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Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering

2009-11-03T02:49:00.000-08:00

L.P. Dake, "Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering"
Elsevier Science | 2001 | ISBN: 044441830X | 444 pages | PDF | 4,1 MB

"This book is fast becoming the standard text in its field", wrote a reviewer in the Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology soon after the first appearance of Dake's book. This prediction quickly came true: it has become the standard text and has been reprinted many times.

The author's aim - to provide students and teachers with a coherent account of the basic physics of reservoir engineering - has been most successfully achieved. No prior knowledge of reservoir engineering is necessary. The material is dealt with in a concise, unified and applied manner, and only the simplest and most straightforward mathematical techniques are used. This low-priced paperback edition will continue to be an invaluable teaching aid for years to come.

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San Andreas Fault

2009-10-12T03:37:00.000-07:00

California Splits along the San Andreas Fault

If you look closely in the lower right-hand portion of the illustration you can see the East Pacific Rise, a portion of the Mid-Ocean Ridge that defines the eastern edge of the Pacific Plate.

As the giant Pacific Plate encounters the North American Plate the two grind against each other with such force that they have caused a network of fractures, or faults, across the state of California.

The San Andreas Fault is part of this fracture zone that extends for 700 miles from Mexico to just north of San Francisco, where it dives into the Pacific Ocean. The stresses created along this fault are enormous and are responsible for the infamous San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Over 20 million people live along this fault, which continues to periodically rock the state. Actually, western California is considered part of the Pacific Plate and, over the next several million years, "will break away from the mainland and drift steadily northward."

How Himalayas were Born?

2009-10-12T03:22:00.000-07:00

India Slams into Asia - And the Himalayas are Born

Approximately 20 million years ago, India was connected to the southeastern tip of Africa. Stresses in the earth's crust resulted in the development of a rift between them. India broke free and began drifting north as part of the Indo-Australian Plate.

The leading edge of the plate was oceanic crust. Several millions of years later this leading oceanic edge collided with the Eurasian Plate and began to be thrust upward.

Eventually, the deep sea-floor of the Indo-Australian Plate rose above sea level, and the "Himalayas" were born. Today, India continues it's push northward.

The Himalayas, once the deep sea-floors of an ancient sea, are now a majestic terrestrial mountain range. Imagine the surprise of geologists when they discovered the fossilized remains of ancient sea creatures at the top of the world. The mid-ocean ridge visible in the lower left of the image is largely responsible for India's northerly movement.

Volcanoes

2009-10-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Volcano

A volcano is an opening (or rupture) in the Earth's surface or crust, which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from deep below the surface.

Volcanic activity involving the extrusion of rock tends to form mountains or features like mountains over a period of time. Volcanoes are generally found where two to three tectonic plates pull apart or come together.

A mid-oceanic ridge, like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by "divergent tectonic plates" pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by "convergent tectonic plates" coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another (like the San Andreas fault).

Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching of the Earth's crust and where the crust grows thin (called "non-hotspot intraplate volcanism"), such as in the African Rift Valley or the European Rhine Graben with its Eifel volcanoes). Finally, volcanoes can be caused by "mantle plumes," so-called "hotspots;" these hotspots can occur far from plate boundaries, such as the Hawaiian Islands.

Interestingly, hotspot volcanoes are also found elsewhere in the solar system, especially on rocky planets and moons. The most common perception of a volcano is of a conical mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater in its top.

This describes just one of many types of volcano and the features of volcanoes are much more complicated. Supervolcano is the popular term for a large volcano that usually has a large caldera and can potentially produce devastation on an enormous, sometimes continental, scale.

Such eruptions would be able to cause severe cooling of global temperatures for many years afterwards because of the huge volumes of sulfur and ash erupted.

They are the most dangerous type of volcano.
Examples include Yellowstone Caldera in Yellowstone National Park of western USA, Lake Taupo in New Zealand and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia..

Active and non-active volcanoes

There are volcanoes in different phases of activity:

Active volcanoes: which are likely to erupt at any moment

Dormant volcanoes: which lie dormant for centuries, but then erupt suddenly and violently

Extinct volcanoes: ones no longer likely to erupt.

Type of Volcanoes

In the surroundings of boundaries of tectonic plates the following types of volcanoes occur:

The fissure volcano: Is a long crack in the earth's surface through which magma erupts. These cracks may form as two tectonic plates pull apart. You'll find them mainly near mid-ocean ridges.

The ordinary volcanoes can be divided in different types, relating to their forms:

The shield volcano: This is a broad, shallow volcanic cone, which arises because the running lava, which is fluid and hot, cools slowly.
The dome volcano: This one has a steep, convex slope from thick, fast-cooling lava.
The ash-cinder volcano: Throws out - besides lava - much ash into the air. Through this the volcanic cone is built up from alternate layers of ash and cinder.
The composite volcano: These are also built up from alternate layers of lava and ash but, besides its main crater, it has many little craters on its slope.
The caldera volcano: An older volcano with a large crater which can be 62 miles(100km) wide. In this crater many little new craters are formed.

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Tsunami - How it is Generated?

2009-10-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

What is a Tsunami?

A tsunami is a series of waves generated when water in a lake or the sea is rapidly displaced on a massive scale.

Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and large meteorite impacts all have the potential to generate a tsunami.

Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water.

What causes a tsunami?

A tsunami is a large ocean wave that is caused by sudden motion on the ocean floor. This sudden motion could be an earthquake, a powerful volcanic eruption, or an underwater landslide. The impact of a large meteorite could also cause a tsunami. Tsunamis travel across the open ocean at great speeds and build into large deadly waves in the shallow water of a shoreline.

Subduction Zones are Potential Tsunami Locations

Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes generated in a subduction zone, an area where an oceanic plate is being forced down into the mantle by plate tectonic forces. The friction between the subducting plate and the overriding plate is enormous. This friction prevents a slow and steady rate of subduction and instead the two plates become "stuck".

Accumulated Seismic Energy

As the stuck plate continues to descend into the mantle the motion causes a slow distortion of the overriding plage. The result is an accumulation of energy very similar to the energy stored in a compressed spring. Energy can accumulate in the overriding plate over a long period of time - decades or even centuries.

Earthquake Causes Tsunami

Energy accumulates in the overriding plate until it exceeds the frictional forces between the two stuck plates. When this happens, the overriding plate snaps back into an unrestrained position. This sudden motion is the cause of the tsunami - because it gives an enormous shove to the overlying water. At the same time, inland areas of the overriding plate are suddenly lowered.

Tsunami Races Away From the Epicenter

The moving wave begins travelling out from where the earthquake has occurred. Some of the water travels out and across the ocean basin, and, at the same time, water rushes landward to flood the recently lowered shoreline.

Tsunami Travels Rapidly Across Ocean Basins

Tsunamis travel swiftly across the open ocean. The map below shows how a tsunami produced by an earthquake along the coast of Chile in 1960 traveled across the Pacific Ocean, reaching Hawaii in about 15 hours and Japan in less than 24 hours.

Image by USGS

Tsunami "Wave Train"

Many people have the mistaken belief that tsunamis are single waves. They are not. Instead tsunamis are "wave trains" consisting of multiple waves. The chart below is a tidal gauge record from Onagawa, Japan beginning at the time of the 1960 Chile earthquake. Time is plotted along the horizontal axis and water level is plotted on the vertical axis. Note the normal rise and fall of the ocean surface, caused by tides, during the early part of this record. Then recorded are a few waves a little larger than normal followed by several much larger waves. In many tsunami events the shoreline is pounded by repeated large waves.

Image by USGS

The material above describes how tsunamis are generated and how they travel rapidly across an ocean basin.

Plate Tectonics - Theory

2009-10-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics is a theory of geology developed to explain the phenomenon of continental drift and is currently the theory accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in this area.

In the theory of plate tectonics the outermost part of the Earth's interior is made up of two layers: the outer lithosphere and the inner asthenosphere.

The lithosphere essentially "floats" on the asthenosphere and is broken-up into ten major plates: African, Antarctic, Australian, Eurasian, North American, South American, Pacific, Cocos, Nazca, and the Indian plates..

Theory of Plate Tectonics

In the early 1960’s, the theory of plate tectonics rocked the geologic world. Before the concept of plate tectonics had been introduced, geologists puzzled over earthquakes, mountain ranges such as the Andes Mountains, volcanoes, deep sea trenches, and fault lines such as San Andreas Fault, tossing about a number of incomplete ideas as to how such rock formations occurred in nature. Alfred Wegener, expanding on the earlier theory of continental drift, presented the theory of plate tectonics as an all-encompassing explanation for earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges, and most other geologic rock formations.

Plate Boundaries

The place where the two plates meet is called a plate boundary. Boundaries have different names depending on how the two plates are moving in relationship to each other

Divergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
Transform Boundary

Divergent Boundary
A divergent boundary is a form of plate tectonics where plates separate and move in opposite directions, forming a rift or massive crack in the surface. This rift allows for magma to well up from the asthenosphere, fill the crevice, solidify, and become new lithosphere. Earthquakes and volcanoes are present at the divergent boundary as plates move apart. The further the plates “drift,” the more magma solidifies as lithosphere in the valley formed.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a famous example of sea-floor spreading where new sea floor is created as plates move apart at a divergent boundary. Earth is constantly recycling old rock matter and creating new rock surface. The divergent boundary is the form of plate tectonics responsible for all new rock lithosphere on the face of the planet.

Convergent Boundary
If plates are moving apart anywhere on the globe, it would stand to reason that elsewhere they are being pushed together. At a convergent boundary, two plates collide and massive earthquakes will ensue as one plate is forced beneath the other—this process of plate tectonics is called subduction. Subduction is responsible for most of Earth’s mountain ranges, volcanoes, earthquakes, and deep sea trenches.

In the case of the Andes Mountains, the oceanic Nazca Plate plunged below the South American Continental Plate creating a deep sea trench on the oceanic side and the crumpled, upturned Andes Mountains on the continental side. Matter from the oceanic plate was scrapped away by the upward movement of the mountain range, accounting for the discovery of deep-sea fossils on the highest peaks of the Andes Mountains.

When the lithosphere moves down into the asthenosphere at a convergent boundary, it gets melted and recycled back into the mantle. The pools of magma that form while the lithosphere melts into the mantle may rise upward, exploding to the surface as volcanoes. The convergent boundary of the Andes Mountains in South America is home to some of the deadliest volcanoes in the world.

Transform Boundary
A transform boundary is a form of plate tectonics where two plates slide past one another in opposite directions, creating a transform fault. The San Andreas Fault of California is one such example of a transform boundary. The rocks facing each other on either side of the San Andreas Fault are of differing age and composition.

The lithosphere plates at a transform boundary do not smoothly slide alongside one another; snags and folds create friction that accounts for some of the world’s deadliest earthquakes—The San Andreas Fault was responsible for the earthquakes that tore down San Francisco in 1906.

Natural Gas the Natural Choice

2009-10-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

BP chief executive Tony Hayward believes natural gas has a bigger role to play in the world’s energy future

BP chief executive Tony Hayward believes natural gas has a bigger role to play in the world’s energy future. Speaking at the 24th World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he said: “We need to take carbon out of the energy mix today and we need to be realistic about how we’re going to do that.”

The solution, he said is through a diverse energy supply – particularly in the power sector, which he described as “one of the principal drivers of growth in global demand for energy to 2030.”

Tony Hayward

BP Chief Executive

That diversity will require the continued use of fossil fuels, nuclear and alternative energies such as wind, solar and biofuels, but, he said, until “renewables gain a sizeable share of the power sector and cleaner coal is available through carbon capture and storage, I can see only one way of doing it – by increasing the use of natural gas.”

He continued: “Using technology available today, greater use of natural gas can provide the quickest, most realistic path to achieving the largest emissions reductions at the lowest cost.”

While the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology offers great opportunities to develop cleaner burning coal, this route faces significant challenges. “I don’t believe we’ll see the commercial use of CCS at scale for at least another decade or more and it won’t come without a price,” he said.

By contrast, gas is already the cleanest burning fossil fuel – compared to coal it only generates half as much carbon per kilowatt hour – is abundant, versatile, efficient and can complement renewable energy.

Last year it was the only hydrocarbon that saw a rise in consumption in both OECD and non-OECD countries and developments in technology are now unlocking yet further unconventional gas reserves.

BP estimates that “undeveloped or unidentified unconventional gas could contribute a further 4,000 trillion cubic feet to gas resources over the next few years – another 60% on top of current proven gas reserves.”

Summing up, Hayward told his audience: “Natural gas can transform the global energy outlook. It’s here. It’s now. It’s cleaner. It’s more affordable. What are we waiting for?”

AAPG EXPLORER

2009-10-07T08:44:00.001-07:00

AAPG EXPLORER

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HALLIBURTON INTRODUCE SOLUTIONS FOR UNCONVENTIONAL GAS RESERVOIRS

2009-10-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

October 5, 2009 - HOUSTON; At the Society of Petroleum Engineers' Annual Technical Convention and Exhibition in New Orleans, Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) introduced new solutions designed to help operators address the challenges they face with unconventional gas reservoirs due to significant variances across plays, increasing reservoir complexity and rapid production decline.

"Halliburton understands and is responding to these challenges," said David King, President, Completion and Production Division, Halliburton. "Experience shows that improving overall reservoir understanding, along with offering customized solutions, can help operators develop assets that could not be technically or economically produced before."

For example, Halliburton's Stimulation for the Digital Asset™ workflow now provides the capability to view real-time stimulation data in engineering, geological and geophysical interpretation environments. This enables operators to use all the information they have not only to monitor and adjust treatments on the fly, but also to design better stimulation treatments, improve perforation strategies, and improve field development plans. This workflow brings together leading solutions from Halliburton's fracturing, microseismic mapping, and software products and services.

The company's Cobra Frac® H coiled-tubing-based fracturing service helps operators achieve increased fracture intensity by enabling the placement of virtually an unlimited number of fractures in the horizontal section of a well. This solution, based on Halliburton's unique treatment process coupled with a new bottomhole assembly using advanced elastomer technology, has already provided significantly improved production from more than 30 horizontal wellbores in Canada's Spearfish tight-sand formation. The Cobra Frac H service utilizes a bottomhole assembly which enables post-frac analysis to determine treatment effectiveness and it can also be used to efficiently refracture existing wellbores.

Halliburton also has a new extreme-temperature synthetic fracturing fluid comprising the first system that performs confidently at temperatures above 450°F while providing the proppant transport capabilities critical for the successful fracturing of deeper, hotter formations. In addition, this fluid system does not require a formation cool-down process, as did previous systems, which often contributes to poor initial well performance. This new fluid system is helping operators turn high-temperature discovered resources into producing assets.

Halliburton also helps operators manage the health, safety and environmental aspects of chemistry used in stimulation treatments with the Chemistry Scoring Index, which assigns a numeric score to each chemical used in the stimulation treatment. This solution can provide a solid basis for choosing more environmentally focused chemistry while reconciling it with overall well-completion costs.

Schlumberger Released Merak Enterprise Planning Software

2009-10-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

October 5, 2009 - NEW ORLEANS; Schlumberger today announced the release of Merak Enterprise Planning (MEP) software, a next-generation technology that enables dynamic oil and gas business planning, including event-driven or evergreen plans.
"With MEP, oil and gas companies can get fast answers to complex business questions for improved decision making," said Olivier Peyret, vice president, software products, Schlumberger Information Solutions. "This software helps clients to proactively respond to changing market and operational conditions to achieve growth objectives."

In a preliminary field test with a large integrated, independent oil and gas company, MEP demonstrated 50% reduction in project processing time, increased confidence in results and 75% reduction in analysis time.

Merak Enterprise Planning (click to enlarge)

Today’s oil and gas business planning process is often lengthy, cumbersome and sometimes ineffective in reflecting recent market and operational realities. Merak Enterprise Planning uses a unique oil and gas data management cube to align strategy with plans and budgets—simultaneously integrating reserves, production and financial data—to reveal critical business insights for timely decisions based on continually updated business plans.

Merak Enterprise Planning leverages Microsoft technologies to provide a collaborative platform for oil and gas business applications to generate valuable information in context using a robust calculation engine. Its data aggregation and mining capabilities deliver business intelligence and performance analytics in the context of an oil and gas enterprise.

"This is another tangible result of the Microsoft and Schlumberger partnership. The combination of Microsoft’s industry leading enterprise software platform with Schlumberger´s deep industry knowledge and expertise delivers a high value business solution, enabling faster and better decisions for individual assets as well as complex enterprise portfolios," said Dr. Ali Ferling, global managing director for the Oil & Gas Industry, Microsoft.

Schlumberger and Chevron Announce Release of INTERSECT

2009-10-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

October 5, 2009 -NEW ORLEANS; Schlumberger and Chevron Energy Technology Company, a Chevron Corporate (NYSE:CVX) subsidiary, today announced the release of INTERSECT next generation reservoir simulation software to enable simulation of large complex reservoirs and highly heterogeneous systems. The technology is the result of extensive research collaboration and a joint development effort between the two companies beginning in 2000.

"INTERSECT was possible only through close cooperation between Chevron and Schlumberger. Both companies have been developing and using simulators for several decades and have accumulated significant knowledge as a result," said Jeff Spath, president, Reservoir Management group, Schlumberger. "This jointly developed product has leveraged the collective expertise of our engineers in managing global oil and gas reservoirs, as well as our leadership and experience in simulator development."

"We have combined Chevron’s leading reservoir modeling and field management capability and our R&D efforts with Schlumberger's experience as a reservoir simulation solution provider," said Michael Allison, general manager, Reservoir Management, Chevron. "By creating key technologies through collaboration, this innovative partnership is delivering next generation technology that could benefit the energy industry."

Going beyond capabilities offered by the current generation of simulators, INTERSECT runs large and heterogeneous models—simulating tens of millions of cells—fast. It also accurately models complex geology and wells, honoring detailed reservoir characterizations with minimal or no upscaling. Supporting sophisticated field management, it handles thousands of wells in mature fields, as well as simulating all fluid types and recovery processes in a single simulator. Advanced production controls enable flexible operational field management.

The INTERSECT software will be progressively released. Early adopter customers will work closely with Schlumberger to apply this first commercial release to multiple reservoir challenges. Their experience will be used to further enhance the product for general release.

To provide open extensibility, future releases of INTERSECT will include Ocean development tools—enabling oil and gas companies, independent software providers and universities—to create plug-ins to customize simulation workflows for specific reservoir and recovery challenges.

Schlumberger will continue to develop and support the INTERSECT simulator and the industry-standard ECLIPSE reservoir simulator. Both simulators use Petrel Reservoir Engineering as a front end to simulation, integrating the static and dynamic modeling process.

The Quran and Mountains

2009-10-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Quran & Mountains

A book entitled Earth is a basic reference textbook in many universities around the world. One of its two authors is Professor Emeritus Frank Press. He was the Science Advisor to former US President Jimmy Carter, and for 12 years was the President of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC. His book says that mountains have underlying roots.¹ These roots are deeply embedded in the ground, thus, mountains have a shape like a peg (see figures 1, 2, and 3).

Figure 1: Mountains have deep roots under the surface of the ground. (Earth, Press and Siever, p. 413.)

Figure 2: Schematic section. The mountains, like pegs, have deep roots embedded in the ground. (Anatomy of the Earth, Cailleux, p. 220.)

Figure 3: Another illustration shows how the mountains are peg-like in shape, due to their deep roots. (Earth Science, Tarbuck and Lutgens, p. 158.)

This is how the Quran has described mountains. ALLAH (subhana wa ta'ala) has said in the Quran:

Have We not made the earth as a bed, and the mountains as pegs? (Quran, 78:6-7)

Modern earth sciences have proven that mountains have deep roots under the surface of the ground (see figure 3) and that these roots can reach several times their elevations above the surface of the ground. So the most suitable word to describe mountains on the basis of this information is the word ‘peg,’ since most of a properly set peg is hidden under the surface of the ground. The history of science tells us that the theory of mountains having deep roots was introduced only in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Mountains also play an important role in stabilizing the crust of the earth. They hinder the shaking of the earth. ALLAH (subhana wa ta'ala) has said in the Quran:

And He has set firm mountains in the earth so that it would not shake with you... (Quran, 16:15)

Likewise, the modern theory of plate tectonics holds that mountains work as stabilizers for the earth. This knowledge about the role of mountains as stabilizers for the earth has just begun to be understood in the framework of plate tectonics since the late 1960’s.

Could anyone during the time of the Prophet Muhammad have known of the true shape of mountains? Could anyone imagine that the solid massive mountain which he sees before him actually extends deep into the earth and has a root, as scientists assert? A large number of books of geology, when discussing mountains, only describe that part which is above the surface of the earth. This is because these books were not written by specialists in geology. However, modern geology has confirmed the truth of the Quranic verses.

SUBHAN ALLAH

Footnotes:

(1) Earth, Press and Siever, p. 435. Also see Earth Science, Tarbuck and Lutgens, p. 157.

(2) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, El-Naggar, p. 5.

(3) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, p. 5.

(4) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, pp. 44-45.

(5) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, p. 5.

Islam and Origin of Earth

2009-10-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Some Qur'aanic Verses about Geology & The Origin Of The Earth

Professor Alfred Kroner: …and that many of the statements made at the time could be proven, but that modern scientific methods are now in a position to prove what Muhammad said 1400 years ago.

We present to you Professor Alfred Kroner who is one of the world’s most famous geologists. He is a Professor of Geology and the Chairman of the Department of Geology at the Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenburg University, Mainz, Germany. We met him and presented several Qur'aanic verses and Ahadeeth of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). He studied and commented on them. Then we had a discussion with him.

Professor Kroner said: "Thinking about many of these questions and thinking where Muhammad came from, he was after all a Bedouin. I think it is almost impossible that he could have known about things like the common origin of the universe, because scientists have only found out within the last few years with very complicated and advanced technological methods that this is the case."

Professor Kroner chose an example from the Qur'aan which proved to him why the Qur'aan could not have come from Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) himself. The example which Professor Kroner chose is a description in the Qur'aan of the fact that this universe had its beginnings in one single entity. Allah, may He be Exalted and Glorified said:

"Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together [ratqan], before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing…" [Qur'aan 21:30]

The meaning of ratqan in this verse, as Ibn Abbas, Mujaahid, and others (Raziallaahu-t'aala-anha) said, may Allah be pleased with all of them, is that the heavens and the earth were stuck together or blended together, and that they were later separated from each other. Professor Kroner used this as an example to prove that no human being during the time of Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), could have known this.

Professor Kroner: "Somebody who did not know something about nuclear physics 1400 years ago could not, I think, be in a position to find out from his own mind for instance that the earth and the heavens had the same origin, or many others of the questions that we have discussed here."

Professor Kroner, so it seemed to us, has a special talent of being evasive. For example, we asked him to describe the geological conditions of Arabia. ‘Was Arabia full of orchards and rivers?’ He said: "During the Snow Age." And it is further known that the North Polar icebergs are slowly moving southwards. When those polar icebergs become relatively close to the Arabian Peninsula, the weather will change and Arabia will become one of the greenest and wettest parts of the world. We asked him: ‘Will Arabia become the land of orchards and rivers?’ He said: "Yes, it is a scientific fact."

This astonished us, and we wondered how he could state this as a scientific fact while it was related to the future and we asked: ‘Why?’ He said: "Because the new Snow Age has actually started. And we can see the snow crawling once again from the North Pole southwards. In fact, the polar snow is now on the way to get closer to the Arabian Peninsula. We can see the signs of this in the snow blizzards striking the northern parts of Europe and America every winter. Scientists have other signs and information proving the actual beginning of another Snow Age. It is a scientific fact."

So we said to him: ‘What you have just mentioned has only been known to scientists after a long series of discoveries and with the help of specialized instruments. But we have already found this mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) 1400 years ago. He said in a hadeeth transmitted in Saheeh Muslim:

The Last Hour will not come upon us until the lands of the Arabs are once again pasture lands and filled with rivers.

At this point we asked Professor Kroner: ‘Who told the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), that the lands of the Arabs were once filled with orchards and rivers?’ He immediately replied: "The Romans." This reminded me of Professor Kroner’s evasive ability. We asked him another question, we said to him: ‘But who informed the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), that the lands of the Arabs would once again become pasturelands and be filled with rivers?’. Professor Kroner becomes evasive if embarrassed. But whenever he was faced with the truth, he is courageous enough to state his opinion frankly and thus he replied: "This could have been known to him only through revelation from above."

Finally, after our discussions with him, he made the following comments: "If you combine all these and you combine all those statements that are being made in the Qur'aan in terms that relate to the earth and the formation of the earth and science in general, you can basically say that statements made there in many ways are true. They can now be confirmed by scientific methods, and in a way you can say that the Qur'aan is a simple science text book for the simple man, and that many of the statements made in there at that time could not be proven but that modern scientific methods are now in a position to prove what Muhammad said 1400 years ago."

Allah confirms in His Book that:

" This is no less than reminder to (all), the worlds. And you shall certainly know the truth of it all after a while" (Qur'aan 38:87-88).

Watch the Video Professor Alfred Kroner talks about the facts in Quran about the origin of the Earth

Marine Mass Extinction- New findings

2009-10-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

New findings suggest a quick rebound from Marine Mass Extinction Event

Researchers from MIT and their collaborators have found that at least some forms of microscopic marine life — the so called "primary producers," or photosynthetic organisms such as algae and cyanobacteria in the ocean — recovered within about a century after the mass extinction. Previous research had indicated the process might have taken millions of years.

Earlier in 1980, Luis Alvarez and his collaborators stunned the world with their discovery that an asteroid impact 65 million years ago probably killed off the dinosaurs and much of the the world's living organisms. But ever since, there has been an ongoing debate about how long it took for life to return to the devastated planet and for ecosystems to bounce back.

An artist's rendering of the asteroid impact that took place 65 million years ago and likely killed off nearly every large vertebrate species on the planet, including, many think, the dinosaurs. Don Davis/NASA

According to the new research, it has taken so long to uncover the quick recovery because previous studies looked mostly at fossils in the layers of sediment from that period, and apparently the initial recovery was dominated by tiny, soft-bodied organisms such as cyanobacteria, which do not have shells or other hard body parts that leave fossil traces. The new research looked instead for "chemical fossils" — traces of organic molecules (compounds composed of mostly carbon and hydrogen) that can reveal the presence of specific types of organisms, even though all other parts of the organisms themselves are long gone.

The new research, led by Julio Sepúlveda, an MIT postdoc who carried out part of the work while still a graduate student at the University of Bremen, Germany, and MIT Professor of Geobiology, Roger Summons, among others.

The team had two major advantages that helped to make the new findings possible. One was a section of the well-known cliff face at Stevns Klint, Denmark, that happens to have an unusually thick layer of sediment from the period of the mass extinction — about 40 centimeters thick, compared to the few cm thickness of the layers that Alvarez originally studied from that period at Gubbio (Italy) and Stevns Klint (Denmark). And team members tapped one of the most powerful Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometers (GC-MS) in the world, a device that can measure minute quantities of different molecules in the rock. MIT's advanced GC-MS is one of only a few such powerful instruments currently available at U.S. universities.

When people look at microfossils in the sediments from the period but are unable to detect the chemical biomarkers with the level of sensitivity the MIT team was able to achieve, they "miss a big part of the picture," Sepúlveda says. "Many of these microorganisms" that were detected through molecular signatures "are at the base of the food chain, but if you don't look with biochemical techniques you miss them."

The analysis clarified the sequence of events after the big impact. Immediately after the impact, certain areas of the ocean were devoid of oxygen and hostile to most algae, but close to the continent, microbial life was inhibited for only a relatively short period: in probably less than 100 years, algal productivity showed the first signs of recovery. In the open ocean, however, this recovery took much longer: previous studies have estimated that the global ocean ecosystem did not return to its former state until 1 to 3 million years following the impact.

Because of the rebound of primary producers, Sepúlveda says "very soon after the impact, the food supply was not likely a limitation" for other organisms, and yet "the whole ecology of the system remained disrupted" and took much longer to recover."

The findings provide observational evidence supporting models suggesting that global darkness after the impact was rather short. "Primary productivity came back quickly, at least in the environment we were studying," says Summons, referring to the near-shore environment represented by the Danish sediments.

"The atmosphere must have cleared up rapidly," he says. "People will have to rethink the recovery of the ecosystems. It can't be just the lack of food supply" that made it take so long to recover.

The team hopes to be able to study other locations with relatively thick deposits from the extinction aftermath, to determine whether the quick recovery really was a widespread phenomenon after the mass extinction.

These findings seem to rule out one theory about how the global ecosystem responded to the impact, which held that for more than a million years there was a "Strangelove ocean" — a reference to the post-apocalyptic scenario in the movie Dr. Strangelove — in which all the primary producers remained absent for a prolonged period, Summons says.

In addition to Sepúlveda and Summons, the work was carried out by Jens Wendler of the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany, and Kai-Uwe Hinrichs of the University of Bremen. The work was funded by the DFG, European Graduate College Europrox and the NASA Astrobiology and Exobiology Programs.

Monitoring faults- new ways may help predict earthquakes

2009-09-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Washington, D.C.—Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found a way to monitor the strength of geologic faults deep in the Earth. This finding could prove to be a boon for earthquake prediction by pinpointing those faults that are likely to fail and produce earthquakes. Until now, scientists had no method for detecting changes in fault strength, which is not measureable at the Earth's surface.

Paul Silver and Taka'aki Taira of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, with Fenglin Niu of Rice University and Robert Nadeau of the University of California, Berkeley, used highly sensitive seismometers to detect subtle changes in earthquake waves that travel through the San Andreas Fault zone near Parkfield, California, over a period of 20 years. The changes in the waves indicate weakening of the fault and correspond to periods of increased rates of small earthquakes along the fault.

Paul Silver (left) and Taka'aki Taira (right) of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism.

Fenglin Niu (left) of Rice University and Robert Nadeau (right) of the University of California, Berkeley.

"Fault strength is a fundamental property of seismic zones," says Taira, now at the University of California, Berkeley. "Earthquakes are caused when a fault fails, either because of the build-up of stress or because of a weakening of the fault. Changes in fault strength are much harder to measure than changes in stress, especially for faults deep in the crust. Our result opens up exciting possibilities for monitoring seismic risk and understanding the causes of earthquakes."

The section of the San Andreas Fault near Parkfield, sometimes called the "Earthquake Capital of the World," has been intensively studied by seismologists and is home to a sophisticated array of borehole seismometers called the High-Resolution Seismic Network and other geophysical instruments. Because the area experiences numerous repeated small earthquakes, it is a natural laboratory for studying the physics of earthquakes.

Seismograms from small earthquakes revealed that within the fault zone there were areas of fluid-filled fractures. What caught the researchers' attention was that these areas shifted slightly from time to time. The repeating earthquakes also became smaller and more frequent during these intervals – an indication of a weakened fault.

"Movement of the fluid in these fractures lubricates the fault zone and thereby weakens the fault," says Niu. "The total displacement of the fluids is only about 10 meters at a depth of about three kilometers, so it takes very sensitive seismometers to detect the changes, such as we have at Parkfield."

What caused the fluids to shift? Intriguingly, the researchers noticed that on two occasions the shifts came after the fault zone was disturbed by seismic waves from large, distant earthquakes, such as the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake. Pressure from these waves may have been enough to cause the fluids to flow. "So it is possible that the strength of faults and earthquake risk is affected by seismic events on the other side of the world," says Niu.

One of the largest diamonds ever found discovered in South Africa

2009-09-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest diamonds ever found has been discovered at a mine in South Africa

The rough 507 carat white stone was unearthed at the historic Cullinan mine – where the famous Cullinan diamond was discovered in 1905.

A spokesman for the mining firm Petra Diamond said the gemstone found last week was among the world's 20 largest diamonds ever discovered.

He added: "Initial examinations indicate that it is of exceptional colour and clarity, and most likely to be a Type I diamond.

"At 507 carats (just over 100 grams) the diamond, which has yet to be named, is considered to be among the top 20 largest high quality rough diamonds ever found worldwide and ranks alongside other illustrious diamonds recovered at the celebrated Cullinan mine.

"Further details, including colour grading and clarity, will be released once the diamond has undergone appropriate analysis."

The stone was found alongside three other valuable diamonds, with miners also unearthing a gemstone of 168.00 carats and two other stones of 58.50 and 53.30 carats.

Petra confirmed the rocks were discovered during digging at the huge Cullinan mine, around 25 miles outside Pretoria in South Africa's mineral-rich Gauteng province.

The original 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond became the largest rough diamond ever discovered when it was found on January 26 1905 by miner Frederick Wells.

Once polished, the stone was presented to King Edward VII and now forms part of the British crown jewels.

Experts have put its value in excess of £200 million. It was only overtaken as the world's biggest polished diamond in 1985 with the discovery of the Golden Jubilee diamond, also at the Cullinan mine.

That stone was smaller than the original on discovery but had a larger polished weight of 545 carats.

The Cullinan mine has also produced several of the world's other largest diamonds, including the famous Centenary diamond, at 599 carats rough.

Petra Diamond's boss, Johan Dippenaar, said the discovery ranked alongside some of the mine's other historic finds.

He said: "The Cullinan mine has again given the world a spectacularly beautiful and important diamond. Initial indications are that it is of exceptional colour and clarity, which suggest extraordinary potential for its polished yield."

"We now eagerly await the findings of the expert analysis."

The Cullinan mine was for decades owned by famous South African mining giant De Beers.

As the excavation work moved deeper underground the site was deemed likely to become less profitable.
In 2007 De Beers announced it had sold the property to Petra Diamond, one of the world's largest mining firms.

Last May a rare blue diamond discovered at Cullinan was sold at auction in Hong Kong for a world record £6.2m.

The flawless 7 carat gem was smaller than a penny piece.

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The future of scientific ocean drilling

2009-09-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

Close to 600 scientists from 21 countries met Sept. 23 – 25 2009 in Bremen, Germany, to outline major scientific targets for a new and ambitious ocean drilling research program. The scientific community envisions that this program will succeed the current Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) which ends in 2013. The outcome of the Bremen meeting will result in a new science plan, enabling scientific ocean drilling to take on a central role in environmental understanding and stewardship of our planet in the 21st century.

"This is a truly historic meeting", said the IODP vice-president Hans Christian Larsen. "Never before have so many scientists from the ocean drilling community met in one place. We were especially pleased to see so many young scientists – these researchers represent the next generation who will lead the new ocean drilling programme, which is expected to start in 2013."

The 600 scientists attending the meeting discussed both established and new research fields, such as the co-evolution of life and the planet, processes in the Earth's core and mantle, climate change, and new approaches to capture and store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's crust.

Potential predictability of geohazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis were also addressed, in part linked to development of sub-seafloor laboratories as much as 6 km deep into the seabed.

Ocean drilling has already revealed many exciting discoveries such as confirmation of microbial life up to 1,600 metres below the seafloor in rocks as old as 111 million years. Scientists have now started to explore this 'deep biosphere', which may have a biomass equal to that of the tropical rain forest. But many critical questions remain unanswered:

How did these ecosystems develop?

Can they tell us about the potential for life on other planets?

Can marine microbial communities play a role in the development of new biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals?

During his plenary talk, Alan Mix of Oregon State University pointed out that the current level of CO2 injection into Earth's atmosphere soon will bring the CO2 concentration to a level not seen for many million of years and on par with that of severe greenhouse conditions of the geological past. Only ocean drilling can provide records of the environment that ruled during these warm episodes during Earth's history, and investigate the true sensitivity of the climate to changes in CO2 concentration.

Ocean research drilling started more than four decades ago as one of the most ambitious projects in the history of marine science. Since then, about 200 expeditions have been completed and more than 350 kilometres of core have been recovered, documenting a much more dynamic Earth and climate than was previously thought to exist. In recent years, IODP, using multiple drilling platforms, has drilled in extremely challenging environments, such as shallow water carbonate reef systems very sensitive to sea-level change and in the high Arctic, the last frontier area of ocean exploration on the Earth. Today, even deep drilling, up to ten kilometres beneath the drillship is possible.

These investigations have revolutionised the understanding of how the Earth works. A future ocean drilling programme will play a pivotal role in enhancing this knowledge by using new technologies and installation of permanent laboratories deep below the ocean floor. As Alan Mix told the conference participants "The beginning is now!"

Geology Photos

2009-09-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

A summary of Geology photos posted on flickr
Displayed below are 100 geology-related photos were added to flickr today.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies

2009-09-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

At the G20, President Obama said he would phase out fossil fuel subsidies as a way to combat climate change.

At the G20 economic summit in Pittsburgh, President Obama challenged other world leaders to take a fresh look at the support their governments give to fossil fuels.

"I will work with my colleagues at the G20 to phase out fossil fuel subsidies so that we can better address our climate challenge," said President Obama.

Recent reports from the International Energy Agency and other institutions point out the scale of those largely hidden subsidies and how they contribute to global warming.

It's an area Steve Kretzman's studied for decades at the Institute for Policy Studies and now with the advocacy group Oil Change International.

The subsidies, according to Kretzman are, "basically money that's given by governments to either subsidize the cost of production, thus lowering the cost of production for producers like oil and coal, or subsidize the cost of consumption, thus lowering the cost of consumption for consumers around the world, i.e., keeping the price of gas artificially low."

"On an annual basis, globally, there are at least $250 billion dollars in global fossil fuel subsides, and some people will think that number is closer to $400 billion."

Kretzman says most of the subsidies go into keeping the prices low for consumers, especially for those in developing nations. However, there are also subsidies for the production side. He says a recent study shows $70 billion dollars going to the fossil fuel industry on an annual basis -- much higher than the amount of subsidies for renewables:

"You know, solar, wind, efficiency, these things get about 12 billion on an annual basis, as compared again to $70 [billion] for fossil fuels. So that's a really imbalanced energy market. A few years back, there was a study of climate change, in particular, and it was noted by Nicholas Stern, who was the World Bank's chief economist, that climate change is the greatest market failure of all time, and that the subsidies -- the fossil fuel subsidies -- are the major reason for this market distortion."

President Obama's proposal to phase out subsidies received immediate response from some oil-producing states.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican from Alaska, said: "I think it is important to determine what is a subsidy and what is a tax incentive. Raising taxes on the fuels that we currently depend on would likely result in higher consumer prices and would only impact our ability to produce those fuels domestically instead of importing them."

Kretzman questions this line of reasoning. "This is one of the most profitable industries on the planet, and why they need to use tax dollars to additionally incentivize them doesn't really make any sense. And it's time to start using our public money to encourage the energy of the future, not the energy of the past."

He adds that this could also save consumers money in the long run. "If you effect a transition time, and at the same point you're subsidizing the cleaner energy production, maybe you end up actually with cheaper energy on the other end. I think everyone recognizes that it's in no one's interest to jack up the price and make energy or transport unaffordable to Americans or anyone else in the rest of the world. What we want to do is make sure this energy is actually produced in a clean way that is sustainable."

As for how getting rid of subsidies will impact climate change, Kretzman believes it will be quite "profound."

"There was a study from OECD earlier this year that showed that for the $300 billion dollars in subsidies that were identified in that study, if they were taken away, you would get a 10 to 12 percent reduction, globally, in greenhouse gases. Hosted by Steve Curwood, "Living on Earth" is an award-winning environmental news program that delves into the leading issues affecting the world we inhabit."

Schlumberger along with National Oilwell Varco creates IntelliServ Joint Venture

2009-09-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

HOUSTON, Texas, September 28, 2009 - National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) and Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) announced today the creation of a joint venture to provide high-speed drill string telemetry systems to improve the efficiency and safety of oil and gas operations.

The IntelliServ joint venture is expected to accelerate development and delivery of intelligent drilling solutions through the expanded use of the IntelliServ® Broadband Network, a patented technology that provides high resolution data in real time to and from the bottom of oil and gas wells as they are being drilled. IntelliServ also will provide along-string evaluation services that will enable real-time monitoring of drill string conditions, and an unlimited ability to actuate downhole tools on-demand. The current speed of 57,600 bits per second is up to 20,000 times faster than the transmission speed that is available using conventional mud pulse technology.

National Oilwell Varco owns 55 percent of the joint venture and provides manufacturing, technical and operational support, while Schlumberger owns 45 percent and brings evaluation and measurement expertise, and will pursue the development of advanced drilling-related systems enabled by the IntelliServ® Broadband Network. The joint venture will maintain the open access architecture of the IntelliServ® Broadband Network, and will seek to become the industry standard for all drilling tools utilizing high data transmission rates.

Pete Miller, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Oilwell Varco, stated:

“Our new joint venture with Schlumberger will permit us to better serve our customers by opening a range of new intelligent drilling possibilities, and expanding the global reach of the IntelliServ® Broadband Network. We are excited about the possibilities this joint venture brings to the marketplace and we look forward to working closely with Schlumberger to expand further the commercial use of IntelliServ.”

Commenting on the transaction, Andrew Gould, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Schlumberger Limited, remarked:

“The combination of our respective strengths in drilling measurements and telemetry brings a unique opportunity for a step-change in the development of technology capable of significantly improving drilling performance through continuous information about the well and the reservoir, as the well is drilled.”

(View PDF File)

New Ruling Decides The Boundaries Of Earth's History

2009-09-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

Sept 23,2009 : END OF AN ERA

After decades of debate and four years of investigation an international body of earth scientists has formally agreed to move the boundary dates for the prehistoric Quaternary age by 800,000 years.

The decision has been made by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), the authority for geological science which has acted to end decades of controversy by formally declaring when the Quaternary Period, which covers both the ice age and moment early man first started to use tools, began.

In the 18th Century the earth's history was split into four epochs, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary. Although the first two have been renamed Palaeozoic and Mesozoic respectively, the second two have remained in use by scientists for more than 150 years. There has been a protracted debate over the position and status of Quaternary in the geological time scale and the intervals of time it represents.

"It has long been agreed that the boundary of the Quaternary Period should be placed at the first sign of global climate cooling," said Professor Philip Gibbard. "What we have achieved is the definition of the boundary of the Quaternary to an internationally recognised and fixed point that represents a natural event, the beginning of the ice ages on a global scale."

Controversy over when exactly the Quaternary Period began has raged for decades, with attempts in 1948 and 1983 to define the era. In 1983 the boundary was fixed at 1.8 million years, a decision which sparked argument within the earth science community as this point was not a 'natural boundary' and had no particular geological significance.

Up to now it has been widely felt within the scientific community that the boundary should be located earlier, at a time of greater change in the earth-climate system.

"For practical reasons such boundaries should ideally be made as easy as possible to identify all around the world. The new boundary of 2.6 million years is just that," concluded Gibbard, "hence we are delighted at finally achieving our goal of removing the boundary to this earlier point."

"The decision is a very important one for the scientific community working in the field," said Professor Chris Caseldine. "It provides us with a point in geological time when we effectively did move into a climatic era recognisably similar to the geological present."

Gneiss

2009-09-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Gneiss is foliated metamorphic rock that has a banded appearance and is made up of granular mineral grains. It typically contains abundant quartz or feldspar minerals.

Intermediate to light color; medium – coarse crystals.

Coarsely banded, fine dark bands/coarse light bands.

Composition: Quartz, feldspar, mica.

Formed from metamorphosed granites or sandy marine sediments.

Amphibolite

2009-09-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

Amphibolite is a non-foliated metamorphic rock that forms through recrystallization under conditions of high viscosity and directed pressure. It is composed primarily of amphibole and plagioclase, usually with very little quartz.

Amphibolite forms when basaltic rock is subjected to higher temperatures (550–750°C) and slightly greater pressure range than that which yields greenschist. Amphibolite is also the name of a metamorphic facies—a set of minerals that typically forms at a specific range of temperature and pressure.

Color: Light Green to Black

Structure: Fine-to-coarse grains, hard, often sparkles

Can Hydrocarbons Form in the Mantle Without Organic Matter?

2009-09-23T04:50:00.000-07:00

Deep Earth Hydrocarbons?

The oil and gas that fuels our homes and cars started out as living organisms that died, were compressed, and heated under heavy layers of sediments in the Earth's crust. Scientists have debated for years whether some of these hydrocarbons could also have been created deeper in the Earth and formed without organic matter.

Now for the first time, scientists have found that ethane and heavier hydrocarbons can be synthesized under the pressure-temperature conditions of the upper mantle —the layer of Earth under the crust and on top of the core. The research was conducted by scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory, with colleagues from Russia and Sweden, and is published in the July 26, advanced on-line issue of Nature Geoscience.

Methane (CH4) is the main constituent of natural gas, while ethane (C2H6) is used as a petrochemical feedstock. Both of these hydrocarbons, and others associated with fuel, are called saturated hydrocarbons because they have simple, single bonds and are saturated with hydrogen.

High Temperatures and Pressures in a Lab

Using a diamond anvil cell and a laser heat source, the scientists first subjected methane to pressures exceeding 20 thousand times the atmospheric pressure at sea level and temperatures ranging from 1,300 F° to over 2,240 F°. These conditions mimic those found 40 to 95 miles deep inside the Earth. The methane reacted and formed ethane, propane, butane, molecular hydrogen, and graphite. The scientists then subjected ethane to the same conditions and it produced methane. The transformations suggest heavier hydrocarbons could exist deep down. The reversibility implies that the synthesis of saturated hydrocarbons is thermodynamically controlled and does not require organic matter.

The scientists ruled out the possibility that catalysts used as part of the experimental apparatus were at work, but they acknowledge that catalysts could be involved in the deep Earth with its mix of compounds.

Historical Experiments and Predictions

"We were intrigued by previous experiments and theoretical predictions," remarked Carnegie's Alexander Goncharov a coauthor. "Experiments reported some years ago subjected methane to high pressures and temperatures and found that heavier hydrocarbons formed from methane under very similar pressure and temperature conditions. However, the molecules could not be identified and a distribution was likely. We overcame this problem with our improved laser-heating technique where we could cook larger volumes more uniformly. And we found that methane can be produced from ethane."

The hydrocarbon products did not change for many hours, but the tell-tale chemical signatures began to fade after a few days.

Professor Kutcherov, a coauthor, put the finding into context: "The notion that hydrocarbons generated in the mantle migrate into the Earth's crust and contribute to oil-and-gas reservoirs was promoted in Russia and Ukraine many years ago.

Opportunities for Research

The synthesis and stability of the compounds studied here as well as heavier hydrocarbons over the full range of conditions within the Earth's mantle now need to be explored. In addition, the extent to which this 'reduced' carbon survives migration into the crust needs to be established (e.g., without being oxidized to CO2). These and related questions demonstrate the need for a new experimental and theoretical program to study the fate of carbon in the deep Earth."

This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Agency through the Carnegie/DOE Alliance Center, the National Science Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Carnegie Institution.

The Carnegie Institution for Science (www.CIW.edu) has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research since 1902. It is a private, nonprofit organization with six research departments throughout the U.S. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.

Drilling to Earth's Mantle May Become Possible

2009-09-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Technology for Drilling to the Moho

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), in collaboration with industry partner AGR Drilling Services, has engineered an ultra-deepwater drilling technology for use by IODP drilling vessels in scientific research.

One problem with drilling deep holes in ultra-deepwater is the control and recirculation of drilling mud that cools the drilling process and flushs rock cuttings out of the drill hole. In the riserless mud recovery system, drilling mud is pumped down the drill pipe, exits through the drill bit, returns to the top of the hole outside of the drill pipe and is then captured as it exits the hole and pumped back to the surface through a rigid mud return line. Image by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

Originally developed for shallow-water oil and gas exploration, the "riserless mud recovery" technology (RMR™) holds great promise for scientists striving to reach the long-held goal of Project Mohole in the 1950s: drilling all the way through ocean crust into the Earth’s mantle; a frontier not yet explored today. Drilled cores from the mantle could provide scientists with answers to questions about the structure, composition, mineralogy, and in situ physical properties of oceanic crust and the geological nature of the seismic Moho.

Implementation As Early As July, 2011

"With AGR Drilling Services’ support, IODP led an engineering effort to adapt existing technology to drill very deep holes in very deep regions of the ocean," says Engineering Manager Greg Myers. "Up to now, riserless mud recovery drilling was limited to shallower water depths.

This ultra-deepwater drilling technology allows scientists to investigate subseafloor areas in great depths, where oceanic crust may be thinner—such as in waters off Hawaii." According to Myers, an ultra-deepwater RMR™ system could be implemented as early as July 2011.

The RMR™ technology, owned by AGR, is expected to operate in hyper-deepwater depths greater than 12,000 feet. Funding for preliminary engineering was provided by the DeepStar Consortium, a deepwater industry group that supports deepwater technology development projects and leverages the industry’s financial and technical resources.

"This ultra-deepwater drilling technology is environmentally friendly," says David Hine, AGR Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "It operates with a 'zero-discharge' system, leaving no cuttings or mud behind."

Previous Near-Mantle Depth Drilling

In December 2005, scientists aboard IODP Expedition 312 approached mantle depths while drilling to investigate superfast seafloor spreading rates. The research expedition penetrated volcanic rock (gabbros) and reached a fossil magma chamber lying 1.4 kilometers beneath the seafloor. The Moho, or mantle, lies beneath the gabbros layer of ocean crust at depths that vary from about 5-10 km. beneath the ocean floor, to about 40 km. beneath the continents, to as much as 70 km. beneath some mountain ranges.

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is an international marine research program led by the National Science Foundation in the U.S. with support from another 23 countries. IODP advances scientific understanding of Earth by drilling, sampling, and monitoring subseafloor environments.

Using multiple platforms and technologies, the world’s preeminent scientists working in the program explore climate change, the deep biosphere, and geodynamics.

AGR'S RMR DRILLING SYSTEM

*Republished from a press release from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program issued in August, 2009.