Methane clathrate hydrates form at temps well above 0deg. C, in fact up to 18deg.C or ~65deg.F under suitable pressures. The temp of gulf waters at 5,000 feet depth is about 41deg.F. As the pressure is reduced on the column of oil + water-methane compounds rising in the well casing, the clathrates entrained decompose, releasing a LARGE volume of methane gas; hence blowout. In a way, this is like a boiler explosion, where the release of pressure in the boiler causes yet more water to turn to steam, blowing the boiler to smithereens and releasing ALL the superheated water to be steam at once. In other words, this is a 'positive feedback' or self-feeding event on a truly, literally, global scale. At pressures in the oil pocket of >70,000psi we (BP, whoever,) are unlikely to achieve success with large explosions - nuclear or otherwise - since any further fracture of the crust containing the oil pocket is not a good idea. A further note; the heat generated by the setting of the cement used to seal the casing to the rock crust probably added to the release of methane from solid compounds to a gaseous state.
There is a good deal of prior published information on the presence of methane clathrates at shallow depths of 200 - 800 meters off both our eastern and western coasts as well as massive quantities in Siberia, and the role clathrate release may have played in previous extinctions involving "sudden catastrophic global climate change" as the pentagon called it years ago. Their presence at depths of a mile is relatively new info generated by the oil Co.s for their own uses. Malcolm On Tue, 2010-05-11 at 13:15 -0400, Garrick wrote: > http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22methane%20hydrates% > 22&rlz=1B3GGLL_enUS358US358&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=nws:1&source=og&sa=N&tab=wn > > Methane hydrates are all over the news......Yep They are "plaguing" > the BP well according to the news > > G > > > > > On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 11:51 AM, Marshall Dudley > <mdud...@king-cart.com> wrote: > Are you sure there are methane hydrates there? Yes, positive. See above. > They require temperatures below freezing, and we are talking > about the Gulf. Although ocean temperatures drop as you go > deeper, crust temperatures increase, normally at a nominal 1 > degree per 100 feet as you go down. That is 52 degrees per > mile increase in temperature. I don't see how it could be > possible to have hydrate with that deep hole. > > Marshall > > > -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Rules and Instructions: http://www.silverlist.org Unsubscribe: <mailto:silver-list-requ...@eskimo.com?subject=unsubscribe> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/silver-list@eskimo.com/maillist.html Off-Topic discussions: <mailto:silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com> List Owner: Mike Devour <mailto:mdev...@eskimo.com>
