Where is the Marcellus Shale formation?
The Marcellus Middle Devonian-age organic-rich formation, also known as Marcellus Shale, extends in the subsurface from New York State in the north to northeastern Kentucky and Tennessee in the south and is the most prolific natural gas-producing formation in the Appalachian basin.
In what US states are the Marcellus and Utica shale rock formations found?
Although it occupies similar areas as the Point Pleasant-Utica Shale, the Marcellus is much younger, having formed in the Devonian age. (Public domain.) The Marcellus, Point Pleasant and Utica are extensive formations that cover parts of Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
How did the Marcellus Shale form?
How did the Marcellus Shale form? About 390 million years ago, what is now western Pennsylvania was part of a large inland sea. Biological matter and organisms dropped to this sea floor over time and mixed with sediments brought into the sea by rivers from the surrounding landmass.
Where do we get our gas from?
crude oil
U.S. petroleum refineries make gasoline and other petroleum products from crude oil and other liquids produced in the United States or imported from other countries. Nearly all of the gasoline sold in the United States is produced in the United States.
Where does the U.S. natural gas come from?
In the United States and in a few other countries, natural gas is produced from shale and other types of sedimentary rock formations by forcing water, chemicals, and sand down a well under high pressure.
Which state has temporarily banned fracking?
In May 2012, the state of Vermont became the first state to outlaw hydraulic fracturing and New York state, which unlike Vermont has significant gas reserves, banned the practice in December 2014. Maryland introduced a temporary fracking ban in 2015, which was made permanent in 2017.
What is the Marcellus Shale bed?
The Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States, it extends throughout much of the Appalachian Basin.
What is the Marcellus Shale used for?
This shale contains significant quantities of natural gas. New devel- opments in drilling technology, along with higher wellhead prices, have made the Marcellus Shale an important natural gas resource.
Where is the Marcellus Shale in New York?
New York is one of several states that is home to the Marcellus Shale. Natural gas drilling can be found along the southern border of the state of NY.
How old is the Marcellus Formation?
The organic-rich black shale of the Marcellus formation was deposited in a foreland basin roughly paralleling the structural front of the present-day Appalachian Mountains during the Middle Devonian time about 390 million years ago (Harper, 1999).
Where does Marcellus gas come from?
Hundreds of shallow wells were drilled in the following years into the shale along Lake Erie and then southeastward into western New York. Shale gas fields development spread into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Gas has been produced from the Marcellus since 1880 when the first well was completed in the Naples field in Ontario County.
Is the Marcellus shale rock homogeneous?
Rock units are not homogeneous. The gas in the Marcellus Shale is a result of its contained organic content. Logic therefore suggests that rocks that contain higher amounts of organic material have a greater ability to generate natural gas. A map showing the net feet of organic-rich shale in the Marcellus Formation can be viewed on this page.