Earth Sciences Sector ADM Briefing Notes, April 2003

New seismic research in Northern Ontario funded by Industry Canada and POLARIS
A $0.5M proposal by ESS scientists I. Asudeh and J. Adams titled "A new 
VSAT Broadband Digital Seismograph Array in Northern Ontario" was 
funded in March 2003 by Industry Canada's Federal Economic Development 
Initiative for Northern Ontario. With over $250K matching funds from 
the POLARIS Consortium, a new array of digital seismographs will be 
installed in six Northern Ontario communities this summer. Four of the 
new seismographs will be installed in the so-called Northern Ontario 
Diamond Corridor along with a fifth station previously planned by the 
POLARIS Consortium at the Victor Diamond Exploration Mine near 
Attawapiskat. These stations are designed for geophysical studies of 
deep earth structure as related to diamond occurrence and are well 
aligned with the goals of the Northern Resources Development Program. 
Along with these five, new seismographs at Pickle Lake and Sudbury will 
contribute to measurements of earthquake ground motion for the 
evaluation and mitigation of earthquake and mining hazards. These 
goals are aligned with ESS's Natural Hazards and Emergency Response 
Program and the Department's role regarding safe disposal of 
radioactive waste deep in the Canadian Shield. The FedNor project is 
particularly well timed due to considerable new excitement in diamond 
exploration in Northern Ontario evidenced at the March 2003 meeting of 
the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.