Wednesday - August 06, 2008

No News Day

There doesn’t seem to be much blog-worthy out there today. Ok, here’s something a little bit interesting ...

High atop a steep grass-covered mountain overlooking the Little Sespe Canyon near Fillmore, the earth is on fire.

Wisps of smoke rise from a brown patch of grass that looks like it was toasted under an oven’s broiler. Deep down, under the dirt, rocks and grass, something is smoldering and burning, sending smoke through cracks in the parched soil.

It’s being called a natural anomaly, a geological whodunit, a scientific puzzler. And it’s the second time that scientists have been scratching their heads over the fact the earth under Ventura County is burning.

In 2004, a patch of land northwest of Ojai burned so hot, it started a brush fire that scorched three acres in Los Padres National Forest. Firefighters cleared the grass from the newest area of hot earth near Fillmore on Friday so the same thing won’t happen.
...
The leading theory behind the latest hot spot is that gas or oil or some other hydrocarbon deep in the soil caught fire and is burning, pushing ground temperatures to 812 degrees. What ignited it or when it started burning is a whole other question.
...
Such fires aren’t uncommon in areas where there is a high concentration of gas or oil underground, he said.

But while the origins of this fire may be a relatively common phenomenon, the one near Ojai is still a puzzle.

“We’ve been researching it for a while and don’t have all the answers,” said Scott Minor, a U.S. Geological Survey researcher based in Denver who has made multiple trips to the site. “It’s like detective work.”
...
The research group ... would like to drill down into the earth to see if the materials support the theory but is faced with a few hurdles. The first is funding and the second is the fact that the area is in the Dick Smith Wilderness, where no machinery is permitted.

So we’ve got ground so hot it starts fires, but nobody really knows why. And instead of trying to actually find out why, there’s a lot of dick spanking going on because it’s some protected wilderness. Sounds like it might be protected ashes pretty soon.

Here’s a bright idea: drill a hole and find out what’s going on. I’d say this qualifies as an emergency situation that should overrule any land protections. Since it’s a protected area, don’t do anything about it, but instead hook up a geothermal generator and make some electricity from it. I bet you could boil a whole helluva lot of water if the ground is that hot, and that should run steam turbines just fine. Plus, it’s a carbon neutral, environmentally friendly way to help cool off the land. Alternative Energy! Unless it turns out that this is a nascent volcano just waiting to melt it’s way to the surface. In which case Ventura County is doomed. Oh well; such things are all part of the day to day world out there in la-la land California.

Posted by Drew458     on 08/06/2008 at 06:44 PM   
Filed Under: • Amazing Science and Discoveries • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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