am I losing my hill?

Thank you everyone. A civil engineer from the state highway department came out this morning. His "guess" is that there is an underwater spring in front of the cliff that was exposed by the water.

The cliff is now close to its orginal heigth. He measured about 10.5 feet. There is a depression in front of it about 10 feet in diameter, but it has settled and consists of thick mud.

There is one small oak tree tilted above the cliff.


He said I should get a survey of the hill now and then get another in the middle of the winter... after the dry season.

He does not know why I felt movement and that he was not qualified to make that determination. He never heard of anything like that before in this area. But he did say that we are close enough to the New Madrid fault line that runs through Memphis, that I may have actually felt a tremor. He said the New Madrid is "shutting down" from the severe earthquake in the late 1800's? I forgot the year he said.

I initially thought it was a tremor too. That Monday after I was able to get in touch with TEMA and they told me to call the Geological Survey and report the incident. I did call, but all they only accept messages. I told them what I felt and where I lived and never heard back.

So there it is. I have not tried a level, but I will do that later this afternoon.

I think I will go ahead with a survey. He did say he didn't think my house was in any danger from a slide, that it was too far away and the slope of the hill is not steep enough to affect my house.

Also, this must have happened after I went down there Monday, but a mid-sized oak tree that was standing about 5ft in front of the cliff did uproot and fall.

I don't think that would be out of the ordinary.

Thanks so much everyone! I really appreciate that you listened to me and took me seriously and such good advice.

Have a good day... digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

In regards to my well water: there is no air in the pipes, appears clear as usual and pressure is normal.

I'm still boiling for drinking and cooking water until I get a sample tested.

Thanks again. digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

To check for earthquakes- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/

That's great that you could get someone reliable to check it out for you- I know it must have been a horrible worry.

Could it be that you felt the tree falling? Around here I have felt the tremour from a tree falling although they are redwoods so maybe a bigger bang.

Anyway- glad to hear that you are not sinking!

That's good to hear!

Thanks! I don't know how "reliable" his observation is, but it's a start. And I didn't feel like I should have to pay for a civil engineer. At least now I know what to watch for and can keep a watch on it myself. The tree fell after I was down there the first time, and I don't think my trees are big enough or close enough that it would rumble my house.

I have oak trees and they are shallow rooted, so it probably fell because of the saturation. But that area in front of the cliff did have the most damage of all. Actually the only damage I could see.

I'll probably never know what happened.

I'm so glad all of you listened. Everyone is focused on Nashville, which was as of yesterday still in flood stage.

I feel for them.

digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

I would think a good slope stabilization technique would be to fill the sink hole with as many loads of rock as required.
Something that will be stable during a flood event.
You'd want to hire someone in the know to make a "design" before wasting the money, but I think it may just do the trick?

It is a perfect place for a pond. If I bulldoze the dam over the hole and as high as the cliff and about 5 to 8 feet across it would brace the hill bottom and divert the water away and have any pond spill out the S end where it is rocky

It would probably re-route the hollow, but it would be much further away from the hill. ?

Just thinkin' haha

DigApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

Really good news then I've been following your thread, but didn't have any solutions or suggestions that weren't already in motion, so I just shut up

Glad it seems to be resolving itself, or at least settling back into something you can live with. It's entirely possible that with all the flooding in the area, something underneath your particular area "settled" a bit.

Good luck with it! The pond idea sounds great

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(and a lot of luck - Wisconsin Ann)
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i think i would wait for it to all dry out before going out and doing any physical work in the area..it could still be dangerous..glad that you are getting the advice you need

Do you really want to keep this area saturated?

Try contacting Geoscience Dept. at MTSU. You might have better luck getting a response back from them. Plus, they probably know about all there is to know about karst topography.

http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/seismic/recenteqs/ Here is a different earthquake map. Check out the ones near where you live and see if they coincide with your tremors.

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There were several quakes in the time frame you mentioned. If the ground under your house was a bit unstable it would magnify the quake so you would have felt it more strongly than usual.

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Wow, thank you. I appreciate all of the information and links. I am a bit overwhelmed right now .... with WORK both at home and at WORK! haha. I saved all of the links, so when I get a chance I will look at the maps. It very well could have been a small tremor. It shook three times within a short time in between and then a larger one about 20 minutes later.

I have a lot of work down there to do before I can put in a pond. Also, I have to get a permit and I will make sure it is designed properly, no matter who does the research.... i.e. Civil Engineer, etc.

I have to go through the Extension Service for a permit, so hopefully they can get someone to advise me.

Thanks,

digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

Yes. I just read an article regarding the Nashville flood and Vanderbilt geological department is very busy in Nashville.

I think everyone is.

digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

I don't know yet, but my thought was that if I could expose the springs further, there may not be so much pressure. The pond spill would give them a place to go. I think this particular one is close to the surface... closer than most and we do have a clay hard pan in my area, so pond bottoms are sealed naturally... if you go deep enough. And the clay; if pushed into a dam probably would be very sturdy. And with underground springs feeding the pond I would have water even in the dry season and it would be good water too.



digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

I thought of you when I saw this headline on the morning news. A family in Quebec is missing after a sinkhole opened up under their house. No one has heard from them.

Bravo to you for being observant and aware of your environment.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=CanadaAMV2

I see that. A few close to me. No matter if my land is unstable or not, I still may have felt a tremor.

I remember there was a small earthquake under Lake Erie, near Cleveland, and my dad and I felt the tremor all the way up in NW Lower Michigan. He lived in CA for many years, so he recognized it right away. It wasn't until some time later that we learned there was a quake under Lake Erie.

Thanks,

digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

Thanks Riley. That is so scary. What a horrible thing to happen.

digApony

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

Dig, I just got back to this thread but I have been thinking about it. The picture you posted looks more like something came up out of the ground other than it sinking. If it did you need to try and find a place where the ground sank up the hill from the place you took the picture. What makes a sink hole in Ca is all the water soaks into a hill and it blows out somewhere down the hill and where ever the dirt came from makes a sink hole. If it was a blow out I can't see where putting anything in it will help. From what I understood about what happens there in Ca is the soil that blows out is kinda like jello ane is almost liquid. I hope I didn't confuse you to much. Hope you figure it out and plz keep us posted. Sam