[SoupRKnowva]

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Some of the reports I've been reading say that BP drilled into a very dangerous area and BP was warned about an underground methane bubble possibly 15-20 miles wide at pressures near 100,000 psi. BP chose to drill anyway. These reports claim the seabed in this area is already fractured and seeping oil a mile or so away from the drill site. This bubble could cause a catastrophic rupture which would indeed be "biblical" in its destruction. So yes GOD HELP US. I'm not sure what BP is calling on.

ruh roh....i hadnt heard that yet, just imagine, a 15 mile long explosion of oil at the bottom of the ocean in the gulf....that wouldnt be any good at all.
 

 

[itsborken]

Imagine all that methane hitting the atmosphere since it is said to help exacerbate global warming...   Not that I'm sold on such but a release of that magnitude should have a measurable impact and watching long term effects would go a long way as far as proof goes.  How much do you think that gas will expand if you have that amount of methane at over a ton/in2 and it hits atmosphere at 14.7lb/in2.  I think the ideal gas law would be an adequate way to compute the resulting volume.  High schoolers, start your calculators
 
This thread is probably not long for the world.   Any friendly wagers?

 

[rhythmdevils]

2 days

 

[Moontan13]

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colonelkernel8, God's power plants don't burn coal. They run off hope and love. Don't worry, he's looking for alternatives.
 

I'd always been told it was Rainbows and Unicorns. 

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Unicorns don't burn very well. I know because I have tried.

 

[tintin47]

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We had a good rain last week. I noticed that rainbow reflection on top of the standing water in my yard. No runoff from streets, parking, etc. The areas that have water stand for a day or two after raining has died.
 
Since oil is lighter than water, can parts of the oil become vaporized and be entrained into the atmosphere?

Environmental engineer chiming in.  Haven't read every post, but I just thought I'd comment on the OP.
 
Vaporized oil, the stuff that evaporates from the top of the slick, completely degrades in the atmosphere in 12 hours to 2 days.  The atmosphere is a very inhospitable place for small organic molecules.  The energy from exposure to direct sunlight is pretty much guaranteed to break them up rather quickly through photolysis or photo oxidation.  The upshot of this is that, while possible, it is unlikely for oil to become mixed in with rain because for much oil to evaporate, it pretty much has to be sunny, and the sun destroys the molecules pretty quickly.
 
The reason that the oilcane would be or will be a huge problem is that it will toss all of the heavier oil molecules into the atmosphere, not just the small and easily broken down ones.  Oil is basically a mad composition of organic molecules that runs the gambit from a molecular weight of ~60 for benzene et al to well into the thousands for huge PAHs and gigantic carbon chains.  The heavy stuff is what causes tarballs and all of the fun things they show on the beaches and animals. 

 

[Pepsi]

Very interesting, thank you for the input.

 

[Blisse]

Is it just me or was Uncle Erik waiting for a chance to post that. o.o

I live far enough away from the coast that it wouldn't affect me, but that sounds bloody scary. BP really mucked this one up.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Unicorns don't burn very well. I know because I have tried.

There's only one thing worse than money grubbing oil spillers and that's unicorn burners! 

 

[magicalpig]

Quote:

Some of the reports I've been reading say that BP drilled into a very dangerous area and BP was warned about an underground methane bubble possibly 15-20 miles wide at pressures near 100,000 psi. BP chose to drill anyway. These reports claim the seabed in this area is already fractured and seeping oil a mile or so away from the drill site. This bubble could cause a catastrophic rupture which would indeed be "biblical" in its destruction. So yes GOD HELP US. I'm not sure what BP is calling on.

Ha come on. Are we gonna hear apocalyptic theories until 12/31/2012?
 
Other conspiracy theories you can read online :
 
- it's not an oil spill, it's a "tar volcano" and it's been covered up to allow the US government to test chemical weapons on mass population, especially in the Southern States coastal areas since most people there collect welfare. (The fact being the top 5 states collecting welfare money are not southern states and whites collect most of it.)
 
- Dick Cheney blew up the Deepwater Horizon because he bought the #1 spill clean up company days before the accident and wanted to make a profit.
 
- Obama's secret goals are to enslave all white people (talk about projection) and make this country a communist, nazi country (wait, what?).
 
and the list goes on...
 
Gimme a break.

 

[Landis]

I've been trying to stay out of this business as I hate depressing news (it just has a way of ruining a perfectly fine day), but what are these BP guys, some kind of idiots?
 
As I have no actual knowledge of the situation, that's all I'm going to say.

 

[magicalpig]

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are these BP guys, some kind of idiots?

Businessmen in a time of corporatocracy.

 

[ccbass]

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There's only one thing worse than money grubbing oil spillers and that's unicorn burners! 

HEADPHONE HATERS.
 
 
As for the OP, unless the Earth becomes the sun, the much heavier molecules will not vaporize.  Without that, it can't be moved unless it's physically moved, by a hurricane for example.  Wind/water/currents would push the oil inland, but the oil would stay in liquid form.
 
Like tintin said crude is a multitude of different molecules, including methane and other gases.  That's the reason there's a giant torch on oil rigs, to burn off all of the gas that also comes up.
 
As for this spill, I'm pretty much disgusted.
 

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Quote:

I've been trying to stay out of this business as I hate depressing news (it just has a way of ruining a perfectly fine day), but what are these BP guys, some kind of idiots?
 
As I have no actual knowledge of the situation, that's all I'm going to say.

No not idiots, but risk takers and on this occasion the risk backfired. As access to easy oil dries up, we either go after the harder to get stuff or we cut back massively on oil consumption.
 
The issues here are
 
to what extent did the US government properly license, regulate and check what BP were up to?
 
to what extent did BPs continual breach of safety laws (way more than any other oil company) actually contribute to the explosion and leak?
 
will the US government allow or stop future deep sea drilling?
 
will the US government introduce more laws/policies to cut back on US oil use?
 
I think that the answers are (based purely on my reading of the news)
 
not enough
 
a lot
 
no
 
yes.

 

[evilking]

 
 
No, I did not photoshop this.
 
 
:rolleyes: (What happened to the rolleye smiley?)
 
EK