Couldn't think of a better title.
As we all know, BP have been having a lot of fun lately in the Gulf of Mexico. This has brought up a lot of conversations and got me thinking. I had a chat with my Dad about it a while ago, but neither of us really knew the answers and so I am asking here.
It's not really about the spill per se, but the reports show that hundreds of millions of gallons of oil have leaked out into the ocean. Now, even though I'm pretty sure that this oil reserve under the bed of the ocean is (or maybe was) extremely highly compressed, I'm sure that hundreds of millions of gallons of oil would take up a fair amount of space. So, my question is, once all this oil had leaked out, what happens to that space that it used to occupy?
Does it fill up with water from the ocean? Does the bed of the ocean drop down into it's space? Does magma rise from the centre of the Earth to fill the space?
They are all probably ludicrous suggestions, but I really have no idea what goes on down there, so a little explanation would be nice. Or a link to a site which explains it, as I haven't come across anything so far in my searches.


LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote

