Officials Puzzled by Okla. Gas Geysers

[phantom power]

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

KINGFISHER, Okla. -- An outbreak of geysers spewing mud and gas into the air in rural Kingfisher County is puzzling state and local officials.

Kingfisher Fire Chief John Crawford says initial reports of the geysers came in Friday morning, and that firefighters and Oklahoma Corporation Commission officials were on the scene yesterday.

The geysers have appeared throughout the countryside of rural Kingfisher, with stretches of up to 12 miles between spots, and some as short as a quarter of a mile.

Crawford says the threat of the gas igniting is unlikely, but he says there is a concern the gas could begin coming up through water-well lines.

http://www.newsday.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-kingfisher-geysers,0,1401000,print.story?coll=sns-ap-science-headlines

[Delphinus]

1. Hmm ...

do you think this might be related to earthquake activity? New Madrid Fault? Just seems really strange.

[phantom power]

2. Beats me. It sounds volcanic. But they didn't say what kind of gas.

[Tess49]

5. It's natural gas.

And it's moving in some kind of underground wave through the area. It has everyone puzzled.

[phantom power]

6. Any evidence of heat or volcanism?

[Tess49]

7. No. At first they thought a natural gas line had ruptured. They shut

the nearest line down and the problem got worse. This is an area of oil and gas production/ exploration. Now they are wondering if this a natural gas lake they didn't know about. As you might imagine, there are many talented geologists working and teaching in this area. At this point they are stymied, but I bet they figure it out quickly.

[Dead_Parrot]

10. No 'quakes since May...

according to the usgs - and that was only a 2.5, equivalent to a mouse farting next door (by comparison, last nights' 4.5 - which rattled the glasses but didn't even wake the cat - was 100 times "bigger".)

Be interesting to see what they come up with for this. It sounds volcanic, but SFAIK you always get seismic activity at the same time.

:shrug:

[xultar]

3. All the shit Mann Coulter spews has got to bubble over some where...

:shrug:

[hatrack]

4. EOR operations in nearby oil & gas fields?

The only thing I can think of is some sort of pressure reaction from water or CO2 injection in the neighborhood.

That said, I haven't the faintest if Kingfisher County is oil & gas territory.

:shrug:

[hunter]

8. I'd second that...

My guess is that somebody tried something new and it went wrong. The problem will be getting them to 'fess up.

[RedEarth]

11. It was reported on the news last night that it is thought to be a high

pressure gas well that leaked. The production company, Chesapeake, is working with state and local officials to determine the cause of the leak and then fix it.

[Angry Girl]

9. In 2001 a bunch of natural gas geysers erupted in Hutchinson, KS

Pretty wild stuff.
http://www.firehouse.com/news/2001/1/18_APkansas.html