning oil shale not
a burning coal seam. “But we’re fairly confident that it’s not a hot
spring or some other type of volcanic related incident,” Miller said,
which will be disappointing news to Pat Sanders in Eagle. “Of course
everyone in Eagle is hoping it’s going to be a thermal event and we’ll
end up with a hot springs but maybe that’s just because it was 45 below
last week,” Sanders said. NPS geologist Linda Stromquist says, although
they would like to examine the site sooner, at this point in the year it
is probably prudent to wait until better weather and daylight
conditions improve, toward spring. –Alaska Public
Thanks to: http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com
Posted on December 8, 2012
December 8, 2012 – ALASKA - Residentsin the Yukon River community of Eagle are excited about a mysterious
geologic event that is emitting fire, steam and a sulfur smell. Yukon
Charley Rivers National Preserve lead Interpretative Ranger Pat Sanders
says it all started on Sept. 27. An explosion was heard, in Eagle, which
is rare so of course we were interested,” Sanders said. Sanders says on
Oct. 10, a fire was spotted about 2 miles up the Tatonduk River, known
locally as Sheep Creek. She says the fire spread to about 15 acres. “And
on the 15th of October we had snow and the fire was still going
although it appeared to be emitting steam and there was a sulfur smell,”
Sanders said. No one has been on the ground there yet, but over-flight
photographs reveal a slumping area that is steaming and looks a lot like
a mini volcano crater. Sanders says the area is about 25 miles
Northeast of Eagle and it’s located on Doyon land. She says both NPS and
USGS geologists suspect it is a shale oil rock deposit. Sanders says
the area has two slumping craters that cover about a five acre area.
“It’s been really interesting to watch because it’s still steaming and
still burning but if it is indeed oil shale as USGS suspects, oil shale
and sulfur, it could be as deep as a thousand feet which means it could
have been burning for some time from a lightning strike years ago and
it’s been burning underground and finally burned enough to cause a slump
or a crater like depression in the earth so until we actually get boots
on the ground and we don’t k
when that’s going to happen, we’re not going to know,” Sanders said.
Sanders says it’s difficult to tell from the hazy aerial pictures, but
the craters appear to be as deep as 150 to 200 feet and she says there
has been significant slumping since it was first observed. She says the
Hard Luck Creek fault is in the area and is an active fault. USGS
geologist Marti Miller says it’s more likely to be burning oil shale not
a burning coal seam. “But we’re fairly confident that it’s not a hot
spring or some other type of volcanic related incident,” Miller said,
which will be disappointing news to Pat Sanders in Eagle. “Of course
everyone in Eagle is hoping it’s going to be a thermal event and we’ll
end up with a hot springs but maybe that’s just because it was 45 below
last week,” Sanders said. NPS geologist Linda Stromquist says, although
they would like to examine the site sooner, at this point in the year it
is probably prudent to wait until better weather and daylight
conditions improve, toward spring. –Alaska Public
Thanks to: http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com
