Sinkholes: Natural Gas and Petroleum Geologists Bulletin

For centuries, mariners have spread stories about giant sudden waves which appeared out of nowhere without warning which were strong enough to capsize even the mightiest and largest ships. Several vessels—such as the S.S. Waratah, the M.S. Munchen, and the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald—were all rumored to have been sunk by rogue waves (Walsh par. 3). Further, rogue waves have been blamed for ripping the bow off of a Norwegian freighter near the tip of South Africa in 1974, almost capsizing the Queen Elizabeth in 1942 off the coast of Greenland, striking the Queen Elizabeth H in 1995, and for swamping military aircraft carriers and tearing tankers in half (McDonald A21). These waves have also been immortalized in popular culture, as

Hydrocarbons: Hydrocarbons are a form of organic compounds consisting exclusively of hydrogen molecules and carbon molecules. Classes of this composite entail: arenes, alkynes, alkenes, and alkanes. Hydrocarbons are chief workings of natural gas, oils, and pesticides, which can lead to some negative effects on the environment.

blows across the surface of a body of water, the water begins to move from small

Statement of Credibility: Through vast studying of oceanic research articles, I have found that the media overwhelms the general public with dramatic myth stories in such a way that the truth rarely makes it to readers. Scientist have now proven a methane gas hypothesis has been a major contributor to ships and planes losing their density needs.

of the ship. The hole began to flood, causing the front of the ship to sink and eventually the

The United States Geological Survey (USGS, n.d.) defines a sinkhole as "an area of ground that has no natural external surface drainage--when it rains, all of the water stays inside the sinkhole and typically drains into the subsurface." Sinkholes vary in size considerably: from a few feet in diameter and one foot of depth, to "hundreds of acres" wide and "more than 100 feet deep," (USGS, n.d.). Some sinkholes form naturally over time, but human intervention such as construction and development projects have been causing the rapid development of sinkholes in the state of Florida. These large-scale projects can have disastrous effects on the economy and environment, as well as public safety. Sinkholes are especially problematic when they occur suddenly, without warning, in urban areas (USGS, n.d.).

On April 20, 2010 the British Petroleum Deep Water Horizon (DWH) drilling rig exploded and subsequently sank in the waters of Gulf of Mexico. The result was the largest leakage of crude in the United States to date (Middlebrook et al.,

When some of the water is removed, the level of everything goes down. If the cylinder comes in contact with the heavier fluid at the bottom, it will float higher.

Natural gas is a mixture of Hydrocarbon gases that form with a petroleum deposit. A hydrocarbon is a compound that’s mostly made up of Hydrogen and Carbon. Natural gas is methane together with some of ethane, propane, butane, and other gases, Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and Ethane is colorless and odorless. Natural gas is used as fuel and in the making of organic compounds. Natural gas is also highly flammable. (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2009)

Sinkholes are holes in the ground that form when water erodes an underlying rock layer. According to the United States Geological Survey, about 20 percent of U.S. land is susceptible to sinkholes. The most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. Sinkholes are particularly common in these areas due to the susceptibility of the land. Certain rocks, known as evaporites (salt, gypsum, and anhydrite) and carbonates (limestone and dolomite) dissolve in water and are most present in the southeastern coast of the United States.

Some of the mystery’s involved in the crash are a little crazy, but no one knows how it exploded. Here is the first theory is that a cigarette went in a vent and went where the hydrogen was and it lit it up on fire. The second theory is that someone sabotaged the ship the explode from Hitler. The third theory is that a fire started in the mechanics by the hydrogen. There are many more theories, but the last one I am going to tell is that one of the hydrogen tanks popped.

What is super cavitation? To understand this question another needs to be asked. This question is what is cavitation? Cavitation is the forming of small pockets of gas under water. These gas pockets are formed when an area of low pressure is created at a constant temperature which in turn forms gas bubbles that then rapidly collapse with immense force and heat. The heat and pressure of the collapsing cavitation bubbles can reach up to 5,000 degrees Celsius and 1,000 atmospheres or in other words almost the same amount of pressure as there is at the bottom of the ocean. Cavitation is a serious problem when looking at underwater machinery that can form and area of low pressure. This is because if cavitation occurs damage will be done to the machines. When cavitation occurs the heat and

It was the size of a four story building and looked as formidable as Godzilla. It began to loom over The Pigeon like a lion rising above its prey for the kill and as the wave got closer, it rose to even greater heights and time seemed to slow. Andy told himself that he could make it through all of this because he had God on his side. Then Andy did that Catholic thing where you touch all your body parts and he strapped himself to the mast. Then the boat met the wave and began to climb it, like the little Splash Mountain before the big drop. The ship kept rising and next to the boat, Andy thought he could see Roger, in a white, glowing gown, flipping him off. The ship had almost crossed the peak of the wave when, like a pregnant woman’s water after nine months, the wave broke, and The Pigeon was sent tumbling back to the surface of the sea, where the spine of the boat splintered and the boat snapped violently in half, after which the wave completely engulfed it. No remnants were left behind and no bodies were ever found. This is why you always run away from an ocean

The forth-major gas is methane.  Methane also traps heat in to the atmosphere like carbon dioxide, but methane has a less harmful effect on

Gas is an air-like fluid substance which expands freely to fill any space available, irrespective of its quantity. Gas is formed by microscopic plants and animals living in the ocean millions of years ago. Throughout their life they absorbed energy from the sun, which was stored as carbon molecules. As soon as these plant and animals died, they sank to the bottom of the sea. Over millions if years, after many of layers of sediment and other plants and bacteria were formed. As they were buried deeper, heat and pressure increased and gas was formed. After gas was formed, they migrated through tiny pores in the surrounding rock.