Posted on 11/02/2011 4:03:45 PM PDT by neverdem
Two small earthquakes that shook the Lancashire coast of northeast England and the nearby city of Blackpool earlier this year were probably caused by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—a shale gas extraction technique that was being used nearby to explore its shale gas wells—according to a report(PDF) released today. The energy company Cuadrilla Resources had begun an experimental drilling operation half a kilometer from the quakes' epicenter in March.
Fracking has caused concerns in some countries over its potential health and environmental impact—critics accuse it of contaminating drinking water with gas and the chemicals used for extraction—and it is banned in some countries and some U.S. states. Cuadrilla's is the first fracking operation conducted in the United Kingdom.
After geologists pointed the finger at Cuadrilla as the possible cause of the quakes, it commissioned independent experts to prepare a report on the topic. Entitled Geomechanical Study of Bowland Shale Seismicity, it has concluded that it is "highly probable" that the quakes were triggered by Cuadrilla's fracking: high pressure injection of fluids into rocks in order to fracture them and release shale gas. But the quakes were a fluke, the report continues, as the geology of the region was highly unusual to begin with.
Seismologist Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey, which was not involved in the report, says this is the first time hydraulic fracturing has been shown to cause earthquakes, although it is not entirely surprising. Injection of fluid waste from shale gas and oil drilling has caused small quakes in the past. Fluid injection, he explains, creates small fissures in the rocks that allow them to slide more easily past each other, "lubricating" them in a sense. In the case of the Cuadrilla site, the report stated, this occurred near an already-stressed fault. The fluid spread over a period of 10 hours after injection and caused the quakes.
Following the magnitude 2.3 quake on 1 April and a 1.5-magnitude quake on 27 May, Cuadrilla voluntarily suspended drilling and fracking operations on 31 May. Drilling resumed, although it is shut down today due to activists who climbed the drilling towers in Lancashire to highlight fears prior to a fracking conference in London. Whether fracking will continue at the site is to be determined: Cuadrilla spokesperson Stephen Smith says that while the company could voluntarily resume at any time, they're currently awaiting reaction to the report and will work in concert with government recommendations.
It's unlikely, the report concluded, that any quake caused by this combination of geological factors could exceed magnitude 3—too small to cause any real damage. But because the fractures are relatively shallow, Baptie says, quakes of this magnitude could cause objects to slide around on shelves and cause alarm. "If quakes are in the same place and you're generating them on a routine basis, it starts to raise questions," he says. The report suggested a "traffic light" system for Cuadrilla to monitor Earth shaking in the future.
The report is now entering peer review. "We want it to subjected to maximum scrutiny; it's not in Cuadrilla's interest to discover a problem down the road," Smith says.
Bad science alert.
Bad science alert.
Correlation is not necessarily causation.
Liberals...you’ll have to look at the math def of correlation...please avoid your normal smarmy wordy mushy liberal arts bull-Obama definitions, please.
We’re talkin’ science here.
Friction from fracking cause fractures.
And Iranians’ pains are mainly from Khomeini.
I can never figure out why thier mothers just didn’t abort them.
The lubricants make the pushing smoother. Less likely severe jolts instead you have smooth sliding.
You said exactly what I was going to post — but, you said it better.
The left is opposed to frackking for oil and gas as it would make the USA reserves as big as the Saudis. The left hates what America is, a shining city on a hill, blessed by God, and will say or do anything to bring us down to a third world malfunctioning state.
>>Fracking is the new global warming for some of these leftist mutts.
That’s probably true; the enviro-nazi’s will grasp onto anything, especially if they can use it to halt oil and gas exploration.
HOWEVER, even if they’re right, and the exploration did CAUSE the quake(s), the oil company should be REWARDED for relieving the earth’s pent-up pressure early, before it did even greater damage naturally on its own.
If it can be proven that fracking causes the earth to release its natural tectonic pressure, we should be doing MUCH MORE of it, not LESS as the enviro-nazi’s would insist.
(Then, quakes would be more often, but smaller, and less damaging)
I actually thought about that myself.
If the quakes aren’t damaging, who cares?
We've fracked over a million times in this country we should be shaking like a bowel of jello by now.
Fracking takes place at depths 6 to 10 thousand feet some deeper some shallower. Earthquakes take place at depths of 70 KM to 700 KM. How heated water would help cause an earthquake at that bid a difference in depth would be miraculous.
If by a miracle, the Pubs regain both houses of Congress and the WH, they ought to undo as many green pieces of baloney as possible and go drill full speed ahead to lower our energy prices, make jobs, and make the nation strong again.
If by a miracle, the Pubs regain both houses of Congress and the WH, they ought to undo as many green pieces of baloney as possible and go drill full speed ahead to lower our energy prices, make jobs, and make the nation strong again.
Anyone taking good science courses in high school or college will immediately recognize this as nonsense. The article did not give the depth of the earthquake, but if if was more than 5 miles deep, then it would be impossible to be caused by the fracking. If it was 5 miles or less deep, then it probably wasn’t an earthquake at all.
Anyone that reads a lot of scientific papers about seismology will instantly recognize this is perfectly plausible.
Small quakes caused by fluid injection have lone been documented and understood.
1.5 mag quake, AKA somebody dropped a coffee cup.
Good point!
Seems to me this technology should be mandatory in known quake areas. Why not immunize an area against “big ones” by fracking a bunch of little ones under (somewhat) controlled conditions. ——— A whole new “green” industry that makes energy at the same time! Halibuton is gonna have a field day setting up franchises.
The U.K. is gonna be ticked they let this slip out.
I remember back in the early 80s an instance of water injection associated with oil drilling causing small quakes. At that time I made the same conclusion as you, that if there was any way to lubricate the San Andreas fault, particularly if we learned to trigger the quake with an impulse (such as an underground nuke), then we should invest heavily in developing the technology. It would mean that we could batten down the hatches, stock up, locate everybody safely, and let it rip. It would be a huge boon to damage control efforts and would significantly reduce the risk to life and limb.
In 1985 I proposed it to the geology professor at Harvey Mudd College, as he had affiliates at CalTech who might take interest in such an idea. He thought it was crazy as nobody would want the liability for the operation. "Acts of God" that operate randomly and potentially kill thousands of people in precarious situations are so much more preferable you know. So I dropped it.
I hate what lawyers have done to this country.
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