question about new oil find in the Gulf.

[OutHouse]

so the new big ass oil deposit found in the gulf is 7 fricken miles (thats 36,960 feet) into the crust of the earth. this got me thinking. how did it get there, and how as it made? I have a hard time believing that oil that deep into the earth is the byproduct of decomposing ancient plants and dinos. couldnt it be possible that the earth actually makes oil? after all the earth does make natual gases.

 

[So]

7mi is a long way down, and it's hard to imagine, but until I hear respectable research to the contrary, I will continue to accept that petroleum is a biological byproduct.

 

[Glavinsolo]

California Seeps
http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/enviro/s...ine-oil-seep-study/submarine-seeps.htm
http://seeps.wr.usgs.gov/

http://www.npagroup.co.uk/oilandmineral/offshore/oil_exploration/index.htm

 

[DeadByDawn]

You have to think how sedimentary rock forms. New layers built upon old. So what is on the floor of the gulf now could be a mile down 100 million years from now.

 

[lokiju]

I recall hearing some debate about this some time ago in either Discovery channel or Discover magazine, don't recall which one now though...

On a somewhat related topic (scientific questions) I was watching a show about meteorites and impact craters last night on the History Channel and they were saying how scientist didn't believe that meteorites were real until there was proof after many many years and then in the show they were debating if a impact crater was or wasn't the cause of the end of the dinosaurs.

Got me to thinking how it's funny that scientific fact is fact until it's proven to be wrong or different, reminds me of what my Dad always said "everyone is full of shyte" :laugh:


Much like all oil coming from biological byproducts and meteorites killing all the dinosaurs.

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: DeadByDawn
You have to think how sedimentary rock forms. New layers built upon old. So what is on the floor of the gulf now could be a mile down 100 million years from now.

Even this line of thinking seems flawed, are we to assume that the total circumference of the earth is many times larger today than it was millions of years ago?

 

[DeadByDawn]

Originally posted by: lokiju

Originally posted by: DeadByDawn
You have to think how sedimentary rock forms. New layers built upon old. So what is on the floor of the gulf now could be a mile down 100 million years from now.

Even this line of thinking seems flawed, are we to assume that the total circumference of the earth is many times larger today than it was millions of years ago?

Well to be deposited in the gulf the material has to come from somewhere. Erosion takes material from high spots to low spots and fills them in. Tectonics turn low spots into high spots. Some of the tallest mountains in the world are made up of rock that was made on the sea floor.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: lokiju

Originally posted by: DeadByDawn
You have to think how sedimentary rock forms. New layers built upon old. So what is on the floor of the gulf now could be a mile down 100 million years from now.

Even this line of thinking seems flawed, are we to assume that the total circumference of the earth is many times larger today than it was millions of years ago?

When the rock gets pushed too far down, it simply melts into the core, and comes out again as magma wherever there are two plates sreading apart (or volcanoes, of course).

 

[So]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
God saw how Katrina affected the US economy and decided to put it there to reward us for electing GWB and focusing on Christian conservative values.

:laugh:

:beer:

 

[nakedfrog]

I put it there.
Yeah, that's right.
Suck it, all you "peak oil" fanatics.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

well, considering that hte Himilayas didn't exist 200 million years ago (nearly 5 miles high), I would say that the bottom of the gulf coast used to be a lot nearer to sea level.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
I put it there.
Yeah, that's right.
Suck it, all you "peak oil" fanatics.

Did you ride a sofa back through time when you were done?

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
well, considering that hte Himilayas didn't exist 200 million years ago (nearly 5 miles high), I would say that the bottom of the gulf coast used to be a lot nearer to sea level.

It's probably easier for tectonics to create high peaks than bury something.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
God saw how Katrina affected the US economy and decided to put it there to reward us for electing GWB and focusing on Christian conservative values.

:laugh:

:beer:

dont give him any alcohol, he is drunk as is~! 😉

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
God saw how Katrina affected the US economy and decided to put it there to reward us for electing GWB and focusing on Christian conservative values.

:laugh:

:beer:

LOL


Ausm

 

[imported_Zeke]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
well, considering that hte Himilayas didn't exist 200 million years ago (nearly 5 miles high), I would say that the bottom of the gulf coast used to be a lot nearer to sea level.

It's probably easier for tectonics to create high peaks than bury something.

These are the kind of statements that make this conversation so funny. Everybody has an opnion, but its not based on anything scientific.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
well, considering that hte Himilayas didn't exist 200 million years ago (nearly 5 miles high), I would say that the bottom of the gulf coast used to be a lot nearer to sea level.

It's probably easier for tectonics to create high peaks than bury something.

Far from true. Look up 'subduction zone' on wikipedia

(plus think about it, for each thing that goes up something must come down, otherwise the earth would be constantly expanding and that'd be...silly 😛)

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
well, considering that hte Himilayas didn't exist 200 million years ago (nearly 5 miles high), I would say that the bottom of the gulf coast used to be a lot nearer to sea level.

It's probably easier for tectonics to create high peaks than bury something.

I doubt that... After all, our oceans are created by tectonic movement. In the case of this particular oil field, normal sedimentation probably created and eventually buried the oil (only a mile under the sea floor), while at the same time the gulf area began sinking.

 

[NeoV]

I'd have to do a google search for it, but there is a very prominent scientist who has theorized that the earth produces oil on it's own, and many of this guy's past statements are of the variety that are initially ignored, then later found to be true.

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

If we fired nukes perfectly timed would the core values of each party restart?

 

[desy]

Most petroleum geologists prefer theories of oil formation which hold that oil originated in shallow seas as vast quantities of marine plankton which died and sank into the mud at the bottom under anaerobic conditions that prevented biodegradation. Under these conditions, anaerobic bacteria converted the lipids (fats, oils and waxes) into a waxy substance called kerogen.

As the source rock was buried deeper, overburden pressure raised temperatures into the oil window, between 60 and 120 degrees C, in which thermal depolymerization broke up the kerogen molecules into the straight-chain hydrocarbons that make up most of petroleum. Once crude oil formed, it became very fluid, and migrated upward through the rock strata. Eventually it was either trapped in an oil reservoir or oil escaped to the surface and was biodegraded by soil bacteria.

 

[imported_Zeke]

Originally posted by: NeoV
I'd have to do a google search for it, but there is a very prominent scientist who has theorized that the earth produces oil on it's own, and many of this guy's past statements are of the variety that are initially ignored, then later found to be true.

I suggest we hold him to the same criteria the people whoose current theories are being used: evidence.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: desy
Most petroleum geologists prefer theories of oil formation which hold that oil originated in shallow seas as vast quantities of marine plankton which died and sank into the mud at the bottom under anaerobic conditions that prevented biodegradation. Under these conditions, anaerobic bacteria converted the lipids (fats, oils and waxes) into a waxy substance called kerogen.

As the source rock was buried deeper, overburden pressure raised temperatures into the oil window, between 60 and 120 degrees C, in which thermal depolymerization broke up the kerogen molecules into the straight-chain hydrocarbons that make up most of petroleum. Once crude oil formed, it became very fluid, and migrated upward through the rock strata. Eventually it was either trapped in an oil reservoir or oil escaped to the surface and was biodegraded by soil bacteria.

thats the theory i have heard as well but i dont put much faith in it.

 

[imported_Zeke]

So I read up on the "earth produces its own oil" theory. The idea is that microrganisms living near the core of the earth are producing oil that is seeping up. Even assuming this is true, the amount of life that would be required to generate oil at a sustainable rate for our consumption is.......improbable.

 

[mercanucaribe]

You folks need to take some geology classes. There are some important facts that are missing from this thread. First, pretty much all sedimentary rocks are made of material deposited by water. ALL limestone was deposited in marine environments-- it's made of coral, shells, diatoms, etc. As previous posts have mentioned, the deposition and erosion are happening constantly. Organic material builds up in swamps and gets covered up. Then it happens again, and again. Oil is by definition organic... postulating that the earth can be creating oil without organic material is like saying that it's creating wood out of rocks. I have no idea why ideas like that persist on this forum. It's as if one wacko posts something and then contrarians latch on.

And the earth isn't getting bigger. It is getting smaller because of cooling. Tectonic activity involves plates moving, and since the Atlantic ocean is expanding, the Pacific is shrinking-- the ocean floor is being subducted under north America and the entire "Ring of Fire", the volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean.