sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

I agree with you. Strange how "Fracking" for fuel has been demonized to be a contributor to earthquakes and other global affecting changes.

Compared to the underground nuclear bomb testing in the past, (and still today in some regions of the world) fracking is a fart in a windstorm by comparison. Quarrying stone which has been been practiced since the early days of man have ripped mountains from the earth. Today they use a series of explosions to bust acres of rock at a time and again, pumping pressure in a borehole to crack rock is perceived to be "world changing".

Your analysis of the moving continental plates is spot-on and it is to be expected when we inhabit a "living planet". Given the choice of being on a living planet or one of the untold number of dead planets, I'll chose this one and learn to accept the dynamics that come along with it for life brings life.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Jerry the planet has been doing this very same thing for Billions of years now. I doubt it will change, other than gradually, over the next Billion years. Of course we won't be around even for the next 100 years.

Dennis

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Did fracking cause the San Francisco earthquake or was that one just on its own. I did open a bottle of Diet Pepsi a few nights ago. Perhaps the increased CO2 in the air caused one of these earthquakes. Who knows for sure, huh?

Have a wonderful day,

Dennis

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

The planet is changing, at a more rapid rate because of what we have done. No matter, old idiots like us will soon die, leaving the mess for others.
The country will suffer, but might survive if we let loose soon.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

AFTER the next 100 years, please.
I plan to be around for at least part of those 100 years.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Fracking can be a contributing factor. Instability of rock formations is a result of several force stresses. In oil resource regions, the oils itself contributes to support of overlain rock and this role is very much affected by the oil distribution in the rock (how likely to resemble a pond). The North Dakota oil lands are fracked, but there have been no reports of even mini-quakes there.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

I agree with you as well although I'm not quite sure that the younger idiots will be any better than us older idiots. From what they have displayed so far has me doubting any practical sense let alone their upcoming stewardship of the planet.

Until there are solutions for the major third-world countries massive polluting, nothing will get better...it will only get worse. I believe that cleaning the planet should start with cleaning the waters of the world for all life is water based. The water of this earth is as prehistoric at the earth itself. Water came into existence during those formative years carried here by forces of the cosmos. Air pollution, although difficult and expensive, can be done as shown when the Ozone Layer was at risk and the world stepped forward with solutions. Cleaning the oceans, rivers and streams on the other hand is much more difficult and simply stopping putting pollution in will not get the existing pollution out.

A physical law of science tells us that 'nothing is created nor destroyed, it is only changed'. There is no new water, only infinitely recycled in addition to that held in the glaciers, snow-packed mountains and ice caps.

Pinenuts Loc: Genoa, NV

Just curious. I live in the Eastern Sierra in Nevada and would like to know where the 1000 foot cliff is. If it is accessible by 4X4 it would be fun explore.

Tom Vargas

It is not just the water that they pump into the old well but the chemicals. These chemicals not only pollute the ground water they also act as a lubricant to increase
The chances of having earthquakes. Louisiana and Arkansas are two states that did not have a lot of earthquakes. They are now experiencing a lot of them because of fracking.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

I got this from the USGS web site. "...Scientists have learned that the Earth's crust is fractured into a series of "plates" that have been moving very slowly over the Earth's surface for millions of years. Two of these moving plates meet in western California; the boundary between them is the San Andreas fault. The Pacific Plate (on the west) moves northwestward relative to the North American Plate (on the east), causing earthquakes along the fault..."

This type of fault causes lateral motion which is demonstrated at many locations along the fault by offset fences and roads.

bodiebill

Oil, water and natural gas are in the inter-granular matrix of the rock formation known as the interstices. Much like a red brick that soaks up water when placed in a pan of water.
The oil is not in a pool like a lake. but in the inter-granular space in the rock.
When fracking and water injection (secondary recovery) are involved, the rock formation is fractured thus increasing the exposed formation face. Then water is injected to sweep the in place oil to the well bore (it basically re-pressures the formation to make the fluid in place to flow to the well bore).
Yes, there are times when the formation containing faults will be lubricated and cause slippage and small earth quakes.
At the Rocky Mountain Chemical Weapons site near Denver a 10,000 foot well was drilled to inject toxins into the rock formation. This apparently caused lubrication of existing faults resulting in a swarm of minor earthquakes. Not at all like the recent California 7.1 quake when over 500 magnitude 2+ have occurred.

Water contamination does not occur from fracking because the well bore is lined with multiple strings of steel pipe cemented in place. State and Federal law requires this protection of water formations.
Fracking has resulted in oil independence and exportation of oil for the US

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Of course, "even for the next 100 years", includes that time up til the end of the next 100 years. We will all be around until we are not.

I believe we are on the same page.

Dennis

bodiebill

It is caused by intercontinental drift of the denser ocean plate diving under the lighter continental plate (known as subduction). The diving ocean plate melts and magma moves upwards causing volcanoes and earthquakes. The denser ocean plate crashing into the lighter continental plate also causes mountains to rise
fracturing the earth's rock formations with faults.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

While I agree with you that the planet is changing let's not forget it is always changing. I don't think that nature is affected much by we piddling little earthlings. I believe CO2 is one of the items we are told about that humans put too much of into the atmosphere, something like that. But then there was a volcano that apparently just released more CO2 in an hour than all humans have contributed in the past 2000 years. Don't you find that pretty hard to argue against?

I do agree that humans are not doing what might be best for the environment but I think we are trying but with no clear way to go. Look at the past with two arguments, cloth diapers vs disposable diapers is one problem where we may have gone awry. Cloth diapers use water and soap to keep clean. So humans went to disposable diapers. Now we save water and don't put soapy water into the earth's water supply. But we do leave Billions of pounds of dirty plastic diapers in landfills that will probably still be there for the next 400-1000 years. I honestly have no idea of the number of years so take that as a SWAG. But still the problem is there.

We do all we can to not gasoline engines and instead, use hybrid and electric cars. But there are not enough power receptacles for all of the electric cars to be charged. Furthermore, we do not have enough power plants to provide electricity for all of the electric cars that are supposed to keep the atmosphere cleaner. So do we build more power plants? What do we use to power the power plants, natural gas, coal, atomic energy, windmills? All seem somewhat taboo these days.

Do you see where I am going with this? Perhaps we never should have gone with disposable diapers. Perhaps electric vehicles are not the end all we are told they might be.

It seems that yes, the climate is changing as it always has for the past billions of years. But where is the proof that we are increasing the amount of change. Do we believe Al Gore and AOC, neither one of whom has any more idea of what is going on than the man in the moon? AOC tells us we will be gone in 12 years. If so there isn't much we can do at this point except enjoy the time we have left. By the way, I know many Liberals have taken AOC at her word but has anyone actually checked her credentials. She may just be dumb as a box of rocks in the ecological department just like she is in the economic world.

Dennis

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Who are you addressing? It helps if you click on Quote Reply before answering. Otherwise in a thread of this importance and length we have no idea who you are talking to.

Nice writing though. Are you a seismologist or did you read a lot of Jules Verne as a kid?

Dennis