Robert Hatcher
A University of Tennessee scientist and professor on Thursday will discuss geology, petroleum resources in Tennessee, and the use of “fracking”—hydraulic fracturing—as a drilling tool.
The lecture by Robert Hatcher, a professor in the UT Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, will start at 7 p.m. Thursday at Roane State Community College. Presented by the UT Arboretum Society, the program is free and open to the public.
A press release said Hatcher’s primary research goal is to gain a better understanding of the evolution of continental crust, mostly through the study of mountain chains and mature crust. Most of his research has been concentrated in the southern and central Appalachians, but he has also spent a lot of time visiting and studying other mountain chains and Precambrian continental crust.
His primary interest is in the mechanics and kinematics of large faults, which formed a natural transition into a related long-term interest in the geologic controls of petroleum occurrence in the Appalachians, radioactive waste management, the causes of intraplate seismicity and geologic evidence for determination of recurrence intervals for intraplate earthquakes, the press release said.
Hatcher is an author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications, including nine books.
Thursday’s lecture is in the City Room at the Roane State Community College campus in Oak Ridge.
To learn more about the Arboretum Society, go to www.utarboretumsociety.org. For more information on the program, call (865) 483-3571.
Jason Allison says
Fracking is something we need to say no to and fight to keep it out. This process has a risk to benefit that is not favorable.