The aside about Tectonic Plates was directed at Mantra. I should have explained that.

Look, as far as the Gulf of Mexico is concerned this spill is serious, and it will have food chain implications which include human beings if they are silly enough to allow people to eat anything from the Gulf.

I'm not understating the problems. I think that people who relied on the sea for their livelihood will experience severe impacts as a result of this.

We both agree that they are in the Sh1t. No questions there at all. Only the depth varies.

- however, the effect is localised, and there will certainly be no effect on tectonic plates. I can say that as certainly as I say that it won't affect the moon's orbit either

If you really want to worry about something more significant, worry about ocean acidification.  That's caused by burning the stuff.

muso wrote on Jun 27^th, 2010 at 9:05am:


Thanks Muso.  

But Synergy is right when he/she says "you don't think outside the box" and sound like an "industry operative". That's fine - that's your training and your opinion.

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You can't say that is a certainty considering the massive gush that is continuing 24/7 and could do so for a long time into the future.

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Yes - and another toxic and unsuccessful quick fix.

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Apart from a select few nations - a government with balls doesn't exist.

Texas Oil et al own the US and every other nation which depends on their oil.

mantra wrote on Jun 27^th, 2010 at 9:36am:


What is the flow rate of oil from this spill?
What is the usual flow rate of oil from a reservoir while it's being produced, do you think?
Where is the oil going and what is displacing it?
What has any of the above to do with tectonic plates?

Do some simple research, and don't believe everything you read.

mantra wrote on Jun 27^th, 2010 at 10:52am:


Which scientists believe that oil is the Earth's blood? Sounds like something a taxi driver would say - one of the ones who speak English.

Actually I've read that it's extramarital sex that causes earthquakes : 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/man-woman/Extramarital-sex...

Yeah, people will get sick if they think they're going to be sick, and if they think they're going to die, they will generally succeed in fulfilling their morbid aspirations. Americans have a real talent for that, and it's something we should all applaud and encourage. More Americans should have such aspirations. The world would be a better place for it.

In Australia, we have the redback - In the US, the Black Widow, close enough in terms of toxicity. How many people have died from redbacks in Australia? None.  In the US? Google it. (about one case every year)

Don't get me wrong. I'm not understating this disaster.

In Australia we had the West Atlas oil rig. In the US, they had the Deepwater Horizon.

We didn't have an impending Hollywood disaster movie with all the gaffes that would suck the Earth into a black hole or a vortex or whatever. It was just a bloody nuisance, but we got on with life.  

The Americans always want their disasters to be bigger and better.  

Blowouts have been happening since the start of Oil production. In some parts of the world, oil even seeps out into the ocean floor naturally.

That doesn't mean that I approve of BP. I think their board should be fed to the sharks. I'm just putting it in perspective.

On your final paragraph, while I disagree with the idea of purposes for naturally occurring substances like petroleum, I agree that we need to stop burning the stuff - urgently, because we are screwing up the atmosphere and the oceans.

there are reports now that a methane gas bubble around 15 miles across so far is building under the gulf drill site. According to the reports the pressure of this bubble is around 100,000 lbs per square inch, but the best well technology can handle only around 1000 lbs, maybe max 2000lbs per square inch of pressure. The reports are saying that current technology cannot deal with this disaster, and that the relief wells that are planned for August are the last line of technology. If they fail, there are no further answers - according to the reports.

Who the hell is Richard Hoagland?!
I don't read that stuff. Sorry.

Here's two reports, been there from the start, but, hey, if you google it, you'll find more.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1275561/Methane-gas-bubble-triggered-Gulf-oil-rig-blast-killed-11.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9GDJBO84

The first article is more or less correct. The second article is starting to get fanciful and is losing the plot from a technical point of view. All crude oil contains associated gas, including methane. Wells vary from non-associated gas wells up to about a 40% mixture of gas and crude oil.  In certain oilfields, such as at Moomba, SA, the light ends are separated from the crude, de-methanised and the propane and butane reinjected into the crude for transport via a pipeline. At the other end, the live crude, which is around 40% propane and butane, is separated out into its components.

What we do have on the edges of continental shelves are methane clathrates. They contain methane, CO2 and water in a complex structure. They require temperatures and pressures to be within certain controlled limits to be stable, but this has nothing to do with the BP Deepwater disaster.  

The 'ice' referred to is methane hydrates. These definitely exist, and the worst fear is that the get under valve stems in certain gas fields and sublimate when exposed to atmospheric pressure, thus releasing gas at enormous pressure, but certainly not 100,000psi LOL. Methane hydrates can be very dangerous from that point of view. They look like a bit like ice, but they are much harder and more difficult to break.  

The third article (Helium) is completely nonsensical, and reminds me of the pseudoscientific garbage reported in certain climate denialist sites.  I've never seen anything like that reported in the mainstream press - and for good reason.

I did some quick Google on that previous link and came up with Richard Hoagland as the instigator. The guy is a premium quality nutjob. He believes that there was a civilization on Mars, and that NASA is covering up 'the truth',  among other things.