The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels

by Thomas Gold, Freeman Dyson (Foreword)

This book sets forth a set of truly controversial and astonishing theories: First, it proposes that below the surface of the earth is a biosphere of greater mass and volume than the biosphere the total sum of living things on our planet's continents and in its oceans. Second, it proposes that the inhabitants of this subterranean biosphere are not plants or animals as we know them, but heat-loving bacteria that survive on a diet consisting solely of hydrocarbons that is, natural gas and petroleum. And third and perhaps most heretically, the book advances the stunning idea that most hydrocarbons on Earth are not the byproduct of biological debris ("fossil fuels"), but were a common constituent of the materials from which the earth itself was formed some 4.5 billion years ago.
The implications are astounding. The theory proposes answers to often-asked questions: Is the deep hot biosphere where life originated, and do Mars and other seemingly barren planets contain deep biospheres? Even more provocatively, is it possible that there is an enormous store of hydrocarbons upwelling from deep within the earth that can provide us with abundant supplies of gas and petroleum?
However far-fetched these ideas seem, they are supported by a growing body of evidence, and by the indisputable stature and seriousness Gold brings to any scientific debate. In this book we see a brilliant and boldly original thinker, increasingly a rarity in modern science, as he develops potentially revolutionary ideas about how our world works.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Geology, Politics

257 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1998

About the author

Tommy Gold is an Austrian-born American polymath and astrophysicist who has done pioneering work in cosmology, pulsars, and lunar science, informing the world that neutrons are unstable, with a mean lifetime of ten minutes.

Born in Vienna, Gold became a refugee from the Austrian Anschluss and gained his BA in 1942 from Cambridge University, England. He lectured there in physics from 1948 to 1952 before joining the Royal Greenwich Observatory as chief assistant to the Astronomer Royal. He moved to the United States in 1956, founding the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research at Cornell University and serving as its first director from 1959 to 1981, and as professor of astronomy from 1971 to 1986. He was also on the EASTEX committee.

In 1948, together with Hermann Bondi and Fred Hoyle, proposed the steady-state theory of the universe. In the late 1960s he correctly interpreted the newly-discovered pulsars in terms of rotating neutron stars (a proposal made independently by Franco Pacini).

He has won notable prizes in the sciences including:
John Frederick Lewis Award (1972)
Humboldt Prize (1979)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1985)

Anthony Tucker of The Guardian said of Professor Gold, "Throughout his life he would dive into new territory to open up problems unseen by others – in biophysics, astrophysics, space engineering, or geophysics. Controversy followed him everywhere. Possessing profound scientific intuition and open-minded rigour, he usually ended up challenging the cherished assumptions of others and, to the discomfiture of the scientific establishment, often found them wanting. His stature and influence were international."

Reviews

[Art Tirrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

GOODBYE TO THE DINO-POO OIL THEORY

The recent report of oil discovered in igneous rock many miles beneath the floor of the Gulf of Mexico led me to re-visit this avant-guarde 1999 book.

Whenever established ideas - such as the biogenesis theory of oil formation (1870)- are accepted without question, new evidence that conflicts tends to be brushed aside and often not reported because it doesn't fit. Such a situation exists within the science of geology, the author insists, and goes on to detail his more than twenty year struggle to gain acceptance for his ideas.

In light of the Gulf discovery and others, it seems the day has arrived. It's a concept that stirs the imagination; oil not the product of biogenesis, but rather part of the natural decay of methane (CH4) rising from the center of the earth. It all fits, hydrogen released to associate itself with oxygen (there's your water) and also form a major part of earth's atmosphere (and there's your radiation barrier).
The idea is, after losing hydrogen atoms to some unknown microbiota, the remaining partial methane molecule (carbon and some hydrogen) is ripe for recombination into the kind of longer-chain hydrocarbons we know as oil and coal.

All good, yes. Still, I found the attempt at proof a mild disappointment. Gold begins well, outlines five prerequisites for his abiogenesis theory, and deals with each well enough - but when time comes for the crux of his argument, things get way too blurry. In the end, I just couldn't buy abiogenesis for that reason.

Others might not have the problem. Indeed, despite my personal reaction, Gold did convince overall, and I've been expecting to hear exactly the news that has come from the Gulf of Mexico. Something is indeed going on deep beneath the surface, and it's producing oil in places where biogenesis says it can't happen.

Now that we're looking, I have no doubt other discoveries will be made, and that whichever of the theories - anhydride formation or abiogenesis - ultimately proves correct, the underlying situation will soon become the new prevalant theory.
Art Tirrell is the author of the underwater adventure, "The Secret Ever Keeps". http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601...

[Eric Tanafon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thought-provoking book. Gold goes beyond just reviewing the evidence for an abiogenetic origin for petroleum--he goes on to offer alternate explanations for earthquakes, concentrations of certain metals occurring in the earth's crust, and speculations on extra-terrestial and intra-terrestial life. What he's building here is really more like a geological 'theory of everything'.

I did a quick search to see if his ideas had gained any traction since the book's publication, and found a couple of papers pooh-poohing the deep hot biosphere theory. Although I'm no scientist, these pieces seemed too casually dismissive to me. It doesn't seem that there was any attempt to duplicate Gold's experimental results--instead, 'contamination' was alleged without offering any evidence. There were also non-scientific statements such as 'even in Russia this theory isn't heard of much any more'. Given that Gold in the past came up with new ideas, in more than one scientific field, that took 40 years or more to be accepted, I wouldn't bet against him here.

I had to edit the review to add this--researchers have just found a huge lake of molten carbonate underlying the western U.S. Hmmm...carbon plus H2O and CO2, at a depth of over 200 miles...sounds like a great all-you-can-eat buffet for deep-dwelling thermophilic bacteria. And one of the researchers is even quoted as saying, "The existence of such deep reservoirs show how important is the role of deep Earth in the global carbon cycle.”

Which I believe was one of Gold's major points. Too bad he didn't live to hear about this!

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Gold got a lot of criticism for this book, especially allegations that it was plagiarism of Nikolai Kudryavtsev's research in the Soviet Union. Abiogenic Hydrocarbon theorists are generally treated with as much regard as flat-earth believers, but Gold proposes a very convincing hypothesis.



The impact of petroleum coming from Abiogenic sources is one that cannot be stressed, as it would completely shatter the "Peak Oil" mindset that has become so predominant and influential in politics. However, Gold also focuses on how life could have originated from deep within the earth by extension of studying the geological activity. With the recent discovery of Hyperthermophile Bacteria able to withstand intense heat, Gold turns the conventional theory of the origins of life upside down, coming from deep within the Earth and then radiating out into the oceans. Whether or not Gold is correct (and he has been wrong on things, such as being a proponent of a "Steady State" Universe), he provides a galvanizing theory that should encourage debate, something that seems to be lacking in the world today.

[Benji Visser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boundary expanding book. I've always wondered how so many dinosaurs landed on Titan :)

The idea of oil being generated deep in the mantle of the earth and being pushed to sedimentary rock sounds like science-fiction... but actually might be plausible.

For all my geologist friends, please read so we can discuss.

[Marcella Burnard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting piece of science writing. I love that Thomas Gold wrote the entire book and spoke only of hypothesis, evidence and then suggested follow up research. Most science writers currently put forth hypothesis as if it were fact, which annoys me. I'm sure they cry all the way to the bank. Anyway, the writing is clear, the concepts are very well explained and the ideas are really, truly interesting. The science of extremophiles is particularly useful when I'm trying to build another world/species. But the thing I really valued about this book was the way in which the topic was presented. Hypothesis, thought process behind that theory, evidence supporting, suggestions for further investigation to either prove or disprove the hypothesis and then conjecture about where it could all lead. It was a nice glimpse into how an organized, scientifically inclined mind works. It's a model I want my fictional scientists to emmulate.

[Bro (Dave Kurimsky) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It presents a theory that:

1. Oil is not decayed organic matter.
2. Oil appears organic because microorganisms live in it.
3. These microorganisms predate and gave rise to ocean life and eventually surface life.
4. That every planet in our solar system may have similar ecosystems existing deep below its surface.

It's a very accessible and enjoyable book. The author was not a "crackpot" but a well respected if maverick scientist, often right, often wrong, always controversial .

[Boris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The conventional wisdom for a very long time on hydrocarbons has been that they are the end product of the decaying matter of plants and animals. Thomas Gold examines the massive contradictory evidence and physical science that overwhelmingly suggests otherwise. Hydrocarbons are part of the primordial material that formed the planet during its accretion and well up from great depth.

Gold's book also addresses the evidence that there is a deep biosphere that uses a hydrocarbon-based metabolism for its energy needs. Gold goes on to speculate that this deep, pre-photosynthesis biosphere probably evolved before surface life. The conditions of this deep and hot biosphere also exist on most planets in the solar system and probably have evolved similar subsurface life forms.

Gold touches briefly on the implications of this theory; that the world will effectively never run out of hydrocarbons because the amounts are so massive and pervasive. Gold didn't go deeply into the political or economic implications of this but this very subject, building on Gold's work, has been addressed by others.

A very intriguing and convincing read.

[Sean Jenan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The speculations are probably all wrong, the science is most likely outdated, the writing is... strained. But the ideas are so darned interesting it earned itself an extra star. I mostly enjoyed following the thought-process of a stubborn and truly original thinker, who takes an idea and follows a branching tree of interesting implications, providing ideas for experiments along the way that will demonstrate or refute his conjecture. I'm not interested in re-fighting the biogenic/abiogenic oil controversy (as I suspect both sides are more wrong than they are willing to admit), but this at least provided a lot of food for thought, and helps to remind the reader that the universe is a lot bigger, and complicated, and strange, than we oh-so-modern men care to acknowledge. It's easy to forget that perched here at the apex of history, we're blind to tomorrow and the fact that we're really just somewhere low on a long inclined plane.

[Charlie George · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating defense of the abiogenic origin of oil, the hypothesis that hydrocarbons are ancient materials, generally originating in the Earth's mantle and upwelling through the crust where they are reprocessed by microbes and mistaken for decayed organic matter.

Gold's book delves into all manner of implications and insights based on this premise. He comments on the origin of life, the possibility of life beneath the surface of other planets, earthquake instigation, the source of helium, thermodynamics, oil exploration, etc. That said, it is not a technically challenging book. I found it accessible and illuminating, informative and explanatory.

While Western geology has essentially abandoned abiogenic oil as a viable theory, I believe the jury is still out. Should new evidence come to light, this book may prove far ahead of its time.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a provocative book. I am not versed in the geology and chemistry to evaluate the hypothesis that the book propounds. The hypothesis is that fossil fuels (natural gas, LPG, crude oil, coal) are not fossil fuels at all, but are formed from hydrocarbons that were trapped in the earth's mantle during the formation of the earth itself, primarily ethane (C2H6) and methane (CH4), and that those gases along with others such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) provide the chemical energy required to sustain a deep earth biosphere that accounts for the complex organic molecules of fossil fuels. The life forms would be similar to the life forms discovered in deep ocean vents that leverage chemical energy (methane and hydrogen sulfide) instead of sunlight and photosynthesis to support an ecosystem.

[Andrew Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

With recent breakthroughs producing oil from the air artificially, Gold's premise that the process happens in nature has gained in credibility in the years since I read this.

The book itself is interesting, if not particularly fluid, but the real fascination is in thought experiments about what it means if the theory is correct.

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book discussing an alternative hypothesis for the formation of petroleum. Some technical information, but easy to understand.

[Peter Tillman]

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...

So my poor impression of the book may well be wrong. See second note, below. Left unrated.

[Thomas Stadtmüller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Gold is debunking the "myth of fossil fuels" as fake science.
More than 20 years after his book was published in 1999 his theory, promoting an abiogenic root cause for fuels (aka hydrocarbons), is still widely unknown.
In a calm and easy to follow line of reasoning, Thomas Gold convinces his readers to ask questions again, where before we had been told that "science is settled".

His explanation literally shows some astronomical dimension, when he explains why we can detect "fossil fuels" even in outer space. "Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have ... hydrocarbons-mainly methane. Titan, a moon of Saturn, has methane and ethane (CH4 and C2 H6) ... in its atmosphere." And, why shouldn't these processes align, as "[t]he earth is, after all, a planet, and thus geology should be regarded first and foremost as a subset of planetary science", he writes.

Thomas Gold is removing stone after stone "from the foundation supporting the theory that hydrocarbons are the reworked remains of organisms that lived and died on the earth's surface, then were buried along with sediments of that particular age, and finally were cooked into hydrocarbons and concentrated into much smaller volumes by mysterious geological processes."
And as if casting away "peak-oil propaganda" was not enough, Thomas Gold postulates from his findings, a new perspective on how evolution might have happened.
"The dominant view in Western countries is, that crude oil and natural gas derive from biological debris reworked by geological processes, as we have seen. In contrast, the abiogenic view, coupled with the theory of the deep hot biosphere, is that liquid petroleum and its volatiles are not biology that has been reworked by geology but geology that has been reworked by biology."
His "deep earth gas theory" leads the reader to recognize a another age-old, but unknown biological habitat down below us in "the deep hot biosphere" of planet earth.

I think his fascinating and thrilling theories plant the seed of optimism as we learn mother earth does support our life not by us cannibalizing the thin layer of so-called "fossil fuels" from the debris of our biological ancestors, but with her sheer unlimited source of energy from the very core.

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great science book! It's on target from its first to last page! This book provides an interesting speculation that all of our near Earth surface hydrocarbons arise from deep in Earth And that it's quite likely most of life evolved there! And further, so much of the precious things on Earth arose from convection and density difference of evolved product from within Earth some of which form due to interactions with subterranean life. This was a fascinating read for me. And it's one I recommend for all science minded readers. Also, and maybe unfortunately, it was a relatively short read; I would have liked to read much more about the subject; if you know about more books on the topic, message me!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides an amazing new perspective on the world around - or better: underneath - us. The implications of this work are immense, were it not for commercial interests and scientific navel gazing. Have to work through a reasonable amount of chemistry, but even for a relative noob in this scientific field it's understandable enough to make the important speculations/conclusions come alive.

[Dylan Saba · Rating 5 out of 5]

he's right

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting take on the origins of life and our petroleum based fuels. A bit difficult to follow at times for the non-science oriented reader, but overall understandable and worth the read.

[Sana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book in the sense of innovation and out of the box thoughts , but to me no compelling evidence as a reader from the geology discipline idk if my opinion will change

[John G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the "Steady State" theory of the universe of which he was an author was overturned by the current Big Band model, his paper on the workings of the human inner ear written in the 1940s, was proven correct in the 1970s decades later after it was rejected by the establishment.

Illustrative of the sweep of his enquiries from Cosmology to feedback mechanisms inside the human ear is this book on what is labeled the Abiogenic formation of petroleum deep in the earths crust leading him to propose that the origin of life on earth was not in the oceans but in the depths of earth's crust. This theory is of course at odds with current scientific orthodoxy.

A lot of Gold's life was marked by a failure to conform. He got into trouble at NASA by refuting the official line on the viability of the Space Shuttle as an inexpensive and rapid redeployment system. It is evident he was correct about the Shuttle and he testified before Congress to that effect thus losing research funds from NASA.

Personally, I put my money on Gold regarding the origin of life. See if you do not also after reading this book. In my long life the scientific establishment has been wrong as often as it has been right. Luckily, rebels such as Gold are not always silenced.

[Chris Fellows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I've finished Thomas Gold's "The Deep Hot Biosphere" and have decided that I'm not quite ready to shout 'Eureka!' and say that this will be the continental drift of the 21st century.

Overall the chemistry seems pretty solid, and the model makes sense in terms of the likely process of planetary evolution, but I need to wander off and check some more recent primary references. Most intriguing is the information about helium and heavy metal distribution in hydrocarbons, which really doesn't seem to have any good explanation in terms of the traditional biotic origin theory. On the other hand I've thought of a perfectly good alternate explanation for the lack of isotopic drift in oceanic carbonate deposits over geological time – I'm sure you can do the same, so I won't tell you now. And Gold's explanation of methane clathrates doesn't seem to square with our current understanding of their distribution. So as I said, I've decided I'm not quite ready to jump on the bandwagon.

[Bert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think back to your high school Earth Science class. Did it ever seem kind of nonsensical to you that a bunch of dinosaur carcasses and rotten ferns could become petroleum? Then this book's for you. The abiogenic origin of hydrocarbons is being proved all over the place, yet is ignored by popular consensus in the sciences as well as the petroleum industry - much like the constipated, block headed thinking behind Medieval Geocentrism.

Gold (1920-2004) was no slouch as a scientist. He taught at Cambridge and Harvard and for 20 years directed the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research in Ithaca, NY. He worked with guys like Fred Hoyle.

This book will briefly walk you through the chemistry, geophysics and even astronomy behind a theory that makes a heck of a lot more sense than "Fossil" fuels.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading about this theory in the Atlanta Monthly in the mid 1980's It has been suggested that Gold actually borrowed heavily from Soviet scientists who proposed the idea that oil is not a fossil fuel many years earlier. The book suffers from Gold's writing style. However, the ideas are revolutionary and I strongly suspect he will be proven right. So much for peak oil. He contends that the real fossil fuel is the oxygen in the atmosphere and will will run out of oxygen well before we run out of petroleum.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very interesting. very different than anything they told you in school. not enough hard science to back it up, but wow what a different perspective.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wishful thinking, but it was pretty interesting. In many respects Gold seemed to know little about the study of geology, except that it existed.

[Leslie Pendergrass · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, being written by a scientist, is excellent. It helped to firm up my thoughts on the world of oil, coal, and gas, and the Earth in general. I highly recommend this book.

[Nancy Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read if you want to know the true facts about petroleum and why we are NOT running out of oil and never will! Highly recommend a science background to read this book.