YA (2026-2027): Seneca Drums Pilot Project

• Cornell University

Historical reports of loud booms around southern Seneca Lake, the largest New York finger lake, have seen new scientific interest. High-resolution bathymetry at the southern end of the lake, released early 2025, shows a lake bottom pock-marked with 100-m-scale craters, and mid-2025 water-column measurements suggest that these might be generated by methane explosions. We want to know if there is a seismic signature of lacustrine methane explosions, and if so, what it is. We have been monitoring nearby Cayuga Lake for five years (YU 2019-) and see many shallow events in that lake, but no monitoring has been done in Seneca. The craters are described on https://senecalakemysteries.com This deployment would test the background seismicity rate at Seneca Lake with a small array, nominally one year, patterned after the YU array. We seek 8 (could be as small as 6) SP/IP sensors, data loggers, and solar panels, BIHO boxes if available, for one year starting late winter (beginning March) 2026. Expected seismicity rates may be a few events per month, so sensitive and reliable hardware is important. If successful, a larger project would emerge. It will be funded by Cornell internal funds and supported from Cornell (sites are within 1 hr drive).

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