Using the direct seismic responses of fractures and fracture zones in productive formations to obtain information about their locations and characteristics is an essentially new and promising direction of investigation. Given the growing production of hydrocarbons from unconventional reservoirs, the basic understanding of seismic wave responses of natural and hydraulic fractures is urgently needed, and the ability to model those waves is a necessary first step toward detection and more accurate characterization of fractured reservoirs and through this process toward improved oil production. This book addresses the properties of seismic waves of fractured media by describing, modeling, and analyzing the various seismic wave responses from discrete fractured media, and it proposes a methodology for the direct detection of fractured reservoirs based on these analyses. Use of the grid-characteristic method to numerically model the waves allows for the inclusion of fundamental properties of real fractured reservoirs and fractured features in the analysis. Importantly, this method facilitates a highly accurate computation of wave propagation that accounts for the multiple discreteness of the medium. Of use to oil company geophysicists and geologists directly involved in interpretation of seismic data acquired from prospects of fractured reservoir development, this book also will be of interest to scientific workers in universities (particularly postgraduate students) and R&D departments of geophysical and oil companies.

In Under the Surface, Tom Wilber weaves a narrative tracing the consequences of shale gas development in northeast Pennsylvania and central New York through the perspective of various stakeholders. Wilber's evenhanded treatment explains how the revolutionary process of fracking has changed both access to our domestic energy reserves and the lives of people living over them. He gives a voice to all constituencies, including farmers and landowners tempted by the prospects of wealth but wary of the consequences; policymakers struggling with divisive issues concerning free enterprise, ecology, and public health; and activists coordinating campaigns based on their respective visions of economic salvation and environmental ruin. For the paperback edition, Wilber has written a new chapter and epilogue covering developments since the book's initial publication in 2012. Chief among these are the home rule movement and accompanying social and legal events leading up to an unprecedented ban of fracking in New York state, and the outcome of the federal EPA's investigation of water pollution just across the state border in Dimock, Pennsylvania. The industry, with powerful political allies, effectively challenged the federal government's attempts to intervene in drilling communities in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, and Texas with water problems. But it met its match in a grassroots movement-known as "fractivism"-that sprouted from seeds sown in upstate New York community halls and grew into one of the state's most influential environmental movements since Love Canal. Throughout the book, Wilber illustrates otherwise dense policy and legal issues in human terms and shows how ordinary people can affect extraordinary events.

In this book, the authors discuss the structure, technology and applications of sapphire. Topics include the advances in machining technology of sapphire wafers; the growth and surface investigations of synthetic sapphire; laser-assisted micro-fabrication of sapphire; and the heat-physical processes of sapphire crystal growth by horizontal directed crystallisation.

During the past 10 years, the Oil industry in India has seen a tremendous rise in exploration activity with several major E&P companies generating vast amount of new geological and geophysical data. The availability of such integrated data sets (gravity, magnetic, seismic, drilled wells), especially in the deep offshore basins, has led the authors to revisit earlier concepts and models in order to redefine the tectonic framework of major offshore basins along the Indian continental margins. The book covers the stratigraphic evolution, play types and the classification of major offshore basins both in shallow and deepwater environments.

Features:

* Incorporation of latest dataset (specially the seismic, gravity and magnetic)

* Analogy of global offshore basins with India

* Sedimentation and depositional history of Bengal fan and Indus fan

* Redefinition of major tectonic framework of the margins

* Exceleent high quality graphics that include: seismic sections, gravity-magnetic maps, conceptual geological models and new revised tectonic elements

Benefits:

* Comprehensive geological and geophysical demonstration of basin development and history in the light of petroleum prospectivity of the Continental Margins of India

* Emerging concepts on rift-drift history of the Eastern Gondwanaland in the light of probable Mesozoic prospects hitherto little known in this part of the world

* A deep insight of all major offshore prospective basins with illustrations and high resolution datasets otherwise not available to common readers

* Useful as a textbook for petroleum professionals and as a reference book for marine geo-science researchers

Papers representing the Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times (Madrid, 14-17 October 2009).

This new and important book focuses on recent research from around the world on petroleum science including the origin and accumulation of petroleum (natural gas); petroleum (natural gas) geochemistry; reservoir engineering; rock mechanics/petrophysics; well logging, testing and evaluation; mathematical modelling; enhanced oil and gas recovery; petroleum (natural gas) geology; compaction/diagenesis; petroleum (natural gas) economics; drilling and drilling fluids; thermodynamics and phase behaviour, fluid mechanics in porous media and multi-phase flow; reservoir simulation; production engineering; formation evaluation; exploration methods.

This book examines the health effects of exposure to bentonite, kaolin, and selected clay minerals. Despite the ubiquitous exposure of the general population to low concentrations of montmorillonite and kaolinite, the main components of bentonite and kaolin, respectively, and other clay minerals, no data are available on its effects. Long-term occupational exposure to bentonite dust may cause structural and functional damage to the lungs, but currently available data do not conclusively establish a dose-response or even a cause-and-effect relationship..Long-term exposure to kaolin causes radiologically diagnosed pneumoconiosis but clear-cut deterioration of respiratory function and related symptoms occur only in cases with prominent radiological findings. In this respect, the composition of the non-kaolinite constituents of the clay is important. Bentonite, kaolin, and other clays often contain quartz, exposure to which is causally related to silicosis and lung cancer as well as to statistically significant increases in the incidence of or mortality from chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema. The extensive use of bentonite or kaolin in cosmetics has not been found to produce local or systemic adverse effects. Tests have also revealed that bentonite and kaolin have low toxicity to a wide variety of aquatic species. The biological effects of clay minerals result not only from their composition but also their particle size. In this respect, the decreasing rank order of quartz, kaolinite, and montmorillonite to damage lung tissue is consistent with their known relative active surface areas and surface chemistries.

One of the four elements of classical antiquity, water is central to the environment of our planet. In "Life's Matrix", Philip Ball writes of water's origins, history, and unique physical character. As a geological agent, water shapes mountains, canyons, and coastlines, and when unleashed in hurricanes and floods its destructive power is awesome. Ball's provocative exploration of water on other planets highlights the possibilities of life beyond Earth. "Life's Matrix" also examines the grim realities of depletion of natural resources and its effects on the availability of water in the twenty-first century.

Petroleum is not as easy to find as it used to be. In order to locate and develop reserves efficiently, it's vital that geologists and geophysicists understand the geological processes that affect a reservoir rock and the oil that is trapped within it. This book is about how and to what extent, these processes may be understood. The theme of the book is the characterization of fluids in sedimentary basins, understanding their interaction with each other and with rocks, and the application of this information to finding, developing and producing oil and gas. The first part of the book describes the techniques, and the second part relates real-life case histories covering a wide range of applications. Petroleum geology, particularly exploration, involves making the best of incomplete results. It is essentially an optimistic exercise. This book will remove some of the guesswork.
Brings together the most important geochemical methods in a single volume.
Authored by two well-respected researchers in the oil industry.
Real-life, international case histories.

A natural resource strategist investigates the growing global demand for rare metals and what it means to the environment and our future Our future hinges on a set of elements that few of us have even heard of. In this surprising and revealing book, David S. Abraham unveils what rare metals are and why our electronic gadgets, the most powerful armies, and indeed the fate of our planet depend on them. These metals have become the building blocks of modern society; their properties are now essential for nearly all our electronic, military, and "green" technologies. But their growing use is not without environmental, economic, and geopolitical consequences. Abraham traces these elements' hidden paths from mines to our living rooms, from the remote hills of China to the frozen Gulf of Finland, providing vivid accounts of those who produce, trade, and rely on rare metals. He argues that these materials are increasingly playing a significant role in global affairs, conferring strength to countries and companies that can ensure sustainable supplies. Just as oil, iron, and bronze revolutionized previous eras, so too will these metals. The challenges this book reveals, and the plans it proposes, make it essential reading for our rare metal age.

Weak rocks encountered in open pit mines cover a wide variety of materials, with properties ranging between soil and rock. As such, they can provide a significant challenge for the slope designer. For these materials, the mass strength can be the primary control in the design of the pit slopes, although structures can also play an important role. Because of the typically weak nature of the materials, groundwater and surface water can also have a controlling influence on stability. Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks is a companion to Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design, which was published in 2009 and dealt primarily with strong rocks. Both books were commissioned under the Large Open Pit (LOP) project, which is sponsored by major mining companies. These books provide summaries of the current state of practice for the design, implementation and assessment of slopes in open pits, with a view to meeting the requirements of safety, as well as the recovery of anticipated ore reserves. This book, which follows the general cycle of the slope design process for open pits, contains 12 chapters. These chapters were compiled and written by industry experts and contain a large number of case histories. The initial chapters address field data collection, the critical aspects of determining the strength of weak rocks, the role of groundwater in weak rock slope stability and slope design considerations, which can differ somewhat from those applied to strong rock. The subsequent chapters address the principal weak rock types that are encountered in open pit mines, including cemented colluvial sediments, weak sedimentary mudstone rocks, soft coals and chalk, weak limestone, saprolite, soft iron ores and other leached rocks, and hydrothermally altered rocks. A final chapter deals with design implementation aspects, including mine planning, design implementation, monitoring, surface water control and closure of weak rock slopes. Key Features: Illustration of the best practice in modern open pit mines State of the art approaches for challenging designs Use of numerous case histories written by large-open pit operators to illustrate state of practice Individual chapters/sections written by leaders in the industry As with the other books in this series, Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks provides guidance to practitioners involved in the design and implementation of open pit slopes, particularly geotechnical engineers, mining engineers, geologists and other personnel working at operating mines.

Constantly in the news and the subject of much public debate, fracking, as it is known for short, is one of the most promising yet controversial methods of extracting natural gas and oil. Today, 90 percent of natural gas wells use fracking. Though highly effective, the process-which fractures rock with pressurized fluid-has been criticized for polluting land, air, and water, and endangering human health.
A timely addition to Oxford's What Everyone Needs to Know(r) series, Hydrofracking tackles this contentious topic, exploring both sides of the debate and providing a clear guide to the science underlying the technique. In concise question-and-answer format, Alex Prud'homme cuts through the maze of opinions and rhetoric to uncover key points, from the economic and political benefits of fracking to the health dangers and negative effects on the environment. Prud'homme offers clear answers to a range of fundamental questions, including: What is fracking fluid? How does it impact water supplies? Who regulates the industry? How much recoverable natural gas exists in the U.S.? What new innovations are on the horizon? Supporters as diverse as President Obama and the conservative billionaire T. Boone Pickens have promoted natural gas as a clean, "21st-century" fuel that will reduce global warming, create jobs, and provide tax revenues, but concerns remain, with environmental activists like Bill McKibben and others leading protests to put an end to fracking as a means of obtaining alternative energy. Prud'homme considers ways to improve methods in the short-term, while also exploring the possibility of transitioning to more sustainable resources-wind, solar, tidal, and perhaps nuclear power-for the long term.
Written for general readers, Hydrofracking clearly explains both the complex science of fracking and the equally complex political and economic issues that surround it, giving readers all the information they need to understand what will no doubt remain a contentious issue for years to come.
What Everyone Needs to Know(r) is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press

Under the Earth's surface is a rich array of geological resources, many with potential use to humankind. However, extracting and harnessing them comes with enormous uncertainties, high costs, and considerable risks. The valuation of subsurface resources involves assessing discordant factors to produce a decision model that is functional and sustainable. This volume provides real-world examples relating to oilfields, geothermal systems, contaminated sites, and aquifer recharge. Volume highlights include: A multi-disciplinary treatment of uncertainty quantification Case studies with actual data that will appeal to methodology developers A Bayesian evidential learning framework that reduces computation and modeling time Quantifying Uncertainty in Subsurface Systems is a multidisciplinary volume that brings together five major fields: information science, decision science, geosciences, data science and computer science. It will appeal to both students and practitioners, and be a valuable resource for geoscientists, engineers and applied mathematicians. Read the Editors' Vox: https: //eos.org/editors-vox/quantifying-uncertainty-about-earths-resources Reviews, The Leading Edge, SEG, May 2020 The subsurface medium created by geologic processes is not always well understood. The data we collect in an attempt to characterize the subsurface can be incomplete and inaccurate. However, if we understand the uncertainty of our data and the models we generate from them, we can make better decisions regarding the management of subsurface resources. Modeling and managing subsurface resources, and properly characterizing and understanding the uncertainties, requires the integration of a variety of scientific and engineering disciplines. Five case studies are outlined in the introductory chapter, which are used to demonstrate various methods throughout the book. The second chapter introduces the basic notions in decision analysis. Uncertainty quantification is only relevant within the decision framework used. Models alone do not quantify uncer-tainty, but do allow the determination of key variables that influ-ence models and decisions. Next, an overview of the various data science methods relevant to uncertainty quantification in the subsurface is provided. Sensitivity analysis is then covered, specifi-cally Monte Carlo-based sensitivity analysis. The next three chapters develop the Bayesian approach to uncertainty quantifica-tion, and this is the focus of the book. All of this is brought together in Chapter 8, which describes a solution regarding quantifying the uncertainties for each of the problems presented in the first chapter. The authors admit that it is not the only solution. No single solution fits all problems of uncertainty quantification. The results in this chapter allow the reader to see the previously described methods applied and how choices influence models and decisions. The final two chapters discuss various software components necessary to implement the strategies presented in the book and challenges faced in the future of uncertainty quantification. The book uses a number of relevant subsurface problems to explore the various aspects of uncertainty quantification. Understanding uncertainty, and how it affects modeling and decision outcomes, is not always straightforward. However, it is necessary in order to make good, consistent decisions. The book is not an easy read. Some portions require good mathematical understanding of the underlying principles. However, the book is well documented and organized. I would say that is not a good book for a beginner, but it is a good resource for someone to get a grounding to go further into the subject. I appreciate the authors putting together this book on a complex problem that is important to our industry. -- David Bartel, Houston, Texas

What happens to indigenous people when their homelands are declared by well-intentioned outsiders to be precious environmental habitats? In this revelatory book, Molly Doane describes how a rain forest in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca was appropriated and redefined by environmentalists who initially wanted to conserve its biodiversity. Her case study approach shows that good intentions are not always enough to produce results that benefit both a habitat and its many different types of inhabitants. Doane begins by showing how Chimalapas - translated as "shining rivers" - has been "produced" in various ways over time, from a worthless wasteland to a priceless asset. Focusing on a series of environmental projects that operated between 1990 and 2008, she reveals that environmentalists attempted to recast agrarian disputes - which actually stemmed from government-supported corporate incursions into community lands and from unequal land redistribution - as environmental problems. Doane focuses in particular on the attempt throughout the 1990s to establish a "Campesino Ecological Reserve" in Chimalapas. Supported by major grants from the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), this effort to foster and merge agrarian and environmental interests was ultimately unsuccessful because it was seen as politically threatening by the state. By 2000, the Mexican government had convinced the WWF to redirect its conservation monies to the state government and its agencies. The WWF eventually abandoned attempts to establish an "enclosure" nature reserve in the region or to gain community acceptance for conservation. Instead, working from a new market-based model of conservation, the WWF began paying cash to individuals for "environmental services" such as reforestation and environmental monitoring.

This book looks at developments in oil shale which is the largest untapped domestic resource with the greatest potential to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Over 70% of the world's oil shale resources occur in the United States. These deposits contain over 1.5 trillion barrels of shale oil. If only 800 billion of this can be recovered, that alone would supply all of our current domestic petroleum needs for the next 100 years or more. The 2005 Energy Security Act demonstrated that the US government might finally encourage the development of these valuable oil shale resources. The nation's production of crude oil has been declining since the 1970s while its demand has continued to increase, making the country increasingly dependent on imported oil. However, there are lingering questions about our ability to produce shale oil in this country. Most of these questions discussed in this book, centre on key issues such as: (1) is the technology available and will it work on a large scale?; (2) can shale oil be produced profitably?; (3) can shale oil be produced in an environmentally responsible manner?; and (4) what are the socio-economic impacts going to be on the local regions where these developments occur? Oil shale requires an expensive, high-risk, long-lead time development program and the federal government controls most of the resource. They will therefore ultimately determine whether or not shale oil is ever produced at a level sufficient to improve our economic and national security.

Maximizing the use of our visible surface supplies in light of their greatest need in agriculture presents an enormous challenge throughout the world. New techniques in agricultural applications to preserve resources and increase yields are featured. Dams, lakes, and hydraulic features of surface water systems are amply covered, along with the importance of storm water management to growing communities.

This open access book is an encyclopaedic analysis of the current and future energy system of the world's most populous country and second biggest economy. What happens in China impacts the planet. In the past 40 years China has achieved one of the most remarkable economic growth rates in history. Its GDP has risen by a factor of 65, enabling 850,000 people to rise out of poverty. Growth on this scale comes with consequences. China is the world's biggest consumer of primary energy and the world's biggest emitter of CO2 emissions. Creating a prosperous and harmonious society that delivers economic growth and a high quality of life for all will require radical change in the energy sector, and a rewiring of the economy more widely. In China's Energy Revolution in the Context of the Global Energy Transition, a team of researchers from the Development Research Center of the State Council of China and Shell International examine how China can revolutionise its supply and use of energy. They examine the entire energy system: coal, oil, gas, nuclear, renewables and new energies in production, conversion, distribution and consumption. They compare China with case studies and lessons learned in other countries. They ask which technology, policy and market mechanisms are required to support the change and they explore how international cooperation can smooth the way to an energy revolution in China and across the world. And, they create and compare scenarios on possible pathways to a future energy system that is low-carbon, affordable, secure and reliable.

In this remarkable book, Barbara Freese takes us on a rich historical journey that begins hundreds of millions of years ago and spans the globe. Prized as the best stone in Britain" by Roman invaders who carved jewellery out of it, coal has transformed societies, launched empires, and expanded frontiers. It made China an eleventh-century superpower, inspired the Communist Manifesto , and helped the North win the American Civil War. Yet coal's transformative power has come at tremendous cost, from the blackening of our lungs and skies, to the perils of mining, to global warming. Now updated with a new chapter describing the high-stakes conflict between coal's defenders and those working to preserve a livable climate, Coal offers a captivating history of the mineral that helped build the modern world but now endangers our future.

Over the past five hundred years, North Americans have increasingly relied on mining to produce much of their material and cultural life. From cell phones and computers to cars, roads, pipes, pans, and even wall tile, mineral-intensive products have become central to North American societies. As this process has unfolded, mining has also indelibly shaped the natural world and the human societies within it. Mountains have been honeycombed, rivers poisoned, forests leveled, and the consequences of these environmental transformations have fallen unevenly across North America. Drawing on the work of scholars from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, Mining North America examines these developments. It covers an array of minerals and geographies while bringing mining into the core debates that animate North American environmental history. Taken all together, the essays in this book make a powerful case for the centrality of mining in forging North American environments and societies.

In "Powering the Future," Nobel laureate Robert B. Laughlin transports us two centuries into the future, when we've ceased to use carbon from the ground--either because humans have banned carbon burning or because fuel has simply run out. Boldly, Laughlin predicts no earth-shattering transformations will have taken place. Six generations from now, there will still be soccer moms, shopping malls, and business trips. Firesides will still be snug and warm.

How will we do it? Not by discovering a magic bullet to slay our energy problems, but through a slew of fascinating technologies, drawing on wind, water, and fire. "Powering the Future" is an objective yet optimistic tour through alternative fuel sources, set in a world where we've burned every last drop of petroleum and every last shovelful of coal.

The Predictable: "Fossil fuels will run out." The present flow of crude oil out of the ground equals in one day the average flow of the Mississippi River past New Orleans in thirteen minutes. If you add the energy equivalents of gas and coal, it's thirty-six minutes. At the present rate of consumption, we'll be out of fossil fuels in two centuries' time. "We always choose the cheapest gas." From the nineteenth-century consolidation of the oil business to the California energy crisis of 2000-2001, the energy business has shown, time and again, how low prices dominate market share. Market forces--not green technology--will be the driver of energy innovation in the next 200 years. "The laws of physics remain fixed." Energy will still be conserved, degrade entropically with use, and have to be disposed of as waste heat into outer space. How much energy a fuel can pack away in a given space is fixed by quantum mechanics--and if we want to keep flying jet planes, we will need carbon-based fuels. The Potential: "Animal waste."If dried and burned, the world's agricultural manure would supply about one-third as much energy as all the coal we presently consume. "Trash." The United States disposes of 88 million tons of carbon in its trash per year. While the incineration of waste trash is not enough to contribute meaningfully to the global demand for energy, it will constrain fuel prices by providing a cheap supply of carbon." ""Solar energy."The power used to light all the cities around the world is only one-millionth of the total power of sunlight pouring down on earth's daytime side. And the amount of hydropump storage required to store the world's daily electrical surge is equal to only eight times the volume of Lake Mead. PRAISE FOR ROBERT B. LAUGHLIN "Perhaps the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Richard Feynman"--George Chapline, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory "Powerful but controversial."-- "Financial Times"" "" Laughlin's] company ... is inspirational." --"New Scientist"

When seven-year-old Dave Lowell was camped out at his father's mine in the hills of southern Arizona in 1935, he knew he had found his calling. ""Life couldn't get any better than this,"" he recalls. ""I didn't know what science was, but wisps of scientific thought were already working into my plan."" So began the legendary career of the engineer, geologist, explorer, and international businessman whose life is recounted in his own words in this captivating book. An Arizona native with family roots in territorial times, Lowell grew from modest beginnings on a ranch near Nogales to become a major world figure in the fields of minerals, mining, and economic geology. He has personally discovered more copper than anyone in history and has developed multibillion-dollar gold and copper mines that have changed the economies of nations. And although he has consulted for corporations in the field of mining, he has largely operated as an independent agent and explorer, the architect of his own path and success. His life's story unfolds in four stages: his early education in his field, on-the-job learning at sites in the United States and Mexico, development of exploration strategies, and finally, the launch of his own enterprises and companies. Recurring themes in Lowell's life include the strict personal, ethical, and tactical policies he requires of his colleagues; his devotion to his family; and his distaste for being away from the field in a corporate office, even to this day. The magnitude of Lowell's overall success is evident in his list of mine discoveries, as well as in his scientific achievements and the enormous respect his friends and colleagues have had for him throughout his lengthy career, which he continues to zealously pursue.

Gold Panning California is the premiere reference source for anyone who is interested in getting started or continuing their gold prospecting in California. Containing accurate, up-to-date prospecting information for all known panning areas in California. The write-ups for each locale include driving directions, GPS coordinates, historical information, land ownership restrictions, full-color photos, and geological background. Features include: *Full-color images *GPS coordinates *Geology basics *Tools of the trade for every level of collector *Rules and regulations *Polishing, preserving, crafting, and displaying your treasures

This second edition of the original volume adds significant new innovations for revolutionizing the processes and methods used in petroleum reservoir simulations. With the advent of shale drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and underbalanced drilling has come a virtual renaissance of scientific methodologies in the oil and gas industry. New ways of thinking are being pioneered, and Dr. Islam and his team have, for years now, been at the forefront of these important changes. This book clarifies the underlying mathematics and physics behind reservoir simulation and makes it easy to have a range of simulation results along with their respective probability. This makes the risk analysis based on knowledge rather than guess work. The book offers by far the strongest tool for engineers and managers to back up reservoir simulation predictions with real science. The book adds transparency and ease to the process of reservoir simulation in way never witnessed before. Finally, No other book provides readers complete access to the 3D, 3-phase reservoir simulation software that is available with this text. A must-have for any reservoir engineer or petroleum engineer working upstream, whether in exploration, drilling, or production, this text is also a valuable textbook for advanced students and graduate students in petroleum or chemical engineering departments.

Mining of Hardrock minerals on federal lands is governed primarily by the General Mining Law of 1872. The law grants free access to individuals and corporations to search for minerals in public domain lands, and allows them, upon making a discovery, to stake a claim on that deposit. A claim gives the holder the right to develop the minerals and may be "patented" to convey full title to the claimant. This book explores the issue of whether this law should be reformed, and if so, how to balance mineral development with competing land uses.