What is fracking in the Karoo?
CAPE TOWN – Plans to roll out hydraulic fracturing or fracking, as it’s more commonly known, in the Karoo have been halted. Fracking is the process whereby a liquid is injected at high pressure into rocks below the earth’s surface forcing open crevices to extract gas or oil.
What is fracking in geography?
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth. Fracking makes it possible to produce natural gas in shale areas that were once unreachable with conventional technologies.
What is the main purpose of fracking?
Producers have learned that by increasing permeability of the rock, more gas can be recovered. This is the purpose of fracking, which is a technique that fractures the underground rock as a means of increasing the flow. The process of fracturing begins with drilling a well.
What is fracking short answer?
Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.
Is there fracking in the Karoo?
Shale in the Karoo The Karoo is the geographic area that is the focus of future hydraulic fracturing in South Africa, derived from a word in the local language meaning “dry”. Previously a lake 275 million years ago, shale gas began to form in the low-oxygen Karoo as organic mud accumulated.
What are the major concerns regarding fracking in South Africa?
The greatest risk is that the fracking fluid leaks into the surface water and shallow aquifers used by people, livestock and the ecosystem, due to inadequate sealing of the upper parts of the borehole, or following a spill on the surface. These risks can be reduced, but not eliminated, by good engineering.
What is the fracking process?
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a drilling method used to extract petroleum (oil) or natural gas from deep in the Earth. In the fracking process, cracks in and below the Earth’s surface are opened and widened by injecting water, chemicals, and sand at high pressure.
What does fracking do to the environment?
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is revolutionizing oil and gas drilling across the country. However, without rigorous safety regulations, it can poison groundwater, pollute surface water, impair wild landscapes, and threaten wildlife.
Where does fracking occur?
Fracking happens all across the U.S. in states such as North Dakota, Arkansas, Texas, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania. One state, Vermont, recently banned the practice, though it doesn’t have an active well being drilled.
What causes fracking?
Fracking involves drilling wells in shale deposits, then pumping in water and other additives at high pressure to break the rock and release trapped oil. In some regions fracking can trigger earthquakes by causing faults in the rock to slip.
How does fracking the Karoo mitigate environmental damage?
Fracking the Karoo: Mitigating environmental damages Dean Raviv 5 injected at high pressure into the shale formation, fracturing the rocks. The added chemicals reduce the friction of the fluid as it travels through the pipes and into the shale stratum.
How much shale gas is in the Karoo Basin?
Administration that the Karoo Basin may hold up to 485 TcF of technically recoverable shale gas, which at the time of writing, makes it the 5thlargest shale reserve in the world.
How does fracking affect the surface area of a well?
The added chemicals reduce the friction of the fluid as it travels through the pipes and into the shale stratum. The induced fractures increase the surface area and create additional permeability, releasing the gas trapped therein, which then flows to the well head.
Where did the molten rock from the Karoo come from?
Nearly two million cubic kilometres of molten rock flowed out of the Earth. This catastrophic episode of the Karoo’s geological life coincided with the tearing apart of the Gondwana supercontinent into its jigsaw parts of Africa, Antarctica, Australia and South America.