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Abiogenic petroleum origin is a hypothesis that was proposed as an alternative to theory of biological petroleum origin. It was relatively popular in the past, but it became largely abandoned at the end of the 20th century after it failed to predict the location of new wells.^[1]

The abiogenic hypothesis argues that petroleum was formed from deep carbon deposits, perhaps dating to the formation of the Earth. Supporters of the abiogenic hypothesis suggest that a great deal more petroleum exists on Earth than commonly thought, and that petroleum may originate from carbon-bearing fluids that migrate upward from the mantle. The presence of methane on Saturn's moon Titan and in the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune is cited^[1] as evidence of the formation of hydrocarbons without biology.^[2]

The biogenic theory for petroleum was first proposed by Georg Agricola in the 16th century and various abiogenic hypotheses were proposed in the 19th century, most notably by Alexander von Humboldt, the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev and the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot. Abiogenic hypotheses were revived in the last half of the 20th century by Russian and Ukrainian scientists who had little influence outside the Soviet Union because most of their research was published in their native languages. The theory was re-defined and made popular in the West by Thomas Gold who published all his research in English.^[1]

Although the abiogenic hypothesis was accepted by many geologists in the former Soviet Union, it allegedly fell out of favor because it never made any useful prediction for the discovery of oil deposits.^[1] Most geologists now consider the abiogenic formation of petroleum scientifically unsupported.^[1] The abiogenic origin of petroleum has also recently been reviewed in detail by Glasby, who raises a number of objections, including that there is no direct evidence to date of abiogenic petroleum (liquid crude oil and long-chain hydrocarbon compounds).^[1]

It has been recently discovered that thermophilic bacteria, in the sea bottom and in cooling magma, produce methane and hydrocarbon gases,^[3][4] but studies indicate they are not produced in commercially significant quantities (i.e. in extracted hydrocarbon gases, the median abiogenic hydrocarbon content is 0.02%, or 1 part in 5,000).^[5]

History of abiogenic hypothesis[link]

The abiogenic theory for the origin of petroleum is usually traced to the early part of the 19th century. The hypothesis was developed well before the field of organic chemistry, much less that of biochemistry, was established so the chemical nature of the petroleum was not known. Absent intellectual framework of organic and biological chemistry, abiologic theories were inevitable. In the early 19th century, Phlogiston theory was the dominant model for explaining chemical phenomena. Furthermore, the formal study of paleontology had only started in the early 19th century. It is within this scientifically primitive but changing environment that theories on the origin of petroleum originated.

Alexander von Humboldt was the first to propose an inorganic abiogenic hypothesis for petroleum formation after he observed petroleum springs in the Bay of Cumaux (Cumaná) on the northeast coast of Venezuela.^[6] In 1804 he is quoted as saying, "petroleum is the product of a distillation from great depth and issues from the primitive rocks beneath which the forces of all volcanic action lie." Abraham Gottlob Werner and the proponents of neptunism in the 18th century believed basaltic sills to be solidified oils or bitumen. While these notions have been proven unfounded, the basic idea that petroleum is associated with magmatism persisted. Other prominent proponents of what would become the abiogenic hypothesis included Mendeleev^[7] and Berthelot.

Russian geologist Nikolai Alexandrovitch Kudryavtsev proposed the modern abiotic hypothesis of petroleum in 1951. On the basis of his analysis of the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta, Canada, he concluded that no "source rocks" could form the enormous volume of hydrocarbons, and that therefore the most plausible explanation is abiotic deep petroleum. However, humic coals have since been proposed for the source rocks.^[8] Kudryavtsev's work was continued by Petr N. Kropotkin, Vladimir B. Porfir'ev, Emmanuil B. Chekaliuk, Vladilen A. Krayushkin, Georgi E. Boyko, Georgi I. Voitov, Grygori N. Dolenko, Iona V. Greenberg, Nikolai S. Beskrovny, and Victor F. Linetsky.

Astronomer Thomas Gold was the most prominent proponent of the abiogenic hypothesis in the West until his death in 2004.^[1] More recently, Jack Kenney of Gas Resources Corporation has come to prominence.^[9][10][11]

State of current research[link]

This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (July 2009)

Little research is directed on establishing abiogenic petroleum or methane, although the Carnegie Institution for Science have found that ethane and heavier hydrocarbons can be synthesized under conditions of the upper mantle.^[12] Research mostly related to astrobiology and the deep microbial biosphere and serpentinite reactions, however, continue to provide insight into the contribution of abiogenic hydrocarbons into petroleum accumulations.

• rock porosity and migration pathways for abiogenic petroleum ^[13]
• ocean floor hydrothermal vents as in the Lost City hydrothermal field;
• Mud volcanoes and the volatile contents of deep pelagic oozes and deep formation brines
• mantle peridotite serpentinization reactions and other natural Fischer-Tropsch analogs
• Primordial hydrocarbons in meteorites, comets, asteroids and the solid bodies of the solar system
  • Primordial or ancient sources of hydrocarbons or carbon in Earth ^[14][15]
    • Primordial hydrocarbons formed from hydrolysis of metal carbides of the iron peak of cosmic elemental abundance (Cr, Fe, Ni, V, Mn, Co) ^[16]
• isotopic studies of groundwater reservoirs, sedimentary cements, formation gases and the composition of the noble gases and nitrogen in many oil fields
• the geochemistry of petroleum and the presence of trace metals related to Earth's mantle (Ni, V, Cd, As, Pb, Zn, Hg and others)

Similarly, research into the deep microbial hypothesis of hydrocarbon generation is advancing as part of the attempt to investigate the concept of panspermia and astrobiology, specifically using deep microbial life as an analog for life on Mars. Research applicable to deep microbial petroleum theories includes

• Research into how to sample deep reservoirs and rocks without contamination
• Sampling deep rocks and measuring chemistry and biological activity ^[17]
• Possible energy sources and metabolic pathways which may be used in a deep biosphere ^[18][4]
• Investigations into the reworking primordial hydrocarbons by bacteria and their effects on carbon isotope fractionation

A 2006 review article by Glasby presented arguments against the abiogenic origin of petroleum on a number of counts.^[1]

Foundations of the hypotheses[link]

Within the mantle, carbon may exist as hydrocarbons—chiefly methane—and as elemental carbon, carbon dioxide, and carbonates.^[11] The abiotic hypothesis is that the full suite of hydrocarbons found in petroleum can be generated in the mantle by abiogenic processes,^[11] and these hydrocarbons can migrate out of the mantle into the crust until they escape to the surface or are trapped by impermeable strata, forming petroleum reservoirs.

Abiogenic theories reject the supposition that certain molecules found within petroleum, known as biomarkers, are indicative of the biological origin of petroleum. They contend that these molecules mostly come from microbes feeding on petroleum in its upward migration through the crust, that some of them are found in meteorites, which have presumably never contacted living material, and that some can be generated abiogenically by plausible reactions in petroleum.^[10]

The hypothesis is founded primarily upon:

Conventional theories[link]

According to generally accepted theory, petroleum is derived from ancient biomass.^[23] The theory was initially based on the isolation of molecules from petroleum that closely resemble known biomolecules (Figure).

Structure of a biomarker extracted from petroleum and simplified structure of chlorophyll a.

Most petroleum geologists prefer the theory that attributes oil origination to vast quantities of dead marine plankton or plant material that sank into the mud of shallow seas. Under the resulting anaerobic conditions, organic compounds remained in a reduced state where anaerobic bacteria converted the lipids (fats, oils and waxes) into a waxy substance called kerogen.

As the source rock was buried deeper, overburden pressure raised temperatures into the oil window, between 80 and 180 °C. Most of the organic compounds degraded into the straight-chain hydrocarbons that comprise most of petroleum. This process is called the generation kitchen.^{[citation needed]} Once crude oil formed, it became very fluid and migrated upward through the rock strata. This process is called oil expulsion. Eventually it was either trapped in an oil reservoir or oil escaped to the surface and was biodegraded by soil bacteria.

Oil buried deeper entered the "gas window" of more than 160 °C and was converted into natural gas by thermal cracking. Thus, this theory predicts that only unassociated gas—not oil—will be found below a certain depth. At greater depths, even natural gas would be pyrolyzed.

Proposed mechanisms of abiogenic petroleum[link]

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Primordial deposits[link]

Thomas Gold's work was focused on hydrocarbon deposits of primordial origin. Meteorites are believed to represent the major composition of material from which the Earth was formed. Some meteorites, such as carbonaceous chondrites, contain carbonaceous material. If a large amount of this material is still within the Earth, it could have been leaking upward for billions of years. The thermodynamic conditions within the mantle would allow many hydrocarbon molecules to be at equilibrium under high pressure and high temperature. Although molecules in these conditions may disassociate, resulting fragments would be reformed due to the pressure. An average equilibrium of various molecules would exist depending upon conditions and the carbon-hydrogen ratio of the material.^[24]

Creation within the mantle[link]

Russian researchers concluded that hydrocarbon mixes would be created within the mantle. Experiments under high temperatures and pressures produced many hydrocarbons—including n-alkanes through C₁₀H₂₂—from iron oxide, calcium carbonate, and water.^[11] Because such materials are in the mantle and in subducted crust, there is no requirement that all hydrocarbons be produced from primordial deposits.

Hydrogen generation[link]

Hydrogen gas and water have been found more than 6-kilometers deep in the upper crust in the Siljan Ring boreholes and the Kola Superdeep Borehole. Data from the western United States suggests that aquifers from near the surface may extend to depths of 10 to 20 km. Hydrogen gas can be created by water reacting with silicates, quartz, and feldspar at temperatures in the range of 25 to 270 °C. These minerals are common in crustal rocks such as granite. Hydrogen may react with dissolved carbon compounds in water to form methane and higher carbon compounds.^[25]

One reaction not involving silicates which can create hydrogen is:

Ferrous oxide + Water → Magnetite + hydrogen

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 3FeO + H_2O \rarr Fe_3O_4 + H_2

The above reaction operates best at low pressures. At pressures greater than 5 GPa (50,000 Atmospheres) almost no hydrogen is created.^[14]

However, the Siljan Ring borehole found no hydrocarbon, despite Thomas Gold's theory predicting that they should be found. (see Siljan section in this article)

Serpentinite mechanism[link]

One proposed mechanism by which abiogenic petroleum is formed was first proposed by the Ukrainian scientist, Prof. Emmanuil B. Chekaliuk in 1967. He proposed that petroleum could be formed at high temperatures and pressures from inorganic carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and/or methane.

This mechanism is supported by several lines of evidence which are accepted by modern scientific literature. This involves synthesis of oil within the crust via catalysis by chemically reductive rocks. A proposed mechanism for the formation of inorganic hydrocarbons^[26] is via natural analogs of the Fischer-Tropsch process known as the serpentinite mechanism or the serpentinite process.^[22][27]

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): CH_4 + \begin{matrix} \frac{1}{2} \end{matrix}O_2 \rarr 2 H_2 + CO

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): (2n+1)H_2 + nCO \rarr C_nH_{2n+2} + nH_2O

Serpentinites are ideal rocks to host this process as they are formed from peridotites and dunites, rocks which contain greater than 80% olivine and usually a percentage of Fe-Ti spinel minerals. Most olivines also contain high nickel concentrations (up to several percent) and may also contain chromite or chromium as a contaminant in olivine, providing the needed transition metals.

However, serpentinite synthesis and spinel cracking reactions require hydrothermal alteration of pristine peridotite-dunite, which is a finite process intrinsically related to metamorphism, and further, requires significant addition of water. Serpentinite is unstable at mantle temperatures and is readily dehydrated to granulite, amphibolite, talc–schist and even eclogite. This suggests that methanogenesis in the presence of serpentinites is restricted in space and time to mid-ocean ridges and upper levels of subduction zones. However, water has been found as deep as 12 km,^[28] so water-based reactions are dependent upon the local conditions. Oil being created by this process in intracratonic regions is limited by the materials and temperature.

Serpentinite synthesis[link]

A chemical basis for the abiotic petroleum process is the serpentinization of peridotite, beginning with methanogenesis via hydrolysis of olivine into serpentine in the presence of carbon dioxide.^[27] Olivine, composed of Forsterite and Fayalite metamorphoses into serpentine, magnetite and silica by the following reactions, with silica from fayalite decomposition (reaction 1a) feeding into the forsterite reaction (1b).

Reaction 1a:
Fayalite + water → Magnetite + aqueous silica + Hydrogen

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 3Fe_2SiO_4 + 2H_2O \rarr 2Fe_3O_4 + 3SiO_2 + 2H_2

Reaction 1b:
Forsterite + aqueous silica → Serpentinite

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 3Mg_2SiO_4 + SiO_2 + 4H_2O \rarr 2Mg_3Si_2O_5(OH)_4

When this reaction occurs in the presence of dissolved carbon dioxide (carbonic acid) at temperatures above 500 °C Reaction 2a takes place.

Reaction 2a:
Olivine + Water + Carbonic acid → Serpentine + Magnetite + Methane

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): (Fe,Mg)_2SiO_4 + nH_2O + CO_2 \rarr Mg_3Si_2O_5(OH)_4 + Fe_3O_4 + CH_4

or, in balanced form: Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 18 Mg_2SiO_4 + 6 Fe_2SiO_4 + 26 H_2O + CO_2

→ Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 12 Mg_3Si_2O_5(OH)_4 + 4 Fe_3O_4 + CH_4

However, reaction 2(b) is just as likely, and supported by the presence of abundant talc-carbonate schists and magnesite stringer veins in many serpentinised peridotites;

Reaction 2b:
Olivine + Water + Carbonic acid → Serpentine + Magnetite + Magnesite + Silica

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): (Fe,Mg)_2SiO_4 + nH_2O + CO_2 \rarr Mg_3Si_2O_5(OH)_4 + Fe_3O_4 + MgCO_3 + SiO_2

The upgrading of methane to higher n-alkane hydrocarbons is via dehydrogenation of methane in the presence of catalyst transition metals (e.g. Fe, Ni). This can be termed spinel hydrolysis.

Spinel polymerization mechanism[link]

Magnetite, chromite and ilmenite are Fe-spinel group minerals found in many rocks but rarely as a major component in non-ultramafic rocks. In these rocks, high concentrations of magmatic magnetite, chromite and ilmenite provide a reduced matrix which may allow abiotic cracking of methane to higher hydrocarbons during hydrothermal events.

Chemically reduced rocks are required to drive this reaction and high temperatures are required to allow methane to be polymerized to ethane. Note that reaction 1a, above, also creates magnetite.

Reaction 3:
Methane + Magnetite → Ethane + Hematite

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): nCH_4 + nFe_3O_4 + nH_2O \rarr C_2H_6 + Fe_2O_3 + HCO_3 + H^+

Reaction 3 results in n-alkane hydrocarbons, including linear saturated hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, aromatics, and cyclic compounds.^[27]

Carbonate decomposition[link]

Calcium carbonate may decompose at around 500 °C through the following reaction:^[14]

Reaction 5:
Hydrogen + Calcium carbonate → Methane + Calcium oxide + Water

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 4H_2 + CaCO_3 \rarr CH_4 + CaO + 2H_2O

Note that CaO (lime) is not a mineral species found within natural rocks. Whilst this reaction is possible, it is not plausible.

Evidence of abiogenic mechanisms[link]

• Calculations by J.F. Kenney using scaled particle theory for a simplified perturbed hard-chain, (a statistical mechanical model) predict that methane compressed to 30 or 40 kbar at 1000 °C (conditions in the mantle) is relatively unstable in relation to higher hydrocarbons. However, these calculations do not include methane pyrolisis yielding amorphous carbon and hydrogen, which is recognized as the prevalent reaction at high temperatures.^[10][11]
• Experiments in diamond anvil high pressure cells have resulted in partial conversion of methane and inorganic carbonates into light hydrocarbons.^[11]

Biotic (microbial) hydrocarbons[link]

The "deep biotic petroleum hypothesis", similar to the abiogenic petroleum origin hypothesis, holds that not all petroleum deposits within the Earth's rocks can be explained purely according to the orthodox view of petroleum geology. Thomas Gold used the term the deep hot biosphere to describe the microbes which live underground.^[2][29][30]

This hypothesis is different from biogenic oil in that the role of deep-dwelling microbes is a biological source for oil which is not of a sedimentary origin and is not sourced from surface carbon. Deep microbial life is only a contaminant of primordial hydrocarbons. Parts of microbes yield molecules as biomarkers.

Deep biotic oil is considered to be formed as a byproduct of the life cycle of deep microbes. Shallow biotic oil is considered to be formed as a byproduct of the life cycles of shallow microbes.

Microbial biomarkers[link]

Thomas Gold, in a 1999 book, cited the discovery of thermophile bacteria in the Earth's crust as new support for the postulate that these bacteria could explain the existence of certain biomarkers in extracted petroleum.^[2] A rebuttal of biogenic origins based on biomarkers has been offered by Kenney, et al. (2001).^[1][10]

Isotopic evidence[link]

Methane is ubiquitous in crustal fluid and gas.^[4] Research continues to attempt to characterise crustal sources of methane as biogenic or abiogenic using carbon isotope fractionation of observed gases (Lollar & Sherwood 2006). There are few clear examples of abiogenic methane-ethane-butane, as the same processes favor enrichment of light isotopes in all chemical reactions, whether organic or inorganic. δ¹³C of methane overlaps that of inorganic carbonate and graphite in the crust, which are heavily depleted in ¹²C, and attain this by isotopic fractionation during metamorphic reactions.

One argument for abiogenic oil cites the high carbon depletion of methane as stemming from the observed carbon isotope depletion with depth in the crust. However, diamonds, which are definitively of mantle origin, are not as depleted as methane, which implies that methane carbon isotope fractionation is not controlled by mantle values.^[31]

Commercially extractable concentrations of helium (greater than 0.3%) are present in natural gas from the Panhandle-Hugoton fields in the USA, as well as from some Algerian and Russian gas fields.^[32][33]

Helium trapped within most petroleum occurrences, such as the occurrence in Texas, is of a distinctly crustal character with an Ra ratio of less than 0.0001 that of the atmosphere.^[34][35]

The Chimaera gas seep, near Antalya (SW Turkey), new and thorough molecular and isotopic analyses including methane (~87% v/v; D13C1 from -7.9 to -12.3 ‰; D13D1 from -119 to -124 ‰), light alkanes (C2+C3+C4+C5 = 0.5%; C6+: 0.07%; D13C2 from -24.2 to -26.5 ‰; D13C3 from -25.5 to -27 ‰), hydrogen (7.5 to 11 %), carbon dioxide (0.01-0.07%; D13CCO2: -15 ‰), helium (~80 ppmv; R/Ra: 0.41) and nitrogen (2-4.9%; D15N from -2 to -2.8 ‰) converge to indicate that the seep releases a mixture of organic thermogenic gas, related to mature Type III kerogen occurring in Paleozoic and Mesozoic organic rich sedimentary rocks, and abiogenic gas produced by low temperature serpentinization in the Tekirova ophiolitic unit.^[36]

Biomarker chemicals[link]

Certain chemicals found in naturally occurring petroleum contain chemical and structural similarities to compounds found within many living organisms. These include terpenoids, terpenes, pristane, phytane, cholestane, chlorins and porphyrins, which are large, chelating molecules in the same family as heme and chlorophyll. Materials which suggest certain biological processes include tetracyclic diterpane and oleanane.

The presence of these chemicals in crude oil is assumed to be as a result of the inclusion of biological material in the oil. This is predicated upon the theory that these chemicals are released by kerogen during the production of hydrocarbon oils, as these are chemicals highly resistant to degradation and plausible chemical paths have been studied. Abiotic defenders state that biomarkers get into oil during its way up as it gets in touch with ancient fossils. However a more plausible explanation is that biomarkers are traces of biological molecules from bacteria (archaea) that feed on primordial hydrocarbons and die in that environment. For example, hopanoids are just parts of the bacterial cell wall present in oil as contaminant.^[2]

Trace metals[link]

Nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and others metals frequently occur in oils. Some heavy crude oils, such as Venezuelan heavy crude have up to 45% vanadium pentoxide content in their ash, high enough that it is a commercial source for vanadium. Abiotic supporters argue that these metals are common in Earth's mantle, but relatively high contents of nickel, vanadium, lead and arsenic can be usually found in almost all marine sediments.

Analysis of 22 trace elements in oils correlate significantly better with chondrite, serpentinized fertile mantle peridotite, and the primitive mantle than with oceanic or continental crust, and shows no correlation with seawater.^[22]

Reduced carbon[link]

Sir Robert Robinson studied the chemical makeup of natural petroleum oils in great detail, and concluded that they were mostly far too hydrogen-rich to be a likely product of the decay of plant debris, assuming a dual origin for Earth hydrocarbons.^[24] However, several processes which generate hydrogen could supply kerogen hydrogenation which is compatible with conventional petroleum generation theories.^[37]

Olefins, the unsaturated hydrocarbons, would have been expected to predominate by far in any material that was derived in that way. He also wrote: "Petroleum ... [seems to be] a primordial hydrocarbon mixture into which bio-products have been added."

This has however been demonstrated later to be a misunderstanding by Robinson, related to the fact that only short duration experiments were available to him. Olefins are thermally very unstable (that is why natural petroleum normally does not contain such compounds) and in laboratory experiments that last more than a few hours, the olefins are no longer present.^{[citation needed]}

The presence of low-oxygen and hydroxyl-poor hydrocarbons in natural living media is supported by the presence of natural waxes (n=30+), oils (n=20+) and lipids in both plant matter and animal matter, for instance fats in phytoplankton, zooplankton and so on. These oils and waxes, however, occur in quantities too small to significantly affect the overall hydrogen/carbon ratio of biological materials. However, after the discovery of highly aliphatic biopolymers in algae, and that oil generating kerogen essentially represent concentrates of such materials, no theoretical problem exists anymore.^{[citation needed]} Also, the millions of source rock samples that have been analyzed for petroleum yield by the petroleum industry have confirmed the large quantities of petroleum found in sedimentary basins.

Field observations[link]

Proponents sometimes cite occurrences of abiotic petroleum in commercial amounts, in the oil wells in offshore Vietnam, Eugene Island block 330 oil field, and the Dnieper-Donets Basin, but its origin can be explained by biotic theories.^[1][38] Modern geogologists think that commercially-profitable deposits of abiotic petroleum could be found, it's just that all current deposits can already be explained by biotic theories, and no current deposit has convincing evidence that it originated from abiotic sources.^[38]

The Russian-Ukrainian school saw evidence of their theory in the fact that some oil reservoirs exist in non-sedimentary rocks such as granite, metamorphic or porous volcanic rocks. However, critics note that non-sedimentary rocks served as reservoirs for biologically-originated oil expelled from nearby sedimentary source rock through common migration or re-migration mechanisms.^[38]

The following observations have been commonly been used to argue for the abiogenic hypothesis, however all the observations of actual petroleum can also be fully explained by conventional petroleum formation theories.^[38]

Lost City Hydrothermal Vent Field[link]

The Lost City Hydrothermal Vent Field was determined to have abiogenic hydrocarbon production. Proskurowski et al. wrote, "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."^[39]

Siljan Ring, Sweden[link]

The Siljan Ring meteorite crater, Sweden, was proposed by Thomas Gold as the most likely place to test the hypothesis because it was one of the few places in the world where the granite basement was cracked sufficiently (by meteorite impact) to allow oil to seep up from the mantle; furthermore it is infilled with a relatively thin veneer of sediment, which was sufficient to trap any abiogenic oil, but was modelled as not having been subjected to the heat and pressure conditions (known as the "oil window") normally required to create biogenic oil. However, some geochemists concluded by geochemical analysis that the oil in the seeps came from the organic-rich Ordovician Tretaspis shale, where it was heated by the meteorite impact.^[40]

In 1986-1990 The Gravberg-1 borehole was drilled through the deepest rock in the Siljan Ring in which proponents had hoped to find hydrocarbon reservoirs. It stopped at the depth of 6,800 m due to drilling problems, after private investors spent $40 millions.^[41] Some eighty barrels of magnetite paste and hydrocarbon-bearing sludge were recovered from the well; Gold maintained that the hydrocarbons were chemically different from, and not derived from, those added to the borehole, but analyses showed that the hydrocarbons were derived from the diesel fuel-based drilling fluid used in the drilling.^{[41][42][43][44]} This well also sampled over 13,000 feet (4,000 m) of methane-bearing inclusions.^[45]

In 1991-1992, a second borehole, Stenberg-1, was drilled a few miles away to a depth of 6,500 m, finding similar results. Again, no abiotic hydrocarbons were found.^[1][31]

Bacterial mats[link]

Direct observation of bacterial mats and fracture-fill carbonate and humin of bacterial origin in deep boreholes in Iran, Australia,^[46] Sweden and Canada are also taken as evidence for the abiogenic origin of petroleum

Example proposed abiogenic methane deposits[link]

Panhandle-Hugoton field (Anadarko Basin) in the south-central United States is the most important gas field with commercial helium content.^{[34][35][47][48]}

The Bạch Hổ oil field in Vietnam has been proposed as an example of abiogenic oil because it is 4,000 m of fractured basement granite, at a depth of 5,000 m.^[49] However, others argue that it contains biogenic oil which leaked into the basement horst from conventional source rocks within the Cuu Long basin.^[21][50]

A major component of mantle-derived carbon is indicated in commercial gas reservoirs in the Pannonian and Vienna basins of Hungary and Austria.^[51]

Natural gas pools interpreted as being mantle-derived are the Shengli Field^[52] and Songliao Basin, northeastern China.^[53][54]

The Chimaera gas seep, near Çıralı, Antalya (southwest Turkey), has been continuously active for millennia and it is known to be the source of the first Olympic fire in the Hellenistic period. On the basis of chemical composition and isotopic analysis, the Chimaera gas is said to be about half biogenic and half abiogenic gas, the largest emission of biogenic methane discovered; deep and pressurized gas accumulations necessary to sustain the gas flow for millennia, posited to be from an inorganic source, may be present.^[36] Local geology of Chimaera flames, at exact position of flames, reveals contact between serpentinized ophiolite and carbonate rocks. Fischer-Tropsch process can be suitable reaction to form hydrocarbons gases.

The geological argument for abiogenic oil[link]

Given the known occurrence of methane and the probable catalysis of methane into higher atomic weight hydrocarbon molecules, the abiogenic hypothesis considers the following to be key observations in support;

• The serpentinite synthesis, graphite synthesis and spinel catalysation models prove the process is viable ^[22][27]
• The likelihood that abiogenic oil seeping up from the mantle is trapped beneath sediments which effectively seal mantle-tapping faults ^[26]
• Mass-balance calculations for supergiant oilfields which argue that the calculated source rock could not have supplied the reservoir with the known accumulation of oil, implying deep recharge (Kudryavtsev, 1951)
• The presence of hydrocarbons encapsulated in diamonds^{[citation needed]}

Incidental evidence[link]

The proponents of abiogenic oil use several arguments which draw on a variety of natural phenomena in order to support the hypothesis

• The modelling of some researchers which shows the Earth was accreted at relatively low temperature, thereby perhaps preserving primordial carbon deposits within the mantle, to drive abiogenic hydrocarbon production ^[55]
• The presence of methane within the gases and fluids of mid-ocean ridge spreading centre hydrothermal fields^[56]

The geological argument against[link]

Oil deposits are not directly associated with tectonic structures.

Key arguments against chemical reactions, such as the serpentinite mechanism, as being the major source of hydrocarbon deposits within the crust are;

• The lack of available pore space within rocks as depth increases
  • This is contradicted by numerous studies which have documented the existence of hydrologic systems operating over a range of scales and at all depths in the continental crust.^[57]
• The lack of any hydrocarbon within the crystalline shield areas of the major cratons, especially around key deep seated structures which are predicted to host oil by the abiogenic hypothesis.^[31] See Siljan Lake.
• Limited evidence that major serpentinite belts underlie continental sedimentary basins which host oil
• Lack of conclusive proof that carbon isotope fractionation observed in crustal methane sources is entirely of abiogenic origin (Lollar et al. 2006)^[4]
• Mass balance problems of supplying enough carbon dioxide to serpentinite within the metamorphic event before the peridotite is fully reacted to serpentinite
• Drilling of the Siljan Ring failed to find commercial quantities of oil,^[31] thus providing a counter example to Kudryavtsev's Rule^[41] and failing to locate the predicted abiogenic oil.
• Helium in the Siljan Gravberg-1 well was depleted in ³He and not consistent with a mantle origin^[58]
  • The Gravberg-1 well only produced 84 barrels (13.4 m³) of oil, which later was shown to derive from organic additives, lubricants and mud used in the drilling process.^[41][42][43]
• The distribution of sedimentary basins is caused by plate tectonics, with sedimentary basins forming on either side of a volcanic arc, which explains the distribution of oil within these sedimentary basins
• Kudryavtsev's Rule has been explained for oil and gas (not coal): Gas deposits which are below oil deposits can be created from that oil or its source rocks. Because natural gas is less dense than oil, as kerogen and hydrocarbons are generating gas the gas fills the top of the available space. Oil is forced down, and can reach the spill point where oil leaks around the edge(s) of the formation and flows upward. If the original formation becomes completely filled with gas then all the oil will have leaked above the original location.^[59]
• Ubiquitous presence of diamondoids in natural hydrocarbons such as oil, gas and condensates are composed of carbon from biological sources, unlike the carbon found in normal diamonds.^[60]

Arguments against the incidental evidence[link]

• Gas ruptures during earthquakes are more likely to be sourced from biogenic methane generated in unconsolidated sediment from existing organic matter, released by earthquake liquefaction of the reservoir during tremors
• The presence of methane hydrate is arguably produced by bacterial action upon organic detritus falling from the littoral zone and trapped in the depth due to pressure and temperature
• The likelihood of vast concentrations of methane in the mantle is very slim, given mantle xenoliths have negligible methane in their fluid inclusions; conventional plate tectonics explains deep focus quakes better, and the extreme confining pressures invalidate the hypothesis of gas pockets causing quakes
• Further evidence is the presence of diamond within kimberlites and lamproites which sample the mantle depths proposed as being the source region of mantle methane (by Gold et al.).^[24]

The Titan argument[link]

The presence of methane on Saturn's moon Titan and in the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune is cited as evidence of the formation of hydrocarbons without biology,^[1][38] for example by Thomas Gold^[2]

See also[link]

• Eugene Island block 330 oil field
• Fischer-Tropsch process
• Fossil fuel
• Nikolai Alexandrovitch Kudryavtsev
• Peak oil
• Thomas Gold

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Kudryavtsev N.A., 1959. Geological proof of the deep origin of Petroleum. Trudy Vsesoyuz. Neftyan. Nauch. Issledovatel Geologoraz Vedoch. Inst. No.132, pp. 242–262 (Russian)

External links[link]

• [1] Deep Carbon Observatory
• "Geochemist Says Oil FieldsMay Be Refilled Naturally", New York Times article by Malcolm W. Browne, September 26, 1995
• "No Free Lunch, Part 1: A Critique of Thomas Gold's Claims for Abiotic Oil", by Jean Laherrere, in From The Wilderness
• "No Free Lunch, Part 2: If Abiotic Oil Exists, Where Is It?", by Dale Allen Pfeiffer, in From The Wilderness
• The Origin of Methane (and Oil) in the Crust of the Earth, Thomas Gold
• abstracts from AAPG Origin of Petroleum Conference 06/18/05 Calgary Alberta, Canada
• Gas Origin Theories to be Studied, Abiogenic Gas Debate 11:2002 (AAPG Explorer)]
• Gas Resources Corporation - J. F. Kenney's collection of documents

James Howard Kunstler
James Howard Kunstler in December, 2007
Born	(1948-10-19) October 19, 1948 (age 63) New York, United States
Occupation	Author, social critic, blogger
Nationality	American
Influenced By Current Events
www.kunstler.com

James Howard Kunstler (born on October 19, 1954, New York City, New York) is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger. He is best known for his books The Geography of Nowhere (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, and the more recent The Long Emergency (2005), where he argues that declining oil production is likely to result in the end of industrialized society as we know it and force Americans to live in smaller-scale, localized, agrarian (or semi-agrarian) communities. He has written a series of science fiction novels conjecturing such a culture in the future, starting with World Made by Hand in 2008. He also gives lectures on topics related to suburbia, urban development, and the challenges of what he calls "the global oil predicament" and a resultant change in the “American Way of Life.” He is also a leading supporter of the movement known as "New Urbanism."

Background[link]

Kunstler was born in New York City to Jewish parents,^[1] who divorced when he was eight.^[2] His family then moved to the suburbs in Long Island. His father was a middleman in the diamond trade.^[1] Kunstler spent most of his childhood with his mother and stepfather, a publicist for Broadway shows.^[1] While spending summers at a boys' camp in New Hampshire, he became acquainted with the small town ethos that would later permeate many of his works. In 1966 he graduated from New York City's High School of Music & Art, and attended the State University of New York at Brockport, where he majored in Theater.

He has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, RPI, the University of Virginia and many other colleges, and he has appeared before many professional organizations such as the AIA , the APA., and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

After college, Kunstler worked as a reporter and feature writer for a number of newspapers, and finally as a staff writer for Rolling Stone. In 1975, he began writing books and lecturing full-time. He lives in Saratoga Springs, upsate New York and was formerly married to the children's author Jennifer Armstrong.

Writing[link]

Over the course of the first 14 years of his writing career (1979–1993) Kunstler wrote seven novels.

Since the mid-1990s, he has written four non-fiction books about suburban development and diminishing global oil supplies. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, his first work on the subject, The Geography of Nowhere, discussed the effects of "cartoon architecture, junked cities, and a ravaged countryside", as he put it.^[3] Described as a jeremiad by The Washington Post, Kunstler is critic of suburbia and urban development trends throughout the United States, and is a proponent of the New Urbanism movement. According to Scott Carlson, reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Kunstler's books on the subject have become "standard reading in architecture and urban planning courses".^[4]

He describes America as a poorly planned and "tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work."^[5] In a 2001 op-ed for Planetizen, he wrote that in the wake of 9/11 the "age of skyscrapers is at an end", that no new megatowers would be built, and that existing tall buildings are destined to be dismantled.^[6]

In his books that followed, such as Home From Nowhere, The City in Mind, and The Long Emergency (2005), he pushed hard on taboo topics like a post-oil America. James Howard Kunstler says he wrote The Geography of Nowhere, "Because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work".(http://www.kunstler.com/bio.html) He was featured in the "peak oil" documentary, The End of Suburbia, widely circulated on the internet, as well as the Canadian documentary Radiant City (2006).

In his recent science fiction novel World Made by Hand (2008), he describes a future dependent on localized production and agriculture, with little reliance on imports. The Witch of Hebron, a sequel, was released in the autumn of 2010; two more sequels are under development.

In his writings and lectures, he makes a strong case that there is no other alternative energy source on the horizon that can replace relatively cheap oil. He therefore envisions a "low energy" world that will be radically different from today's. This has contributed to his becoming an outspoken advocate for one of his solutions, a more energy-efficient rail system, and writes "we have to get cracking on the revival of the railroad system if we expect to remain a united country."^[5][7]

Reactions and criticisms[link]

Bill Kauffman has called Kunstler the "scourge of suburbia," and a "slashingly witty Jeremiah."^[8] In a review of Kunstler's weekly audio podcast, the Columbia Journalism Review described he KunstlerCast as "a weekly podcast that offers some of the smartest, most honest urban commentary around—online or off."^[3] However, in critiquing The Long Emergency, journalist Chris Hayes claims that while Kunstler makes valid points about the consequences of peak oil, he undermines his credibility with rhetoric and perceived misanthropy;^[9] likewise, Kevin Drum, another peak oil theorist, considers Kunstler to be a "crank" who hurts his own cause with "crackpot arguments".^[10] Ezra Klein, writing for The American Prospect, notes that Kunstler lacks credentials as an oil expert, and claims that his work "definitely has a crazy-guy-on-Venice feel to it."^[11] Joseph Romm, a climate change expert and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, has stated his belief that accelerating shifts toward renewable energy will maintain suburban lifestyles and that, contrary to Kunstler's arguments, "suburbia won’t be destroyed by peak oil."^[12]

Charles Bensinger, co-founder of Renewable Energy Partners of New Mexico, describes Kunstler's views as "fashionably fear-mongering" and uninformed regarding the potential of renewable energy, biofuels, energy efficiency and smart-growth policies to eliminate the need for fossil fuels.^[13] Contrarily, Paul Salopek of The Chicago Tribune finds that, "Kunstler has plotted energy starvation to its logical extremes" and points to the US Department of Energy Hirsch report as drawing similar conclusions.^[14] David Ehrenfeld, writing for American Scientist, sees Kunstler delivering a "powerful integration of science, technology, economics, finance, international politics and social change" with a "lengthy discussion of the alternatives to cheap oil."^[15]

In May 2008 oil reached $132 a barrel, lending credence to Kunstler's warnings about high energy prices.^[16] Kunstler commented on the price surge, saying "I'm not cheerleading for doom, you understand... merely asserting that we have a problem in the USA. Our behavior and our lifestyle are not consistent with reality. The markets are registering this for the moment."^[17]

Kunstler, who has no formal training in the fields in which he prognosticates,^[18] made similar dire predictions for Y2K as he makes for peak oil.^[19][20][21] Kunstler responds to this criticism by saying that a Y2K-related catastrophe was averted precisely because of the billions of dollars that were spent fixing the problem. As with programs to deal with acid rain and ozone depletion in the 1990s, a resoundingly successful, well-coordinated international response had the side effect of discrediting the very worst-case scenarios that inspired the efforts in the first place.^[22]

Kunstler has made several unsuccessful predictions regarding U.S. stock markets. In June 2005 and again in early 2006, Kunstler predicted that the Dow would crash to 4,000 by the end of the year.^[23][24] The Dow in fact reached a new peak of approximately 12,500 by the end of 2006. In his predictions for 2007, Kunstler admitted his mistake, ascribing the Dow's climb to "inertia combined with sheer luck".^[25] In January 2009, Kunstler again repeated with Dow 4000 prediction. The Dow, in fact, ended 2009 at more than twice that value.^[26]

The Albany Times Union reviewed World Made by Hand, opening with, "James Howard Kunstler is fiddling his way to the apocalypse, one jig at a time."^[27] The reviewer calls it "a grim scenario" with "an upside" or two.^[27]

Reihan Salam says James Howard Kunstler is very much a man of his time — a crankish autodidact with a deep and abiding distaste for all things newfangled, who also happens to be a blogger, and a very entertaining one at that. If you've ever felt plagued by the profound stupidity of others, you'll find a kindred spirit in Mr. Kunstler, who is one of the most gifted "haters" you'll ever have the good fortune to read. Mr. Kunstler's ur-subject is what he considers the essential despicableness of a civilization built on the promise of abundant cheap energy, and the soullessness and vulgarity of the chintzy pseudo-affluence that comes with it. You get the sense Mr. Kunstler would feel this way regardless of the long-term viability of an oil-driven economy, but conveniently enough he at some point fell under the sway of a cultish fringe of the Peak Oil movement, a group that claims the world's oil is running out fast and that, as a result, the modern world is going to come crashing down around our heads.

Kunstler has faced strong criticism for his pro-Israeli stance in the debate over the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.^[28]

Quotations[link]

This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by editing it to take facts from excessively quoted material and rewrite them as sourced original prose. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. (July 2010)

Energy

"...we are in danger not just of oil prices going way back up again, but of losing access to our supplies from the exporting countries. In other words, we're just as likely to face shortages as high prices, and soon. Oil shortages are certain to produce a political freak-out here unless we get our heads screwed on right..."^[29]

"the truth is that no combination of solar, wind, nuclear power, ethanol, biodiesel, tar sands and used French-fry oil will allow us to power ... the interstate highway system – or even a fraction of these things – in the future...our quandary: the American public's narrow focus on keeping all our cars running at any cost."^[30]

"... we'll have to figure out how to make things in this country again. We will not be manufacturing things at the scale, or in the manner, we were used to in, say, 1962. We'll have to do it far more modestly, using much more meager amounts of energy than we did in the past."^[29]

"The idea that we can become "energy independent" and maintain our current lifestyle is absurd."^[30]

"The second law of thermodynamics never rests."

Society

"...the American public is deathly afraid of the kind of changes we actually face – such as, the end of consumer culture, the gross loss of value in suburban real estate (which forms the bulk of the middle class's private wealth), the prospect of food and fuel scarcities, the need to re-localize our lives, the need to physically shape up to stop the costly and unnecessary drain on our medical resources, to grow more of our own food, to work harder at things that actually matter, and to save whatever we can for a difficult future."^[29]

"... we're not going back to a "consumer" economy. We're heading into a hard work economy in which people derive their pleasures and gratification more traditionally – mainly through the company of their fellow human beings..."^[29]

"Please stop referring to yourselves as consumers. "Consumers" are different than citizens. Consumers do not have obligations, responsibilities, and duties to their fellow human beings. And as long as you are using that word “consumer,” you will be degrading the quality of the public discussion as we go into the very difficult future that we face."^[31]

Food

"... we'll have to dramatically reorganize the everyday activities of American life. We'll have to grow our food closer to home, in a manner that will require more human attention. In fact, agriculture needs to return to the center of economic life."^[30]

Commerce

"... we're going to have to make things again, and raise things out of the earth, locally, and trade these things for money of some kind that we earn through our own productive activities."^[29]

"We'll have to restore local economic networks – the very networks that the big-box stores systematically destroyed – made of fine-grained layers of wholesalers, middlemen and retailers."^[30]

Transportation

"...we have to move away from the private automobile and commercial trucking, and the airline industry is certain to contract dramatically. When are we going to start the discussion about rebuilding a US public transit system that was once the envy of the world? It no longer matters how much Americans love their cars, or even how much investment we've made in car infrastructure."^[29]

"Fixing the U.S. passenger railroad system is probably the one project we could undertake right away that would have the greatest impact on the country's oil consumption."^[30]

"California (and every other region of America) would benefit much more from normal-speed trains running every hour on the hour on tracks that already exist than from a mega-expensive, grandiose sci-fi program that might not get built for ten years. The dregs of the Big Three automakers can and should be reorganized to produce the rolling stock for a revived railroad system."^[29]

"The motoring era is coming to an end. Heroic investments in highway infrastructure to create jobs will be a tragic waste of our dwindling capital."^[29]

"[Economic] Stimulus aimed at perpetuating mass motoring will be a tragic waste of our dwindling resources. We'd be better off aiming it at fixing the railroads (especially electrifying them), refitting our harbors with piers and warehouses in preparation to move more stuff by boats, and in repairing the electric grid."^[29]

"The airline industry is disintegrating under the enormous pressure of fuel costs. Airlines cannot fire any more employees and have already offloaded their pension obligations and outsourced their repairs. At least five small airlines have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past two months. If we don't get the passenger trains running again, Americans will be going nowhere five years from now."^[30]

"One other implication of this is the necessity to use our waterways for moving things and people again. Has anybody noticed, for instance, that the once-bustling New York Harbor, possibly the biggest and best sheltered deepwater harbor in the world, has next-to-zero operating docks left along its massive perimeter?"^[29] (In 2008, New York Harbor was the third busiest in the US out of 149, as measured by tons of cargo handled, with over 150,000,000.^[32])

Bibliography[link]

See also[link]

• Peak oil
• Psychology of previous investment
• Survivalism
• [1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• James Howard Kunstler home page
• Comment on current events by Jim Kunstler
• Interviews with the author
  • Chaos in the City. Architecture, Modernism and Peak Oil Production—James Howard Kunstler in Interview
  • James Howard Kunstler Interview in MungBeing Magazine
  • James Howard Kunstler interview in The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Orion Magazine 5-part video interview
  • World Made By Hand interview, The Jeff Farias Show, NovaM Radio / 1480 KPHX
• TED Talks: James Howard Kunstler dissects suburbia at TED in 2004

v t e Peak oil Core issues Peak oil Mitigation of peak oil Predicting the timing of peak oil Hubbert peak theory Olduvai theory Results/responses Hirsch report Rimini protocol Price of petroleum 2000s energy crisis Energy crisis Export Land Model Food vs. fuel Oil reserves Pickens Plan Simple living Swing producer Transition Towns People Albert Bartlett Colin J. Campbell David Goodstein John Michael Greer Richard Heinberg M. King Hubbert James Kunstler Jeremy Leggett Dale Allen Pfeiffer Richard Rainwater Matthew Simmons Richard C. Duncan Kenneth S. Deffeyes Books The End of Oil The Long Emergency Out of Gas The Party's Over Power Down Beyond Oil Films A Crude Awakening Collapse The End of Suburbia Oil Factor PetroApocalypse Now? How Cuba Survived Peak Oil What a Way to Go Gashole Organizations ASPO The Oil Drum Energy Watch Group ODAC OPEC OAPEC IEA Post Carbon Institute Other "peaks" Peak car Peak coal Peak copper Peak phosphorus Peak gas Peak uranium Peak water Peak wheat Peak wood