ML20234E816

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Statement by EC Marliave Re Geology of Bodega Head
ML20234E816
Person / Time
Site: 05000000, Bodega Bay
Issue date: 05/19/1964
From: Marliave E
MARLIAVE, E.C.
To:
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ML20234A767 List: ... further results
References
FOIA-85-665 NUDOCS 8709220534
Download: ML20234E816 (9)
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STATEMENT By

, E. C. MARLIAVE

, CONSULTING GEOLOGIST SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA i

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f, MAY 19, 1964 8709220534 851217'  ??

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Insofar as the geology of Bodega Head is concerned,-the entire Head and the reactor excavation were examined by Dr. Wil'.iita Quaide, Dr. Don Tocher, and myself as well as t,he U. S. Geological Survey geologists. Every foot of the walla and floor of the i excavation has been examined by qualified-geologists. Indeed the-

' reactor site must be one of the most extensively examined pieces of i real estate in the world. Elaborate drawings'and reports were 1

, prepared and filed with the AEC when the excavation was completed.

,f The report by Dr. Tocher and myself'is included in'the copy of (

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P. G. and E. 's application to the AEC, which the Company has indicated it would leave with you if you wish.

> I have participated in the geological investigations for f .many major projects within the State of California. Many of them i

, are located on or near earthquake faults. There has been much misinformation about earthquake faults and their characteristics in connection with this Bodega Bay matter. To put the matter-in ;s its proper perspective, I would like to give_ you some background i information. .

o - - d California is and has been throughout'its known geologic history both a tectonically and seismically active ama. There are almost no areas where some earthquakes cannot be felt'and much of-the area.is undergoing tectonic. activity. As a result, large areas of deformed, fractured and~ faulted rocks may.be_seen in almost' any locality. Indeed, it is rare that'one can find a.n area free of fracturing'and faulting. Faulting does not always produce

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earthquakes. Many California Faults, particularly the small local features, result from folding and deformation of the earth's crust.

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aen the elastic limits of the rock are exceeded, offsets.cer.ar.

These movements may be so small and slow that no earthquake is produced, but nevertheless shearing and faulting result.

It has been publicly stated and written that there are t

faults or a tsult at the Bodega Head site. A fault by definition j f f

( is a surface in the earth where movement has'taken place. The {

tem does not indicate whether movement is infinitesimal or large f, nor whether it is up or down, sideways. or' pulling apart cr a f ,

combination of these.

i A fault does not necessarily imply present f activity. Most faults we know of are either dead or inactive.

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[ -Not many are active. It is a common practive to refer to small j faults as slips, offsets, shears or sheared. zones.

This generally indicates something other than a major or important or extensive i

fault. In general the public thinks about faults only as the l 1

7 generator of earthquakes and hence the. term fault usually brings to the layman's niind an earthquake-producing feature. Thus it would be less misleading to the public to refer to minor faults as small displacements, sheers or offsets. Shearing and brecciation or crushing do not usually produce earthquakes. Bedding shearing-and brecciation may occur very slowly yet do some damage to the rock-mass. Offsets due to differential settlement, consolidation or-slumping may and usually do occur without producing. shocks. However, 2

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major shocks by shaking may produce, induce or assist i<ith consoli-dation or slumping. These. shocks may'act as a triggering force for minor displacements, However, many of the faults found. even

. in seismically active areas-are not earthquake producers but are I

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due to slow crustal disturbances. These movements have severely f

fractured, crushed, sheared and faulted most of the rock over most f

I of California. Their existence is common knowledge.

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p The fault in the bedrock .at the ' Bodega reactor pit is one of these minor faults of the type I have just referred to. It is not an earthquake producing fault. There is no evidence of ]

perceptible movement along this fault within at least 4b,000 years,

[ and possibly not for hundreds of. thousands of years. This is 5 evidenced by the absence of' disturbance in the overlying sediments.

1 l-Since the public associates the term fault with activity or .

i earthquakes, it is unfortunate that the term misleads- the public 1

when it is used in connection with a dead or inactive fault. In {

l the last 40,000 years, the nearby San-Andreas fault has moved 3 and caused earthquakes of about the magnitude.of the'1906 San Francisco shock perhaps 200 to 400 times, including, of course, 1

the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. There is no evidence that.

the shear zone in the bedrock of the. site has slipped during any of those times.

In investigating and reporting upon foundation conditions for over 300 dp :, tunnels, power plant and' penstock locations in e

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various parts of-California,.I have found many fractured and. faulted conditions. During the investigation for over 200.other locations as'possible sites s'imilar conditions of varying degree were?noted.

By recognizing the geologic and.seismologic conditions-it.is-possible to. create a suitable and safe design. Many cities have grown and major engineering structures been built to service them

near seismically active fault zones'. A partial list of'such cities 1 i i,  !

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  • and structures is set forth below:

k Near San Andreas and Hayward Faults j Cities e g San Francisco ,

San Bernardino

? Berkeley ' J'

, Oakland i Hayward Struetures i Bay Bridge  !

.I I Golden Gate Bridge '

Crystal Springs Dam Various other dams-J 011 and gas lines to various parts of California Metropolitan Water District Aqueduct .:

( Lawrence Radiation Laboratory g

r Vallecitos Reactors- .

Fairmont Reservoir and Tunnel Imperial-Irrigation District Distribution System Near San Jacinto Pault Cities~

San Bernardino Colton Hemet Structures Metropolitan Water Listrict Aqueduct Lake Mathews Dam-

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Near Newport Inglewood Uplift Cities Inglewood Long Beach Newport Balboa Structures i so. Cal. Edison and City of Los Angeles

- Power Plants 1

1 I mention these merely to indicate the reliance placed on study and design for present-day structures in seismically g active areas.

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Some members of the public have expressed concern from i
time to time because of the nearness of the Bodega Plant to the .j I San Andreas fault zone. As previously indicated, damaging earth-l quake forces are not necessarily dependent upon proximity to a l I

fault, but more on foundation conditions. It is generally known I that ground motions on firm rock, such as at the Bodega site, are less t'han those on unconsolidated and saturated alluvial materials. f

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l There has also bean some speculation by the public about 1

, the possibility that the 3an Andreas fault in the future may not 3 I

i confine its slippage to the narrow belt in which this slippage has occurred for the past several millions er years. The evidence we have.about the movement of the San Andreas fault during the past i

several million years indicates that this movement has been confinec to a relatively narrow belt about 1/4 mile in width and, in the 1"I._.-.__~:-.:-.=.-..=-..-~-----.-_.. __ . -

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vicinity of Bodega Head, this belt.is on the easterly side of the mile-wide San Andreas fault zone about 1-1/4 miles east of the reactor site. Since mov'ement has been confined to this known belt of greatest weakness within the entire zone during the past several 1 million yeard, it is highly improbable that slippage will occur ,

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With reference to risk of damas;e from earthquakes, ,

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Bodega Head is sn excellent location for the construction of a i k"

e nuclear reactor. The reactor can be founded there on granitic 4- '

b i rock. The active portion of the San Andreas fault zone is about g y

f 1-1/4 miles east of the site. The small fracture that traverses

.f the site is a dead fault. The evidence for this is that it has

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not moved in at least 40,000 years' and probably much longer. In f summary, with good engineering practice structures can be built at - j l the Bodega site which will suffer no significant damage from earth.

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I l Because of the recent interest in the Alaskan earthquake i f .

which occurred on Good Friday of this year, I would like to comment briefly on my findings during the seven days spent in Alaska surveying the effects of that earthquake.

The recent. Alaskan earthquake again confirms certain facts previously known. One of the most important items in resisting earthquake damage is a' good foundation. This is far more b

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k of important than distance from an epicenter or the surface a fault.

  • e In the Anchorage area 70 miles west of the epicenter a d tial section slid I soft slippery clay underlying much of the residen buildings. In out from bluffs and severely damaged many homes st of the an

., p Valdez, 120 miles east of Anchorage, and 40 miles d rlying theeatown i

epicenter, the saturated soft glacial materialdestroying un e the I and dock area slumped and slid out into the harbor,

! dock and' severely cracking ground in the town.

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In contrast, the City of Cordova, 75 erely miles southeast o jointed, l

i the epicenter, which is founded on rock that is sev

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Even dishes and tall lamps fractured and faulted, was undamaged.

l No damage to buildings old or new was l

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observed or reported.

This and other shocks such as foundation. the 1906 sho Francisco clearly demonstrate the importance of a firm

\ It is fallacious to suggest that damage that occurred l Those foundation Anchorage and Valdez could occur on Bodega Head. appropriate

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si materials are markedly different and it would be more k at Cordova, y

to compare foundation rock at Bodega Head with the roc where no damage occurred.

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important than distance from an epicenter or. the surface break of a fault.

9 In the Anchorage area 70 miles west of the epicenter a i

soft slippery clay underlying much of the residential section slid f , out from bluffs and severely damaged many homes and buildings. In 4

g i Valdez,120 miles east of Anchorage, and 40 miles east of the epicenter, the saturated soft glacial material underlying the town l

and dock area slumped and slid out into the harbor, destroying the j dock and' severely cracking ground in the town.

I, l In contrast, the City of Cordova, 75 miles southeast of l

the epicenter, which is founded on rock that is severely jointed,

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f fractured and faulted, was undamaged. Even dishes and tall lamps t

l on shelves did not fall. No damage to buildings old or new was j observed or reported, t 5 r This and other shocks such as the 1906 shock near San ,

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Francisco clearly demonstrate the importance of a firm foundation.

It is fallacious to suggest that damage that occurred at f

{' Anchorage and Valdez could occur on Bodega Head. Those foundation i

materials are markedly different and it would be more appropriate to compare foundation rock at Bodega Head with the rock at Cordova, where no damage occurred.

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