ABCNews.com May 26, 2002
Geologists Are Tuning In to Detect Terrorists
By Amanda Onion
May 27 - Their specialty may be rocks, but geologists say they're also ready to do their part in the global campaign against terrorists.
"We're calling upon the scientific community to learn to recognize the signatures of terrorist activities," says Gregory van der Vink, director of planning for the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Consortium in Washington, D.C. "We want as many people as possible listening." Van der Vink is leading a discussion today at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. to urge geologists and geophysicists to start "listening."
Ears to the Ground
How can geologists catch a terrorist? With their instruments, explains Terry Wallace, a geophysicist at the University of Arizona. There are about 16,000 seismometers installed around the world, many of which offer data on freely accessible Web sites. Seismometers detect motion in the Earth, which can be triggered by an earthquake, or possibly explosions.
By learning how to read these signals, Wallace hopes scientists might catch on to suspicious activity.
"We can study these signals and begin to develop a portfolio of different kinds of signatures of explosions," says Wallace. "It will be like have a set of fingerprints."
Geophysicists have already contributed critical data to terrorist investigations. It was geologists who determined there were no secondary explosions at the base of the World Trade Center towers - but only the impact of the airplanes and subsequent fires - that contributed to the towers' collapse on Sept. 11.
When Flight 93 plunged into a field in Pennsylvania, they were able to read impact measurements from the region, combine it with data on the airplane's speed and determine the craft was not shot down as some early reports had suggested.
Other times seismic measurements have been used to rule out the possibility of foul play in remote regions.
Mixed Signals
In 1994 a strange flash of light and an unexplained seismic signal were detected on a large track of land in Australia owned by members of the Japanese cult Aum Shinri Kyo, the group later accused of the poison-gas attack on Tokyo subways in 1995. U.S. agents were concerned the group might be testing nuclear weapons.
But when Wallace and other geologists investigated the event more closely, they realized it had been caused by a large meteorite that had streaked through the atmosphere and broken up directly over the location.
"It was a relief to get to the bottom of that one," said Wallace.
Meteorites aside, van der Vink suggests that geologists' tools are ideal for detecting the development of actual bombs and thereby preventing future attacks. When he served as an adviser to the state department in arms control under the Clinton administration, van der Vink realized some of the best detection resources lay outside government hands.
"There are so many sensors out there for research purposes," he said. "A seismometer doesn't care if a signal is recorded from a nuclear test or an earthquake - it will record it either way."
Among key instruments installed throughout the world, seismometers in Kyrgyzstan that were designed to detect earthquakes and tremors can now be used to monitor signals from nuclear test sites in neighboring China and Russia. By using such tools, van der Vink likens the scientific community as providing a kind of neighborhood watch on the campaign against terrorism.
Others are skeptical about how effective seismometers can actually be in preventing attacks.
"One of the main concerns are terrorist training camps," says John Pike of the Global Security Organization. "I can't see how geologists would detect that."
But van der Vink points to the recent discovery of Washington, D.C. intern Chandra Levy's remains as an example of the power of non-official sleuthing. He says he wasn't surprised that police didn't spot the remains. Instead it was a man looking for turtles with his dog who happened to come across Levy's remains.
"There are simply many more average people out there than police," he said. "This is the same concept. We have a lot of researchers turning over rocks and listening to tremors. It's likely we can make a strong addition to national security."
Creating Stability
Another important tactic in fighting terrorism is helping establish stable economies in unstable regions. Geologists say they can also help in this front.
John Shroder, a geologist with the University of Nebraska, Omaha has spent years studying the geological landscapes of Afghanistan. In fact, his previous experience allowed him to determine the exact location of Osama bin Laden in a video that was released after Sept. 11.
"When I saw the rocks behind him, I recognized their configuration and put two and two together," said Shroder. "After that he started hanging blankets behind him whenever he addressed a camera."
His research suggests the country has plenty of potential for shifting from a politically chaotic region hosting terrorist camps to a healthy stable economy.
Afghanistan has oil and gas resources, he says, as well as the largest copper deposit in the world. It also has one of the largest deposits of iron ore.
"These are rich resources that can be used to rebuild the country," he said. "In the long run, that's the best way to stop the terrorists."
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