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The way to understand the origin of fossil fuel deposits is that hundreds of millions of years ago trees were made of plastic. Thats not quite literally true
by dzdt 3y ago
The way to understand the origin of fossil fuel deposits is that hundreds of millions of years ago trees were made of plastic.
Thats not quite literally true but it gives the right sense. In the Carboniferous period trees grew abundently but there were not yet bacteria that could break down the lignins composing the woody structure. Its very similar to what you'd get with plastic trees today: they would fall and pile up like junk in a landfill. Then eventually this would be buried and result in the many-meters-thick coal deposits we find today.
Lessons? I don't know. But piles of un-decomposable hydrocarbons is not a new thing for the planet.
- morsch 3y agoWhen I searched for this, I found there to be some debate on it (isn't there always?): https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1517943113 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1517943113 https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/why-was-most-of-the-earths-coal-made-all-at-once/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/why-was-most-of-the-...
- dzdt 3y agoThanks! Your newer research is pretty convincing. Makes me a bit sad: I really like the 'plastic tree' analogy. Ah, well.
- m463 3y agoIt's interesting to read about thomas gold's theories about hydrocarbons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin To me it makes sense that some or all hydrocarbons are or at least started like the hydrocarbons found on other planets in our solar system.
- bno1 3y agoI wonder what forests looked back then. Trees going through and on piles of dead trees?