Many of the SUGAR field team arrived in Americus, GA on
Wednesday to start helping with the massive charge of deploying 1200 seismic
instruments along the SUGAR seismic line.
The seismic line spans 200 miles from northwest Georgia to just past the
Georgia-Florida border; a 4+ hour car drive from end to end! Everyone gathered early Thursday morning on
the idyllic Georgia Southwestern State campus to meet with the chief scientists
and learn about the proper techniques for identifying installation sites for
the seismographs (just the first step in installing the instruments). With neon orange safety jackets, numerous
maps, GPS devices, packets of official permitting documents, and heads full of
safety precautions the field team split into seven two-person pairs each
equipped with their own squeaky clean rental car (though they didn’t stay clean
for very long!).
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| The fleet of SUGAR rental cars looking clean and shiny before being driven into the field where they undoubtedly got a little mud on their tires. |
Each
pair of field assistants was given a segment of the seismic line to drive and flag
locations for instrument installation deemed safe both from the seismograph
(i.e. dry, firm soil) and the install team (i.e. a safe distance from the
road). Given the shear distance of the
seismic line, teams found themselves amid diverse backdrops from rolling
farmland with overly friendly cows to buzzing residential neighborhoods to
sandy stretches flanked by towering groves of Ponderosa Pine trees.
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| Antonio placing a flag and using a GPS device to note the location where a seismograph will be installed amid the sandy surroundings of a Ponderosa Pine farm. |
Every team
was able to flag all their sites within just two days leaving us the luxury of
a sunny Saturday morning free for exploring more of our beautiful Georgia
surroundings. Next up is the actual task
of installing the 1200 seismographs which will involve twice the people, six
more (temporarily clean) vehicles, and of course countless exciting adventures
from the field. Happy (almost) St.
Patrick’s Day from Americus!
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| A picturesque county road near Jasper, FL along which instruments will be deployed. |
-- Natalie Accardo, LDEO
