Analysis: 'Water Resources and Natural Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale' by Daniel J. Soeder and William M. Kappel

Summary:
The Marcellus Shale, which runs along the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, has recently been determined to have a large underground 'stash' of natural gas. As time progresses, the value of natural gas continues to increase. The mining of our country's enormous supply of natural gas would benefit our country's economy. Also, in our modern era, technology for mining this gas is becoming increasingly efficient. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell what environmental effects will be triggered by this mining. As a result, many states are reluctant to granting mining permits. The author of this article tends to be in favor the mining of the natural gas, and learn the risks of mining through hands on experience.

Terms:
~Sedimentary rocks are rocks that are formed by the collection of local sediments(e.g. sand and mud). Once these materials form layers, if given the proper time and pressure, they will combine to form a sedimentary rock.
~A River Delta is a collection of sediments that gathers at the base of a river. The sediments are pushed down the stream, and eventually build up to form a river delta.
~Permeability is the ability of a rock to transfer fluids
~Hydrofrac fluids are fluids that are used to fracture rocks.

Comments:
1)The biggest problem associated with the drilling of natural gas is how to safely dispose of resultant waste products.
2)When I looked at the sources for this article, many of them seemed short and unreliable. Also, most of the sources were articles and websites, rather than primary literature sources which explained how news, results, and data were obtained.
3)Figure seven was misleading because it makes it appear as if using this gel is commonly approved and used in underground fracturing.

Questions:
~How is hydrofrac water recovered?
~How come the estimated amount of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale was much larger in 1988 than in 1980?
~How is the gas gathered once it is released underground?