[BC] Re: shakin'

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

We have lots of tiny-weenie earthquake swarms in the Northeast.
I live right near the Merrimac fault. Since most of the ground is
stuff left by receding ice, it's pretty much broken up already
so stresses don't build up to where something breaks loose
and creates an earthquake one can feel. We had one about
10 years ago, centered at Merrimac. It was about 3 on the
Richter  Scale. In the center of Massachusetts, there is
the midland bulge where some hills, Mt. Wachusett being
the highest, are "monadnocks," gigantic blobs of magma
spewed from the earth's bowels. Therefore, this was once
an active region, but well before the ice age. The same
bulge continues into New Hampshire with Mt. Monadnock
being just over the border from Massachusetts.

Rich Wood lives on the other side of the Connecticut River
in an area called Pioneer Valley. Its earth is sandy soil
also left by the glaciers but there is a difference. There
is a range of hills called the Holyoke range which
consists of stressed and folded granite (the earth's crust).

At one time, this broke away from the Berkshire Mountains
and Rich lives right in the crack. Don't sleep too soundly,
Rich!

--
Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Read about my book
http://www.LymanSchool.org