This process of producing natural gas, which can be used for industrial purposes and electricity generation, is not biological and therefore it probably also served as a primary "source of food" for some of the primitive creatures that inhabited the earth
In the depths of the sea there is "the world's largest factory" for carbohydrates, for gas that can be harnessed for industry - so state scientists from the University of Minnesota in the USA. They discovered how rocks rich in iron and chromium, are able to produce natural gas, methane and similar hydrocarbon gases, when they are brought into reaction with the streams of fluids at very high temperature, which are in cyclic movement under the floor of the Atlantic Ocean and apparently in other marine parts.
This process of producing natural gas, which can be used for industrial purposes and electricity generation, is not biological and therefore it probably also served as a primary "source of food" for some of the primitive creatures that inhabited the earth. However, methane is a powerful, potent greenhouse gas, the process of its creation contributes to the warming of the earth, at least in the initial geological era.
The research conducted by the researchers Dionysius Postokos and Fu Kee, under the direction of Prof. W. Seyfried, presented last week at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco. During the conference, additional evidence of finding water on Mars was reported.
The best known source of methane gas are bacteria living in swamps, lakes and also in the stomachs of cows. But before life began to appear, any form of life on Earth had to find some source of energy to which the most primitive life forms were connected and actually fed. The simplest source appears to be hydrogen-rich components such as hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide gas, and carbohydrates.
In the laboratory, the researchers created extremely high heat - over 370 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 400 times the air pressure at sea level. That is, imagine the conditions prevailing under the bottom, or floor, of the Atlantic Ocean where there are hot currents in a north-south direction and an outpouring of hot magma pushing up the Earth's crust. In this place, at a depth of about 3.5 km, there are "vents", similar to "ventilation", hydrothermal vents. Through them, very hot water bursts out, spewing superheated liquid substances into the sea water. Under these conditions, hydrocarbon gases such as methane, ethane and propane are created that can be harnessed for industrial needs. Mainly so that they come into contact with minerals rich in iron and chromium.
For the purpose of the study, the researchers used a remotely controlled robotic submarine, named "Aloin", which sank to the very depths of several hydrothermal vents and provided rich information. The researchers noted that until today there was difficulty in creating more complex forms from methane gas, therefore the current findings are important, since this technique will enable the creation of hydrocarbon gases more efficiently.
