The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

The Deep Hot Biosphere by Thomas Gold is described most often as an argument that oil is more plentiful than commonly thought. Gold does argue this point, based on his belief that hydrocarbons are not biological in origin and are found not only in the shallow crust of the earth but also at greater depths. He maintains that hydrocarbons, especially methane, were an important constituent of the earth when it was formed and are widely distributed in depth. These deep hydrocarbon deposits continuously replenish the shallower deposits.

The quantity and distribution of oil is only one piece of the picture Gold paints of the earth's formation, its chemical composition, and the development of primitive forms of life. Here are some on his key hypotheses, which I have taken the liberty of reorganizing in a more or less chronological order:

1. The earth was formed by the aggregation of cold solid materials rather than hot gaseous materials. Under this hypothesis, the earth would have lacked an atmosphere until its mass was sufficiently large to produce a gravitational field strong enough to capture gas molecules that escaped from the interior of the planet or were deposited along with other space debris. As the earth grew in size, the interior heated up due to the increased pressure.

2. Based on spectral analysis of other planets and their moons, methane is a fairly common constituent of these bodies. Analysis of meteorites also supports the presence of methane in the matter that accumulated to form the earth. Methane is chemically stable at the high temperatures and pressures found at depths down to 300 km in non-volcanic areas. Being light and fluid, it tends to rise through the rock layers until it either escapes into the atmosphere or is trapped under an impervious rock layer. As a result of seepage, the earth's first atmosphere was rich in methane. Meanwhile, the increased temperature and pressure in the earth's interior produced longer hydrocarbon chains from methane molecules.

3. Analysis of thermal vents in the deep ocean and cold petroleum seepages on the shallower ocean floor has revealed forms of bacteria that rely on hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane, for food. These bacteria, of the Archaea domain, thrive at temperatures as high as 100-150 degrees C and do not depend on photosynthesis. The genomes of Archaea suggest they developed very early in the evolution of life. Gold concluded that Archaea probably developed deep underground, rather than on or near the surface, reflecting his choice of the book's title. In consuming methane, the Archaea produced carbon dioxide and water which also migrated to the surface and were added to the atmosphere. Water in the liquid state became more plentiful.

4. Once the atmosphere contained sufficient concentrations of carbon dioxide and water, and liquid water was plentiful, life based on photosynthesis evolved on or near the earth's surface (since it requires sunlight). These life forms consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, resulting in yet another change to the composition of the atmosphere.

I was attracted to this book because I remember being told, at the age of about seven, that oil came from dinosaur bodies that were transformed over time by heat and pressure into oil. I remember being skeptical, even at that age, because I couldn't understand why all those dinosaurs would have gone to the same place to die. So, what do I think now? I'm still skeptical of the fossil theory and find Gold's arguments somewhat more convincing. However, his deep hot biosphere hypothesis is not generally accepted by the scientific community. His book is not a scientific exposition and is unlikely to sway that community. Rather, it is written to advocate his position, is highly repetitive, and is not very well organized. On the other hand, Gold is no crank; he's a respected physicist. Perhaps his book will stimulate further scientific research aimed at testing both the fossil and the deep hot biosphere hypotheses. For now, I'll lean in Gold's direction but await further evidence.

My late Father worked at Argonne National Labs, a National research think-tank. My hitch in the Navy (Never Again Volunteer Yourself) was up and I returned home to attend College (1980). My Father came home one day asking me if I wanted to attend a seminar at Argonne where an astrophysicist, by the name of Thomas Gold, was to present an "earth shaking", new theory on the origin of oil, natural gas and coal.

I attended the seminar. Dr. Gold started out, "I always thought it strange that before the dinosaurs died, the majority of them hiked to Saudi Arabia!" I lost track of him for years, recently, discovered his last book, "The Deep Hot Biospere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels".

The core of the earth is constantly giving off gasses, Dr. Gold termed it "out-gassing"; methane and carbon dioxide being the most abundant. As these various hydrocarbons rise through pores in the rock, they encounter proven life forms that love to eat methane. These life forms, as a bi-product, leave behind the fuels we use; oil, natural gas and coal. Oil companies have capped "drained" oil wells, only to come back thirty years later to find they are full again!

I have found it to be written user friendly, contains a good dose of humor, and lays out an incredible theory, with volumes of empirical data to support his thoughts. "To ask a living cell to accept all the energy one photon contains is like asking a baseball outfielder to catch bullets from a machine gun!!"

He convinced the Swedish Government to bank roll a very deep drilling operation into rock formations that geologists deemed impossible for oil to exist. They went down 5 or 6K, discovered oil and pumped it to the surface. In this oil, were to be found the remains of microbes, thermopiles, that live at great depth. He, and others, theorizes that there is ,exponentialy, more biomass in the earth then on the surface of the earth! These proven life-forms are the source of biologically derived molecules that other scientists exclaimed where the proof that oil was derived from surface biological sources, i.e. dino- powered; when in fact, they were waste products from a newly discovered biosphere, "The Deep Hot Biosphere".

Dr. Gold claims that part of the problem is a "mental" condition. He deemed that condition "surface chauvinism" i.e., if life exists, it had to have originated on the surface!

Diamonds, due to the pressure required to form them, can only be formed at 150 k below the surface. How do they get to or near the surface? He explains.

Earthquakes, not just a thing of "plates". He theorizes that the major source of this action is due to incredible pressure build up of gasses below our feet.

Water? I had the privilege of cave diving in northern Florida. The limestone bedrock is honey combed with tunnels that have no end. These tunnels run VERY close, in spots, to the surface and,from time to time, create sink holes and springs. The beauty of these springs can only be experienced, for there are no words that do it justice. MILLIONS of gallons of water per second flows out of a single spring. It is absolutely pure, clear as air water; a constant temperature of 72 degrees F. The source of this water is unknown. Some speculate that this aquifer starts in Canada, but, then again, that thought was only a scientifically wild-butt guess (SWAG). Range magazine, recently, ran an article about Las Vegas coming to an aquifer near you! The article went on to talk about a little known, massive, aquifer found 4-5,000 ft below the surface in Nevada. An, apparently, endless source of water.

(Pg, 88 of Gold's book) "To begin with, simple chemistry and physics tell us that hydrocarbons will suffer a loss of hydrogen on their way up through the crust. Why is this so? First, any opportunity for a stray (or microbially catalyzed) oxygen atom to interact with a hydrocarbon fluid of any sort will result in that fluid losing two hydrogen atoms for every oxygen atom encountered, thus generating water. This represents nothing more than a drive toward chemical equilibrium."

I have heard "SWAG's" concerning how earth acquired liquid water, e.g., comets crashing to the primordial earth, depositing their tank loads to the surface, etc. If Gold is right, and there is an amazing amount of information that supports his thoughts, our water is generated deep inside the earth; that these huge aquifers are not water that has found its way to depth, but water that was formed at depth.

He addresses the origin of life; where did it begin? He observed that the surface of the earth is the extreme environment for life to habitat, where as, in the deep hot biosphere, conditions vary little. Which biosphere would make the better incubator?

I find his book INCREDIBLY attractive to read due to his numerous observations of nature at work that everyone else stared at, trampled on and rolled over, but only he saw. He had an open mind to how things work vs. how the world demands it to be.

Finally, with all of his prestigious credentials, Journals and other organizations refused to print his papers. The following paragraph sums his thoughts towards that problem.

"Most men can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it obliges them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven thread by thread into the fabric of their lives."

I highly recommend this book, not as a proof, but rather, as a means to stimulate more individuals to question the current litany. To scrutinize the surface connection to oil is tantamount to heresy. I am giving a copy of it to my daughter's high school Chemistry teacher.

Rhoda Cargill

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This book is more than a mere milestone. If approached with an open mind, it will revolutionize much traditional thinking in the areas of energy, seismology, and the life sciences.

Professor Gold is an astrophysicist of high repute, who applies his excellent, free-thinking mind and impeccable logic to disciplines outside his chosen field with astonishing success. This disturbs traditionalists and adherents of scientific orthodoxy no end, especially when Dr. Gold, more often than not, is correct in his iconoclasms.

The instant work presents and consolidates Dr. Gold's seminal work in the area of earth sciences. Dr. Gold argues convincingly, and with easily understood reasoning, that petroleum, and even coal, are not biogenic, i.e., created from previously living organisms. Instead, he contends, so-called "fossil fuels" are the result of hydrocarbons being brought up from and through the earth's mantle, and being transformed into their present states by bacteria living in the Earth's crust. These bacteria compose the "deep, hot biosphere" in the book's title. Thus, fossil fuels are a self-renewing resource not nearly as susceptible to the depletion so often forecast by doomsayers.

Dr. Gold's logic appears impeccable to this writer, and the tests he has done to date, such as drilling in the granite of a large Swedish impact structure and finding hydrocarbons where none "should" exist are persuasive indeed. The popular conception of oil, gas, and coal being the remains of once living creatures seems hopelessly out of date in light of Dr. Gold's research.

Dr. Gold goes on to discuss the origin of life, as it relates to microorganisms found in the earth's crust and asks whether these primitive creatures may exist on other planets as well.

Another interesting theory arising from the implications of mobile hydrocarbons in the Earth's interior relates to earthquakes and their prediction. Dr. Gold notes many cultures have spoken of physical changes occuring prior to earthquakes and suggests that these tangible phenomena are related to gases moving in the crust. When a critical point is reached in terms of shifting tensions, Dr. Gold suggests the result is an earthquake.

Interestingly, much Russian research agrees with Dr. Gold on this and other of his theories. Western research appears more bound to orthodox thinking. It is this writer's belief that Dr. Gold and his cohorts have much to say on the true state of the planet beneath us, and its contents.

The book receives my highest recommendation, and it will be interesting to see how much of Dr. Gold's thinking becomes the scientific orthodoxy of the future. The book is rated a must read for anyone with an interest ie earth sceiences, energy issues, or both.