This is only relates to geology in that, there is oil involved. I just wanted to share.
Exxon Suburban Oil Spill.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The India-Asia Collision
According to new scientific data the India-Asia collision could have happened 10 million years later than previously thought. Information gathered from rock samples in the Himalayas have led scientists to believe that previous information about the age and nature of the collision is incorrect.
It is now thought that India was smaller than previously thought. Not to be mistaken with the fact that India is now smaller than it was before the collision, it is thought that India was smaller than previously held beliefs and that a small chain of islands were in between India and Asia before the collision. It is also believed that part of India was pushed under the Eurasian plate during the collision. The fact that there may be a 10 million year difference plays an important role in what the size of India may have been. "India moved more than 10 centimeters a year. Ten million years [later] is 1,000 kilometers less in convergence. That is a real difference."
Through a method of analyzing isotopic signatures in areas of the Himalayas, the scientists determined that the collision that happened 50 million years ago was, in fact, with the islands and not the Asian continent. It took another 10 million years for India, with islands now added to the land mass, to collide with Asia.
It is now thought that India was smaller than previously thought. Not to be mistaken with the fact that India is now smaller than it was before the collision, it is thought that India was smaller than previously held beliefs and that a small chain of islands were in between India and Asia before the collision. It is also believed that part of India was pushed under the Eurasian plate during the collision. The fact that there may be a 10 million year difference plays an important role in what the size of India may have been. "India moved more than 10 centimeters a year. Ten million years [later] is 1,000 kilometers less in convergence. That is a real difference."
Through a method of analyzing isotopic signatures in areas of the Himalayas, the scientists determined that the collision that happened 50 million years ago was, in fact, with the islands and not the Asian continent. It took another 10 million years for India, with islands now added to the land mass, to collide with Asia.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Incredible video
I don't remember how I found this video but it is absolutely incredible. This volcanic lake is on an island called Vanuatu off the coast eastern coast of Australia. The volcano is called Marum and has been an active volcanic lake for 1900 years.
It boggles my mind the fact that these guys crawl right down into the volcano. How do they know the level of lava won't rise? That being said, I would love to go on this expedition. What an amazing experience.
Fracking
The process of injecting fluid into a shale bed at high pressure to crack the shale and release oil and gas has far more criticism than I realized. After googling the term to learn more about it, I was returned with far more political material than I had expected. There is quite a bit of protest against fracking and the pollution it is said to cause.
It seems the main cause of this protest is the pollution it is said to cause. Fracking uses a mixture of water and different chemicals underground. There is an argument that these liquids are never fully extracted and seep into the water table, contaminating drinking and agriculture water. This is, apparently, the primary argument against fracking. There are examples of people being able to light their tap water on fire do to the high amount of methane in the water. This has been blamed on fracking. Many oil companies say this is not due to fracking but will not reveal what chemicals they are using in their fracking process claiming it is proprietary and would hurt their competitive edge.
It seems as though oil companies should be more transparent with their operations. Not that they should reveal their exact techniques but searching fracking on the internet returns little from oil companies themselves. Their is quite a bit of dissent to be found.
It seems the main cause of this protest is the pollution it is said to cause. Fracking uses a mixture of water and different chemicals underground. There is an argument that these liquids are never fully extracted and seep into the water table, contaminating drinking and agriculture water. This is, apparently, the primary argument against fracking. There are examples of people being able to light their tap water on fire do to the high amount of methane in the water. This has been blamed on fracking. Many oil companies say this is not due to fracking but will not reveal what chemicals they are using in their fracking process claiming it is proprietary and would hurt their competitive edge.
It seems as though oil companies should be more transparent with their operations. Not that they should reveal their exact techniques but searching fracking on the internet returns little from oil companies themselves. Their is quite a bit of dissent to be found.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
In the beginning...
There was a massive explosion that scattered stardust everywhere. This stardust consisted of many of today's known elements. After many years, this stardust coalesced and formed the planets we now call our solar system. After our solar system formed, I decided to become a Geology major and now, here I am, in Dr. Schott's Introductory Geology class. Ok, I skipped a few steps but that is the jist of it.
Really I reached a point in my life that I decided I had to get a degree so, after a little research, I picked Geology and went to work. To be perfectly honest, I picked Geology at first because it was one of the highest paying jobs that still seemed interesting and give me an opportunity to get outside as part of my job. Being stuck in an office 8-10 hours a day isn't for me. As I have read more about the subject, I have become more and more fascinated with it. I wouldn't consider myself an outdoor person in practice but the outdoors holds a fascination for me. The scale of the planet and, the universe in general, is insane compared to the size we occupy and the amount of time we will be here as a species.
Anyway, I don't want to get off on too much of a tangent, but I am having a lot of fun so far. This is the first semester I have actually taken any Geology classes and I am looking forward to the many ahead of me.
Really I reached a point in my life that I decided I had to get a degree so, after a little research, I picked Geology and went to work. To be perfectly honest, I picked Geology at first because it was one of the highest paying jobs that still seemed interesting and give me an opportunity to get outside as part of my job. Being stuck in an office 8-10 hours a day isn't for me. As I have read more about the subject, I have become more and more fascinated with it. I wouldn't consider myself an outdoor person in practice but the outdoors holds a fascination for me. The scale of the planet and, the universe in general, is insane compared to the size we occupy and the amount of time we will be here as a species.
Anyway, I don't want to get off on too much of a tangent, but I am having a lot of fun so far. This is the first semester I have actually taken any Geology classes and I am looking forward to the many ahead of me.
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