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Information from Formation Water.
Analysis of formation water is a critical
step in hydrocarbon exploration and
production. It helps assess potential
for corrosion and scaling, provides
input to petrophysical evaluation and
aids in the understanding of reservoir
connectivity. This article explains the
causes of variation in formation water
chemistry and describes methods for
collecting pure water samples and
evaluating them downhole and in
surface laboratories.
The Grand Design
Offshore Pipelines. In response to
maturing production in established
onshore and shallow-water basins,
many E&P companies are extending
their quest for reserves toward deeper
offshore prospects. Pipeline companies, in turn, must keep pace with this
push into deeper environments. The
many pipeline design considerations
have a direct bearing on operation
and maintenance practices. This article
provides a broad overview of offshore
pipeline construction, operations and
monitoring activities.
Dielectric Logging. Dielectric
logging tools, introduced to the oil and
gas industry in the late 1970s, operate
at frequencies in the microwave range.
They provide supplemental information
for analyzing freshwater reservoirs and
identifying movable hydrocarbons, which
is helpful in characterizing heavy-oil
reservoirs. A new logging tool offers a
dielectric dispersion measurement that
petrophysicists can use to evaluate
rock texture in carbonates and shale
effects in siliciclastics. This article
describes dielectric measurements,
including dispersion, and their applications. Case studies from freshwater,
heavy-oil and carbonate reservoirs
are included.
Managed Pressure Drilling. As
the length of horizontal wells continues to increase, limits—once a
consequence of accepted safe drilling
practices—are being swept aside.
By lowering equivalent circulating
density, operators are able to cross
both virgin, pressured sands and
mature, depleted zones with the same
wellbore on their way to untapped
reserves. This article discusses the
relatively new automated managed
pressure drilling tool and its ability
to drill wells once deemed technologically or economically impossible.
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Stephen Hawking and Leonard
Mlodinow
Bantam Books, an imprint of
Random House Publishing, Inc.
1745 Broadway
New York, New York 10019 USA
2010. 198 pages. US$ 28.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-80537-6
Theoretical physicists Hawking and
Mlodinow discuss theories of quantum
mechanics and relativity and how they
shape our understanding of the origins
of our universe. They further propose
that the Milky Way is just one of billions
of galaxies, each with its own set of laws
of nature. This Multiverse or M-theory—
the theory of everything—they posit, is
the unified theory that Einstein pursued.
Contents:
• The Mystery of Being
• The Rule of Law
• What Is Reality?
• Alternative Histories
• The Theory of Everything
• Choosing Our Universe
• The Apparent Miracle
• The Grand Design
• Glossary, Index
The Grand Design . . . attempts to
outline . . . a complete scenario for
the nature of the universe and our
place in it. . . . Whether this ambitious
conception is actually correct remains
unclear. It’s not especially idiosyncratic; many theorists hold similar
views of the multiverse and the
anthropic principle. The important
lesson of The Grand Design is not so
much the particular theory being
advocated but the sense that science
may be able to answer the deep
‘Why?’ questions that are part of
fundamental human curiosity.
Carroll S: “The ‘Why?’ Questions, Chapter and
Multiverse,” The Wall Street Journal (September 24,
2010), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240
52748704358904575477583868227458.html
(accessed January 3, 2011).
The Planet in a Pebble: A
Journey into Earth’s Deep
History
Jan Zalasiewicz
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016 USA
2010. 234 pages. US$ 27.95
ISBN: 978-0-19-956970-0
Science at the Nanoscale:
An Introductory Textbook
Chin Wee Shong, Sow Chorng Haur and
Andrew T.S. Wee
Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd.
Penthouse Level, Suntec Tower 3
8 Temasek Boulevard
Singapore 038988
2010. 214 pages. US$ 88.00
ISBN: 978-981-4241-03-8
Starting with a slate pebble found on a
beach in Wales, the author engages the
reader in a discussion of the grandeur
of time, physics and stellar matter.
Through an exploration of the science
of paleogeology, Zalasiewicz offers the
reader an understanding of the origins
of the universe, creation of oil fields and
the nature of vanished oceans.
Contents:
• Stardust
• From the Depths of the Earth
• Distant Lands
• To the Rendezvous
• The Sea
• Ghosts Observed
• Ghosts in Absentia
• Where on Earth?
• Gold!
• The Oil Window
• Making Mountains
• Breaking the Surface
• Futures
• Further Reading, Bibliography, Index
. . . Common elements and atomic
rarities, microfossils and ticking
radio-isotopes all make an appearance . . . [in The Planet in a Pebble].
It builds to a satisfying picture of how
our planet’s history is etched into
every fragment of the pebble.
Zalasiewicz has a clear style, with
some nice lyrical touches. His story is
a celebration of the astonishing ways
geologists have found of sampling
stone’s secrets. Geology has a gifted
new popular science writer.
This textbook, targeted at the
undergraduate level, introduces the
principles of nanoscience—the underpinnings of nanotechnology. The book
examines atomic, molecular and
solid-state physics as well as chemistry
as they relate to and define nanotechnologies. A companion Web site provides solutions to chapter problems.
Contents:
• Introduction and Historical Perspective
• Classical Physics at the Nanoscale
• Brief Review of Quantum Mechanics
•F
rom Atoms and Molecules to
Nanoscale Materials
• Surfaces at the Nanoscale
• Low-Dimensional Nanostructures
•F
ormation and Self-Assembly at the
Nanoscale
• Nanotools and Nanofabrication
• Future Trends
• Index
Science at the Nanoscale is a
valuable introductory course
resource. . . . In a certain way, the
book might be too introductory,
since . . . [the authors] . . . cover
many basic physical and chemical
principles in some detail, and not all
of this content specifically relates to
nanotechnology. However, the
authors’ approach will allow less
experienced readers to follow the
presented concepts.
Giesche H: Choice 48, no. 4 (December 2010): 705.
Turney J: New Scientist 207, no. 2778
(September 18, 2010): 47.
Oilfield Review
2/21/11 10:21 PM
the science behind ocean current
models such as the Great Ocean
Conveyor Belt as a trigger to explain
the mystery of the Earth’s intermittent
pattern of global ice ages. . . . Anyone
who has walked on a beach, thrown a
snowball, or flown over the ocean will
be fascinated by this excellent book
geared to undergraduate scientists
and the general public.
Gordon ID: Choice 48, no. 1 (September 2010):
124–125.
Massive: The Missing Particle
That Sparked the Greatest Hunt
in Science
Ian Sample
Basic Books, a member of
the Perseus Books Group
387 Park Avenue South
New York, New York 10016 USA
2010. 260 pages. US$ 25.95
The Great Ocean Conveyor:
Discovering the Trigger for
Abrupt Climate Change
Wally Broecker
Princeton University Press
41 William Street
Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA
2010. 172 pages. US$ 27.95
ISBN: 978-0-691-14354-5
ISBN: 978-0-465-01947-2
The author explores the search for the
fundamental particle called the Higgs
boson. The book describes the world
science climate in the decades leading
to 1964, when Peter Higgs developed
the theory, and ends with present-day
work at the world’s particle accelerators, which have yet to isolate the
Higgs boson particle.
Contents:
• Long Road to Princeton
• Shadow of the Bomb
• Seventy-Nine Lines
• The Enchanted Prince
• An Earnest Revenge
• Reagan’s Renegade
• Massive Maggie
• The End Is Not Nigh
• The Gordian Knot
• Chasing the Wind
• Hidden World
• Notes, Bibliography, Index
Ian Sample . . . shows a keen eye
for the personal equation even while
narrating large swatches of physics
history. . . . Mr. Sample’s exciting,
easy-to-read narrative captures the
collaboration, and competition,
among the theorists who became
involved in the search [for the Higgs
particle] over the decades.
Pesic P: The Wall Street Journal (November 13,
2010), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424
052748704141104575588230844156338.html
(accessed January 6, 2011).
The author, a leading authority on
sudden global climate change, explores
how our planet’s climate can abruptly
change based on fluxes and shutdowns
of what he terms the ‘Great Ocean
Conveyor.’ Broecker traces the evolution
of the science, describing how researchers work to probe the Earth’s past and
how they combine their findings with
the newest technologies to try to
predict the future of climate change.
Contents:
• The Setting
• A Surprise
• The Villain
• Puzzles
• Hot Clues
• The Solution
• A Confirmation
• The Last Hurrah
• Holocene Wobbles
• The Anthropocene
• Glossary, Supplementary Readings,
Index
Wally Broecker is one of the great
pioneers of paleoclimatology, the
study of past climate changes in
Earth’s history. He introduced the
term global warming and, in the
1980s, proposed the global oceancirculating system, which he dubbed
the Great Ocean Conveyor. . . . In The
Great Ocean Conveyor, Broecker
offers a history of his thinking on the
topic. Relating his breakthroughs and
setbacks, he portrays science as a
‘continual struggle to understand
more fully and more accurately how
the world really works.’
Rahmstorf S: Nature 464, no. 7829
(April 1, 2010): 681.
In his latest book, . . . Broecker
investigates how the ocean’s vast
network of currents drives abrupt
climate change. The author explores
Winter 2010/2011
38607schD8R1.indd 2
• We All Have Our Faults
• The Bad One
• Whither Earthquake Prediction?
•N
otes, Index, Index of Earthquakes
by Year
. . . a comprehensive, broadly
accessible, and readable overview
of the ups and (mostly) downs of
earthquake prediction over the past
50 years. . . . Hough raises the thorny
questions of what responsibilities
the seismologist has with respect to
conveying warnings and how civil
authorities should treat predictions. . . .
[T]he author steers a balanced, fair,
and measured course between optimism and pessimism. Anyone who
wants to know why earthquakes
are still unpredictable will find the
answer here.
Musson R: Physics Today 63, no. 11
(November 2010): 46–47.
Predicting the Unpredictable:
The Tumultuous Science of
Earthquake Prediction
Susan Hough
Princeton University Press
41 William Street
Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA
2010. 272 pages. US$ 24.95
There is something for everyone
in Predicting the Unpredictable,
whether they are seismologists,
students or senators. Even the nutcases will benefit from Hough’s
tactful discussions in this masterly
summary of why we cannot predict
earthquakes.
Bilham R: Nature 463, no. 7282 (February 11,
2010): 735.
ISBN: 978-0-691-13816-9
Geophysicist Susan Hough explores the
vagaries of earthquake prediction
through the failures and apparent
successes of earlier predictions, and
describes why predicting the unpredictable is such a challenge. From the
laboratory to the field, Hough examines
the fact, fiction and pseudoscience of
earthquake prediction, including unusual
earthquake prediction theories and why
they have not held up, even when
occasionally accurate.
Contents:
• Ready to Rumble
• Ready to Explode
• Irregular Clocks
• The Hayward Fault
• Predicting the Unpredictable
• The Road to Haicheng
• Percolation
• The Heyday
• The Hangover
• Highly Charged Debates
• Reading the Tea Leaves
• Accelerating Moment Release
• On the Fringe
• Complicity
• Measles
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