Images related to The Geologic Wonder of the Neuquén Basin

Neuquén Basin, Argentina
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Neuquén Basin, Argentina

Published Nov 27, 2005

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Oil Fields Along the Ob River
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Oil Fields Along the Ob River

Swampy areas in the West Siberian Basin are some of Russia’s most important sources of crude oil and natural gas.

Published Oct 18, 2016

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Yates Oilfield, West Texas
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Yates Oilfield, West Texas

The Permian Basin of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico is one of the most productive petroleum provinces of North America. The area holds one of the thickest deposits of rock from the Permian Period, which lasted from approximately 290 to 251 million years ago. The Basin is a large depression in the bedrock surface along the southern edge of the North American craton, an ancient core of continental crust. The Basin filled with thick layers of sediment during the Paleozoic Era (about 545 to 251 million years ago) as the region was alternately covered by shallow oceans, or exposed as coastal salt flats. The sediments hardened into primarily organic-rich carbonate and minerals such as common table salt. Later activity in the Earth’s crust caused folding of the sedimentary layers, creating ideal conditions for the formation, trapping, and storage of petroleum. In this astronaut photograph, numerous white well locations and petroleum drilling structures mark the Yates Oil Field in the layered sedimentary rocks of the Permian Basin.

Published Jul 24, 2006

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Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia
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Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia

The Uvs Nuur Basin sits on the northern edge of the Central Asian steppes, bounded on all sides by mountains. Though largely arid, the basin is dotted with water. A large salt lake, the Uvs Nuur Lake, sits at the center of the basin, and several smaller lakes are scattered across the 600 kilometers east to west and 120 kilometers north to south that make up the basin.

Published Oct 11, 2007

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Time Traveling to the Triassic
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Time Traveling to the Triassic

Fossil remains in Argentina's Talampaya and Ischigualasto Natural Parks document the origins of mammals and dinosaurs.

Published Feb 5, 2019

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Shale Revolution: As Clear as Night and Day
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Shale Revolution: As Clear as Night and Day

The Eagle Ford Shale is one of several gas and oil plays in North America that has taken on new life due to horizontal drilling technology and fracking.

Published Mar 23, 2016

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Kashagan Oil and Gas Field, Kazakhstan
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Kashagan Oil and Gas Field, Kazakhstan

The harsh climate of the northern Caspian Sea—and gas rich in corrosive hydrogen sulfide—has complicated efforts to tap one of the largest gas and oil reserves discovered in decades.

Published Oct 28, 2015

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Gas Flares in Bahía de Campeche
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Gas Flares in Bahía de Campeche

Daytime and nighttime satellite imagery shows the burning of methane that goes together with the oil extraction process.

Published Sep 14, 2012

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Sebkhat El Melah, Tunisia
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Sebkhat El Melah, Tunisia

Along Tunisia’s southeastern coast is a flat plain of about 150 square kilometers (58 square miles) that lies below sea level. Known as Sebkhat El Melah (or Sebkha El Melah), it is in an evaporite basin.

Published Dec 7, 2008

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Winter and Summer in the Tarim Basin
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Winter and Summer in the Tarim Basin

Acquired January 26, 2011, and August 6, 2011, these images compare conditions in China’s Tarim Basin in winter and summer.

Published Aug 10, 2011

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