THINGS THAT GO BOOM IN THE NIGHT

Instead of waiting for Mother Nature to shake the ground, active source experimenters make the ground shake whenever they want.  This is accomplished with everything from beating on the ground with sledge hammers, to using hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

About two dozen explosions were set off during the seven deployments.  They were in people's backyards, in city parks, in empty lots, and out in the middle of nowhere.  All of the shot holes were drilled with small drilling rigs.  The holes for this experiment varied in depth from ten to thirty meters, and were all about 10 centimeters in diameter.  Some of the shot points were just one shallow hole with about 10 kilograms of explosive (the ones near buildings and houses), while others, mainly in the east, were several deep holes and hundreds of kilograms of explosives.  The picture above was of the drilling rig digging into the night in the middle of a field in the city park Parque del Este in Altamira.  The picture below was of a shot point being drilled in an area called Limo west of Ciudad Bolivar in eastern Venezuela.

Explosives were lowered into the casings.  Then the casings were filled with gravel to keep as much of the explosion in the ground as possible.  More energy in the ground means stronger shock waves.

Photo by Michael Schmitz

Not all of the shot points were conveniently placed.

Photo by Michael Schmitz

The method of detonation was simple and efficient.  I like things like that, though Wile. E. Coyote would probably have had some apprehensions about the equipment.

Photo by Michael Schmitz

We made a few craters with some of the larger shots in the east.

Photos by Michael Schmitz and/or his camera (that's him on the left)

DIRECT LINKS TO THE PAGES:
WAY SOUTH OF THE BORDER
WHAT WE DID
LOS CORRALES/CARABALLEDA
QUEBRADA SECA
HAD A BLAST AT THE QUARRY
HOW COME WE DON'T HAVE ONE OF THESE?
THINGS THAT GO BOOM IN THE NIGHT
CITY & COUNTRY FUN
CARACAS SIGHTS
WE MOVE EAST
ECCO
SERRANIA
PARTING SHOTS

2006-Jul-30