[Greg McKaskle]

Now that this thread is no longer even remotely about sunspots, let me plug an interesting documentary on this topic called "Crude : The Incredible Journey of Oil".

On the one hand, it is like the jr high science films that follow a single carbon atom around for millions of years showing the different things it does over time. This is interesting as it demonstrates some of the cycles in play.

Another interesting facet of the film is that it interviews many petroleum experts such as the man who made the initial discovery of the oil fields in Saudi Arabia. Many of the interviews discuss the projections for global oil production made by Hubbert in the 50's. It has a bias of course, but just hearing the luminaries in the field voice their opinion was cool.

It has a good summary of why the big oil fields are found where they are. The frequent algae blooms enhanced by runoff and into relatively stagnant gulfs acts as a recapture mechanism to deposit CO2 from the atmosphere and bury it over time in places such as the gulf of Mexico, the Arabian gulf, etc. The longer lived the sea, the more oil that will have collected over the millions of years.

Another element in the film is the explanation of what happens as CO2 levels increase, how the cycle eventually runs its course and eventually restarts. It describes how this has happened at other times in history, with volcanos responsible for much of the CO2 release, and it does discuss how the increased release of CO2 from industrialization indicates that we are moving ourselves along faster in this cycle.

Not being an expert in the field, I have no way of knowing its accuracy on every point, much less my accuracy in trying to summarize it. I thought it was good information accessible to reasonably educated viewers, and it covered lots of interrelated topics. It provided interesting topics for my father-in-law, a geologist and petroleum industry veteran, and myself to discuss.

Greg McKaskle