Officials gathering data in low-flying plane

SIKESTON, Mo. - A low flying plane in the Bootheel is working for the government but they aren't looking at you -- or anything else on the ground. They are interested in what is going on underneath the surface.

The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a special survey, explained Rick Blakely, research geophysicist for the USGS out of Menlo Park, Calif., to get a clearer idea of what is going on with the New Madrid Fault.

"I'm the principal investigator for this particular survey of the New Madrid Seismic Zone," Blakely said. "We know about the earthquakes. They are happening all the time, hundreds of earthquakes every year -- and some of these in the past have been very, very large."

But the faults are concealed in sediments.

"Here it is much more difficult than studying the San Andreas fault where you can walk up and put your hand on them," Blakely said.

This survey is gathering data on the magnetic field which is related to rock formations under the surface to identify hidden geologic features, such as changes in rock types.

The magnetic survey may help seismologists map some shallow concealed faults of the seismic zone with the better understanding of the geology and hydrology of the area.

"We have contracted with a geophysical company called EDCON-PRJ," Blakely said. "They are in charge of collecting the data: they will take the measurements and process them at a low level for us."

The Lakewood, Colo., company is using an aircraft owned and operated by Cloudstreet Flying Services of Fort Collins, Colo., which is equipped with a magnetometer, a device which measures the earth's magnetic field without emitting any energy or signal of its own.

"This methodology is, in a sense, a way to see below the ground surface, so we are going to try to map the subsurface geology," Blakely said. "If we are lucky, we will map faults that are otherwise concealed. If we map the faults, we can do a better job of predicting future earthquake hazards."

Blakely said residents don't need to be concerned about the survey.

"We are not doing this because we think there is an imminent threat of an earthquake," he said. "We are just trying to be prepared."

A Monday news release from the USGS advised those who see the low-flying single-engine red and white Cessna airplane also have no cause for alarm as the pilot is experienced and specially trained for low-level flying.

Flights began last week and will continue for about a month.

Blakely said the Federal Aviation Administration has approved them to fly as low as 650 feet above the ground.

"It's not all the close to the ground. We're a lot less dangerous than a crop duster," he said. "We would like to fly as low to the ground as possible."

The survey will be of a 1,400-square-mile rectangular area includes areas of south of Poplar Bluff and extends down to Kennett, Qulin and other parts of southeastern Missouri, Blytheville, Ark., Piggott, Ark., other parts of northeastern Arkansas and parts of western Tennessee.

"He is going to fly along parallel flight lines that are spaced one quarter of a mile apart," Blakely said. "The total distance flown will be 5,000 miles -- the equivalent of a round trip from San Francisco to New York."

The information "is starting to come in now but it doesn't mean much until the survey is complete and the data are processed," he added. "At that point, I and my USGS colleagues go to work, try to make some sense out of it."

As the survey area extends southeast from Poplar Bluff, the fault's namesake town won't be included.

"We're not even going over New Madrid," Blakely said.