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Anticline Trap
Fault Trap
Salt Dome Trap
The common link between these three is simple: some part of the earth has moved in the
past, creating an impedence to oil flow.
Anticline Trap
An anticline is an example of rocks which were previously flat, but have been bent into
an arch. Oil that finds its way into a reservoir rock that has been bent into an arch will
flow to the crest of the arch, and get stuck (provided, of course, that there is a trap rock
above the arch to seal the oil in place).
Fault Trap
Fault traps are formed by movement of rock along a fault line. In some cases, the
reservoir rock has moved opposite a layer of impermeable rock. The impermeable rock
thus prevents the oil from escaping. In other cases, the fault itself can be a very effective
trap. Clays within the fault zone are smeared as the layers of rock slip past one another.
This is known as fault gouge.
Now let's draw the faults and rock horizons in, and show how, if the conditions were
right, oil might become trapped in this rock. If the rock between the yellow and red lines
were sandstone, and rock beneath the red and above the yellow lines were shale, a trap
might be set up in this way:
See how the oil gets trapped by the shale above it, as well as by the fault and the shale to
the left of it? Of course, this outcrop is only a couple of meters wide, there really is no oil
here, and the layers that we've assigned to the rock are mostly imaginary in this case. But
the point is, this is exactly how many structural traps are set up below the Earth's surface.
Here, we are lucky enough to see it right in front of our very eyes.
Suggested Exercise
Take 2 pieces (10" x 10") of fine mesh screen, and put a bucket under both. On one
screen, smear some mud (as pure as possible). On another, smear sand. While still wet,
take a glass of water. Pour half of the water on the screen with sand, and watch it drip
through. Do the same with the muddy screen.
Why the difference?
Which rock (shale - made out of hardened clay, or sandstone - made out of hardened and
cemented sand) do you suppose would "suck up" oil? Which rock do you suppose would
block oil from moving through (thereby "trapping" it into place)?
Step 5 - Traps
Beneath the earth's surface, oil will ooze through rocks if there is enough space between
them, but this oil will not accumulate into large quantities unless something traps it in a
particular place. There are a variety of geologic traps, which themselves can be broken
into categories:
Structural trap types: anticline, fault, salt
Stratigraphic trap types: unconformity, lens, pinch-out
Combination traps
It is important to remember that oil is not all by itself in some sort of underground cave,
but is, instead, contained within solid rock - which has enough room within it to actually
soak up (or become soaked in, however you look at it) oil.
In spite of some
popular
misconceptions, oil
doesn't come from
dead dinosaurs. In
fact, most scientists
agree that oil comes
from creatures the
size of a pinhead.
These one-celled
creatures, known as
diatoms, aren't
really plants, but
share one very
important
characteristic with
them - they take
light from the sun
and convert it into
energy. (Humans
can't do this - this is
why you have to eat
your veggies!)
Diatoms float in the top few meters of the oceans (and lakes, for that matter which is part of the reason why not ALL oil comes from ocean deposits!) and
also happen to be a major source of food for many forms of ocean swimmers.
Their skeletons are chemically very similar to sand - in fact, they are made of the
same material (silica). Diatoms produce a kind of oil by themselves - both to
store chemical energy from photosynthesis and to increase their ability to float.
But this small amount of oil still needs to become concentrated and mature
before it can be taken from the ground and used as fuel.
Move ahead to Step 2