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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » Does every state have oil wells or are some states DRY AS A BONE oilwise?

Does every state have oil wells or are some states DRY AS A BONE oilwise?

Posted - February 15, 2021

Responses


  • 10637
    No.  Only 34.  

    Before the gas crisis of the mid 70s, I remember seeing oil derricks all over the place on the way down to grandma's (I-80).  Only a few of them were ever moving (the one by the Nut Tree moved).
      February 15, 2021 10:32 AM MST
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  • 113301
    I see by the helpful map m2c provided. I wonder why that is? Thank you for your reply Shuhak. I don't remember seeing any "up north" when my son lived in northern California and I'd visit. I wonder why there is so much in some places and none at all in others? Guess I'll Google it! Thank you for your reply and Happy Tuesday! :)
      February 16, 2021 12:40 AM MST
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  • 10637
    If there is no oil below, they're not going to spend money sinking a well.  Oil is found only in certain geographical structures (usually anticlines) and around certain types of rock (sedimentary).  This is why there are no oil wells in the Sierras (granite is igneous).  It's also why they frack shale.
      February 16, 2021 9:59 AM MST
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  • 113301
    Oh dear! I was going to thank you for introducing a new word to me...anticlines. But I looked it up and don't understand what it is. I also looked up anticlinal. NO HELP. Sheesh. Ever look it up? What did you get out of it? Thank you for your reply Shuhak! :) This post was edited by RosieG at February 16, 2021 3:22 PM MST
      February 16, 2021 1:23 PM MST
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  • 10637

    I’ve sat through many lectures on plate tectonics in geology class.  The section on anticlines, synclines, monoclines, and chevrons was never my favorite. 
    Let’s see if I can nutshell it in VERY basic terms...

    An anticline is a hill and a syncline is a valley in the rock strata (layers).  Of course, we don't necessarily see these features on the surface.  Picture an ocean.  Sediment in the ocean (sand, dirt and dead life filter to the bottom of this ocean and pile up forming layers.  The weight of the top layers packs down the layers beneath, eventually solidifying them …and over the course of a few million years, the sea dries up.  All those layers are now sedimentary rock with.  As the earth’s tectonic plates move around (plate tectonics) these layers rock get folded.  Think of like a flat sheet of paper.  If you were to slowly push the two opposite ends towards each other, the paper will begin to fold… into anticlines and synclines.

    Now you’d think oil would be found in synclines (valleys), but that’s not the case.  Oil is always found in anticlines.  The rocks at the core of an anticline (hill) are be older than the ones above then, while the rocks at the core of a syncline would be younger (remember that folding paper).  That means the hardest rock is at the center (had longer to be pressured by the layers that formed on top of it).  This hard rock won’t allow oil to escape, so instead it pools up.  A syncline with its core rocks younger rocks is more porous and thus allows the oil to seep on through. 

    In the olden days, oil companies had geologists go out looking specifically for anticlines.  If they found one, they'd drill down for oil.  Of course, the presence of an anticline doesn't guarantee there oil underneath.  Today they use radar and such to see what's underground before they drill.

      February 16, 2021 4:33 PM MST
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  • 113301
    I read this very slowly and guess what? I had no problem at all PICTURING what you described. NONE! Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me. I really appreciate it. And this goes on all the time only at a very slow pace. OH. I just thought of a "cline" word I know. INCLINE. There is also DECLINE but an incline rises up. In San Francisco there is a very TWISTY road that going down is fun and going up is kinda hard unless you're in a powerful car. Calling anything ANTI though confuses. An ANTICLINE would be opposite a CLINE wouldn't it? How did it become anti? Now I'm getting caught up in language which is often confusing. Thanks m'dear. So don't be a writer. BE A TEACHER! You do it well. At least the way I learn reacts favorably to the way/method you use to explain things. For what it's worth. Maybe next lifetime you will teach? :) This post was edited by RosieG at February 17, 2021 2:59 AM MST
      February 17, 2021 2:57 AM MST
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  • 10637
    Yes, hills. 

    A syncline is the opposite of an anticline.

    To quote google, a cline is "a continuum with an infinite number of gradations from one extreme to the other."  In other words a slope (up, down, left, right.. it doesn't matter).  Since it covers all directions, it's kind of hard to have an opposite.
    A lot of geological terms were derived from either from Greek or Latin.  So of course they're not going to make sense to the average english reader (it's all greek to me).  If there was a hard way and a simple way to say something, those languages always took the hard way.  We had to "simplify" them and call it english. (sarcasm).
      February 17, 2021 10:16 AM MST
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  • 113301
    Do you think "simplifying" is dumbing down Shuhak? Instead of "fortuitous" we say "lucky". Is that being economical and plainspoken or intellectually inferior? I don't know. Once upon a time Esperanto was supposedly the way to go. I wonder what happened? Did people simple not want to be able to communicate with everyone in the world? I shall ask. Thank you for your reply!:)
      February 19, 2021 4:44 AM MST
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  • 44608
    I don't think Hawaii has any.
      February 15, 2021 5:13 PM MST
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  • 113301
    Imagine OAHU....Honolulu...peppered with oil rigs pumping oil? Desecration visually. Thank you for your reply E! :)
      February 16, 2021 12:36 AM MST
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  • 34266
      February 15, 2021 5:28 PM MST
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  • 113301
    So everything gray has zero oil? Thank you for the extremely helpful map m2c. Super informative. Happy Tuesday to thee and thine! :)
      February 16, 2021 12:37 AM MST
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  • 34266
    Yes gray is zero.
      February 16, 2021 7:52 AM MST
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