Posted on 03/04/2025 1:12:55 PM PST by Red Badger
University of Helsinki scientists discovered poor air quality markers in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOC) deep in Finland’s 25-year-old Outokumpu deep drill hole, revealing new concerns for carbon generation and the safety of nuclear waste storage.
In the modern world, VOCs typically indicate poor air quality and industrial pollution due to human activities. However, some natural environments, like volcanoes and hydrothermal vents, also release potential toxins. Previous work at the Outokumpu deep drill hole uncovered groundwater that may be tens of millions of years old, displaying an environment shaped long before industrialization.
Collecting from Outokumpu From 2004 to 2005, the Geological Survey of Finland drilled the Outokompu borehole, which currently reaches a depth of 2,516 meters, as a geo-laboratory for scientific researchers. Over the last two decades, various international groups have studied the hole’s seismic, magnetic, thermal, and other properties.
For the recent study, researchers at the University of Helsinki and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland extracted samples of gases and microbes, providing a rare look into VOCs in crystalline bedrock and the ancient water contained within. Their work located VOCs at depths from 500 to 2,300 meters, illustrating the extensive sediment range.
VOCs constitute a diverse array of carbon-containing substances produced by over 600 bacterial and 300 fungi species. Natural subterranean non-methane carbon production from VOCs remains poorly understood, a neglected topic compared to methane or human-driven carbon contributions. Necessitating the need for such research, a vast estimated microbial biomass is buried deep in the subsurface, which may play a much more significant role in the global carbon cycle than previously realized.
Air Quality and the Carbon Underground The researchers’ discoveries help enrich scientists’ understanding of subterranean air quality and Earth’s carbon cycle. The work revealed that bacteria and fungi integrate into the VOC cycle by both producing and breaking down the compounds. The makeup of the surrounding bedrock, such as its carbon or sulfur content, also impacted the concentration and composition of the compounds. Intense odors associated with many VOCs, like aromatic hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds, enabled the researchers to locate the compounds easily deep below the Earth.
“We were guided to the volatile organic compounds by smell,” says Assistant Professor Riikka Kietäväinen from the University of Helsinki, who oversaw the geochemical section of the study.
“Depending on the sniffer, the smell of the bedrock groundwater in the Outokumpu drill hole was described as resembling the ocean or the sewer, even slightly sweet. Attempts to pinpoint the source of the smell more accurately were made through analytical techniques, using thermal desorption-gas chromatography mass spectrometry,” Kietäväinen adds.
Discovering Subterranean Air Quality Analyzing the multitude of compounds hiding in the Outokumpu deep drill hole, researchers located more than 40 different VOCs. Butane, benzene, and dimethylsulfide were the predominant compounds in the mix, but smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons, alcohols, ketones, and aldehydes also filled the bore.
“We studied the possible role of microbes in the formation or degradation of these VOCs by analyzing genomic data on the microbial community,” says Senior Scientist Mari Nyyssönen of VTT.
“In the deep bedrock, microbes have few different sources of nutrients and carbon, and the results of the study show that these VOCs bring new kinds of opportunities to the microbial dinner table,” Nyyssönen adds.
Multiple pieces of evidence suggest the VOCs represent an indigenous development in the Outokumpu deep drill hole. Previous research into the hole’s fluid flow, isotope geochemistry, and residence time indicates that the fracture systems are isolated. The 500-meter minimum depth minimizes the chance of groundwater contamination.
High concentrations of these compounds in underground environments can have corrosive effects, causing concern for geothermal wells and underground nuclear waste storage.
The research team’s new paper, “Naturally Occurring Volatile Organic Compounds in Deep Bedrock Groundwater,” appeared on January 31, 2025, in Communications Earth & Environment.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
“ However, the scientific consensus overwhelmingly supports a biogenic origin for most of the world’s oil deposits, meaning that oil is primarily formed from the decomposition of long-dead organisms.”. if oil is formed from the decomposition of living organisms, then why are oil spills so toxic to the environment?
Dinosaur farts
Looking for Arne Saknussemm?
A lot more chemistry goes on over time then just decomposition.
“Depending on the sniffer, the smell of the bedrock groundwater in the Outokumpu drill hole was described as resembling the ocean or the sewer, even slightly sweet.
= = =
So, sniffing holes is now Science?
“Outokumpu deep drill hole uncovered groundwater that may be tens of millions of years old”
Yep, water is recycled every day. It evaporates, gets reconstituted as rain. You drink liquids and pee them out only to get them recycled. All the water in our atmosphere, lands, seas and ground has been recycled from day one so it is all as old as that water in the hole. This should be proof that Mother earth knows how to recycle its resources
Or your wedding ring.
Perhaps you mean abiogenic? (Thomas Gold)
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1701266114
Gold’s theories are always original, always important, usually controversial, and usually right. — Freeman Dyson
Yes, it’s called Bidenology.....................
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