Sloan Deep Carbon Cycle Workshop

[Saul]

I have been interested in atmospheric CO2 variance on geological time scales for sometime. There are multiple paradoxes associated with trying to explain what could cause massive cyclic rapid CO2 changes in the atmosphere.

There appears to be multiple fundamental errors in terms of what is the source of carbon in the earth's atmosphere, where it replenished from, and the carbon cycle.

This thread is to discuss specifically the Sloan Deep Carbon Cycle Workshop, rather than to argue about global warming or the formation of commercial hydrocarbons.

I would note that the US department of energy is sponsoring the Sloan research. The US department of Energy are I would assume funding the research as it likely could have commercial implications. Let's, however, defer discussing the commercial implications of the Sloan research, until we have listened to the speakers to determine what are the observations and past research in this area. I have copied links to a couple of the lectures and link to the Sloan conference which has links to more lectures.

I have three additional paradoxes which I believe are linked. If the source of the atmosphere's Carbon is deep source carbon, why during some specific geological periods is it cyclically varying? i.e. What is forcing the change? (There is evidence the forcing mechanism is the cause of other geological paradoxes.) What attenuates and controls the forcing mechanism?

When we have made progress on Deep Carbon and the Carbon cycle I will start threads to discuss the other paradoxes.

http://www.gl.ciw.edu/workshops/sloan_deep_carbon_workshop_may_2008


http://www.gl.ciw.edu/deep_carbon_project

http://www.gl.ciw.edu/sites/dev.gl.ciw.edu/files/videos/sloandeepcarbon/SessionICohen.mp4

http://www.gl.ciw.edu/sites/dev.gl.ciw.edu/files/presentations/sloandeepcarbon/SessionIPlotnikova.ppt

Sloan Deep Carbon Cycle Workshop

To date, consideration of the global carbon cycle has focused primarily on near-surface (i.e., relatively low-pressure and temperature) phenomena, with the tacit assumption that oceans, atmosphere and shallow surface environments represent an essentially closed system with respect to biologically available carbon. However, recent data and theoretical analyses from a variety of sources suggest that this assumption may be false. Experimental discoveries of facile high-pressure and temperature organic synthesis and complex interactions between organic molecules and minerals, field observations of deep microbial ecosystems and of anomalies in petroleum geochemistry, and theoretical models of lower crust and upper mantle carbon sources and sinks demand a careful reappraisal of the deep carbon cycle.

[Saul]

This is a link to a set of Apple movies of the lectures at the Sloan Deep Carbon conference.

http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/ciw-public.2172950308.02172950310.2209532129?i=1084163 271

I have been listening to the lectures and have comments concerning the Sloan lectures and some recent published papers.

[Saul]

This is interesting.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0910084259.htm

Researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have managed to prove that fossils from animals and plants are not necessary for crude oil and natural gas to be generated. The findings are revolutionary since this means, on the one hand, that it will be much easier to find these sources of energy and, on the other hand, that they can be found all over the globe.

He adds that there is no way that fossil oil, with the help of gravity or other forces, could have seeped down to a depth of 10.5 kilometers in the state of Texas, for example, which is rich in oil deposits. As Vladimir Kutcherov sees it, this is further proof, alongside his own research findings, of the genesis of these energy sources – that they can be created in other ways than via fossils. This has long been a matter of lively discussion among scientists.

But the discovery has more benefits. The degree of accuracy in finding oil is enhanced dramatically – from 20 to 70 percent. Since drilling for oil and natural gas is a very expensive process, the cost picture will be radically altered for petroleum companies, and in the end probably for consumers as well.

“The savings will be in the many billions,” says Vladimir Kutcherov.

“There is no doubt that our research proves that crude oil and natural gas are generated without the involvement of fossils. All types of bedrock can serve as reservoirs of oil,” says Vladimir Kutcherov, who adds that this is true of land areas that have not yet been prospected for these energy sources.

Vladimir Kutcherov, Anton Kolesnikov, and Alexander Goncharov’s research work was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience.


http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v...s/ngeo591.html

Here we use in situ Raman spectroscopy in laser-heated diamond anvil cells to monitor the chemical reactivity of methane and ethane under upper-mantle conditions. We show that when methane is exposed to pressures higher than 2 GPa, and to temperatures in the range of 1,000–1,500 K, it partially reacts to form saturated hydrocarbons containing 2–4 carbons (ethane, propane and butane) and molecular hydrogen and graphite. Conversely, exposure of ethane to similar conditions results in the production of methane, suggesting that the synthesis of saturated hydrocarbons is reversible. Our results support the suggestion that hydrocarbons heavier than methane can be produced by abiogenic processes in the upper mantle.