Department of Earthsciences Comsats Abbottabad

w

2013-10-14T18:33:00.002-07:00

Pakistan said to have large reserves of shale gas, oil

2013-09-01T11:17:00.001-07:00

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the American federal authority on energy statistics and analysis, has estimated fresh recoverable shale gas reserves of 105 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and more than nine billion barrels of oil in Pakistan. These estimates of recoverable hydrocarbon reserves are many times larger than so far proven reserves of 24 TCF for gas and about 300 million barrels for oil. Pakistan currently produces about 4.2 billion cubic feet of gas and about 70,000 barrels of oil per day. A government official said the new estimates appeared to be ‘very very encouraging’ but it had not been shared with the government of Pakistan. He said the shale gas had seen tremendous developments in the United States and a couple of other countries were trying to use the latest technology. Pakistan, he said, was also encouraging exploration and production companies to venture into the fresh horizon. According to a June 2013 estimates of the EIA based on surveys conducted by Advanced Resources International (ARI), a total of 1,170 TCF of risked shale gas are estimated for India-Pakistan region --584 TCF in India and 586 TCF in Pakistan. In case of Pakistan these estimates are backed by proven studies and verified technical data “The risked, technically recoverable shale gas resource is estimated at 201 TCF, with 96 TCF in India and 105 TCF in Pakistan,” said the EIA. The EIA also estimated risked shale oil in place for India/Pakistan of 314 billion barrels, with 87 billion barrels in India and 227 billion barrels in Pakistan. “The risked, technically recoverable shale oil resource is estimated at 12.9 billion barrels for those two countries, with 3.8 billion barrels for India and 9.1 billion barrels for Pakistan,” the EIA said. The southern and central Indus basins are located in Pakistan, along border with India and Afghanistan which are bounded by the Indian shield on the east and highly folded and thrust mountains on the west. The lower Indus basin has commercial oil and gas discoveries in the Cretaceous-age Goru Fm sands plus additional gas discoveries in shallower formations. The shales in the Sembar Formation are considered as the primary source rocks for these discoveries. The EIA said that while oil and gas shows have been recorded in the Sembar Shale on the Thar Platform, no productive oil or gas wells have yet been drilled into the Sembar Shale. About the resource assessment, the EIA said that within 31,320 sq miles of dry gas prospective area, the Sembar Shale in the lower Indus basin had a resource concentration of 83 billion cubic feet per square mile. Within the 25,560 square mile wet gas and condensate prospective are, the Sembar shale has resource concentration of 57 BCF per sq. miles of wet gas and nine million barrels per square mile of condensate. Within the 26,700 square miles oil prospective area, the Sembar Shale has a resource concentration of 37 million barrels per square mile.

Download Time Table for Session Spring 2012

2012-08-10T10:00:00.001-07:00

Geologic temperature record

2012-08-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

This article is devoted to temperature changes in Earth's environment as determined from geologic evidence on multi-million to billion (109) year time scales.

The Geologic temperature record are changes in Earth's environment as determined from geologic evidence on multi-million to billion (10⁹) year time scales. The study of past temperatures provides an important paleoenvironmental insight because it is a crucial component of the climate and oceanography of the time.

Description of the temperature record

Recent past

Five Million Years of Climate Change^[2]

The last 3 million years have been characterized by cycles of glacials and interglacials within a gradually deepening ice age. These cycles involve the growth and retreat of continental ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere and involve fluctuations on 40,000 and 100,000 year time scales. Such cycles are usually interpreted as being driven by predictable changes in the Earth orbit known as Milankovitch cycles. The gradual intensification of this ice age over the last 3 million years has been associated with declining concentrations of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, though it remains unclear if this change is sufficiently large to have caused the changes in temperatures. Decreased temperatures can cause a decrease in carbon dioxide as, by Henry's Law, carbon dioxide is more soluble in colder waters, which may account for 30ppmv of the 100ppmv decrease in carbon dioxide concentration during the last glacial maximum. ^[1]

Similarly, the initiation of this deepening phase also corresponds roughly to the closure of the Isthmus of Panama by the action of plate tectonics. This prevented direct ocean flow between the Pacific and Atlantic, which would have had significant effects on ocean circulation and the distribution of heat. However, modeling studies have been ambiguous as to whether this could be the direct cause of the intensification of the present ice age.

This recent period of cycling climate is part of the more extended ice age that began about 40 million years ago with the glaciation ofAntarctica.

Initial Eocene thermal maxima

Climate change during the last 65 million years. The true magnitude of the PETM is likely to be understated in this figure due to coarse sampling.^[3]

In the earliest part of the Eocene period, a series of abrupt thermal spikes have been observed, lasting no more than a few 100,000 years. The most pronounced of these, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is visible in the figure at right. These are usually interpreted as caused by abrupt releases of methane from clathrates (frozen methane ices that accumulate at the bottom of the ocean), though some scientists dispute that methane would be sufficient to cause the observed changes^{[citation needed}]. During these events, temperatures in the Arctic Ocean may have reached levels more typically associated with modern temperate (i.e. mid-latitude) oceans.^{[citation needed]}

Cretaceous thermal optimum

Main article: Cretaceous Thermal Maximum

During the later portion of the Cretaceous, from 65 to 100 million years ago, average global temperatures reached their highest level during the last ~200 million years. This is likely the result of a favorable configuration of the continents during this period that allowed for improved circulation in the oceans and discouraged the formation of large scale ice sheet.^{[citation needed}] Perhaps the visible anecdotal evidence of high temperatures during this period was the occurrence of deciduous forests extending all the way to the poles.^{[citation needed]}

Fluctuations during the remainder of the Phanerozoic

500 Million Years of Climate Change^[4]

The Phanerozoic eon, encompassing the last 542 million years and almost the entire time since the origination of complex multi-cellular life, has more generally been a period of fluctuating temperature between ice ages, such as the current age, and "climate optima", similar to what occurred in the Cretaceous. Roughly 4 such cycles have occurred during this time with an approximately 140 million year separation between climate optima. In addition to the present, ice ages have occurred during the Permian-Carboniferousinterval and the late Ordovician-early Silurian. There is also a "cooler" interval during the Jurassic and early Cretaceous, with evidence of increased sea ice, but the lack of continents at either pole during this interval prevented the formation of continental ice sheets and consequently this is usually not regarded as a full-fledged ice age. In between these cold period, warmer conditions were present and often referred to as climate optima. However, it has been difficult to determine whether these warmer intervals were actually hotter or colder than occurred during the Cretaceous optima.

Late Proterozoic ice ages

The Neoproterozoic era (1,000 to 542 million years ago), provides evidence of at least two and possibly more major glaciations. The more recent of these ice ages, encompassing the Marinoan & Varangian glacial maxima (about 560 to 650 million years ago), has been proposed as a snowball Earth event with continuous sea ice reaching nearly to the equator. This is significantly more severe than the ice age during the Phanerozoic. Because this ice age terminated only slightly before the rapid diversification of life during the Cambrian explosion, it has been proposed that this ice age (or at least its end) created conditions favorable to evolution. The earlier Sturtian glacial maxima (~730 million years) may also have been a snowball Earth event though this is unproven.

The changes that lead to the initiation of snowball Earth events are not well known, but it has been argued that they necessarily lead to their own end. The widespread sea ice prevents the deposition of fresh carbonates in ocean sediment. Since such carbonates are part of the natural process for recycling carbon dioxide, short-circuiting this process allows carbon dioxide to accumulate in the atmosphere. This increases the greenhouse effect and eventually leads to higher temperatures and the retreat of sea ice.^[5]

Overall view

Direct combination of these interpreted geological temperature records is not necessarily valid, nor is their combination with other more recent temperature records, which may use different definitions. Nevertheless, an overall perspective is useful, even when rather imprecise. (Here the time scale is reversed; with time increasing to the right to match the shorter-term temperature record plotting convention.) Note that the graph does not use a true logarithmic scale, only a very rough approximation of a logarithmic scale, achieved through the combination of seven sections each using a progressively more fine-grained linear scale.

Other temperature changes in Earth's past

Prior to the Neoproterozoic, evidence of temperature changes and glaciation is usually too scattered and sporadic to draw firm conclusions though it seems likely that temperature fluctuations were also substantial during this period.^{[citation needed}]

Some evidence does exist however that the period of 2,000 to 3,000 million years ago was very generally colder and more glaciated than the last 500 million years. This is thought to be the result of solar radiation approximately 20% lower than today.^{[citation needed}]

On very long time scales, the evolution of the sun is also an important factor in determining Earth's climate. According to standard solar theories, the sun will gradually have increased in brightness as a natural part of its evolution after having started with an intensity approximately 70% of its modern value. The initially low solar radiation, if combined with modern values of greenhouse gases, would not have been sufficient to allow for liquid oceans on the surface of the Earth. However, evidence of liquid water at the surface has been demonstrated as far back as 3,500 million years ago. This is known as the faint young sun paradox and is usually explained by invoking much larger greenhouse gas concentrations in Earth's early history, though such proposals are poorly constrained by existing experimental evidence.

Geophysicist Consultant job in Middle East

2012-08-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

Rate :Competitive

Type:Permanent

Location:Yemen

Posted By The Highfield Company

Date Posted 01 Aug 2012

Expiry Date 15 Aug 2012

Job Reference

62423_28490highf_AMW

Job Description

Geophysicist Consultant – Yemen
Are you an experienced Geophysicist looking for a rotation position in the Middle East with a tax free salary? If so then please forward your CV immediately.
As an experienced and professional Geophysicist, your duties and responsibilities will be:-

Plan and direct large programs/projects and setting priorities.
You will participate with preparation and update area Asset Management Plans inconjunction with the asset team members.
Assist the Geologist Consultants in studies on Carbonate and Basement reservoirs and establish new plays in reservoir types culminating in creation of drillable prospects.
Provide on-going geophysical support/ interpretation for exploration and development opportunities in clastics, carbonate and basement reservoirs.
Participates in the annual evaluation and reporting of company reserves.
Perform independent studies and analysis, interpret and draw own conclusions.
Provides expertise in fracture identification, modelling and mapping.
Coach and train junior Geophysicists.
Work within a multi-disciplinary team to develop an inventory of leads and commercially viable drillable prospects and effectively presenting recommendations to management.
Independently evaluate complex data sets, seismic and well log data for hydrocarbon potential and makes recommendations based on technical and business experience.
Work with team of engineers on well designs and incorporate engineering input into overall interpretation and evaluates the results.
Assists management to execute the technical work programs and budgets for operated blocks.
Design 3D and 2D seismic programs and monitor seismic and other geophysical operations.
Ensures optimal results from the processing and re-processing of seismic data.
Ability to travel internationally and to the Operating sites up to a few times each year.

Candidates are to be degree qualified in Geophysics and have a minimum of 15 years experience of related geophysical work. You will have a proven track record of prospect generation both in clatsics, carbonate and basement rocks with exploratory success is desired. Mature technical knowledge in panning, conducting and coordinating difficult and complex assignments is required as well as an advanced understanding of seismic interpretation, well log analysis and economic evaluations. You will have a proven track record of prospect generation in clastics, carbonate and basement reservoirs with success is a desirable asset. You must also possess excellent skills in Seisworks, Petrosys, Geolog and Oracle. Candidates must be fluent written/spoken English language.

Our client is able to offer a competitive salary which is tax free with full expatriate package working a 35/35 rotation including Business class flights and medical.

Please e-mail with your full CV if you feel you have the right experience and are interested to discuss in more detail.

Qualifications Bachelors Degree or equivalent

To Apply click here

landform- Unique Geological feature

2012-07-31T11:54:00.001-07:00

The Danxia landform refers to various landscapes found in southeast and southwest China that "consist of a red bed characterized by steep cliffs".^[1] It is a unique type of petrographic geomorphology found in China. Danxia landform is formed from red-colored sandstones and conglomerates of largely Cretaceous age. The landforms look very much like karst topography that forms in areas underlain by limestones, but since the rocks that form Danxia are sandstones and conglomerates, they have been called "pseudo-karst" landforms. Danxia landforms cover several provinces in southeast China. Taining County, Fujian Province, has very good examples of "young" danxia landforms wherein deep, narrow valleys have been formed. As the landform gets older, valleys widen and one gets isolated towers and ridges.
The Danxia landform is named after Mount Danxia, one of the most famous examples of the Danxia landform.
A very peculiar feature of Danxia landscape is the development of numerous caves of various sizes and shapes. The caves tend to be shallow and isolated, unlike true karst terrain where caves tend to form deep, interconnecting networks.

In 2010, several Danxia landscapes in southern China, with a general name of "China Danxia", were inscribed as a World Heritage Site.^[2] The six inscribed Danxia landform areas are: Mount Langshan and Mount Wanfoshan (Hunan Province), Mount Danxia (Guangdong Province), Taining and Guanzhishan (Fujian Province), Mount Longhu and Guifeng (Jiangxi Province), Fangyan, Mount Jianglang (Zhejiang Province), and Mount Chishui (Guizhou Province). The total core area of 6 regions above is 73945 ha, and the total buffer area is 65446 ha

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danxia_landform

How Tectonic Plates Die - Plate Tectonics and the Death of Plates

2012-03-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Death of Plates

What happens to a lithospheric plate after it has been subducted

What happens to plates after they are subducted is hotly debated, and the topic points to the future of plate tectonics itself. The evidence shows that cold descending lithosphere (the slab) sinks until it matches the density of the surrounding mantle. We detect the presence of the slab in two ways: the cold, rigid rock generates earthquakes as it cracks from the stresses of the deep Earth, and studies of seismic waves show that they speed up as they move across the slab. Earthquake evidence at shallow depths is clear, but eventually slabs stop having quakes and we must rely on other clues. That evidence, based on seismic tomography, is subtle and not universally accepted.

By these means we can visualize slabs descending to around 650 kilometers depth in some cases, where there is a major discontinuity separating the upper and lower mantle. Some studies picture a few slabs going through this barrier. Other slabs appear to descend only a few hundred kilometers and level off there. Now so-called stagnant slabs are known around the world. They appear to be still relatively cool, but releasing water from high-pressure changes in their minerals over a period of around 50 million years. It is postulated that eventually, some slabs "avalanche" into the viscous lower mantle.

Do plates disappear in the mantle, or do they leave permanent traces? Is the deep Earth a mixing machine or a cemetery of old plates? It appears to be something of both. Rocks from the upper mantle have a certain amount of variation, suggesting that distinct bodies of material can be maintained for hundreds of millions, even billions of years. On the other hand, plate tectonics has gone on for nearly 3 billion years, and most of the old oceanic lithosphere has clearly been recycled.

Geochemists, seismologists, mineral physicists, paleogeographers, computer modelers and other specialists all bring to the table their own insights into the deep Earth. Tying these insights into a single unified theory of the Earth is a very difficult problem. Some of their assumptions are in conflict, and their definitions of some terms disagree. Facts that one specialty considers tentative are taken as truth by other specialists. And so the great scientific conversation will continue for many years to come.

There's a strong presumption among geologists today that below the plates the whole deep Earth has its own cycle: downwelling of old lithosphere is matched by upwelling of hot plumes from the mantle's base, and everything must be in balance. But in Earth science, we have learned again and again that geologic affairs are not what we presume.

A small but growing school of geoscientists concludes that deep plumes are not supported by the evidence. Instead, they look to plate tectonics to explain even more than it does today. With its presumptions removed, says anti-plume leader Don Anderson, "plate tectonics is a much more powerful concept than generally believed." See this introduction to the nonplume hypothesis, or dip into the ferment at the professional level at mantleplumes.org.

Geology And Tectonics of Pakistan By Kazmin And Jan Free E-Book

2012-03-13T09:53:00.001-07:00

Geology Of Pakistan By Kazmi And Jan Free book

Click here to Download and Also like our Facebook Page for More Stuff Like this

Merit List for Spring 2012

2012-01-31T18:22:00.000-08:00

Fossil Record Mystery | Geology

2012-01-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

Download Ebook Field Geophysics Free

2012-01-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

Click to Downlad

Free Internet Download Manager 5.18 with patch working 100%.rar - 4.0 MB

2011-11-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

Click to download Internet Download Manager 5.18 with patch working 100%.rar - 4.0 MB

Free Geolgy Books 2

2011-10-14T15:47:00.001-07:00

Fundamentals-of-GIS(Book)

2011-10-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Fundamentals-of-GIS

To download this book click ton the image above and login in scrib.com with facebook

upload a small word/pdf file from ur computer and download the book

Adloaded

Free Books 1--Updated

2011-10-14T15:37:00.001-07:00

Remot Sensing Fundamentals{Book}

2011-10-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Remot Sensing Fundamentals

Click Here for Online View and Download

Making Geologic Maps Free Pdf Download

2011-10-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

Geological data plays a key role in the discovery
and development of new sources of minerals and
energy, evaluation of water resources, engineering
assessment for construction projects,
evaluation of risks from natural hazards, and environmental
monitoring and remediation, among
other applications. The starting point for all such
studies is usually a geologic map of the relevant
area.
A geologic map depicts the geologist’s observations
and inferences about the surface distribution,
geometry, and structure of the various rocks and sediments
in the area. The geologist usually gathers much
of the information shown in a geologic map by examining
rock outcrops in the
field. Download to read More

Click Here to Download Pdf and read More

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View

Geologic Mapping on a Topographic Base(E-Book)

2011-09-13T11:14:00.001-07:00

Geologic Mapping on a Topographic Base Pdf

HYDROGEOLOGY FIELD MANUAL

2011-09-13T11:13:00.001-07:00

HYDROGEOLOGY FIELD MANUAL

download E-book Geology for Engineers

2011-09-13T11:00:00.001-07:00

Geology for Engineers by Robert Fox Sorsbie

Download E-book Petroleum Geology of Pakistan by Iqbal.B.Kadri

2011-08-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Download E-book Petroleum Geology of Pakistan by Iqbal.B.Kadri
Click here for download link

Download E-book "Why, and How, Should Geologists Use Compositional Data Analysis"

2011-08-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

Why, and How, Should Geologists Use Compositional Data Analysis
by by Ricardo A. Valls - Wikibooks , 2008
Click download button to save file

Download E-book "This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics"

2011-08-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics
by W. Jacquelyne Kious, Jacqueline W. Kious, Robert I. Tilling

Click on Download Button to Save file

Download E-book Mineralogy by F. H. Hatch

2011-08-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

Download E-book Mineralogy by F. H. Hatch
Click on Download Button to save file

Download E-book Geology for engineers

2011-08-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

Geology for engineers

Author: Sorsbie, Robert Fox, 1866-

Click on Download Button To Save File