The methane bubble

[watermock]

June 24, 2010 12:30 p.m. “Texas A&M: Methane Levels in Gulf 1 Million Times Over Normal”
Last week, scientists from a University of Georgia weighed in with their findings on methane gas in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Yesterday, more opinions from other experts were published. Texas A&M University has also had a team on the Gulf and also finds exceptionally high methane levels in the water.
Reuters:
Texas A&M University oceanography professor John Kessler, just back from a 10-day research expedition near the BP Plc oil spill in the gulf, says methane gas levels in some areas are “astonishingly high.”

Kessler’s crew took measurements of both surface and deep water within a 5-mile (8 kilometer) radius of BP’s broken wellhead.

“There is an incredible amount of methane in there,” Kessler told reporters in a telephone briefing.

In some areas, the crew of 12 scientists found concentrations that were 100,000 times higher than normal.

“We saw them approach a million times above background concentrations” in some areas, Kessler said.

The scientists were looking for signs that the methane gas had depleted levels of oxygen dissolved in the water needed to sustain marine life.

“At some locations, we saw depletions of up to 30 percent of oxygen based on its natural concentration in the waters. At other places, we saw no depletion of oxygen in the waters. We need to determine why that is,” he told the briefing.

Methane occurs naturally in sea water, but high concentrations can encourage the growth of microbes that gobble up oxygen needed by marine life.

Kessler said oxygen depletions have not reached a critical level yet, but the oil is still spilling into the Gulf, now at a rate of as much as 60,000 barrels a day, according to U.S. government estimates.

“What is it going to look like two months down the road, six months down the road, two years down the road?” he asked.

Methane, a natural gas, dissolves in seawater and some scientists think measuring methane could give a more accurate picture of the extent of the oil spill.

Kessler said his team has taken those measurements, and is hoping to have an estimate soon.

“Give us about a week and we should have some preliminary numbers on that,” he said.

June 23, 2010 5:59 p.m. “Scientists: 1,000 -year-old Gas Bubble Near Oil Leak Could Burst and Cause Tsunami?”
Last week, scientists in the Gulf of Mexico reported that escaping methane gas is at least as dangerous as the leaking oil. They reported the methane has already created “dead zones” of reduced oxygen in one-third of the gulf.

Carl Franzen at the Surge Desk reports some scientists now believe there is a large, ancient pocket of gas near the oil which is in danger of rupture. The potential damage is astounding.


It’s not just the crude that is causing problems in the gulf oil spill: Another petroleum byproduct, natural gas, is reported to be leaking in much greater concentrations than previously thought. And not only could the gas be suffocating sea life, but a new analysis warns that a giant, 1,000-year-old methane bubble could soon explode, taking out miles and miles of the ocean floor and causing a violent oil spill tsunami that would threaten the entire gulf coastline.
Since then, the oil that has leaked from the Macondo Prospect into the Gulf of Mexico (now pegged at a rate as high as 100,000 barrels per day) has contained about 40 percent methane, according to The Associated Press. The agency notes that this is far greater the 5 percent typically found in oil deposits, and has the potential to create dreaded oxygen-depleted “dead zones” throughout the ocean, wherein no sea life can survive for years.

Already, scientists have observed methane concentrations up to 10,000 times have pointed out, the methane released by the BP oil spill is also thought to be adding to global warming, as methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. BP says it’s burning much of the natural gas that bubbles up from the source of the leak, but does not account for the portion that has already escaped into the water. have noted that methane does eventually dissolve uniformly in seawater and is consumed by microbes.
The frightening “low-probability” scenario described today by entrepreneur and philanthropist DK Matai includes the possibility of a “massive bubble trapped for thousands of years under the Gulf of Mexico sea floor” exploding and setting off a “tsunami [traveling] at a high speed of hundreds of miles per hour.”



Matai continues:

Florida might be most exposed to the fury of a tsunami wave. The entire Gulf coastline would be vulnerable, if the tsunami is manifest. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and southern region of Georgia might experience the effects of the tsunami according to some sources.He also warns of a “second tsunami via vaporization.” This could result after the initial explosion displaced all the oil, gas and water around it, producing a gigantic, extremely hot (300-degree Fahrenheit) cavity, which would vaporize all the incoming water, turning it into steam and causing another rupture in the gulf floor. He notes that as time goes on and the gulf well remains unplugged, the “risk increases.”
BP’s View
BP America spokesman Robert Wine told Surge Desk that Matai’s claims were unfounded, saying: “Of course there’s natural gas down there. That’s what’s coming up, that’s what we’ve been burning this whole time. It’s what caused the explosion in the first place, after all, so where does this idea of another bubble or explosion come from? It is a bit difficult to comment on the claims of unspecified geologists.”
No matter how unlikely a tsunami might be, we’ve already entered hurricane season, which has a much greater chance of ruining the gulf oil spill response effort..


http://www.uncoverage.net/2010/06/te...0000-x-normal/

[mhgaffney]

Most of Florida is only a few feet above sea level. An 80 foot tsunami might sweep across the entire state.

[cutthemdown]

This is bad but don't go believing every quack out there.

[Meck77]

Well Obama promised change. So much for the USA going green.

[TailgateNut]

Originally Posted by Meck77

Well Obama promised change. So much for the USA going green.

I see you've joined the "looney tunes brigade".

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by mhgaffney

Most of Florida is only a few feet above sea level. An 80 foot tsunami might sweep across the entire state.

Unlikely. Think friction.

[Meck77]

Yeah I'm looney nut. Meanwhile a study just came out today that there are 27,000 abandoned wells in our ocean and our government isn't doing a ****ing thing about it. NOTHING. I thought Ken Salazar was going to get tough on the oil companies. He's a punk and liar.

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...gas-oil-well/1

More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells remain in the Gulf of Mexico and no one's checking to see if they are leaking, reports an investigation by the Associated Press.

The AP, calling the Gulf an "environmental minefield," says the oldest of these wells were abandoned in the late 1940s, raising questions about whether their seals remain intact. It says 3,500 wells are listed as "temporarily abandoned," without seals, with 1,000 of them remaining that way for more than a decade.

[TailgateNut]

Originally Posted by Meck77

Yeah I'm looney nut. Meanwhile a study just came out today that there are 27,000 abandoned wells in our ocean and our government isn't doing a ****ing thing about it. NOTHING. I thought Ken Salazar was going to get tough on the oil companies. He's a punk and liar.

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...gas-oil-well/1

More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells remain in the Gulf of Mexico and no one's checking to see if they are leaking, reports an investigation by the Associated Press.

The AP, calling the Gulf an "environmental minefield," says the oldest of these wells were abandoned in the late 1940s, raising questions about whether their seals remain intact. It says 3,500 wells are listed as "temporarily abandoned," without seals, with 1,000 of them remaining that way for more than a decade.

So are the "liberals" anti business tree huggers or do we have a vision for a sustainable future?

[mhgaffney]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Unlikely. Think friction.

Tell that to my friend in central Florida.

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by mhgaffney

Tell that to my friend in central Florida.

Do the math yourself. Google "tsunami runup", and provide the topography of FL and your sicko doomster fantasy of an 80-foot wave.

Do you even know how to answer a question analytically? It's pretty clear you have no ****ing clue.

[cutthemdown]

I don't like Obama but this oil spill mess just not his fault. He may not have politically handled it right. But either way the oil would still be spilled and cleaning it up near impossible.

[cutthemdown]

A wave would have to be much taller then 80 feet to reach central Fla. WHen they hit land they crash and the friction of the land destroys the wave. Not saying it would look pretty, but cover the whole state no way.

Now maybe an asteriod impact could make waves that huge. From a methane explosion though? seems unlikely. But a few months ago I would have said that they could stop a leak like this no problem. I always thought oil spills would be from tankers or pipelines.

[baja]

I would be more concerned with the vast O2 dead zones being created under water that will move via the ocean currents killing all sea life that they come in conntact with for many decades to come.

[kappys]

Originally Posted by baja

I would be more concerned with the vast O2 dead zones being created under water that will move via the ocean currents killing all sea life that they come in conntact with for many decades to come.

This. Not only will it kill off fish but it will promote large algal blooms. Anyone who has been near the shore where there is a red tide is familiar with the effects. In addition many of these algae are poisonous to humans and when consumed by fish make them inedible

[mhgaffney]

It all depends on how large the tsunami is. No way to know until it happens.

[mhgaffney]

It now appears that BP decided to use the Corexit dispersant because this reduced the amount of oil on the surface.

Here's the BP logic: out of sight out of mind.

The dispersant causes the oil to remain in the water column. The problem is there is no way to recover it once it is dispersed.

In fact, the oil in the water column is much more toxic to sea life- - than when it remains on the surface where it can be scooped up by ships.

BP made the disaster worse by using Corexit.

So where is Obama? He should be sticking it to BP for using this highly toxic chemical.

But all I hear is the roar of presidential silence.

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by mhgaffney

So where is Obama? He should be sticking it to BP for using this highly toxic chemical.

But all I hear is the roar of presidential silence.

You're daft.

What about the $20 billion "shakedown" (as claimed by one of the truly evil politicos - Barton) that Obama has gotten from BP?

Do you even read the news outside of the websites of your fellow retards?

[mhgaffney]

What of it?

How does this change my post? I still say -- you need to flush.

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by mhgaffney

What of it?

How does this change my post? I still say -- you need to flush.

You want Obama to "stick it" to BP - and he's done so, to the tune of $20 billion.

What do you think he should do?

[Rohirrim]

da hole world gonna splode

[baja]

Originally Posted by W*GS

You want Obama to "stick it" to BP - and he's done so, to the tune of $20 billion.

What do you think he should do?

Allow the clean up to proceed by killing the red tape

stop the use of dispercents

allow the use of foreign vessels with skimmers that are waiting for federal permits to work in us waters

allow existing wells to continue drilling after an inspection

freeze PB's assects so they can not transfer them to other corperations to avoid liability. I can see PB bankrupting itself after gutting the assects

[baja]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

da hole world gonna splode

You think this is no big deal?

[Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by baja

You think this is no big deal?

Here's my rule:

Never be surprised at what the crazy monkeys come up with next.

[baja]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

Here's my rule:

Never be surprised at what the crazy monkeys come up with next.

Your idea of getting off the grid and put in supplies is a good one trouble is your neighbors don't have the same clearity of vision and will come calling when they get hungry. This is why I chose very rural Baja.

[Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by baja

Your idea of getting off the grid and put in supplies is a good one trouble is your neighbors don't have the same clearity of vision and will come calling when they get hungry. This is why I chose very rural Baja.

All they have to do is figure out where the punji sticks are.