New Madrid Fault Region: Area Residents Noticing Sulfur Smells In Arkansas And Missouri

reply to post by edgecrusher2199


You have a search engine like the rest of us, learn how to use one.

Originally posted by AngryCymraeg
There are no volcanoes on the area of the New Madrid fault. There might have been millions of years ago, but there are none there now.

At the risk of splitting hairs, I would say that is not quite true.
While there may be no "active" volcanoes, there are "dormant" volcanoes in the area.

Originally posted by AnonymousCitizen

Originally posted by AngryCymraeg
There are no volcanoes on the area of the New Madrid fault. There might have been millions of years ago, but there are none there now.

At the risk of splitting hairs, I would say that is not quite true.
While there may be no "active" volcanoes, there are "dormant" volcanoes in the area.

There aren't any dormant volcanoes in the area though - only very extinct ones. IIRC in Missouri the Taum Sauk Caldera last erupted about 1.5 billion years ago, while Mole Hill and Trimble Knob in Virginia last erupted 47 and 35 million years ago. They're dead.

reply to post by MissPoovey


My bad, I didn't know that sulfuric acid can result from volcanoes and earthquakes.
I earned my dunce cap today.

Originally posted by Deetermined

Originally posted by Blaine91555

I see someone used this as another excuse to dredge up the implausible ideas regarding the oil spill. When that was going on more junk science than on any other topic popped up here. People were posting illiterate nonsense on a scale almost unbelievable.

Please explain why the ideas are implausible. Also, using links to back up your statements would be helpful to everyone as well. Thank you.

Already covered on many, many threads. The search feature is your friend.

Nobody needs to prove that implausible idea's, invented out of thin air and completely contrary to what is known by Geologists are implausible. The onus is upon the one making the wild claim to prove that the experts are wrong. Simple searches will provide the good information as long as you use good sites where the info is coming from qualified people.

We were seeing such madness as people who believe oil is in large voids and that the seafloor would collapse. Another was the idea that the salt domes would dissolve quickly and create a void causing a collapse. That and the worst was linking the oil spill together with imaginary volcanism.

I think the problem is most don't even bother to have basic knowledge and invent things out of thin air, then of course they fight back by saying things like prove it to divert attention away from the fact it is their idea for which there is zero evidence or proof.

I have a degree in Geology, so granted I can understand it easier than someone who has no basic schooling in the topics. I have never used the degree in the almost forty years since I received it, but on the basics my knowledge is sound.

The understanding of the New Madrid Fault may not be that advanced, but there are things that can be ruled out simply because they have no plausibility.

To the few people who said these people are probably smelling a gas (which smells like burnt matches), no. Sulfur smells like rotten eggs. I live in Arkansas and that's how I've heard everyone explain it. I actually live in the Arkansas River Valley, on the west side of Arkansas and ALL of our well water smells like sulfur. I don't have a well anymore, or I could tell you if I've been smelling it more. I do know that any area here that floods ends up smelling HORRIBLY of sulfur. There's an area in the middle of Ft. Smith that's built over an underground river, and even sometimes when it hasn't been flooding, you can smell sulfur. The smell is absolutely horrible.

I don't think that scientists have paid enough attention to our area, even since the earthquakes started up. There are extremely odd landmarks here, and some crazy old stories.

The crater of diamonds in Murfreesboro is a dormant volcano. We have the Hot Springs (read the article below) and also an old newspaper article talking about a possible volcanic eruption. I've heard more things too but there are Arkansas threads you can search on here that will pop up with more information that I can give. I can tell you that I can feel something odd in the air. It's like impending doom, I know that sounds insane but it's here. I don't know if it's a new plague, an earthquake, crazy weather...but I feel like something big will happen sometime soon. I don't know how soon, but not too far off.

www.godlikeproductions.com... This is less for the website it is on (not a godlikeproductions fan) but it's for the links IN the article. So ignore the forum name, look at the articles within, and the some of the comments are pretty interesting, too.

www.hsnp.com... and for more info, go to youtube and search "hell's half acre". very interesting.

www.fourwinds10.net... - volcanic eruption in Arkansas.

Originally posted by Blaine91555

Originally posted by Deetermined

Originally posted by Blaine91555

I see someone used this as another excuse to dredge up the implausible ideas regarding the oil spill. When that was going on more junk science than on any other topic popped up here. People were posting illiterate nonsense on a scale almost unbelievable.

Please explain why the ideas are implausible. Also, using links to back up your statements would be helpful to everyone as well. Thank you.

Already covered on many, many threads. The search feature is your friend.

Nobody needs to prove that implausible idea's, invented out of thin air and completely contrary to what is known by Geologists are implausible. The onus is upon the one making the wild claim to prove that the experts are wrong. Simple searches will provide the good information as long as you use good sites where the info is coming from qualified people.

We were seeing such madness as people who believe oil is in large voids and that the seafloor would collapse. Another was the idea that the salt domes would dissolve quickly and create a void causing a collapse. That and the worst was linking the oil spill together with imaginary volcanism.

I think the problem is most don't even bother to have basic knowledge and invent things out of thin air, then of course they fight back by saying things like prove it to divert attention away from the fact it is their idea for which there is zero evidence or proof.

I have a degree in Geology, so granted I can understand it easier than someone who has no basic schooling in the topics. I have never used the degree in the almost forty years since I received it, but on the basics my knowledge is sound.

The understanding of the New Madrid Fault may not be that advanced, but there are things that can be ruled out simply because they have no plausibility.

So, in other words, you got nothin'!

Sorry if I don't automatically take your word over a geologist-geophysicist that studied the region for FORTY YEARS over someone who hasn't for FORTY YEARS!

This is ATS after all.

I remember reading about this as a kid. One of the first things that happened was that the farmer smelled sulfur for a few days.

reply to post by Deetermined


Believe what you want. If you prefer fiction to fact, that is up to you. I actually took the time out of my work day to refresh myself on the New Madrid Fault and what they know about it before posting. Took me maybe thirty minutes to find out what the consensus was among Geologists. There are always renegade and crackpots with degrees, if they are even real, who engage in fanaticism for attention or profit.

On the case of the imaginary voids, dissolving salt domes and imaginary volcanism to do with the oil spill, if anyone with the proper education was going along with that, they were either lying or pulling peoples legs for fun.

Some would argue that Arkansas smells that way normally or that out houses are not flowers, make a crude observation regarding lack of soap, More likely it is Volcanos which begs the question , would a volcano not be a good thing for Arkansas?

There is a very large difference between the smell of sulfur and smell of dead animals. Can't compare the two.

There are natural hot springs in Arkansas. Would not a constant sulfur smell be present in those locations and wherever the breeze carried it to?

Not disputing anything. Just saying.

The sulphur smell is from all the politicians in the area recently for primaries, pretending to know what the South is about by eating cheesy grits and then, being full if $#!+....well, you know.

Originally posted by Blaine91555
reply to post by Red Cloak

 

Good theory and the sulfur smell could be an indicator.

As to "volcanoes" however, there are none. That formed in a different manner. Plutons may be there or forming, but no volcanoes.

There are lots of good sources for info on the New Madrid Fault on credible sites. Avoid the end of the world sites and go for sites that share real science. Nobody knows if and when another large quake can hit there, nobody.

I see someone used this as another excuse to dredge up the implausible ideas regarding the oil spill. When that was going on more junk science than on any other topic popped up here. People were posting illiterate nonsense on a scale almost unbelievable.

The meaning of 'we don't know when it will happen' is often quite close to 'any time soon', Some of you people really need to get over it and accept that real natural threats are not some conspiracy or religion or doomsayers and are as real as anything that can happen any day. So there is nothing wrong on saying what it could mean, away from giving dates and years....

While I can't comment on the "Why", I can comment on the water in the region.. We have property on a large lake just west of the Ark line in Oklahoma. The water from the well, while completely potable smells heavily of sulfur. The grass also smells of it, faintly, for a very short while after being watered. But as soon as the grass is dry, it doesn't smell any longer.

Also, there are some great Hot Springs in AR, which means that there is geologic activity of some stripe in the region. I don't have my degree in Geology, so I shall defer to those more educated than I, but I have always assumed that the water is heated by proximity to magma in the ground, at some depth. So, if there is magma, and it's moving, there is a non-zero chance of some type of magma induced activity. Now I'm not saying this is what is happening, just that there a chance and it should be investigated by those with a knowledge of geology.

Cheers!

Originally posted by openminded2011
I remember reading about this as a kid. One of the first things that happened was that the farmer smelled sulfur for a few days.

Yes, but that cinder cone appeared in an area that already had active and dormant volcanoes. That tends to be an indicator of possible future volcanic activity. There's none in the New Madrid area.

reply to post by Red Cloak


The last thing the US needs is a massive earthquake like the one back in 1811. But if they are smelling sulfur, that is something. Knowing our luck it could be the awakening of a new volacano.

It is my understanding the smell of sulfur came, after the quakes, back in 1811, not prior.

I have read the it also comes in the form of a white mist, from the blow holes.

But maybe the smell does come before too.

Only a portion of the book is shown, so you'll have to purchase it from amazon to read the entire story.

On Shaky Ground: the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812
By Norma Bagnall, Norma Hayes Bagnall

I really dislike comments that say the Great Lakes will flow into the Gulf of Mexico because they create fear for those who live in these areas of the NMSZ. Especially since if any of these predictions are true, no bug out bag or amount of preparing (with the exception of relocation) will save the locals from the MS Valley and sea floor dropping and the ocean engulfing the area. I do believe the NMSZ will erupt again and could cause major changes in the topography as all scientific evidence points to it, but not to the level of bisecting America.

Also, can someone please help me understand how California is related to the NMSZ? Or why California will supposedly sink into the sea? My understanding is that the Pacific Cascadia fault line erupts vertically not horizontally and will not break off and sink into the sea. Even if a large tsunami is created (which I do believe will happen in the event of a mega thrust earthquake on this fault line), the land mass will still remain even despite a large amount of devastation. During the Japan and Indonesia tsunamis, the land did not sink into the sea…. How is this possible? Has this ever happened in history anywhere else?

And as far as the dream predictions go.. they are just dreams. I do not understand why so many people think they have to mean something or are precursors to some future event as if they can see into the future. I have had weird dreams as well, but chalk most of them up to my minds imagination. Shoot, I have been flying for years in my dreams but am in no way going to think that at some point I will have this capability. Perhaps some are on forums like these a little too much before they fall asleep at night! Just saying...

Just a quick note to add:
Sudbury Superstack

Just an example, but one I am familiar with (from the area). Sudbury used to wreak of sulfur the majority of the time. They built the superstack in response to growing environmental concerns (as INCO had essentially turned the city into a vegetative wasteland. They actually did drills for the first moon landings here, assuming it would be much like the moon) as well as concerns for public health. Since then, the city has done much better in those respects (how much better is questionable), but it supposedly flows to several European nations (I've always heard Norway gets it the worst just due to how the jetstream flows. No idea how valid this is though).

Just a little food for thought. Never doubt how far a mass of pollution can potentially travel causing sulfur smells. Blame INCO if it tickles your fancy

That, is incredible and so close to home.