Surface seismic measurements of the Project GASBUGGY explosion at intermediate distance ranges

Open-File Report 68-315
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Abstract

Project GASBUGGY was an experiment performed by the Atomic Energy Commission, the El Paso Natural Gas Company, and the Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, to determine the effectiveness of a method for increasing the recovery of natural gas by large-scale fracturing of a gas-bearing formation with an underground nuclear explosion. The Project GASBUGGY nuclear explosive of 26 kilotons design yield was detonated on Sunday, December 10, 1967, at 1230:00 Mountain Standard Time. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory reported that the explosive was emplaced at 4240 ft below the ground surface, 1770 ft from the west line and 1218 ft from the south line in Section 36 of Township 29 North, Range 4 West, in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, about 55 air miles east of the city of Farmington, New Mexico. The geodetic coordinates are: Latitude 36?40'40.4" North, and Longitude 107?12'30.3" West. The elevation of surface ground zero was 7204 ft above Mean Sea Level. The detonation occurred in the Lewis shale about 40 ft below its contact with the gas-bearing Pictured Cliffs sandstone. Early indications are that the explosive performed satisfactorily. This document is submitted as a preliminary data report. Additional analyses of the data will be prepared at a later time.
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Surface seismic measurements of the Project GASBUGGY explosion at intermediate distance ranges
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 68-315
DOI 10.3133/ofr68315
Edition -
Year Published 1968
Language ENGLISH
Publisher National Center for Earthquake Research
Publisher location Menlo Park, CA
Contributing office(s) Earthquake Science Center
Description 45 p. ill., maps ;27 cm.
Country United States
State New Mexico
County Rio Arriba County
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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