Decade-Long Geology Project Rewrites Origins of Earth's Methane

Methane bubbles up from below a lake. (Credit: Strelyuk/Shutterstock) Turkey’s Mount Chimaera is on fire, and has been for millennia. Dozens of campfire-sized flames burst straight of the mountain’s rocky, sea-facing slope. These eternal flames are fueled by methane, the odorless, colorless substance that provides much of our natural gas for fuel, as well as a potent greenhouse gas. Most methane (a single carbon atom surrounded by four hydrogens) forms from the decay of ancient plants, animals and other life. But the Earth itself can create methane, too. When water reacts with a mineral called olivine in certain types of rocks, it releases hydrogen gas. This hydrogen reacts with a carbon source like carbon dioxide to form methane. Scientists call this kind of methane “abiotic” because it can happen without any lifeforms present. And scientists are finding more and more of it, researchers announced Monday. What's more, they've also discovered that some of sources of suspected abiotic methane are actually also created with help from life. The find rewrites the textbook description of methane formation, and it also reiterates that not all deep hydrocarbons come from what people typically think of as fossil fuels. But it could be good news for the fossil fuel industry, too, researchers say. “Abiotic methane would of course be of great potential value economically given that natural gas is very likely to be a key source of energy for another 50 years or so at least,” said Edward Young, a geochemist at the University of California Los Angeles and member of the Deep Carbon Observatory. This network of scientists have been on a decade-long mission to discover how carbon that's stored deep in the earth affects life on the surface.