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Discussion » Questions » Science and Technology » Do you think there must be a lot of huge hollow spaces in the earth where oil and gas has been removed could be filled with ocean water to
Kittigate

Do you think there must be a lot of huge hollow spaces in the earth where oil and gas has been removed could be filled with ocean water to

..help keep rising sea levels in check?

Posted - August 5, 2019
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Responses


  • 13277
    And where are these spaces?
      August 5, 2019 2:48 PM MDT
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  • 13395
    Where the oil and gas have been removed. Kinda small but maybe they could even use the hollow spaces where turnips, beets and potatoes have been removed. 
      August 5, 2019 2:58 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    But who are "they" and where, specifically, are all these spaces located? Your idea sounds great in theory, but it may not be practical to implement.
      August 5, 2019 3:18 PM MDT
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  • 13395
    I don't know who 'they' are or I would have named them. The places could be located easily enough if 'they' could figure out a feasible way to do it that might be practicable and due to necessity to help save our planet.
      August 5, 2019 3:28 PM MDT
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  • 11144

    If you were to find the volume of all the fresh water rivers and lakes on earth then X that number by 75 you could get an idea of how big of a container it would take to hold all the extra water from melted polar ice caps. There probably isn't enough hollow spaces on earth to hold it all. Cheers! 

      August 5, 2019 4:00 PM MDT
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  • 3719
    Oil and gas do not occupy cavern-like voids. They are absorbed into porous rocks, chiefly sandstone, as in a huge sponge.

    There is a suggestion I think has at least progressed to experimental stage, of pumping carbon-dioxide into depleted wells and sealing it in.  
      August 5, 2019 4:10 PM MDT
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  • 13395
    Yes that would help eliminate some of the CO2 pollution. 
      August 5, 2019 4:18 PM MDT
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  • 44645
    Not quite. They are entrapped by impermeable domes. The oil trapped in shale is what your are referring to.

    The development of salt domes can deform rock units into traps that hold oil and natural gas. They are often mined as sources of salt and sulfur. The impermeable nature of the salt can make them important sites for underground storage or underground disposal of hazardous waste.



      August 5, 2019 5:29 PM MDT
    3

  • 3719
    Yes - I know the basics of oil and gas traps. I was simply answering the question as directly as possible. In fact a lot of oil is in sandstone not shale; but the point remains that either way, it does not occupy large voids.

    It is possible to replace some of the extracted oil (not sure about gas) with water, and that is used to push out the oil out as the reserve becomes depleted, but I would be very surprised if there is enough capacity to make any significant difference to the water on the Earth's surface. 
      August 6, 2019 1:22 AM MDT
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  • 44645
    There is no way.
      August 6, 2019 8:01 AM MDT
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  • 5391
    No, I don’t foresee any such voids would be anywhere near enough to offset sea levels rising.
    I mean, have you seen Greenland? There are icebergs the size of US states breaking off Antarctica. 
      August 5, 2019 4:16 PM MDT
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  • 3719
    I agree. Though in porous rock not cavernous voids, the total volume of depleted oil and gas wells must be miniscule compared to total sea volume.
      August 6, 2019 1:24 AM MDT
    0