Marcellus Shale Depth

It goes a lot deeper: Marcellus Shale Depth

I don't see what the mountains have to do with this.

the mountains indicate an upheaval in the area as an ocean plate collided with the eastern coast.

The Appalachian mountain are approximately 460 million years old. At one time believed to be the highest on Earth. The Marcellus Shale formed 400 million years ago in a deep sea bed. Nothing is as it was then or in the same place. At that time there was just Pangaea, one continent. Which started to break apart 200 million years ago.

So what don't you get?

i did'nt understand how sedimentary shale could be that deep.

Because the the diameter of Earth is 41,851,049.9 feet

Call it 42 million

Meaning 100,000 feet of atmosphere or 35,000 feet of ocean is literally 'a piss in the ocean'.

Deepest ocean is a scratch on the map, total atmosphere is the layer of dust on the Readers Digest globe.

This 'miles and feet' non grasp, is indeed is the biggest 'scale problem' of the anti-man has an effect bozos.

While I am not an expert on the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania, just remember how high the Appalacian Mountains were when they were completely uplifted. They were considerably higher in elevation then what they are today. The valley areas that formed along the Appalachian Mtn. chain, at the same time the mountains were uplifted, were constantly being filled with the erosional sediments shed from the mountains. As the erosion continued (as it still does today) the valleys became deeper and broader (due in part to the weight of the sediments) and became what geologists call basin areas (the downwarping that occurs along with uplift). A depth of 5,000 feet is a relatively shallow depth for drilling especially when you compare it other basins around the world where drilling depths are at 15,000 feet or more.

The depth of the Marcellus is one of the attractive features of the Marchellus oil and gas play.

Much of PA, CT, MA and what is now upstate NY was a huge inland sea hundreds of millions of years ago. You'll find some of the world's oldest rocks and fossils in this area. That sea bed was pushed down by tremendous forces created by the tectonic plates colliding over the interim.

[Aside: May I suggest that you visit the New York State Museum in Albany NY and visit pertinent displays there, which are exceptionally well planned and presented.....there is a wealth of information to be had. When my kids were younger and into the teens I used to bring there many times....they were totally engrossed in the subject. To this date, you can simple visit the Helderberg Mountains (actually foothills of the northern Catskill Mountains) and the fascinating escarpment along the "Indian Ladder Trail" located at Thatcher Park (run by NYS) about 15 miles southwest of Albany. You will find all sorts of ancient fossils embedded in the rock cliffs and rock falls, even Trilobites, which are a group of ancient extinct marine arthropods that once lived in the aforementioned sea and in the world's oceans back then!]