SGER: Scientific Drilling Film Project

Earth Images Foundation, Oakland CA

Investigators

Abstract

0228336 Prose This SGER award will allow the PIs to film the commencement, this summer, of drilling activities for the San Andreas Fault Drilling Project, near Parkfield , California. The 2 km deep hole adjacent to the San Andreas Fault (SAF), is a pilot hole for an eventual 4.5 km hole to be drilled through the SAF as part of the EarthScope initiative now being considered as part of NSF's FY 2003 budget. This deep hole project (SAFOD - San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth) would be the first underground earthquake observatory to penetrate a seismically active fault zone at such an extreme depth. Earth Images Foundation will film the commencement of the SAFOD pilot hole project to generate crucial footage for an educational television documentary about the value of scientific drilling. The visual appeal, scientific importance, and societal urgency of the SAFOD project makes it an ideal candidate for inclusion in a major educational television documentary. Television programs about earthquakes draw large audiences on PBS and Discovery Channel, and a documentary that highlights the SAFOD project will show how scientists are using the unusual technique of deep drilling to study this phenomenon. It promises viewers an insider's look at the improvement of theories about how earthquakes work and insight on earthquake hazards, a factor that has been shown to contribute to an increase in public safety in earthquake-prone regions. After the initial filming of the pilot hole commencement, the film footage will be processed and transferred to digital video format, then stored for later use in a planned television documentary about scientific drilling.