Black Gold in Enniskillen EarthCache
Hidden : 12/13/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:


Black gold, or oil, has proved to be the lifeblood that modern civilization has been built on. It (along with coal) have formed the backbone for modern energy requirements. This Earthcache is located in the heart of the Enniskillen Township.



A little history about when the oil was discovered.

A surveying contract in Oil Springs in 1861 was a life changing event for John Henry Fairbank (J.H.). He drilled his first well and his meteoric rise soon began. Over the next 50 years, he would be a community leader in Petrolia and budding oil industry. J.H. would go on to be Canada's largest oil producer and only one of two site's producing oil in North America in the beginning. Now 4 generations later Charles Fairbank III owns and operates this and others oil rigs nearby. He transformed the marginal into an efficient, expanded business that still uses the oil technology of the 1800"s. He enjoys people coming to look around at the history.

You are standing in an area where some of the first oil wells were drilled in North America. There is some controversy as to whether an oil well here in Enniskillen Township, or an oil well in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., was the first well drilled through rock. The history of oil here began in 1850, when a Geological Survey of Canada geologist named Sterry Hunt reported oil pools in swampy areas in Enniskillen Township, Lambton County, Ontario. The following year, Charles Tripp founded the first registered oil company in North America called the International Mining and Manufacturing Company, to recover the oil from pits dug in this area. In 1859, the first oil well to be drilled was completed in Pennsylvania by "Colonel" Edwin Drake. It is unsure whether James Williams drilled his successful well in Enniskillen Township before or after Drake's was completed.



This Earthcache takes you to the site of the Jury and Evoy well, located just outside of Oil Springs. Parking is located at N 42 46.563 W 082 06.259. Oil Museum nearby has this spot on their driving tour of oil rigs in that area and even has a little story about it on FM radio 89.7, Jury-Evoy Well, 1862 driving tour.

Where did the petroleum come from?

Many millions of years ago the eastern part of what is now North America was covered by warm shallow seas. The climate was tropical and lush tropical forests and swamps grew all over the area. It is believed that over eons the seas, dried, shifted, refilled with water, and eventually filled with sediments covering these lush vegetated areas and burying them. Over more eons, they were buried deeper and deeper. The organic matter was compressed and heated along with the sediments and the sediments became cemented together to form rock. The organic matter was changed from different hydrocarbons into petroleum. Not all layers will contain enough gas and or oil to make it worth trying to retrieve. The trick is finding it. A subject for another earthcache…

Hydrocarbons are the building blocks of all life on earth (including people, plants and animals). Hydrocarbons are found in many sedimentary rocks to varying degrees. Petroleum is believed to be produced from organic matter from dead plants and animals from long ago. Dead organic material accumulates on the bottom of oceans, riverbeds or swamps, mixing with mud and sand. Over time, more sediment piles on top and the resulting heat and pressure transforms the organic layer into a dark and waxy substance known as kerogen. Left alone, the kerogen molecules eventually crack, breaking up into shorter and lighter molecules composed almost solely of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Depending on how liquid or gaseous this mixture is, it will turn into either petroleum or natural gas.



So how long does this process take? Some will say hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions of years.


Congrats to Egghammer and lulu zulu for coming to the area and getting the FTF on this earthcache

Don't include the answers or photo's showing the answers in your log even in an encrypted form. Please EMAIL me the answers to be able to log this Earthcache.

1. Give a brief explanation of the "Peak Oil" theory.

2. How deep is the deepest well listed?

3. During the spring and summer, a lot of oil had floated down Black Creek. How much oil floated down and in what year was this stated?

4. Near the parking lot is a tin man pumping a well, from behind him and to his right is 3 digit sign. What are the 3 digits? Don't forget to say high to Tony.

5. How many runs on the ladder on the three pole derrick to the north at the bottom of the stairs?

Optional: Although not a part of the requirements for a Earthcache. Photo's are optional of yourself in your log.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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