Fifty Years' Progress in Geology, 1876-1926: Papers Presented at the Geological Conference During the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Johns Hopkins University. October 1926 |
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accumulation active Alps Amer American geologists analyses anticlinal anticlinal theory Appalachian areas beds Bull century character chemical chemistry composition conclusions contributions contributors correlation crystallization deformation deposits determined discussion distillation drill early economic economic geology experimental fact field folds Foraminifera formation gas-wells genesis Geological Survey geologists Germany gneisses granite Hopkins hydrocarbons igneous rocks important inorganic theory investigation Jour Lamprophyre later Loewinson-Lessing magmas metamorphic metasomatism meteoric waters microscope minerals mountains nature Niggli nomenclature observed occurrence oil and gas olivine origin of oil Osann outcrop papers Petrog petrographic petrographic methods Petroleum Geology petrologists petrology phase rule porous porphyrite present pressure principles problems production progress recently region relation reservoir rock-forming Rosenbusch's salt domes sand schists scientific sedimentary sediments shale silicate solution strata stratigraphy structure subsurface Suess Teall tectonic texture tion torsion balance types U. S. Geol volcanic volcanologist Williams writer
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Page 65 - ... had been bored in the synclines on either side furnished little or no gas, but in many cases large quantities of salt water. Further observation showed that the gas wells were confined to a narrow belt, only one-fourth to one mile wide, along the crests of the anticlinal folds. These facts seemed to connect gas territory unmistakably with the disturbance in the rocks caused by their upheaval into arches, but the crucial test was yet to be made in the actual location of good gas territory on this...
Page 65 - ... gas territory on this theory. During the last two years, I have submitted it to all manner of tests, both in locating and condemning gas territory, and the general result has been to confirm the anticlinal theory beyond a reasonable doubt.
Page 65 - In a theory of this kind, the limitations become quite as important as, or even more so than the theory itself ; and hence I have given considerable thought to this side of the question, having formulated them into three or four general rules (which include practically all the limitations known to me, up to the present time, that should be placed on the statement that large...
Page 65 - Probably very few or none of the grand arches along mountain ranges will be found holding gas in large quantity, since in such cases the disturbance of the stratification has been so profound that all the natural gas generated in the past would long ago have escaped into the air through fissures that traverse all the beds.
Page 65 - After visiting all the great gas wells that had been struck in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and carefully examining the geological surroundings of each, I found that every one of them was situated either directly on or near the crown of an anticlinal axis, while wells that had been bored in the synclines on either side furnished little or no gas, but in many cases large quantities of salt water. Further observation showed that the gas wells were confined to a narrow belt, only one.fourth...
Page 71 - Huron shale a vast repository of solid hydro-carbonaceous matter, which may be made to yield ten to twenty gallons of oil to the ton by artificial distillation. Like all other organic matter, this is constantly undergoing spontaneous distillation, except where hermetically sealed deep under rock and water. This results in the formation of oil and gas, closely resembling those which we make artificially from the same substance, the manufactured differing from the natural products only because we can...
Page 65 - The porous rocks into which the oil and gas enter may be dry or they may be completely saturated with water. In most cases it is probable that a combination of these two conditions exists — that the porous rocks are completely saturated with water up to a certain level, but above that point they are dry. The movement of the hydrocarbons through the rocks will not be the same in the two cases, and therefore each condition must be considered separately. "If small quantities of oil and gas enter a...
Page 65 - Whether the petroleum comes from within or below the shales, it must pass through them, and to do this it must pass through the very small pores existing in those relatively impervious beds. The nature and cause of this movement are not understood. Capillary action and great rock pressure may be suggested as causes which aid in forcing the petroleum out of the shales, but there are not sufficient data on this subject to justify any scientific explanation.
Page 85 - The oil and salt pockets of the Texas coastal plain are probably not Indigenous to the strata in which they are found, but are the resultant products of columns of hot saline waters which have ascended, under hydrostatic pressure, at points along lines of structural weakness, through thousands of feet of shale, sand and marine littoral sediments of the coast plain section, through which oil and sand are disseminated in more or less minute quantities.
Page 65 - Oil and gas entering a porous rock that is completely saturated with water will be forced up to the top of the porous stratum by the difference in the specific gravity of the hydrocarbons and the water. Here the oil and gas will remain if the porous stratum be perfectly level, but if it has a dip sufficient to overcome the friction the particles of oil and gas will gradually move up this slope, the gas with its lower specific gravity occupying the higher places. •"In case the porous rocks are partly...