New Madrid Rifts

Rifts are fractures in the rock that show that previously, trauma occurred. They are like scars in the rock. They are not necessarily fault lines as most often they do not MOVE at all in a slip slide manner, though may express minor jitters of earthquake swarms because the scar resists a smooth transfer of motion across its face.

The Southern Oklahoma rift juts at a right angle to the New Madrid Fault Line, and the Balcones escarpment traces the edge of rock composition changes, but other than pass along the jolts from the New Madrid adjustment will not cause Oklahoma or Texas to find their terrain has changed. The rock above and below these points will move as one, to the southwest, during the New Madrid adjustment.
The Midcontinent Rift, which curls around Wisconsin and then dives down into Kansas, will also not experience a change in terrain during the New Madrid adjustment. Any stress along this old volcanic scar during the New Madrid adjustment will be transferred to the land along the seaway to the East.

The diagonal pull causing the New Madrid Fault Line to adjust will rupture land along the Mississippi, up toward the Chicago area, and along the seaway through Ohio, as we have detailed. Mississippi bridges will be inevitably torn, cities along the slip-slide will be shaken into rubble, and Ohio will be devastated as land there is also pulled in different direction along the path of the fault line. The adjustment will also cause minor quakes down into the Gulf and up along an adjoining sister fault east of the Appalachian Mountains. But any rifts or escarpments in Oklahoma or Texas will not be affected other than by jolts. Use the history of the last New Madrid adjustment as a guide in these matters.

ZetaTalk ™ July 27, 2013