Is Titan's Hydrocarbon-Rich Composition Evidence for Abiotic Oil Formation?

  • Thread starter Thread starter OSalcido
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Titan
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the implications of Titan's hydrocarbon presence for the Abiotic oil theory. It argues that the formation of hydrocarbons on Titan, influenced by high pressure and UV dissociation of methane, differs significantly from processes on rocky planets like Earth. The presence of alcohol in interstellar clouds is mentioned as a humorous analogy, emphasizing that it does not support the idea of extraterrestrial origins for beer. Clarifications are made regarding Titan's composition, with some participants questioning whether it qualifies as a rocky moon. The conversation highlights the complexities of hydrocarbon formation in Titan's atmosphere compared to Earth's geological history, particularly regarding the conditions necessary for abiotic oil formation.
OSalcido
Messages
66
Reaction score
0
Doesn't the fact that Titan is full of hydrocarbons kinda prove the Abiotic oil theory?
 
Chemistry news on Phys.org
Not really - you put a couple of billion tons of hydrogen and carbon together under enourmous pressure you will form lots of stuff. Very different from rocky planets.
There is alcohol in intersteller clouds but it doesn't prove the 'beer is from space' theory!
 
mgb_phys said:
Very different from rocky planets.
I don't understand this... is Titan not a rocky moon?



There is alcohol in intersteller clouds but it doesn't prove the 'beer is from space' theory!
Well this is just a strawman argument...
 
OSalcido said:
I don't understand this... is Titan not a rocky moon?
I assumed the hydrocarbons had been formed in the gas giant and swept up by the moon it looks like they are formed by UV dissociations of methane in the thick atmosphere.
The atmopshere is presumably fairly similair to early Earth - although the oil deposits on Earth are much newer ( a few 100mya).




Well this is just a strawman argument...
It was a joke. Abiotic oil would either have to have formed in the oxidising atmopshere of the cretaceous or survived from the atmopshere of the early Earth and somehow managed to rise to the right depth to be trapped by cretaceous geology.
 
So Titan has an oxidising atmosphere?
 

Thread 'Solubility of MgSO47H2O in water'

It seems like a simple enough question: what is the solubility of epsom salt in water at 20°C? A graph or table showing how it varies with temperature would be a bonus. But upon searching the internet I have been unable to determine this with confidence. Wikipedia gives the value of 113g/100ml. But other sources disagree and I can't find a definitive source for the information. I even asked chatgpt but it couldn't be sure either. I thought, naively, that this would be easy to look up without...
View full post »

Thread 'Why does having 8 valence electrons make an element inert?'

I was introduced to the Octet Rule recently and make me wonder, why does 8 valence electrons or a full p orbital always make an element inert? What is so special with a full p orbital? Like take Calcium for an example, its outer orbital is filled but its only the s orbital thats filled so its still reactive not so much as the Alkaline metals but still pretty reactive. Can someone explain it to me? Thanks!!
View full post »

Similar threads

A To calculate dew pressure of hydrocarbon mixture by PC-SAFT
Replies
4
Views
2K
Is Dragos rule evidence of hybridization theory's failure?
Replies
9
Views
3K
Abiotic oil theory vs fossil fuel theory
Replies
7
Views
32K
Is my fictional Solar System stable and realistic?
Replies
21
Views
4K
I Composition of Jupiter: Ices, Cores & Outer Gas Layers
Replies
24
Views
4K
Complex organic molecules discovered in protoplanetary disk
Replies
5
Views
3K
Jet Fuel, JP-5, JP-8 & DFM: Properties, Chemical Composition & Toxicokinetics
Replies
17
Views
63K
I Can there be a maximum curvature of spacetime?
Replies
9
Views
1K
Questions on the Urey-Miller experiments (OrgMol. formation)
Replies
4
Views
3K
I J0524-0336, surprisingly high Li concentration
Replies
2
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top