First EarthScope Borehole Strainmeter Installation Completed!

Overview

June 21, 2005

Excited to complete the final installation steps of the first EarthScope borehole strainmeter, the PBO strainmeter crew began work early on Friday morning. After connecting the AC power at the enclosure, the engineers interfaced the strainmeter and other instruments with the power and opto-isolation systems. Following that, engineers assembled the satellite communications system (VSAT), connected it to the instrumentation, and began testing seismic and strainmeter data communications. Hurray!

Meanwhile, Bob Mueller and Sarah Venator (PBO Strainmeter Student Assistant) drove to Port Angeles to restock for the next installation at P403, a site about 30 miles south of the Hoko strainmeter site. In addition to construction supplies, two strainmeters and seismometers were carefully packed and the team returned to Sekiu.

In preparation for the installation of the second EarthScope strainmeter at P403, the crew mobilized materials and equipment to the site on Saturday. With the derrick truck positioned and leveled over the borehole, the crew measured a depth of 570 feet – about 12 feet below the strainmeter target zone (between 557-548 feet). To compensate for the difference, the crew filled the hole with neat cement via the dump bailer, bringing the bottom of the hole to a depth of 558 feet. Prepared for the strainmeter installation on Monday, the crew left the site just before dusk, aware that they were participating in the beginning of a new era for EarthScope.