The Daily R-r-r-ibbit

The holler's seismic neighborhood

I have an idea to write something about my interest in earth changes (generally) and earthquakes (specifically), and how that all came about. I started to do this at the end of January this year when some USGS seismologists published their study in Science on continued earthquake activity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

Once I got going on this project, it became clear that I was trying to cram too much into the first post, so, to start off, I'll just do more of an introduction, and share some of the recent USGS info. The New Madrid fault is part of the holler's seismic neighborhood, as I see it -- it's the closest, largest, most active and historically significant one as far as I know.

Starting with this USGS isoseismal map, I added the approximate location of the holler in relation to the epicenter and intensity zones.

When I moved to Tennessee in the fall of 2000, I took the most direct route between Grants, New Mexico to Knoxville along Interstate 40, which of course took me through the heart of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. I already knew much of the history of the 1811-1812 earthquakes, but mind-boggled as I was by details and logistics of the move itself, I hadn't really thought much about it. Checking maps often along the route, however, I couldn't help but notice references to natural features associated with the New Madrid quakes as I crossed into Tennessee -- like Reelfoot Lake, for example.

The USGS has a portal page for all kinds of scientific and historical data on the New Madrid earthquakes. I found the old photos and eyewitness accounts especially interesting.

Frog Pond Holler has more local seismic connections as well. The landforms of the Elk Valley area of Campbell County owe their appearance to movements along fractures in the Earth's crust long ago. The holler is in the same block, so to speak, as "the high-angle Terry Creek fault, which strikes N. 40^o W. from the junction of the Pine Mountain and Jacksboro fault zones."¹

Base map and caption source for this slide: USGS Professional Paper 572, p. 2 (1968)

My interest in earthquakes took a quantum leap following a dream I had in 1976. My proximity to the New Madrid Seismic Zone and the geologic history of the place on Earth that I call home has kept that interest very much alive.

In my next post, I'll share the dream and the experiences that began to unfold after that.

¹ Geology and Coal Resources of the Elk Valley Area, USGS Professional Paper 572, p.1

 

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Celie's New Doggie Jacket: First Road Test

Celie gives her new jacket a road test, December 10, 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Today was a great day for Celie's first long walk in her new jacket...sunny (though late in the afternoon) and about 39 degrees.  She pretty much went everywhere she usually goes on our holler walks, including into the brush and unmowed creek banks:

Celie picks her way through the vegetation near Hudson Branch, December 10, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

We were out about an hour and she seemed to stay warm enough. Yay!

The light was not all that great for photos of Miss Celie, but I love photographing the creeks in these conditions. Frog Pond Hollow, Hudson Branch and Terry Creek have plenty of water running through after several days of rain.

Terry Creek, late afternoon sun on December 10, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

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The holler seems done with fall, drifts into winter...

Recording signs of owls in the holler

Yesterday I found a great poster on the Walden's Puddle facebook page:

I was interested in this because I occasionally find owl pellets on the lane when I'm out with my dogs. Of course, it's possible that some of them may have been from hawks.

I know that we have barred owls in the holler. Because I know they are around, I chose barred owls as one of the species I observe for the Nature's Notebook project of the National Phenology Network. Here's a brief recording I got of one on May 7, 2012. The first call is near the beginning of the video, but the second one is toward the end, so hang in there:

 

In terms of pellets, I think I have seen evidence of more than one species, probably the barred owl and the great horned owl. I believe that I have heard calls of both species as well.

One time I saw an owl in my headlights as I returned home after dark. It flew ahead of me for several seconds before continuing on into the darkness of the woods. But most often I either hear them or see pellets. My dogs usually go out to bark at owls if they hear one.

You can compare owl calls at learner.org or at All About Birds on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website. If you visit the Cornell site soon, you can download owl calls for Halloween uses for free if you sign up to receive emails from them. I just did this and got the 4.1 MB zip file with nine different owl sounds. The offer appeared as a pop-up on the main page and the browse-the-owls page...in fact it looks like it pops up on all the pages unless you tell it to go away.

I got a couple of good owl photos when I visited the Knoxville Zoo. This one is a barn owl -- I remember seeing and hearing these when I was a kid in Kansas:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

By the way, Walden's Puddle is an organization in Tennessee that provides care and treatment to sick, injured and orphaned native Tennessee wildlife. They are the only professionally-staffed wildlife rehabilitation and education facility in Middle Tennessee. They don't charge for their services nor do they receive federal or state funding for their work. Check out their website for instructions on what to do and how to contact them if you have find a wild creature in Tennessee that may need help. Right now their Facebook page has lots of owl photos scattered about.

AstroWatch: Major Fireball Explodes Over the Southeastern US

Found an interesting link today to this report from Astronomy and Space News:

A fabulously bright fireball lit up the sky over the southeastern U.S. around 2:27 a.m. CDT Aug. 28. "The fireball reached a peak apparent magnitude of -16, about 20 times brighter than a Full Moon, and cast shadows on the ground. This indicates that the meteoroid had a mass of more than 110 kg (240 lbs) and was up to a meter in diameter. It hit the top of Earth's atmosphere traveling 25 km/s (56,000 mph)." lead researcher Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 5 reports for this event, the closest to the holler being in Hixson, Tennessee (near Soddy Daisy and Chickamauga Lake northeast of Chattanooga). You can see report summaries and an interactive map at the AMS report page.

Here's a groundtack map published at spaceweather.com:

Groundtrack map, spaceweather.com

Later in the evening of August 28th, AMS received nine reports of another fireball in the Great Lakes region. On August 29th, five people in Oregon reported seeing a fireball to AMS.

Here's a video of the meteor that was captured from a camera in space:

 

NASA Meteoroid Environment Office webpage

Everything You Need to Know: Perseid Meteor Shower

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The Aeolus: wind in the holler never sounded like this!

Wow, I wonder what it would be like to have one of these in the holler? I have several wind chimes hanging on my porch. It's a treat just to sit there, feel the wind, and listen to how it interacts with each of the chimes -- sometimes one or two, sometimes all at once! I think it would be awesome to have some pipes out in the yard.

In 2007, artist Luke Jerram interviewed a Qanat desert well digger in Iran who told him about wells singing in the wind. This inspired Jerram to explore the acoustics of architecture further. The Aeolus is the result of his research.

Jerram's Aeolus website has a lot of info about the project, photos, an awesome recording of the Aeolus (without people voices) and other videos. The video below was interesting to me also because you can hear people talking about it as they experience the Aeolus.

Read the story at news.discovery.com

 

Canary Wharf is in London; the Aeolus will be there until May 10, 2012.

Windows open in the holler today...

Buddy, Shadow and Celie hang out on a warm February afternoon in the holler. [Photo Credit: Cathie Bird]

Saw my first butterfly of 2012 today, and it looks like lady bugs are exiting the premisis! My cats and I are really enjoying having the window open for the first time this year as well.

The wild and amazing chicory

I hadn't seen chicory growing at this end of the holler until this year. Though the State of Tennessee lists it as an "invasive exotic pest plant" of "lesser threat" I think it's kind of cool. Chicory (Cichorium intybus) tends to grow in disturbed areas, so I'm not surprised I found plants close to the lane. In previous years I got all my pictures of chicory near the Pioneer spring or along Highway 63, but my 2011 photos of it will be from here in the holler.

Chicory, 17 September 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

If you are a coffee or herbal tea drinker you have probably heard of chicory and even had some. I was living near Boulder, Colorado about the time Celestial Seasonings got its start. Always curious about what's in stuff I'm eating, I read the labels of their teas and noted that many of the blends used roasted chicory (likely another variety, Cichorium intybus var. sativum).

Chicory has also been used widely by various cultures as an herbal medicine. People of the Cherokee Nation used an infusion of chicory root as a tonic for nerves. The Iroquois used a root decoction in a wash or poultice for chancres and fever blisters. Chicory is known to be toxic to intestinal parasites, and there is evidence that livestock eating chicory or chicory supplements may have fewer intestinal worms. In Europe it's been used as a tonic, and for treatment of such conditions as gallstones, gastroenteritis, and bruises.

A chicory plant amidst blooming goldenrod in a wild, living bouquet in the holler. 17 September 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Like other members of the Aster Family, chicory is a rich source of inulin, a polysaccharide with a variety of modern uses. It is used as a sweetener in many processed foods, and as an ingredient in yogurt because it stimulates growth and activity of friendly digestive system bacteria.

Wild chicory is a close relative of Cichorium endivia, or endive, a common salad green. Wild chicory leaves can be eaten, too, but because they are bitter compared to cultivated endive (also called chicory), most cooks recommend draining the water off before eating or mixing with other ingredients. Several traditional dishes from Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey make use of wild chicory leaves.

Awesome Arrowshaped Micrathena

I found a very awesome spider down in the holler a couple of days ago. The first pictures I got were not that great because it was early in the morning and breezy. Yesterday I did the holler walk a little later in the day, and found her in the same place. The photos came out a little better.

After a long search, I located this species on BugGuide -- my go-to identification resource for insects -- and determined that it was one of the Orb Weavers, the Arrowshaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata).

This species builds its webs in open woods of the eastern United States and west to Texas and Nebraska. The females are about twice the size of males (Female 8-9mm, Male 4-5mm) and do not have spines on the abdomen. I believe this one is a female (compare to an identified female at BugGuide). I saw a couple of images that appeared to have spines in the center of the abdomen, but they were not identified by gender.

Here are some views from different angles:

 

 

 

This species is one of my new finds for 2011. Hurray for biodiversity!