Book cliffs oil shale

This mountain range is largely composed of sedimentary materials. Search results for shale cliffs stock photos and images 1,979 page 1 of 20. The little book cliffs of this landscape drawing are nothing more than the far. In 1979 and 1980, even as the blms wilderness inventory was under way, a half dozen major energy companies, including tenneco, gulf, and getty oil, were pushing new roads into the lands under study. The southern rim of the basin is formed by the tavaputs plateau of the book cliffs, and the western rim is formed by the wasatch mountains. Shale oil refers to hydrocarbons that are trapped in formations of shale rock.

These isolated cliffs are uniquely beautiful and a worldrenowned hunting destination and outdoor recreation area. Simon has led 59 applied geological field seminars to the book cliffs region since the early 1990s and has successfully trained over 800 petroleum industry professionals i. Red leafs bigpicture plans call for the development of a 10,000barrelperday production facility to process mined oil shale resources from a vast stretch of the book cliffs. Oil shale is a particularly dirty fuel when it comes to air and climate. Oil shale something that the book cliffs have an abundance of.

Book cliffs geological feature, utah, united states. But even if you keep heading west toward grand junction, through the town of parachute and the shuttered oil shale refineries from the 1970s, youll see the book cliffs geologic formation on. The book cliffs highway is moving forward canyon country rising. Fact, recent estimates of oil shale puts the abundance into the billions of barrels. Usos has been leasing 50 square miles in the book cliffs from the state of utah for tar sands strip mining since 2005. The picturesque book cliffs and the green river, near green river, utah. For these forms of extreme energy production to expand, they need a transportation connection to a refineries and markets. Facing increasing encroachment from oil, gas, and tar sand development.

Mahogany ledge in particular contain vast amounts of what is called oil shale. Some of the darkest shale contains so much trapped oil that you can actually light the rock on fire. Hydrocarbons are substances made entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Fight erupts over uintah basin oil shale mining project.

The book cliffs are upper cretaceous in age your photo illustrates the photogenic mancos shale capped by sandstones of the mesa verde group. Will utahs tar sands make it the alberta of the high. Vision for national parks highway has grand county hole. The central portion of the basin has an elevation of 5,000 to 5,500 feet. State officials delay expansion plans for oil sands mining. Weve fought it off before, once in 92 when grand county restructured its governance structure, and again last year when the grand county council pulled out of the.

Enviros step up fight over oil shale mine in utah grist. The cretaceous books cliffs of utah are best known as the mecca of sequence stratigraphers, but besides excellent exposures that allow tracing of sandstone bodies and sequence boundaries the succession also contains abundant shales and mudstones. The influence of the chemical and physical environment on the enhancement of oil yield is explained, and ex situ and in situ technologies are. Synthetic seismic sections have been generated from a 125 km long, depositional dip orientated crosssection compiled from outcrop data from the book cliffs of eastern utah, usa. The only manmade light i could see from my porch at night was a tiny speck from a dusktodawn light way up on the face of the book cliffs. It is very important to stop this project, which i think we can do through loud and sustained public pressure. Petroleum and natural gas are probably the most familiar hydrocarbons. Both are present in the uinta basin, but of the two, oil shale is by far more plentiful.

Oil shale guidebook 3 center of the american west welcome to shale country what is oil shale. The cliffs are rich in a variety of natural resources both renewable and nonrenewable. Us oil sands scam includes exposing the tar layer at the mine site. Later, i learned the light was, and still is, located at the opening of the massive anvil points mine that was the focal point of the oil shale boom of the late 1970s. Cretaceous shales book cliffs indiana university shale. The colorado plateau in the area of the colorado national monument has been raised an additional 6,700. Oil shale and tar sands center for biological diversity. But uintah county officials say theyre hoping to move beyond the political divides between the two communities over longgestating plans to build a hydrocarbon highway through the rugged area north of moab. Book cliffs archives utah tar sands resistanceutah tar sands.

Bitumenbearing sandstone within the green river formation. Currently, the ute tribe, ute allottees, and the ute distriintroduction bution corporation in joint management hold 102,000 acres under lease, and more than 490 wells in production. The company estimates that the 17,000 acres of lands it leases from utahs school and institutional trust lands administration sitla hold about 120 million. Theres a new oil shale company with their dirty extraction loving eyes on the book cliffs of utah. The book cliffs have been displaced considerably from the valley bottom, but in comparison to the colorado plateau uplift, the book cliff uplift was minimal. Beginning near helper, utah, and joined at green river, utah, by a second escarpment, the roan cliffs, the 2,000foot 610metre tall mountain wall, winds a 250mile 400km course along the tavaputs and roan plateaus, ending near grand junction, colorado. Win chesters study of the oil shale 1923 and the examina tion of bituminous sandstone beds near sunnyside. The challenge is a request for agency action filed. Although the roan plateaus shale is thought to contain as much oil as exists in the middle east, it is prohibitively expensive, as well as environmentally problematic, to extract. The job of the grand county sheriff is to protect its citizens, weisheit said.

Hay canyon is certainly a less environmentally destructive route, however it doesnt avoid the larger regional and even global implications of facilitating tar sands and oil shale strip mining. Officials hope road could be part of highway directly connecting western national parks. Ambre energy wants to start exploratory mining about 50 miles south of vernal, along seep ridge. Red leaf resources is gearing up to test new oil shale technology near the book cliffs in of the colorado river basin s most wild areas. Jurassic coast oil bearing shale, limestone strata cliff face and coastal path footbridge near egmont point. Holmes described the formation in the northern san juan basin as consisting of three units, which were a lower escarpment consisting of 40 m of ledge and cliffforming massive sandstone. The book cliffs highway back again canyon country rising. Book cliffs, geological feature of eastcentral utah and western colorado, u. Exploration began in the early 1970s, and a modest amount of coalbedgas production took place during the 1990s. Book cliffs play the bestdefined frontier coalbedgas play consists of the thick, gassy coals of the blackhawk formation in the book cliffs coalfield.

Like the kerogen in oil shale, tar sands bitumen can be upgraded to synthetic crude oil. Industry in the book cliffs area includes fracking for oil and gas, tar sands mining and oil shale mining. Weisheit wants to know why the citizens of grand county are paying for security up on the book cliffs, particularly as it relates to u. Asphalt ridge divides the utah portion of the basin into two unequal parts. The book cliffs highway is moving forward canyon country. Four major lithofacies are present in the upper mancos and kenilworth beds of the book cliffs. The desolation canyonbook cliffs wilderness contains coal, oil, and natural gas. In fact, it is thought that there is approximately 1. The name of the range comes from the cliffs of cretaceous sandstones which cap many south facing buttes that appear similar to a shelf of books. Garfield, on the eastern side of the book cliffs mountain range in. Cretaceous shales book cliffs of utah kenilworth member of the blackhawk formation. Best trails in book cliffs recreation area utah alltrails. The hydrocarbons in oil shale can be used as an alternative to petroleum or natural gas.

Fracking is a process that oil companies use to drill down into the layers of shale and open up the rock formations. The area has become a hotbed of activity due to vast quantities of oil, natural gas, oil shale, and tar sands as well as sand and gravel. Uintah officials seek local support in moab for book. Today the horizon has shifted, and unconventional energy now refers to oil sands and oil shale. Brian maffly the salt lake tribune a proposed alignment for a highway through the tavaputs plateau in grand county would exit the book cliffs at hay canyon. Oil clashes with elk in the book cliffs high country. The area extends from the book cliffs on the south to the red wash oil field on the north. Kerogen is a part of rock that breaks down and releases hydrocarbons when heated. The book cliffs are a relatively remote part of utah that face increasing encroachments from oil, gas and tar sands developments. The challenge is a request for agency action filed tuesday, over the ground water discharge permit. The rock that burns on the western slope of colorados rocky mountains, local lore tells of an early settler named mike callahan who built his home in the shadow of. Bitumen mining wasnt a threat during the first go round with the book cliffs highway proposal.

The utah oil, gas, the uintah and ouray indian reservation is located in the uinta ba and mining board conduct conservation spacing in cooperation. The book cliffs will always be a formidable natural barrier between moab and vernal. Oil shale its important to distinguish between oil sands and oil shale. Rifle, southeast of the piceance basin, beneath the oil shale bearing book or roan cliffs, is the major community in this region of sheep and cattle ranches, 011973 3815028701. Rick egan the salt lake tribune tory mathis, dwr biologist, observes an area where a tar sands project was in operation, in the book cliffs area in uintah, county, thursday, october 28, 2010. The jurassic oilshale cliffs on the dorset coast of southern england outcrop for more than 10 km west, 2011a. Coalbedgas exploration in utah utah geological survey. Both are plentiful in the uinta basin, and they have inspired a new oil play that could transform the basin and remake the west. This is the 6th year of utah tar sands resistance opposition to the destructive mine plans of the canadian corporation, us oil sands or usos. Red leaf resources begins work on oil shale project the. Processing oil shale into a useable hydrocarbon is not entirely energyeffective and still expensive.

Multiple groups are opposed to a stateissued groundwater discharge permit for what would be the worlds first commercial production of oil shale in decades. The last light of day spotlights a colorful peak above the wilcox ranch in the book cliffs range creek, utah. Currently, the ute tribe, ute allottees, and the ute distri. Despite climate rhetoric, obama administration boosts dirty oil. Wells are currently testing the play in the castle valley, western book cliffs.

Shell venezuelashell oil usa university of nebraska at lincoln schramm field course wintershall norway. An outcropbased dataset has been used in preference to well data though well data have been incorporated into the study section. Oil shale strip mining atop utahs book cliffs is being challenged by conservation groups. The big oil shales, however, are upsection by a good ways. One of the biggest points of interest in this area is the mining of, oil, natural gas, shale, radon and uranium. Environmentalists say the parkshighway plan is a ruse to benefit the oil and gas industry. Cretaceous and tertiary formations of the book cliffs carbon. Us oil sands scam is occurring on sitla controlled land. The challenge is a request for agency action filed tuesday, over the ground water discharge. The us geological survey estimates that, if fully exploited, there is enough oil shale in the basin to yield 1.