Posted on 12/02/2005 7:00:55 PM PST by seastay
New study shows methane on Saturn's moon Titan not biological NASA scientists are about to publish conclusive studies showing abundant methane of a non-biologic nature is found on Saturn's giant moon Titan, a finding that validates a new book's contention that oil is not a fossil fuel.
"We have determined that Titan's methane is not of biologic origin," reports Hasso Niemann of the Goddard Space Flight Center, a principal NASA investigator responsible for the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer aboard the Cassini-Huygens probe that landed on Titan Jan. 14. Niemann concludes the methane "must be replenished by geologic processes on Titan, perhaps venting from a supply in the interior that could have been trapped there as the moon formed."
The studies announced by NASA yesterday will be reported in the Dec. 8 issue of the scientific journal Nature.
"This finding confirms one of the key arguments in 'Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil,'" claims co-author Jerome R. Corsi. "We argue that oil and natural gas are abiotic products, not 'fossil fuels' that are biologically created by the debris of dead dinosaurs and ancient forests."
Methane has been synthetically created in the laboratory, Corsi points out, "and now NASA confirms that abiotic methane is abundantly found on Titan."
The realization that hydrocarbons are produced inorganically throughout our solar system was a key insight that led Cornell University astronomer Thomas Gold to write his 1998 book, "The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels." Gold wrote:
It would be surprising indeed if the earth had obtained its hydrocarbons only from a source that biology had taken from another carbon-bearing gas carbon dioxide which would have been collected from the atmosphere by photo-synthesizing organisms for manufacture into carbohydrates and then somehow reworked by geology into hydrocarbons. All this, while the planetary bodies bereft of surface life would have received their hydrocarbon gifts by purely abiogenic causes. Gold wryly noted that he was sure there had not been any "big stagnant swamps on Titan" to produce the biological debris that conventionally trained geologists think was required on Earth to produce oil and natural gas as a "fossil fuel."
"If petroleum and natural gas are abiotic as we maintain in 'Black Gold Stranglehold,'" Corsi commented, "then the 'peak oil' fear that we are going to run out of oil may have been based on a giant misconception."
Paradigms in science change slowly and with great resistance, he noted, "But NASA has given us today incontrovertible evidence that Titan has abundant inorganic methane."
"If the scientists have ruled out that biological processes created methane on Titan, why do petro-geologists still argue that natural gas on Earth is of biological origin?" Corsi asked.
Sorry HB, but oil shale is a pretty good indicator that conventional oil comes from source rocks [shales] rich in organics. Oil shales appear to be oil deposits in the making. What is contained in the shales is not oil, but something that can be cooked into fairly nasty thick oil with the application of additional heat. For oil shales to turn into conventional oil, these shales would need to be buried at a depth where there was sufficient heat to cook down the oil; a cap rock to keep the stuff from bubbling to the surface and a "trap" to allow a commercial concentration would need to be present; and reservoir rock with good porosity and permeability would need to be in place so that when the stuff gets trapped, the extraction could occur at a commercial rate.
As noted by Strategerist, the source under standard models for biologically derived oil is plant not animal based.
One last thing: Coal deposits are also very large and contain fossil evidence of plants ... and yes some apparent animal tracks. Do you also believe that coal is abiotic?
"I know they found gas in\on Saturn but have they found gas in\on Uranus yet? We have a right to know!"
This was genuinely funny!
I got a stich laughing on it!
OoooooooowwwwwwwwWWW!
Well then what is renewable? The heat from the sun is generally thought to be renewable but as you say, it will one day flicker and become a red gas giant and then shrink . No more heat as it finally does. So is solar energy renewable. By your definition it is not either. The abiogenic theory says that oil has be
en made and is imminantly finite. That is not true. The abiogenic theory sees oil creation as a geological process which is ongoing and even though the process is measurable perhaps in eons, the fact is that these geological processes are still ongoing , much the same way that plate tectonics and weathering of rocks, and glaciation are ongoing processes.
We just don't know what the process is. Certainly Titan's Methane shows us that there is an abiogenic geologic process which produces hydocarbons. It is no great leap to postulate that a similar process might exist as a common form of geologic planetary process producing heavier hydrocarbons, such as oil.This is waht is fueling all of the gas on these postings: a new possible paradigm.
There may be many of these we don't know about. Abraham struck a rock and wine poured out. That may mean that the grapevines of Alsace/ Lorraine are in for some serious competition?
like phones you can carry in your pocket!
Thanks. I thought my fantasies had gotten the better of me again.
Thomas Gold ping.
http://www.saudicaves.com/gallery.html
http://www.saudicaves.com/new.html
There's more to the ME than dry sand.
LOL! yes they did, but I am hoping it's not enough to justify serious drilling.
I believe some fields that seemed to be "tapped out"When prices are down
have later been found to have "re-filled".When prices are skyrocketing.
Does that mean the methane coming out my rear end is "abiotic?"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.