Scientists find more oil fissures in Lake Baikal's bedrock.
NOVOSIBIRSK, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - Scientists have found two more cracks in the bedrock of Siberia's Lake Baikal from which crude oil seeps into the lake, bringing the total to three, an expedition member said on Tuesday.I first posted about this here.
The second stage of a major expedition to explore the depths of the lake began on August 20.
Arnold Tulokhonov, director of the Baikal Institute of Nature Management at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: "The new oil fissures were discovered along the east coast of Lake Baikal, at a depth of around 600 meters (1,970 feet)."
He said that during the ongoing expedition, the Mir-1 and Mir-2 mini-submarines have enabled scientists to take samples of the oil at source for the first time.
During the current stage, set to run until the beginning of September, the mini-subs are exploring Talanka Bay near the mouth of the Selenga River on the southeastern shore.
An oil source was found during the first stage of the expedition, conducted from July 29 to August 18 in the deepest part of the lake.
Part of the ongoing research is focused on examining the processes through which microbes in the world's deepest lake digest petroleum that naturally enters the water.
Dr. Mikhail Grachyov, an expert on the molecular evolution of Baikal's animal and plant life, said earlier that the first oil source was found at a depth of around 850 meters (2,800 feet) to the south of Barguzin Bay, and that samples of the oil had been taken.
"It turns out that a large number of organisms live in this oil. This will require a huge amount of study," he said.
"We will study everything - the oil, the means through which it is broken down, the microbes, physical characteristics, and so on. This is necessary both for fundamental science and for practical goals."
He also said research into Baikal's oil may provide new insights into the origins of petroleum.
The consensus view among scientists is that crude oil is formed by decayed plant matter accumulating on the bed of a body of water and being subjected to heat and compression under heavy sediment over a period of millions of years.
However, several Russian scientists going back as far as Dmitry Mendeleyev have suggested an 'abiogenic hypothesis,' according to which petroleum was formed from carbon deposits originating deep in the Earth's mantle.
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SPEAKING OF GIANT CRACKS IN THE WORLD...AND WHO SPONSORS THE GEOLOGISTS
The Lake Baikal story is one more piece in the puzzle.
But here is another piece of the puzzle with some interesting sponsors:
Cracks of the World: Global Strike-Slip Fault Systems and Giant Resource Accumulations
This paper authored by by Stanley B. Keith, Jan C. Rasmussen, Monte M. Swan, and Daniel P. Laux Sonoita Geoscience Research, Sonoita, AZ.
Here is the opening sentences:
"Evidence is mounting that the Earth is encircled by subtle necklaces of interconnecting, generally latitude-parallel faults. Many major mineral and energy resource accumulations are located within or near the deeply penetrating fractures of these “cracks of the world.” Future exploration for large petroleum occurrences should emphasize the definition, regional distribution, and specific characteristics of the global crack system."
This paper is also available at the side-bar listed under Tectonic Oil & Continental Rifts as Cracks In The World (Rasmussen, 2003).
I cite the side-bar as due credit to OilIsMastery and because two diagrams in that cite provide interesting images of the "crack" system in the Western Hemisphere with a focus on Mexico.
Two of the authors of the above cited paper, Stanley B. Keith and Monte M. Swan are also authors of this scientific paper.
Cracks in the Earth? Isn't Lake Baikal one giant "crack" in the Earth, too?
But there is also something else important about the above "Cracks of the World" paper.
It was Published in the HGS (Houston Geological Society) Bulletin April 2003.
That's as mainstream in the oil industry as you can get.
Here is the resume of the lead author:
Stanley B. Keith has over 30 years of successful exploration experience in minerals and energy. Upon earning BS and MS degrees in geology from the University of Arizona, he became a field and research geologist focused on mineralogy, geologic mapping, stratigraphy, tectonics, and isotopic age dating. At Kennecott and the Arizona Geological Survey in the mid-1970s he recognized an empirical relationship between mineral deposits and magma series. He co-founded MagmaChem Exploration in 1983 for mineral exploration, working on numerous exploration and research projects for both mineral and energy exploration companies. Currently he is a founding researcher with Sonoita Geoscience Research, an industry-supported consortium that applies hydrothermal and economic geological theory and techniques to petroleum exploration.
Let's focus on the following:
"Currently he [Keith] is a founding researcher with Sonoita Geoscience Research, an industry-supported consortium that applies hydrothermal and economic geological theory and techniques to petroleum exploration."
Geoscience Research is an "an industry-supported consortium..."
This is clearly Abiotic Oil science and it's industry-supported.
What does that tell you?
Well, it tells me the oil industry not only knows about Abiotic Oil, but is actively financing its reasearch.
And if the oil industry is financing Abiotic Oil's research and development doesn't that suggest they accept Abiotic Oil's reality?
All the authors of the paper are well respected geologists.
This can't be repeated enough: The oil industry is financing Abiotic Oil research.
Or as Charlton Heston cried out at the end of the sci-fi movie: "Soylent Green is made out of people!"
Lake Baikal Earthquake: 6.3 magnitude
THE "MYSTERY" OF THE CARIOCA OIL DISCOVERY OFF THE BRAZIL COAST
My previous comment to this post cited Keith's paper "Cracks of the World," and related Keith's hypothesis to this post on discovered oil seeps in one of the biggest "cracks" in the world: Lake Baikal in Russia's Siberia.
The most startling observation made in Keith's paper was that "Evidence is mounting that the Earth is encircled by subtle necklaces of interconnecting, generally latitude-parallel faults."
These faults, per Keith's diagram, are like "ribs" coming of the "spine" of the Atlantic mid-ocean ridge. One of these ribs leads into the area off the Brazil coast where the Carioca oil discovery was made, see Carioca prospect may hold 33 billion barrels of oil.
One of the unanswered questions was what type of geologic formation held this huge oil deposit, "making it the third-largest oil field ever discovered." And this was on top of several other large oil finds in the same general area.
Bloomberg: Multiple Oil Fields. These oil finds are all located in the Santos basin:
"The Carioca field, also known as BM-S-9, is located beneath a layer of salt in the deepwater Santos Basin off Brazil's southeastern coast, where Petrobras in November announced the discovery of the 8 billion-barrel Tupi field."
There are other basins as well.
I've written extensively about "pre-salt" oil fields, both in relation to these specific discoveries and in general theoretical terms as being the "holy grail" of oil exploration: Rather than salt domes with associated oil deposits, there are oil domes within a strata of salt, per fluid dynamic modeling.
Of course, as I stated previously, the $64,000 question is what is the geological characteristic of this area, which has produced this "gold mine" of oil?
This question is important for several reasons:
In terms of discussion and argument on various websites regarding Abiotic Oil, I have found that mention of the Brazil oil finds is a "show stopper," which silences the "Peak" oil crowd because of the immensity of the oil discoveries and the huge investment of capital by the oil companies: Petrobas: $30 billion for 40 drilling rigs.
Peakers have a hard time explaining why oil companies would invest so much money if it's nothing but a "wild goose chase."
Also, as I've previously stated on this website and in other Abiotic discussions, the Brazil offshore deepwater, pre-salt oil finds contradict "fossil" theory, but are completely consistent with Abiotic Theory.
500 degree Fahrenheit oil.
Similar to deep oil found in the Gulf of Mexico:
"Wells drilled 7 kilometers beneath Louisiana into a formation known as the Tuscaloosa Trend encountered temperatures of 485 degrees Fahrenheit, said John Rogers Smith, a petroleum engineering professor at Louisiana State University." Brazil oil at similar tremendous pressure and depth.
Also, the Brazil oil discoveries bring up the question of whether there are other deepwater, offshore oil deposits of this magnitude around the world?
We know there are deepwater, deep-drilled, oil deposits an the other side of the Atlantic off the coast of Africa.
It would seem that Petrobas and it's various business associates think there is much more of this type of oil to find, judging from their $30 billion investment in deepwater, ultra-deep, drilling rigs, which can drill 28,000 feet below the sea floor in 12,000 feet of water (40,000 feet TVD).
And there are other oil companies making large investments in "super" drilling rigs and day-rate contracts for these rigs have jumped dramatically, too.
Which brings us back to Keith's "Cracks in the World" thesis.
My previous thinking was that the geological formation where the Brazil oil has been found was related to the continental margin, and thus was a function of the continental shelf of South America. In essence, running up and down the coastline.
But what if the Santos Basin oil is really a result of the "interconnecting, generally latitude-parallel faults" described in Keith's work?
That the Santos Basin is the end of the "rib" leading out to the "spine" of the Atlanic mid-ocean ridge?
That might explain the huge investment in "super" drilling rigs.
Because if you look at Keith's diagram of these "latitudinal" faults, and it turns out these faults are the real source of the Carioca field and the other oil finds in the Santos Basin, it becomes apparent why Keith could be right when he was quoted as saying, ""We’ve barely tapped, from the exploration point of view, the hydrocarbon potential that’s out there on this planet."
If Keith is right, "that the Earth is encircled by subtle necklaces of interconnecting, generally latitude-parallel faults. Many major mineral and energy resource accumulations are located within or near the deeply penetrating fractures of these “cracks of the world.”
Then we real have found the "holy grail," the El Dorado, the "city of gold."
The implications are almost too immense to describe.
Running out of hydrocarbon energy will never be a problem and "Peak" oil is a cruel hoax.
The oil companies have been clear, as stated by president of Shell Oil John Hoffmeister: "We will never run out of oil."
And Thomas Gold was right: "There is 100 times more oil than now generally thought to exist."
POSTCRIPT TO THE "MYSTERY"
The following quotes are from a scientific paper available, here, entitled "Cracks of the World" but is an earlier version, described and dated as a talk to Arizona Geological Society, July 3, 2001, of the paper with the same name linked above.
The following quotes suggest that larger petroleum deposits may be found in the continental margin area than closer to the Atlantic mid-ocean ridge along these "latitude-parallel faults."
As stated:
"Tears in subducting oceanic crust and fracture zones in oceanic crust are anchored to and connected with analog fractures in the adjacent and overriding continental plate at the subduction zone interface."
And:
"Large-scale petroleum accumulations in the North America and South America plates also appear to be associated with cryptic deformation zones above tears in the subducting, mainly oceanic plates. The tears also integrate with the oceanic fracture system. Where the oceanic fractures intersect a given continental plate at subduction zones, tears in the oceanic plates are the rule rather than the exception. Flat-plate subduction is typically associated with Laramide-style basement-uplifts in the continental interior, whereas moderate- to steep-dip subduction is associated with foreland, fold-thrust deformation in the continental interior."
Post note:
For those readers interested in Keith's hydrothermal hydrogen theory there are a series of papers on the subject at the above linked website.
MAGNETISM: ABIOTIC FINGER PRINT
Keith's work notes that magnetism is a common feature of oil deposits: "The concept of serpentinite hydrocarbon sources may helps identify new exploration leads through its magnetic-high, gravity-low geophysical signature."
The Travis volcanic mounds also are magnetic: "Some of the minerals that occur in these mounds are magnetic, hence the magnetic anomalies over these mounds."
Becker also notes that the Pennsilvanian oil deposits exhited a magnetic anomaly.
It seems that with this association between magnetic anomalies and oil deposits one can conclude that oil is Abiotic by the simple process of elimination.
How would oil come to be magnetic or exhibit magnetic qualities by way of derivation from organic detritus?
If there is no ready answer and I can think of none, then it seems that an Abiotic origin would be the cause as we know, by J.F. Kenney's work that iron, marble, and water combined at ultra-high pressure and temperature in the laboratory forms the alkane series of hydrocarbons consistent with natural petroleum.
Also, Keith has done work suggesting that iron laden minerals react to from oil leaving the oil with a magnetic signature.
Another piece of the Abiotic puzzle.
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