AL - Black Gold Shale Hwy 78 Earthcache
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in our disclaimer.
As an earthcache, there is no “box” or “container” to discover. Rather, with this cache, you discover something about the geology of the area. For more info, consult www.earthcache.org
From Hwy 78 eastbound/westbound, take the exit, then find the gravel truck pull-off area at the base of the hwy 78 eastbound ramp. You can do this earthcache from your car!
Logging Requirements:
Send the answers to #1-#4 to me through my geocaching profile. DO NOT post the answers to any logging requirements on this site.
1.List the name “GC2BBNZ Black Gold Shale Earthcache” in the first line of your email. Also, list the number of people in your group.
2.Identify the three colors present in the rock in front of you. Based on the description above, what substances/minerals present in the shale result in these colorations?
3.Based on your reading above, do you believe this shale outcrop/roadcut to be “rich enough” in oil to be profitable? Explain.
4.Estimate the height of “cliff” above the roadcut.
5. (Now considered optional by GC.com...but if your answers to above questions leave me with questions...the picture sure does help verify the find!) Post a picture of yourself and/or your GPS with your log that shows the roadcut in the background.
I will only respond if you have incomplete logging requirements. Go ahead and log your cache
Congrads to ScoutDog3 for FTF (First to Finish logging requirements).
Geology –
This area's geology at the surface is largely composed of Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) Paleozoic era sediment deposits of Pensylvanian (Chattanooga) Shale. This is because this area used to be part of a warm shallow sea, but as the plate tectonics dismembered Pangea and the plates of Gondwana and laurentia collided to form the southern Appalachian mountains to the east. Over time, the vast amounts of sediment on this mountain chain washed down into the shallow sea, burying VAST arrays of sea life (much of it microscopic) forming coal beds, oil deposits, and natural gas deposits throughout this region, now known as the Black Warrior Basin.
In a clockwise direction, starting in northernmost Alabama, the Black Warrior Basin is bounded by the following Provinces: Cincinnati Arch, Appalachian Basin, Louisiana-Mississippi Salt Basins, and Mississippi Embayment part of the Illinois Basin. The Black Warrior basin covers an area of about 23,000 sq mi. From west to east, the basin is 230 mi long, whereas from north to south the basin is 188 mi wide.
The Rock – Shale:
Shale is the most common sedimentary rock on the east coast. Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clay minerals or muds. 'Black shales' are dark, as a result of being especially rich in unoxidized carbon. The vast extent of U.S. oil shale resources, amounting to more than 2 trillion barrels, has been known for over a century. As fossil fuels become scarcer, the oil deposits found in shale become economically feasible to recover. Oil shale has gained attention as an energy resource as the price of conventional sources of petroleum has risen and as a way for some countries to secure independence from external suppliers of energy. The Pennsylvanian (Chattanooga) Shale is a thick, widespread formation of shale heavily mixed with carbon, which gives the rock its black color. Although this particular deposit of Chattanooga shale is very close to city of Chattanooga, Chattanooga shale is found across much of central and eastern United States. Chattanooga shale deposits have been investigated for commercial oil and gas production in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Alabama. In some areas, the carbon content is so high that the rock has actually been burned as a heat source. The question of course is....is the shale you see here “burnable”? This shale also contains varying amounts of Iron Sulfide which in crystal form looks like “fools gold” but which oxidizes as “rust” and releases sulfides into the water table.
History--
Gas production (this came first) in the Black Warrior Basin was first established in 1909 from a Pennsylvanian sandstone in Fayette County, Alabama, at a depth of 1,400 ft. Exploration in the 1950's and early 1960's in the basin was concentrated in and around Monroe County and resulted in the discovery of several small gas fields and two noncommercial oil accumulations in Upper Mississippian sandstone reservoirs. Through 1991, 90 conventional nonassociated gas fields, 15 coalbed gas fields, and 20 oil-associated gas fields have been discovered in the Alabama part of the basin. The dominant reservoir of the conventional gas and oil fields is the Carter sandstone of Late Mississippian age.
Resources:
http://certmapper.cr.usgs.gov/data/noga95/prov65/text/prov65.pdf
Additional Hints
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