SAFOD is the deep drilling component of EarthScope to address fundamental questions about processes that control faulting and earthquake generation within a major plate-boundary fault. The 3.2 kilometer [2 mile] drillhole through California's famous San Andreas Fault has resulted in the collection of rock samples that are supporting physical and chemical investigations of the active earthquake zone.
Observatories
SAFOD Data
NSF Core Guidance
Phase III Core Atlas Ver. 4
Phase III Core Images
SAFOD Core Viewer - Phase III Core
Non-Core Borehole Materials
- Non-Core Materials Oreintation
- Thin Section Master List
- Loose Sample Inventory
- Phase III Returned Samples
- Thin Section Billets and Other Samples
- Phase III Cuttings Hole D
- Phase III Cuttings Hole E
- Phase III Cuttings Hole F
- Phase III Cuttings Hole G
- Phase III Cuttings Hole G
- Phase III Mud Samples Hole D,E,G
- Phase III Unwashed Cuttings Hole G
Observatory Facility
UNAVCO, a non-profit, membership-governed consortium, supports and promotes Earth science by advancing high-precision techniques for the measurement and understanding of deformation. UNAVCO also supports education to meet the needs of the community and the public.
San Andreas Fault Borehole - Downhole Observatory
The SAFOD component of the EarthScope Facility includes both physical samples from the borehole and a downhole observatory intended to provide continuous, high-rate, long-term observations of seismic, accelerometer, tilt, and electromagnetic data for use in fault and earthquake process research and studies of the 3D volume of crust near Parkfield, CA. The downhole observatory was installed in September 2008, but ceased operating shortly thereafter. NSF had extensive discussions with UNAVCO (the NSF awardee now responsible for management and operations of SAFOD), our USGS partners, and community advisory groups, and then asked the Advisory Committee for Geosciences (AC-GEO) to convene an independent group of experts to conduct a detailed engineering examination of the SAFOD observatory.
In September 2010, the AC-GEO appointed a SAFOD Engineering Review Subcommittee that was charged with providing a technical review of the design and installation of the SAFOD downhole observatory and making recommendations for technical improvements that would increase the likelihood of successful installation and long-term operation of a possible future SAFOD observatory. The subcommittee's charge included:
1. Describing all prior temporary installations in the SAFOD main hole, and the 'lessons learned' from each installation and applied to future installations;
2. Reviewing the design and the installation process, including management of that process, for the downhole observatory installed in the SAFOD main hole in September 2008;
3. Determining and summarizing the reason(s) that the September 2008 observatory ceased to operate;
4. Recommending technical approaches that would give a reasonable likelihood for successful long-term operation of the originally proposed MREFC (Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction) SAFOD downhole observatory; and
5. Recommending technical approaches that would give a reasonable likelihood for successful long-term operation of the de-scoped SAFOD downhole observatory that was installed in the SAFOD main hole in September 2008.
In Fall 2010 and early 2011, this external subcommittee conducted an examination of the SAFOD observatory, including on-site visits to SAFOD and the instrument manufacturer, discussions with UNAVCO and USGS, and consultations with other experts. The subcommittee completed its work with a formal report to the AC-GEO on 13 April 2011, describing the examination process and the subcommittee's findings and recommendations. The report [PDF 3.2 MB] and appendices [PDF 176 MB] are now available on the EarthScope and NSF-GEO Web sites.