When rainwater infiltrates into the ground to replenish aquifers, just how deep does it (or can it) go? New research has identified fluids derived from rainwater below the Earth's fractured upper crust, at least 8 miles below Earth's surface.
Scientists believe this research may help our understanding of earthquakes, as well as the generation of valuable mineral deposits.
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Rainwater Penetrates to the Earth's Fractured Upper Crust
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(Score: 4, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday July 18 2014, @04:23PM
Rainwater Penetrates to the Earth's Fractured Upper Crust [xkcd.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Tork on Friday July 18 2014, @05:42PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Interesting) by meisterister on Friday July 18 2014, @07:25PM
Alright. If they are, do it. I would like to see a registered user, perhaps named "obligxkcd", who is governed by a script that automatically posts the most relevant XKCD for the article.
(May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 18 2014, @09:30PM
Who uses keyword searches? Any truly hardcore nerd doesn't need keyword searches to come up with relevant XKCD comics. They just know them!
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday July 18 2014, @09:53PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Interesting) by elf on Friday July 18 2014, @07:44PM
There must be quite a bit of leak in to the crust from the oceans, maybe the leakage could solve all our climate change sea level rise issues :)
(Score: 1) by Adamsjas on Saturday July 19 2014, @12:41AM
Fluids derived from rain water?
How does that work? If you take anything out of rain water, you'r left with just rain water, right?
Or does adding things to rain water = "derived"?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday July 19 2014, @01:15AM
So rainwater makes it down eight miles.
I have noted oil is being recovered from depths I never thought possible. Oil is mostly hydrogen and carbon. There is obviously hydrogen present ( from water? ), and carbon ( from carbonate rock? ), overburden pressure, and energy ( heat from magma ).
Now my understanding of chemistry and entropy says this won't happen, but then I am not factoring in enormous gravitic pressure and heat that might possibly cause water and carbonate rock to produce a hydrocarbon. Everything in me says this won't work, but then I am no authority on high pressure chemistry either.
So how about it? If rainwater is getting that far down, can it be seeding the production of abiotic oil? ( which means maybe the earth may indeed harbor far more oil than dreamed - which goes against everything I believe. )
It is an extremely strong belief of mine that we are rapidly closing in on exhaustion of our geologic treasure of the stored energy we know as oil, while the "tragedy of the commons" plays out aa we deplete it with all the wisdom of a petri dish of yeast. Its my belief all this "fracking" going on today is us trying to get the last fart out, trying to keep the party going one more day...
Disclaimer: My thinking is strongly influenced by Matthew Simmon's book "Twilight in the Desert", of which I have a personal copy.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]