Trump's NASA Nominee Wants to Study Climate Change—on Mars

[Alice]

[QUOTE=Sableye;52707427]he wants to scrap THE ENTIRE EARTH SCIENCE'S DIVISION, basically getting rid of the first A in NASA[/QUOTE]
Great, just what we need. Another NSA. :v:

[Grenadiac]

[QUOTE=Megadave;52700129]Could fracking jumpstart another rift if done enough? I'm curious where the hell the earthquakes are coming from, I mean obviously fracking but I'm wondering what the specific process is that causes them.[/QUOTE]

Speaking as someone in the industry, absolutely - fracking is fucked and needed to be stopped long ago. Hydraulic fracturing breaks up a type of rock in the crust to release natural gas and oil stored inside. This leaves cavities where minerals were removed and along any paths taken by the fracking fluid, which will eventually collapse. This can cause further fracturing in the crust and release pressure trapped at lower depths, leading to Bad Things.

[IKTM]

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;52710448]Speaking as someone in the industry, absolutely - fracking is fucked and needed to be stopped long ago. Hydraulic fracturing breaks up a type of rock in the crust to release natural gas and oil stored inside. This leaves cavities where minerals were removed and along any paths taken by the fracking fluid, which will eventually collapse. This can cause further fracturing in the crust and release pressure trapped at lower depths, leading to Bad Things.[/QUOTE]

How bad, exactly?

[Grenadiac]

[QUOTE=IKTM;52714199]How bad, exactly?[/QUOTE]

There are already fracking-related tremors occurring in Oklahoma and Texas due to cavity collapses. We don't really know the upper limit of severity, but structural damage to buildings is certainly plausible. Shifting rock can introduce crude oil, natural gas, and hydraulic fracturing fluid into the water table, even if the operation would otherwise have been "safe", and particularly in less geologically stable areas, cavity collapses could trigger cascades leading to larger earthquakes.

Studies about this have been circulated heavily through the industry but the only people who can do anything about it are making tons of money off it.