AHA! Now that does make a lot of sense. Thanks for the link.
Underwater methane plume.
Good find. But we need a better source. That WND article is a touch hysterical - its bordering on dishonest.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080202/fob1.asp
The headline, that oil is suddenly no longer a fossil fuel, in particular is not related to the original article or the facts.
They have found a vent that is alkaline instead of acidic and it lets trace amounts of simple organic compounds form.
While this is cool, it does not mean that other 99.9% of fossil fuels no longer come from organic matter or that we suddenly have any more fuel than before.
The article doesn’t say it but I would guess the water has iron or cobalt and that the process is similar to that used to produce synthetic fuel, like the gasification of coal.
This is a very cool find because its organic building blocks being built non-organically - but there is so much methane in the universe we knew it wasn’t all coming from plants. But here on earth that is mainly where it comes from.
Do you have even the SLIGHTEST evidence to back up that statement? I mean, really, where did you get this God-like knowledge? Or did somebody come by one day and give you the family tree of every molecule of Metahne on the planet? By the way, if I came by with two molecules of CH4, one that came from the same primordial source as the methane on Triton, and the other molecule from the decay of my deal budgee, would you be able to tell me which was which?
AHA! Now that does make a lot of sense. Thanks for the link.
Underwater methane plume.
but...what about the ABSTARCT?
Reports
Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at Lost City Hydrothermal Field
Giora Proskurowski,1,2* Marvin D. Lilley,1 Jeffery S. Seewald,2 Gretchen L. Früh-Green,3 Eric J. Olson,1 John E. Lupton,4 Sean P. Sylva,2 Deborah S. Kelley1
Low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons in natural hydrothermal fluids have been attributed to abiogenic production by Fischer-Tropsch type (FTT) reactions, although clear evidence for such a process has been elusive. Here, we present concentration, and stable and radiocarbon isotope, data from hydrocarbons dissolved in hydrogen-rich fluids venting at the ultramafic-hosted Lost City Hydrothermal Field. A distinct “inverse” trend in the stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of C1 to C4 hydrocarbons is compatible with FTT genesis. Radiocarbon evidence rules out seawater bicarbonate as the carbon source for FTT reactions, suggesting that a mantle-derived inorganic carbon source is leached from the host rocks. Our findings illustrate that the abiotic synthesis of hydrocarbons in nature may occur in the presence of ultramafic rocks, water, and moderate amounts of heat.
1 School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
2 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
3 Department of Earth Sciences, ETH-Zentrum, Zurich, Switzerland.
4 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)–Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Newport, OR 97365, USA.