Edward W. Woolery
Associate Professor
B.S. 1985, Eastern Kentucky University
B.S.C.E. 1996, Kentucky
M.S., 1993, Ph.D., 1998, Kentucky

In recent years the workload related to geologic hazards and environmental geology has increased at a higher rate than in the traditional areas of geology. This is not surprising, because as the nation's infrastructure begins to age, and the expanding economy and population force new development and construction into less desirable locations, geologic hazards become more problematic for the applied scientist and engineer. As a consequence of these increasing demands, Ed and the Kentucky Geological Survey have established a research program that seeks innovative ways to mitigate the enormous losses associated with geologic hazards, and seismic hazards in particular. Engineering seismology and near-surface geophysics are the cornerstones of the program, but public education and awareness are also given attention.

As part of the seismic hazard mitigation effort, the Dept. of Geological Sciences and KGS currently operate and maintain a joint seismic network consisting of eighteen short-period seismometers and nine strong-motion accelerometers. Data from the network's strong-motion stations are used to understand how thick sequences of unlithified sediment affect the propagation of seismic waves (i.e., alter amplitude, frequency, and duration). The results allow the engineering seismologist estimate credible seismic design loads. The short-period (weak-motion) stations are deployed and configured to assess two basic questions of seismology, magnitude and location of regional earthquakes. During the past three years the network has been increased by ten stations, two of which are vertical strong-motion borehole arrays (one with an accelerometer in bedrock). The station deployment has been in the seismically important, but sparsely instrumented, northern Jackson Purchase area of western Kentucky. Long-term observations could lead to defining an unambiguous northern boundary for the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

Ed's interests since returning to the university also include the application of high-resolution seismic refraction/reflection methods to problems in geotechnical engineering and near-surface geology. The considerable uncertainty regarding the locations of faults responsible for large paleoearthquakes in the central United States is a problem of particular interest. His research for the past several years has been focused on defining the spatial and temporal characteristics of neotectonic deformation associated with reactivated structures in the northern Mississippi embayment and southern Wabash River valley. The field investigations integrate high-resolution seismic-reflection/refraction profiling (P- and S-wave), ground penetrating radar imaging, and correlative drilling. Recently updated signal processing and interpretive software packages will further facilitate these efforts.
In addition to his undergraduate geology and graduate geophysics courses in the Department of Geological Sciences, he has also taught undergraduate soil mechanics and graduate earthquake engineering courses in the Department of Civil Engineering.

Woolery, E., 2005, Geophysical and geological evidence of neotectonic deformation along the Hovey Lake fault, Lower Wabash Valley Fault System, Central United States: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 95, no. 3, 1193–1201.

Street, R., Wiegand, J., Woolery, E., and Hart, P., 2005, Ground-motion parameters of the southwestern Indiana earthquake of June 18, 2002, and the disparity between the observed and predicted values: Seismological Research Letters, v. 76, no. 4, p. 512–530.

Street, R., Bauer, R., and Woolery, E., 2004, A short note on magnitude scaling of the prehistorical earthquakes in the Wabash Valley seismic zone of the central United States: Seismological Research Letters, v. 75, p. 637–641.

Street, R., Woolery, E., Chiu, J-M., 2004, Shear-wave velocities of the post-Paleozoic sediments across the upper Mississippi embayment: Seismological Research Letters, v. 75, p. 390–405.

Woolery, E., Schaefer, J., and Wang, Z., 2003, Elevated lateral stress in unlithified sediment, Midcontinent United States—geotechnical and geophysical indicators for a tectonic origin: Tectonophysics, v. 368, p. 139–153.

Woolery, E. and Street, R., 2002, 3D Near-Surface Soil Response from H/V Ambient Noise Ratios: Journal of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, v. 22, p. 865–876.

Woolery, E., 2002, SH-wave Reflection Images of Anomalous Foundation Conditions at the Mississinewa Dam, Indiana: Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, v. 7, p. 161–168.

Woolery, E. and Street, R., 2002, Quaternary Fault Reactivation in the Fluorspar Area Fault Complex of Western Kentucky–Evidence from Shallow SH-wave Reflection Profiles: Seismological Research Letters, v. 73, p. 628–639.