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To: X-spurt

In my opinion, the aboitic oil theory is not possible for many reasons.

First it is not dinosaurs, but algae, plankton and other items. The sedimentary basins where oil/gas is found is from time periods when it was underwater. Usually oceans but some freshwater as well. If you squeeze algae you get oil out of it. If you trap it in sediment without oxygen, squeeze and cook it for millions of years, you get oil/gas.

People tend to forget the earth changes in the time frame of hundreds of millions of years. No commercial oil/gas operation is outside of sedimentary basins. No oil/gas sources are ever found in igneous rocks which is pushed up from below.

Places like Hawaii that have very little sedimentation and lots of igneous rock pushed up from below have essentially no oil/gas.

Oil/gas is often found in layers trapped by a sealing cap rock. Depending on the geological conditions at the time this sediment is laid down, the resulting porosity and permeability of the rock changes. If it is coming up from the bottom, how does it get past the sealing rock below? That is what holds the oil/gas in place, otherwise it wouldn’t be in those layers.

Some question the depths. But 3 centimeters every thousand years adds ups to miles over hundreds of millions of years.

Combine that info with the fact we use heat and pressure to break down oil into smaller, simpler molecules. This is consistent with the fact that older, more thermally mature oil/gas fields tend to be more gas than oil.


13 posted on 01/21/2013 8:26:20 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

So you mean that my old stripper wells are not going to recharge from abiotic oil? :-(


14 posted on 01/21/2013 9:00:31 AM PST by Okieshooter
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To: thackney
Thanks! That makes good sense. Guess we can thank Sinclair for the dinosaur idea. Because there is no proof one way or the other, considering other theories is good exercise.

I would think places like Hawaii, which are of volcanic origin, would naturally have no hydrocarbons because of how they were formed. Although someday it may be a fantastic mine for copper and gold, whereas the aboitic formations would likely be more stable than volcanic.

Any aboitic formation would probably take thousands if not millions of years to produce large quantities and would gradually seep into reservoir type areas where we find it today.

To add fuel to any aboitic theory; here we consider most methane to be of anaerobic organic origin, there are other planets with huge quantities and its highly unlikely those were formed by organic processes. Who knows those planets may be dripping with oil too.

No matter how it was formed, its mighty nice we found it.

16 posted on 01/21/2013 10:55:39 AM PST by X-spurt (Republic of Texas, Come and Take It!)
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