GEOL 1330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Continental Crust, Prentice Hall, Hydrostatics
20 Jul 2016
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Resources that can be replenished over short time spans(month, years, decades) Resources that are created by processes that take long spans of time to form (millions of years) General term for any hydrocarbon that may be useful as a fuel. Biological products derived from the remains of organisms in a marine environment. Accumulation of sediment rich in plants and animals remains (marine and terrestrial organic matter) Sediment experiences elevated temperature and pressure due to burial. Temperatures and pressures reach a critical point where organic matter is transformed to liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon. Petroleum forms at t=100-120c, gas at t=> 120c. Newly created petroleum and natural gas is mobile and flow (migrates) into adjacent permeable rock. Because oil and gas are less dense than water, they will flow to the surface - unless something stops it. A geologic environment that allows for economically significant amounts of oil to accumulate. All oil traps consist of a reservoir rock and a cap rock.
