Posted on 09/29/2023 11:47:21 AM PDT by Red Badger
Abiotic oil has been argued about for 50-60 years.
A astrophysicist the late Thomas Gold makes a case for it in his book “The Deep Hot Biosphere”. The term abiotic is somewhat misleading because even in this oil creation hypothesis oil still has a biological origin with appropriate geologic conditions. Gold postulates in his book that oil\petroleum even anthracite coal (This as anthracite coal origin I have a problem with!) comes from thermophile bacteria colonies that live interstitially in the pores of rocks. They consume minerals each other and reproduce & die. Over time coupled with geologic and geochemical processes produce petroleum. It’s done continuously but slowly. We know these thermophile bacteria and some higher order life exist because we see them clustered around volcanic vents in the deep ocean. Also, these bacterial “colonies” show up in drilling. Usually, they are attributed to contamination from the surface. Maybe, maybe not.
It’s been a very long time since I followed this closely. The Russians used to big on this as an explanation for oil’s origin. I don’t know if they still are. Also, Gold’s book talks about a drilling project in Sweden that was supposed to shed more light on this. I don’t know how it turned out. US oil companies pooh pooh it. Gold’s book
BTTT
I was full of crap about two hours ago but no more.
You’ll be full of crap again…
Hydrocarbons are the basic building blocks of the universe.
it was made out to be rare, to inflate the price...
Yep.... it’s a daily event.
I bet dinosaur oil believers think dirt just magically appeared on the earth and that’s how plants grow.
The whole planet is a huge hydro-carbon engine. Of course it’s renewable...
I was in the business for 40 years. There is certainly credible evidence for an abiotic source for hydrocarbons. After all, everyone accepts that methane can be and is created by geologic processes. That methane can be converted into a very nice, relatively clean, liquid fuel. Not a very popular idea though.
Neither was the heliocentric solar system in Galileo's day..........
That process occurs slowly. Then, it has to migrate to a trap or it hits the surface.
It comes from algae, not dinosaurs.
A fallacy. Or if so, at a marginal rate.
Wrong.
Finally, some sense on this thread. Not kindergarten science.
How about outside a sedimentary basin?
Nope. Tell that to the folks in Kilgore.
Were you an accountant? Show me oil below 15,000’ in appreciable quantities- minus cool basins like South Louisiana and offshore.
I figure oil comes from both. Prehistoric plants and abiotic.
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