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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

Heather DeShon and Brian Stump, Earth Sciences, SMU receives $122k from U.S.G.S. to map North Texas faults

Dallas Morning News Originally Posted: May 29, 2015 Scientists at Southern Methodist University are embarking on an ambitious new project to map faults in the North Texas area. The study, funded with $122,337 from the United States Geological Survey, would help answer key questions about recent earthquakes in Dallas-Fort Worth, such as: “How large of […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

Why is oil and gas activity causing earthquakes? And can we reduce the risk?

The Conversation Originally Posted: May 11, 2015 If you’ve been following the news lately, chances are you’ve heard about – or even felt – earthquakes in the central United States. During the past five years, there has been an unprecedented increase in earthquakes in the North American mid-continent, a region previously considered one of the […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

James Brooks receives 2015 AAPG Presidential Award for Exemplary Service

James Brooks, provost emeritus and professor emeritus in SMU’s Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, has received the 2015 AAPG Presidential Award for Exemplary Service, one of the highest honors of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). AAPG President Randi Martinsen bestowed the honor upon Brooks “for a lifetime of inspired and dedicated […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

Heather DeShon and Matthew Hornbach, seismology research links fluid injections/removal to earthquakes

Oil and Gas Daily Originally Posted: April 30, 2015 Combination of gas field fluid injection and removal cause of earthquakes Several natural and man-made factors can influence the subsurface stress regime resulting in earthquakes. Natural ones include intraplate stress changes related to plate tectonics and natural water table or lake level variations caused by changing […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences

State lawmakers quiz scientists on earthquake study

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally Posted: May 4, 2015 By Max Baker On a day that small earthquakes continued to shake North Texas, Southern Methodist University researchers testified before a House committee on Monday about their study linking a swarm of previous temblors near Azle and Reno to oil and gas operations. While no one linked […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

Emergency officials study Dallas-Fort Worth area’s growing quake risk

Dallas Morning News April 24, 2015 The U.S. Geological Survey reported Thursday that North Texas’ risk of damaging earthquakes has more than tripled since 2008, the year the region first began experiencing more frequent ground-shaking. The Dallas-Fort Worth area’s earthquake risk is now on par with parts of Oklahoma and California, Mark Petersen, chief of […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

Matthew Hornbach and Heather DeShon, both associate professors of geophysics featured in KERA article on earthquake findings

Associated Press and KERA News Originally Posted: April 21, 2015 SMU Study Links Azle Earthquake Swarm To Natural Gas Drilling What’s causing the Azle earthquakes? SMU researchers say that wastewater injection and saltwater extraction from natural gas wells is the most likely cause. A study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications says researchers from […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

SMU-led seismology team reveals Azle findings

Combination of gas field fluid injection and removal is most likely cause of 2013-14 earthquakes An SMU-led seismology team finds that high volumes of wastewater injection combined with saltwater (brine) extraction from natural gas wells is the most likely cause of earthquakes occurring near Azle, Texas, from late 2013 through spring 2014. In an area […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

Tim Brys Dinosaur Fossil Dates Back to 100 Million Years Ago

NewsMax Posted: April 10, 2015 Tim Brys and his son made a discovery of their lifetimes on a hill behind a Texas grocery store when they found a dinosaur fossil that paleontologists believe dates back 100 million years. Brys, who is employed at the Dallas Zoo, and 4-year-old Wylie received help from a team of […]

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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Earth Sciences Faculty News

100 million year old dinosaur bones discovered in Mansfield, headed to SMU

NBC 5 Originally Posted: April 7, 2015 Dinosaur bones estimated to be 100 million years old recently discovered in Mansfield by a 4-year-old boy are now on their way to Southern Methodist University in Dallas for further study. The dinosaur bones were first discovered in September next to a Mansfield retail center that was under […]