May 1, 1998

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One of the theories about plate faults is that there are anomalies in the gravity around them. One can see large scale displays of this in "The Mystery Spot" in Santa Cruz, and in the inverse weather zone that exists in Menlo Park. In order to test this theory, we make measurements of gravity by measuring the acceleration of objects.

The acceleration of gravity on Earth varies slightly around the globe. A ballpark measurement might be about 9.8039 meters per second per second. What we really want to know is if the acceleration changes in the area of a fault.

What we do then is to send drops of fluid over a cliff near the fault and measure how long it takes for the fluid to hit the ground, then we work the math backwards. Fluid drops work well because they form small, minimal-friction spheres.

Here we see Michael sending drops over a cliff.

In order to install plate screws, we need to get down to the bedrock of the plates themselves. On rare occasions, the rock is at the surface. More typically, we need to dig tunnels to the rock.

Here Michael prepares to ascend down the 100 foot deep hole the Society has dug in preparation of inserting some stainless steel lag screws across a crack in the fault.

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