lecture11

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11.2 How are resources related to geologic structures?

• Gas is less dense than oil, which is less dense than water. As such these fluids float atop one another in rock pore spaces, and oil and gas will rise to the surface if unimpeded.
• Anticlines and faults form common traps for oil and natural gas, which migrate up to the highest point, the hinge of an anticline or peak of a porous layer beneath reverse and thrust faults.
• Metal-rich mineral resources commonly form along joints and faults where warm fluids with high concentrations of metal ions flow and cool to precipitate these metallic minerals.