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Scientists seek source of giant methane mass over Southwest
Fox News ^ | Published April 10, 2015 | AP

Posted on 04/12/2015 12:30:53 PM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie

DENVER – Scientists are working to pinpoint the source of a giant mass of methane hanging over the southwestern U.S., which a study found to be the country's largest concentration of the greenhouse gas.

The report that revealed the methane hot spot over the Four Corners region — where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona meet — was released last year.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Colorado; US: New Mexico
KEYWORDS: colorado; gas; methane; utah
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

Isnt that area uranium rich?


61 posted on 04/12/2015 2:37:00 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi - Revolution is a'brewin!!!)
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To: CedarDave

Could be an undiscovered petroleum or coal deposit?.........


62 posted on 04/12/2015 2:38:56 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

https://maps.google.com/maps?safe=off&q=36.59844,-108.211327&output=classic&dg=oo

There’s a huge agricultural irrigation system right under the plume. It’s the only thing out there. They’re pumping water out of an aquifer that is saturated with natural gas.

But I guess they have grants to spend, so the satellites, airplanes, and trucks will be crisscrossing the area for years to come.


63 posted on 04/12/2015 3:00:40 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

Chile cook off!!!


64 posted on 04/12/2015 3:35:34 PM PDT by ontap
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To: CedarDave

My comment was meant to address the methane hanging around over the 4 Corners area. Why not tap that if they can do it?

Use it as an energy source.

I believe you’re addressing methane trapped in the earth.


65 posted on 04/12/2015 3:47:23 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (The question, Jeb Bush? The answer: NO! Rove, is a devious propagandist & enemy of Conservatives!)
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To: Talisker; Oatka; Egon

Yep. The underground alien bases near Dulce NM must have sprung a leak. Ever since the Dulce wars, when the aliens changed the underground base atmosphere to methane, since they are a life form that can exist in such conditions, and they know we cannot, they have been able to continue their work in mass producing nephelium. Either a leak, or Delta is trying to drain the base of the methane before breaching for another shot at control.... ;)


66 posted on 04/12/2015 3:56:02 PM PDT by Carthego delenda est
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To: SkyDancer

Out west they have Del taco. Well at least they did in the 80’s when I was there.


67 posted on 04/12/2015 4:07:00 PM PDT by zaxtres
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

I did some work back in the nineties at a Big Arizona Public Service coal-fired power plant in Fruitland, NM (between Farmington and Shiprock) - right under that red spot. It was a mine-mouth plant: the large strip mining operation was adjacent to the plant. Another large coal-fired plant perpetrated by a Colorado utility could be seen just north of the APS plant. I believe it was also a mine-mouth plant. So, yes, there’s a lot of exposed coal seam in the neighborhood.


68 posted on 04/12/2015 4:31:26 PM PDT by Spartan79 (I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of man. Jefferson)
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To: Spartan79

“perpetrated by” = “operated by”. Damn you, autocorrect.


69 posted on 04/12/2015 4:33:54 PM PDT by Spartan79 (I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of man. Jefferson)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

The cloud is actually *east* of the four corners area, on the border between New Mexico and Colorado, right where the San Juan river crosses the border.

Geologically, the area is all “Colorado Plateau”, geologically dull, the methane release is not near the abandoned uranium mines, nor is it near the southern Rocky Mountains which are further east.

There are some coal deposits in the area, which is probably the most likely suspect.


70 posted on 04/12/2015 4:39:59 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." -Obama, 09-24-11)
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To: Carthego delenda est
Ever since the Dulce wars, when the aliens changed the underground base atmosphere to methane

They have been outed:

71 posted on 04/12/2015 4:44:04 PM PDT by Oatka (This is America. Assimilate or evaporate.)
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To: DoughtyOne

You can not trap atmospheric methane, only prevent earth sources from releasing it to the atmosphere. I suspect most of the fugitive methane comes not directly from the natural gas wells/processing facilities, but indirectly through natural fractures and faults which intersect the coal beds undergoing dewatering.


72 posted on 04/12/2015 4:57:13 PM PDT by CedarDave (Bush vs. Clinton in 2016 - If you have a 22-year old car, the bumper stickers are still good.)
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To: Born to Conserve
There’s a huge agricultural irrigation system right under the plume. It’s the only thing out there. They’re pumping water out of an aquifer that is saturated with natural gas.

That the Navajo nation's agricultural project. It uses only surface water from Navajo Dam on the San Juan River. Their is a system of canals and pumps that deliver it to the fields. Infiltration from the irrigation dissolves minerals in the soil and seepage enters the deep arroyos that bisect the flat surface fields. This salty water enters the San Juan River and is transported down stream to Lake Powell and further. Nothing here releases significant methane.

Also, coal mined for both the Four Corners and San Juan Power plants is from surface mining or dry underground coal seam.

73 posted on 04/12/2015 5:13:44 PM PDT by CedarDave (Bush vs. Clinton in 2016 - If you have a 22-year old car, the bumper stickers are still good.)
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To: CedarDave

Well then I will have to completely change my system of absolute truth.

Now I believe it is irrefutable that the irrigation water is seeping into the ground and displacing accumulated methane.


74 posted on 04/12/2015 5:26:59 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: CedarDave

Thank you CedarDave. Is the methane at altitude to sparse to collect? Seems like a great thing to use a large drone on, sucking methane into a balloon or something.

While it would use up as much energy as collected in all likelihood, they could reduce it. They seem to be worried about it.

I appreciate the response.


75 posted on 04/12/2015 5:29:13 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (The question, Jeb Bush? The answer: NO! Rove, is a devious propagandist & enemy of Conservatives!)
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To: DoughtyOne
Thank you CedarDave. Is the methane at altitude to sparse to collect? Seems like a great thing to use a large drone on, sucking methane into a balloon or something. While it would use up as much energy as collected in all likelihood, they could reduce it. They seem to be worried about it. I appreciate the response.

The global concentration of methane is in the low parts per million in the atmosphere. This is much too dilute to think about capturing it. The global hotspot over the San Juan basin is diluted as weather patterns move it eastward.

Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide but degrades over time. Because so much concern over carbon dioxide is BS and some of the eco-freaks are coming to realize it, they are demonizing methane as a back up.

76 posted on 04/12/2015 6:04:14 PM PDT by CedarDave (Bush vs. Clinton in 2016 - If you have a 22-year old car, the bumper stickers are still good.)
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To: CedarDave

Okay, that makes sense. I realized my suggestion was rather iffy, but what the heck.

Thanks for the explanation.


77 posted on 04/12/2015 6:07:59 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (The question, Jeb Bush? The answer: NO! Rove, is a devious propagandist & enemy of Conservatives!)
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To: Carthego delenda est
Yep. The underground alien bases near Dulce NM must have sprung a leak. Ever since the Dulce wars, when the aliens changed the underground base atmosphere to methane, since they are a life form that can exist in such conditions, and they know we cannot, they have been able to continue their work in mass producing nephelium. Either a leak, or Delta is trying to drain the base of the methane before breaching for another shot at control.... ;)

You're some kind of crazy. Anyone who believes aliens would be so careless as to allow a leak of nephelium just doesn't know what he's talking about. Unless, of course, you're talking in code. In which case, yes, the coal truck is in the garage. I repeat, the coal truck is in the garage.

78 posted on 04/12/2015 6:15:45 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie
The report that revealed the methane hot spot over the Four Corners region — where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona meet — was released last year.

Which one of them dealt it?

79 posted on 04/12/2015 6:35:12 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Funny how Hollywood's 'No Nukes' crowd has been silent during Obama's Iranian nuclear negotiations.)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie; LegendHasIt; leapfrog0202; Santa Fe_Conservative; DesertDreamer; ...
Commented on this thread a couple of days ago but forgot to Ping the list.

NM list PING!

I may not PING for all New Mexico articles. To see New Mexico articles by topic click here: New Mexico Topics

To see NM articles by keyword, click here: New Mexico Keywords

To see the NM Message Page, click here: New Mexico Messages

(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)

80 posted on 04/15/2015 12:33:02 PM PDT by CedarDave (Bush vs. Clinton in 2016? If you have a 24-year old car, the bumper stickers are still good!)
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