World's Largest Sand Mass Discovered

www.ouramazingplanet.com...

A giant mass of sand large enough to bury all of Manhattan under dunes more than 50 stories tall apparently erupted from the floor of the North Sea hundreds of thousands of years ago, the largest such body of sand ever found in the world, researchers say.

Scientists used 3D seismic data and samples drilled from the ocean bottom during fossil fuel exploration to analyze a huge body of sand that lies over an oil field in the North Sea. Their research suggested it was "extrusive," spewed out from fissures in the seafloor likely over the course of years sometime between 400,000 and 2.6 million years ago.

At 2.4 cubic miles (10 cubic kilometers) in size, this is apparently the largest extrusive body of sand ever discovered. This is big enough to bury Manhattan's 23 square miles (60 square kilometers) under 525 feet (160 meters) of sand, or the whole of London's 610 square miles (1,579 sq km) under 20 feet (6 m) of sand. "Most exciting is discovering things for the first time and realizing that you have discovered something new," researcher Helge Løseth, a geologist at the Statoil Research Center in Trondheim, Norway, told OurAmazingPlanet. [Gallery: One-of-a-Kind Places on Earth] Currently, the sand covers an area of more than 100 square miles (260 sq km) and is up to 410 feet (125 m) thick. It lies buried under about 2,300 feet (700 m) of sediment that accumulated on top of it after its deposition, with at least another 1,640 feet (500 m) of the North Sea above that. Løseth explained that under the surface of the seafloor, porous sands are covered with impermeable clays. The water pressure between the sand grains can increase enough to fracture the overlying clays, and this pressurized sandy water will then erupt upward. "This is similar to when you increase the water pressure in one end of your garden hose by turning the tap," Løseth said.

Aside from being interesting for its size, this body of sand might have economic value as well. The pores between sand grains are normally filled with water, but hydrocarbons such as oil or gas can migrate into these pores instead. "Such big sands are so large that they can contain economically interesting volumes of hydrocarbons," Løseth said. "Today, at the depth they are placed in the North Sea, they may also be interesting for carbon dioxide storage." Løseth and his colleagues Nuno Rodrigues and Peter Cobbold detailed their findings online March 19 in the journal Geology.

So I guess you're going to have to move along and look for oil elsewhere. Oh well, everyone loves sand

With all the new electronic products being produced now,sand is the new gold.

Gorilla glass starts as a combination of pure sand (silicon dioxide) and naturally occurring chemicals (Corning will not specify which, but the resulting glass is called aluminosilicate) which is stripped of impurities and melted down. The molten glass fills up a trough and actually overflows on each side. During this "fusion draw" process, robotic arms gently pull down long .59 millimeter-thick sheets of Aluminosilicate Glass.

www.pcmag.com...

Wait till they discover the Sahara!

Seriously, the sand was pushed up? How is sand formed, then? I would have thought it was rocks eroded.

reply to post by kdog1982


Got to it first, Damn. That's the first thing I thought, I wonder how much glass that would produce.

Quote from halo, "glass this".

Just to clarify this is not the largest sand mass in the world, its the largest one protuding and being forcible pushed out of he sea floor, or ground ( unless we find a sand geisor(spelling?) In the Sahara) for that matter.

reply to post by NowanKenubi


Silicon dioxide is formed as a shell on such creatures as plankton I believe. Every year huge quantities are born and die. Then their insides are broken down and digested by bacteria leaving the shell. These collect and form sand. Other sands are eroded rock but a very large sum is actually dead sea creature.

Originally posted by kdog1982
With all the new electronic products being produced now,sand is the new gold.

Gorilla glass starts as a combination of pure sand (silicon dioxide) and naturally occurring chemicals (Corning will not specify which, but the resulting glass is called aluminosilicate) which is stripped of impurities and melted down. The molten glass fills up a trough and actually overflows on each side. During this "fusion draw" process, robotic arms gently pull down long .59 millimeter-thick sheets of Aluminosilicate Glass.

www.pcmag.com...

They've got the whole Sahara to play with, this one I suspect is of no use as it's full of Hydrocarbons, which should be a good indication of crude oil to be fair, they're probably on to something.

reply to post by DarkSarcasm


Thanks for the answer!

I'll never see a beach the same way, now... It will be like sunbathing in a cemetery...

reply to post by NowanKenubi


I see it more as the restingplace of the singlemost important oxygen producers on the planet. But yes, sunbathing in a cemetary.

Originally posted by DarkSarcasm
reply to post by NowanKenubi

 

Silicon dioxide is formed as a shell on such creatures as plankton I believe. Every year huge quantities are born and die. Then their insides are broken down and digested by bacteria leaving the shell. These collect and form sand. Other sands are eroded rock but a very large sum is actually dead sea creature.

I believe what you are referring to is a diatomaceous ooze, which is formed by the skeletons of dead diatoms.

diatomaceous ooze

Originally posted by NowanKenubi
Wait till they discover the Sahara!

The Sahara seems to be a "sand mass" to me...

I don't know what is their concept of "sand mass"...

reply to post by GLontra


As Ramcheck said in a post above, they probably found something of interest, and disguise it under another name, so no one is surprised to see sudden increase of activities there.

Now if we can just decide in a nice calm, rational manner.. who this particular water belongs to, is it Norway? Or is it Scotland? I say let them fight for it, mano a mano.