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"A decade ago, we had no idea that the rocks beneath our feet could be so vastly inhabited." Over 30 years ago Thomas Gold published "The Deep Hot Biosphere".

by hughw 4y ago

"A decade ago, we had no idea that the rocks beneath our feet could be so vastly inhabited." Over 30 years ago Thomas Gold published "The Deep Hot Biosphere". A review in PNAS is here [1]. [1] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1701266114 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1701266114

narrator 4y ago
That book somewhat supports the idea that oil didn't come from dinosaurs exclusively and may be a product of microorganisms living within the earth's crust. To dispute the "oil only comes from dinosaurs" idea seems to make one unpopular in the scientific community.
- orwin 4y ago
  To anyone reading the parent comment : this isn't true, for multiple reasons. First, to nitpick: we know that most oil is from plants (marine phytoplankton especially), not dinosaurs. Now the real point: in the 50s soviet scientists had the idea that abiogenic oil could exist, then found some. The fact that all oil does not come from biological life is accepted by the scientific community since at least then. It's a small fraction of proven oil reserves anyway, and take around the same geological time to get formed anyway, so this is more of a curiosity than useful knowledge.
  - labster 4y ago
    So there could be oil on Mars, then? SpaceX’s tea?
    - nine_k 4y ago
      Mars seems to lack tectonic activity, the hot core that would drive the synthesis. But maybe it had time to generate some oil (or whatever kind of longer-chain hydrocarbons) when it was still active. Oil won't be very useful on Mars as an ubiquitous fuel (there's little oxygen, mostly needed for artificial biomes and the occasional rocket), but certainly would be useful to produce plastics.
      - hughw 4y ago
        Gold argued that methane is primordial i.e. present sine the formation of the planet. We've observed methane in other planets and moons in the solar system; why would Earth be different?
  - edgyquant 4y ago
    That poster didn’t mention abiogenic oil
  - jstanley 4y ago
    I think Thomas Gold's point is that most oil is misclassified as biological in origin simply because it contains "biomarkers". Thomas Gold's theory is that oil is created in the core and seeps up through the rocks, and it collects biomarkers along the way because stuff lives down there. The mainstream theory is that oil contains biomarkers because it is made out of dead stuff, and Thomas Gold's theory that stuff lives down there can't be true because nothing lives down there (yes, circularly). (Disclaimer: I have not read Thomas Gold's book, but I have a very enthusiastic friend who has. I might be wrong about what he says).

by hughw 4y ago

narrator 4y ago

That book somewhat supports the idea that oil didn't come from dinosaurs exclusively and may be a product of microorganisms living within the earth's crust. To dispute the "oil only comes from dinosaurs" idea seems to make one unpopular in the scientific community.

orwin 4y ago
To anyone reading the parent comment : this isn't true, for multiple reasons. First, to nitpick: we know that most oil is from plants (marine phytoplankton especially), not dinosaurs. Now the real point: in the 50s soviet scientists had the idea that abiogenic oil could exist, then found some. The fact that all oil does not come from biological life is accepted by the scientific community since at least then. It's a small fraction of proven oil reserves anyway, and take around the same geological time to get formed anyway, so this is more of a curiosity than useful knowledge.
- labster 4y ago
  So there could be oil on Mars, then? SpaceX’s tea?
  - nine_k 4y ago
    Mars seems to lack tectonic activity, the hot core that would drive the synthesis. But maybe it had time to generate some oil (or whatever kind of longer-chain hydrocarbons) when it was still active. Oil won't be very useful on Mars as an ubiquitous fuel (there's little oxygen, mostly needed for artificial biomes and the occasional rocket), but certainly would be useful to produce plastics.
    - hughw 4y ago
      Gold argued that methane is primordial i.e. present sine the formation of the planet. We've observed methane in other planets and moons in the solar system; why would Earth be different?
- edgyquant 4y ago
  That poster didn’t mention abiogenic oil
- jstanley 4y ago
  I think Thomas Gold's point is that most oil is misclassified as biological in origin simply because it contains "biomarkers". Thomas Gold's theory is that oil is created in the core and seeps up through the rocks, and it collects biomarkers along the way because stuff lives down there. The mainstream theory is that oil contains biomarkers because it is made out of dead stuff, and Thomas Gold's theory that stuff lives down there can't be true because nothing lives down there (yes, circularly). (Disclaimer: I have not read Thomas Gold's book, but I have a very enthusiastic friend who has. I might be wrong about what he says).