Mexico earthquake triggers ‘desert tsunami’ 1,500 miles away in Death Valley cave
Tunneling through the depths of the earth, US Geological Survey engineers have discovered a huge network of caves so vast they will rival all but the deepest known in the world.
The caves are at least 7,700 feet below sea level and could hold a staggering 30 million barrels of oil trapped underground.
The USGS has been drilling wells into these caverns in the hopes of drilling a new well deeper than the previous one that has been in operation for more than 20 years, which can extend down more than 11,300 feet from the surface.
The deep-water wells stretch out across the Gulf and are currently being drilled off the coast of Florida and Texas.
And if drilling continues for the project – which could take decades to complete – an amazing discovery will surely emerge.
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It is believed the site of the new oil deposit could contain some 30 million barrels of oil – enough to supply more than 8.5% of the USA’s current daily consumption.
It comes after the USGS said a cave located near the coast off the Texas coast could hold up to 15.5 million barrels of oil, almost a quarter of the current daily consumption.
In the Gulf of Mexico alone, more than 60 million barrels of oil are found under the ocean floor.
Drilling the underwater wells will take a lengthy amount of time – a decade or more – however the USGS believes a new well could be drilled more than 23,000 feet from the surface and will take just three to four weeks to complete.
The deepest known in the world, located in the Black Sea, reaches 9,800 feet deep, according to the USGS.
It is believed the site of the new oil deposit could contain some 30 million barrels of oil – enough to supply more than 8.5% of the USA’s current daily consumption.
It would come as something of a surprise to find oil deeper than this – and the new discovery would be almost as significant as the one made last year off the Louisiana coast.
But this isn’t the first time researchers have stumbled upon a giant oil field deep underground.
In the 1930s, scientists realized that one section of the earth is covered in oil – and that there are three main sources of oil: the mantle, crust and crustal plates.
The mantle, which is located beneath