This episode of the podClast deals with the political hubbub in the U.S surrounding opening up the continental shelf for oil drilling (as well as the geology involved). The Japanese Earthquake and early warning systems and the recent flooding in the U.S.
The Ivuna meteorite has been in the news recently, and is a very, very important sample when it comes to the ancient Solar System, including the Earth, Moon and Mars. But why is it so important, and what does it tell us about how our Solar System formed?
The Google Earth KML for Alaska’s oil wells the ANWR and the 1002 (Fig. 1) area can be found here.
The Prudhoe Bay Field is easily identifiable in Fig. 1. It’s the region with the highest clustering of registered wells in northern Alaska and is ranked seventh largest in the world and the most sizeable petroleum reserve on the North American continent. It is estimated to have ~10 billion barrels of recoverable oil and ~26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. All the reservoirs are Lower Cretaceous in age and sealed by a formation of marine shale.
The ANWR (Fig. 2 and the green patch in Fig. 1) is an area of Alaska set aside as a wildlife reserve for the ecosystems present in the Alaskan tundra. It was established in 1960 via the Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act (USGS 1998). Due to the enormous oilfields present in the adjacent geology, a coastal area was set aside in section 1002 of the act (hence the catchy name of the area), with the rights to defer management of the area to the U.S. Government should it see fit to open the area up to exploitation. The 1002 is a 1.5 million acre plot of land with potentially massive petroleum resources; a 1998 USGS assessment stated that the total potential mean recoverable oil from ANWR was on the order of 10.4 billion barrels (USGS 1998, Houseknecht and Bird 2002). As is evident from Fig. 1, the area of oil producing wells stops on the boundary of the ANWR, and it should be obvious that geology does not follow human boundaries.
An assessment by Sherwood et al. (2001), suggested that at only ~US$30 per barrel, a recoverable quantity of 9.4 billion barrels of oil would be required in order to make an economical mining operation. I previously mentioned that there is a predicted mean undeveloped resource of ~10 billion barrels in the 1002 area. This mean comes from a lower limit of 5.7 billion barrels and an upper limit of 16 billion barrels. Going on the price of a barrel of crude oil as of the time of writing (~US$135 per barrel), even the lowest certainty of 5.7 billion barrels should make the most conservative oil executive quiver in delight.
In related posts, Brian at Clastic Detritus posted and in-depth review of the outer-continental-shelf drilling that’s also part of this political hubbub. It’s well worth a read.
References
Morgridge, D.L. and Smith, W.B., Jr., 1972, Geology and Discovery of Prudhoe Bay Field, Eastern Arctic Slope, Alaska, in King, R.E., editor, Stratigraphic Oil and Gas Fields; American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir No. 16, p. 489 – 501.
-->The North Slope of Alaska is an important oil producing region of the world, with the large Prudhoe Bay area ranking in as the biggest oil reserve in the continental US, and the 7th largest in the world. A brief history of the Alaska oil and the potential for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
American Dad encounters the Langley Falls Town Geologist. Without doubt the most accurate portrayal of a geologist yet seen on screen. And the breakfasts? I’d call them outstanding!
I decided the old goodSchist design needed a bit of a kick, so I’ve given it a little work over. Hopefully it works in internet explorer, but if not I’m going to be making modifications anyway, and I’ll do my best to fix any problems.
I’ve made the changes so I can make quick, short posts [...]
Wikipedia links to information on the mountains in question:
And finally, I’d just like to extend my congratulations to the geoblogosphere for reaching double figures in issues of its carnival. Next up: the Accretionary Wedge’s first birthday on the publishing of number 12 in August.
-->Battling volcanoes, lost love, and beautiful maidens. All part of the local native lore of the volcanoes in these parts. My submission for The Accretionary Wedge #10.
Jess (Tuff Cookie) and I discuss slowing lava, the Phoenix lander, earthquakes causing other earthquakes, the geoblogosphere going “main stream” and much, much more.
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