Geology News
Ohio Current Events

Since 1972 the “Roadside Geology” series has provided introductory information on the geology of states and small regions of the United States.

The books provide a combination of maps, travel logs, photos and commentary for the geology that can be seen along highways or visited at parks and public viewing areas. They are popular with geologists, teachers, students and others who are interested in the Earth.

A natural gas pipeline between the Utica Shale in Ohio and natural gas consumers in Ontario, Canada has been proposed by a group of transmission companies.

“A 2011 record-breaking algae bloom in Lake Erie was triggered by long-term agricultural practices coupled with extreme precipitation, followed by weak lake circulation and warm temperatures, scientists have discovered.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release.

With new data available the Ohio Geological Survey has published a new maximum total organic carbon map for the Upper Ordovician Shale interval of Ohio (Utica, Point Pleasant, Lexington and Logana).

An article at the Akron Beacon Journal Online summarizes content related to economic activity attributed to the Marcellus Shale from the latest Federal Reserve Beige Book.

Some experts believe that the pace of drilling and hiring in the Marcellus Shale natural gas play will slow during 2013. This will be a response to a lack of pipeline capacity and production capacity that either exceeds or is unavailable to new consumers.

Raven Maps are beautiful examples of shaded-relief wall maps that display the elevation of a state in vibrant colors. These large maps look great in a classroom, den or office. Use one to mark the locations of your work or company.

Water levels on the Great Lakes were at December record lows last month, causing problems at some ports and requiring some cargo ships to lighten their loads.

This Ohio Department of Natural Resources document summarizes the potential sources of water for hydraulic fracturing in the Utica Shale and Marcellus Shale of eastern Ohio. Also included are basic regulations and the contact/regulatory authority for each water source.

John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, would like to raise severance taxes on extraction of oil and natural gas from the Utica Shale. This article interviews an oil and gas lobbyist about raising severance taxes to fund a state income tax reduction.

Activity to explore and develop the Utica Shale created an estimated 38,830 jobs in eastern Ohio during 2012. Most of those jobs have gone to workers from other states who have skills that are not available from the Ohio workforce.

Dominion Resources and Caiman Energy have a $1.5 billion partnership to develop new natural gas pipelines and processing plants that will serve Utica Shale producers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The resource can not be developed without this type of investment.

The number of rigs working in the Utica Shale play of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania has nearly doubled since last year. Most of the new wells are targeting oil.

Inaccurate News Reports about Newberry Caldera and Salton Buttes

Life Beneath the Seafloor

Not Caused by Fracking

Rare Earth Elements in Arizona?

Stolen Petroglyphs

Dispute: Natural Gas Under Natural Gas Storage Fields

Volcano Movies

You own property over a natural gas storage field that has been operated for decades. There is a shale unit below the storage field that could produce natural gas. Who controls that gas?

There are lots of natural gas storage fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Activity in the Marcellus Shale play has been an enormous boost to rail traffic. The railroad is hauling frac sand, water, chemicals, pipe, crane mats, natural gas liquids and more.

USGS has published: Science to Support the Understanding of Ohio’s Water Resources. It is a factsheet that summarizes many sources of data for water studies in Ohio.

A Reuters.com article explains why oil and natural gas production information for the Utica Shale in Ohio is so hard to get.

NOAA has posted a series of “U.S. Rainfall Potential Maps” that show the cumulative geographic distribution of potential rainfall amount across the eastern United States. Very large geographic areas could receive 12 inches of rain or more and experience significant flooding.

The Ohio Board of Regents has a new website to help jobseekers connect with the energy industry. In addition to oil and gas jobs there is a focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced technologies.

“The maps were provided to the National Weather Service for incorporation into a Web-based flood-warning system that can be used in conjunction with NWS flood-forecast data to show areas of predicted flood inundation associated with forecasted flood-peak stages.”

Over the past two years natural gas drillers have targeted wet gas regions where ethane and propane can be separated from the natural gas. These products sold for attractive prices. Now there is a glut of wet gas products and their prices have collapsed. Wet gas regions of the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale have been heavily targeted.

A $1.5 natural gas pipeline is planned for northern Ohio that will transport natural gas from the Utica Shale to markets in Ohio, Michigan and Ontario.

Ohio DNR has publised a regional organic-thickness map of the Marcellus Shale with additional organic-rich beds in the Hamilton Group. The map covers areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.

The United States Forest Service approved drilling for natural gas in Wayne National Forest in southeastern Ohio. Drillers there will be allowed to use hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from shale.

The Ohio Division of Soil and Water Conservation has a website devoted to Ohio soils. It includes an introduction to soils, photos of soil types, maps, information about soil testing, GIS data, web soil survey and much more.

The Ohio Geological Survey has an educational publication titled “The Ice Age in Ohio”. It has a number of interesting maps, photos and information.

Ohio DNR has a fact sheet about wastewater flowback during hydraulic fracturing. A quote from the fact sheet: “Hydraulic fracturing (sometimes called fracking) has been used since the 1950s in Ohio as part of the oil and gas drilling process. About 80,000 wells have been drilled in Ohio using hydraulic fracturing.”

A logistics conference in Ohio focused on the transportation challenges that will be faced in developing the Utica Shale.

An article on Ohio.com reports on several wells drilled into the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio by Gulfport Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Antero Resources and Devon Energy. Some of the results are encouraging.