Seismic Technology

Introduction - For the period of Sunday, August 28th – Sunday, September 4th, 2011, students from the University of Saskatchewan geological sciences department along with professors Dr. Kevin Ansdell and Dr. Kyle Larson took part in a geologic field school in and around the city of Flin Flon, Manitoba. The purpose of this field school was for students to

With earthquakes on the rise, we must figure out the cause of them and determine a solution to help limit or even prevent them from occurring. Since early 2009, earthquakes have been sweeping across the state of Oklahoma, causing many people to worry about their own well-being. Many scientists speculate the source of the earthquakes might be a result of Hydraulic Fracturing deep down in Earths’ crust. Hydraulic fracturing is a process in which oil and natural gas companies pump up to millions of gallons of wastewater, sand, and chemicals down drilled holes in order to release pockets of shale within the earth. This use of technology is in question of the potential cause or inducement of earthquakes in

Paragraph 1: Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is a method designed to extract oil and gas from shale rock. According to Susan L. Brantley and Anna Meyendorff from the article, The Facts on Fracking, “The word fracking comes from the fracturing that occurs when the high-pressure water is injected into the rock. The process of fracking is accomplished by drilling into the earth where a mixture of high-pressure water is drilled into the rock causing the gas to be released.” The high-pressure water can have a mixture of materials such as water, sand, and different chemicals. The pressure of the water being injected is so high that it allows gas to burst out of the head of the well. The process can be achieved through two different ways, one being more common than another. One of the processes can be done vertically but the more common method is done horizontally. According to the New York Times, when the drilling is carried by horizontally, “New pathways can be used in the rock layer. Due to new pathways being created, more gas can be released,” (Marshall, 2015). Drillers can create mini-explosions in the wells to boost flow. How do mini-explosions not increase the probabilities of earthquakes? The horizontal drilling can allow millions of gallons of high-pressure water into the fractures of shale. Chemicals can be added to the high-pressure water for the purpose of dissolving minerals as well as inserting sand to open fractures made by the drillers and kill the

Throughout the whole drilling process, many chemicals, and wastes release to the air. Among these chemicals, the process emits a huge amount of methane which is a very big contributor to global warming. The possibility of water contamination in fracking areas is also very immense because of the high tendency of wastes to seep back in to water supply. Rachel Richardson, a co-author of the paper from Environment America, told ThinkProgress, “For the past decade, fracking has been a nightmare for our drinking water, our open spaces, and our climate”. Researches have also revealed, as a result of the application of huge pressure in to the rocks, fracking triggers earthquake. As per MSNBC report “new study links Oklahoma earthquakes to fracking”

The global crisis surrounding energy needs grows in severity as time goes by and in order to solve it, scientists have created the innovative solution known as hydraulic fracturing (Source 5). Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” is a process that injects water, chemicals, sand, and other materials into layers of shale. The injected mixture cracks the layers of shale, releasing trapped natural gasses that can be collected (Source 1). Fracking occurs deep under the surface of the earth, miles below the groundwater that is accessed from drinking-water wells. In the mid-2000s, “fuel prices were rising rapidly” (Source 5). Hydraulic fracturing was a cheap solution that not only brought the world out of a state of emergency but made oil prices drop. The new method of gas collection grew the oil and gas industry, benefiting people all around the world. Fracking is a cheap, effective solution to global needs, but is under attack from skeptics who worry about environmental hazards. The claims against fracking not only have no real evidence but also risk destroying the jobs in the oil and gas industry as well as support for energy needs. Hydraulic fracturing is not only a cheap but a safe method that supports global needs surrounding both energy and jobs.

The practice of Hydraulic fracturing, or releasing a mixture of water, sand, and various chemicals into wells dug beneath the earth to unlock its natural gas has become a very controversial issue (Earthworks ). For some, the practice means new forms of energy in the U.S. and thousands of new jobs. While others have pointed to the connections between the release of chemicals into the environment and the contamination of water supplies. Other studies have linked this new technology to air pollutants and an increase in earthquakes due to disturbances in the earth’s shell. All of these issues and concerns point to a need for further regulations to diminish these negative effects on the environment.

hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is widely used by the oil and gas companies in Texas and Oklahoma to produce oil and natural gas. Although hydraulic fracturing technology successfully reduces the price of energy, the scientific evidences show that it relates to frequent earthquake and water pollutions. According to a report from Newsweek Global, the Oklahoma Geological Survey states that Oklahoma only has one and a half earthquakes over 3 magnitudes per year before 2008, the year of the oil and gas companies begin to use hydraulic fracturing technology, compare to two and a half per day in 2015(MCGRATH). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also indicates that hydraulic fracturing induce earthquakes on March 28, 2015 (MCGRATH). In addition, United States Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that the hydraulic fracturing relates to the water pollution (Banerjee).

This paper explores the hydraulic fracturing process, exactly what it is, what the fracturing process does to the earth and the surrounding environment in addition, to the consequences. Hydraulic fracturing is fracturing of rock by pressurization. This process by which oil and natural gas can be forced from the earth. The hydraulic fracturing process takes millions of gallons of clean water, sand, chemicals and pumps them underground at high pressure to break apart rock to release gas and or oil. My research has led me to the discovery that there are as many proponents for fracking as that are those that oppose the process. One thing

The area was considered seismically stagnant. That all changed when oil and gas companies began drilling for natural gas. Even though some scientists believe hydraulic fracking is not the offender of the sudden earthquake breakout, studies are performed and reviewed to determine the cause. Since the sudden earthquake breakout a team of scientist, led by Southern Methodist University (SMU) seismologist, Heather DeShon and Brian Stump, have been studying the earthquakes in North Texas. Studies are finding that the earthquakes in North Texas are not caused by hydraulic fracturing, but yet the method to dispose of the wastewater. The combination of wastewater injection and saltwater extraction from natural gas wells is presumably the cause (DeShon, et al., 2015). A recent model study of earthquakes in Azle, Texas by the SMU team predicted that substantial pressure changes on faults that are already strained could activate the faults and initiate an earthquake. Cliff Frohlich, a seismologist at the University of Texas at Austin is confident the method of how wastewater from fracking is disposed is the perpetrator of the earthquakes. The waste is pumped into underground disposal well and if that well is near a fault which is under stress the liquid from the well can loosen the fault causing an earthquake (Detorres,

Natural gas began to be extracted from the Marcellus shale formation in the mid-2000s’, and now well pads and their associated infrastructures are now well known fixtures in the Appalachian Mountain regions. Marcellus Shale is an organically rich black shale which is currently being explored by drilling as a source of natural gas. The region in question encompasses most of the relatively uninhabited Appalachian basin, which is located within the Appalachian mountain range. The basin is comprised of sedimentary rocks which stretch from Ontario, Canada all the way down through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and New Jersey.

As society starts to progress and increase in size our energy requirements also need to adhere to new standards of amount and production. Petroleum products have always been at the epicenter of energy production, and seems as if it will always be that way. But at what cost? According to research conducted by our seismic geoscientists around the globe, the method of “fracking” is a directly hazardous to our earth’s precious top layer. The crust being weakened gradually by constant drilling, resulting to poor support for the faults within the earth’s. Because of this seismicity (or earthquakes) have been reported along the fault lines of many major gas well sites. According scholarly sources this leads to many negative consequences such as gas

Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in nine out of 10 natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release the gas. Scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface. The natural gas industry defends hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, as safe and efficient. Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, a pro-industry non-profit organization, claims fracking has been “a widely deployed as safe extraction technique,” dating back to 1949. What he doesn’t say is that until recently energy

The natural resource industry continues to improve, providing the world with energy that fuels machines and keep homes warm. Drilling is the way the world has been getting oil from the ground due to the efficiency. A certain process can only work for so long and the output continues to decrease. Due to the high demands oil and natural gases, the world has turned to alternative ways retrieve these resources. Hydraulic fracturing is now the most effective way to retrieve oil and natural gas from the ground. Recently, the number of earthquakes have increased near hydraulic fracturing sites. Hydraulic fracturing is both beneficial and destructive at the same time. Several examples of seismic activity linked to fracking

This essay will examine the possible effects of hydraulic fracturing in Newfoundland. Hydraulic fracturing is the process of retrieving natural gas from the earth by injecting fluid into a borehole and pressurizing it, creating cracks in the rock. hydraulic fracturing fluid is made up of small beads of sand or ceramic, which prop open the cracks in the rock, as well as water and chemicals, which help suspend the proppants (sand or ceramic). The hydraulic fracturing fluid is pressurized, allowing the proppants to open up cracks in the bedrock, creating new cracks and releasing trapped methane gas. Methane gas is the primary ingredient of natural gas. Concerns about the safety of hydraulic fracturing stem from the borehole’s permeation of natural fresh water aquifers, but supporters of hydraulic fracturing argue that the major improvements to the area’s economy make the risks worthwhile. Newfoundland’s economy is largely based on oil rigging and mines, but has recently seen a rise in tourism. The success of Newfoundland’s tourism industry relies on the preservation of their natural environment, meaning that it could be destroyed by overuse of hydraulic fracturing. This essay will attempt to synthesise the environmental concerns and the economic benefits of hydraulic fracturing in order to reach a conclusion.

While it is true “fracking”, a procedure to obtain natural gas removal from shale formations, it is also true there have been infrastructure security issues associated with this practice. Furthermore, there have been ecological considerations from fracking brought to the forefront by countless environmentalists. Indeed, hydraulic fracturing, as it is referred to, is a process by which shale gas and oil is uprooted from a depth far below the earth’s exterior. The process of extracting shale gas and oil is employed aggressively while water is forced deep beneath the earth surface through a geological arrangement. From this arrangement, oil and gas is exerted back to the earth’s surface. Moreover, once the hydraulic fracturing process is