What is the static kill? What about the bottom kill?

Ever feel like everyone is talking total jargon about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill? That feeling is likely to get worse as events unfold in the coming days and weeks.

BP is preparing to carry out two operations to seal its runaway well, heading off an environmental and economic nightmare that has haunted Gulf residents for more than three months.

The opening gambit, expected to begin Tuesday, is the static kill:

THE STATIC KILL

- Similar to the "top kill" that failed in late May, heavy drilling fluid known as "mud" is pumped slowly and methodically down into the well from a surface vessel through the cap that has been sealing it since July 15

- BP's chances of success are greater now because the cap has stanched the flow and mud can be pumped down at much lower pressure and a slower rate

- It is called a "static kill" rather than a "top kill" because there is no flow of oil up the well

- Since oil is comparatively light, the density of the mud allows the creation of pressure at the bottom of the well great enough to stop the flow of oil from the reservoir deep beneath the seabed

- It could take anything from a few hours to several days to jam enough mud into the well to keep down the oil, depending on whether there are any leaks in the well

- If there are no leaks or they are insignificant, BP will begin pouring concrete into the well which sinks to the bottom, sets and acts as a permanent plug

- In all an estimated 200,000 gallons of mud and cement could be jammed into the well through two pipes on the sealing cap

- If the well is not secure, officials are expected to opt not to cement from the top and proceed straight to the "bottom kill"

THE BOTTOM KILL

- For almost three months, while BP has been trying out all sorts of exotic sounding contraptions - the giant dome, the top hat, the junk shot - a rig, the Deepwater Enterprise III rig, has steadily been drilling a relief well to intercept the Macondo well deep beneath the seabed

- Now only 100 feet vertically and four feet laterally from the stricken well, engineers still have to hit a tiny area more than two miles beneath the seabed, which is already at a depth of 1,500 meters (5,000 feet)

- The final casing was laid in the relief well before the static kill to protect it, and BP now says it is in a position to punch through to the Macondo well between August 11 and August 15

- There is also space between this pipe casing and the wall of the well bore called the annulus

- The first thing BP will do in the bottom kill is fill up the annulus with concrete

- If the static kill cementing was carried out they will then check on its success by punching through the steel casing

- If they find concrete then the static kill worked, if not then they will pour in more to finish the job. If the well was leaking too much to cement from the top, they will insert concrete into the pipe and seal it over the reservoir

- Even if the cementing inside the pipe has already been done during the static kill, the bottom kill will still be carried out as the static kill is unable to plug the annulus

- If the static kill fails to even stanch the flow of oil, drilling mud can also be pumped in from the bottom to exert the hydrostatic pressure and suppress the flow of oil

- If drillers fail to intercept the Macondo well with the first relief well, a second one is also weeks away from completion for a possible second attempt

- The bottom kill is expected to take anywhere from from a number of days to a few weeks