The Lost City, source of abiotic hydrocarbons

2008/02/04 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Kimika
• Ozeanografia

Ocean hydrothermal sources emit large amounts of liquids and gases into the sea, such as methane and other hydrocarbons. Most hydrocarbons are generated in buried organic matter when rot and undo. But they also arise, according to a study by some American oceanographers. In an Atlantic hydrothermal

zone called the Lost City, hydrocarbons were collected and the isotopes of carbon atoms were studied. The isotope of carbon 14 (the typical isotope of living beings) did not exist, the isotope of carbon-13 did find it, but the larger the hydrocarbon, the smaller the carbon-13 (what happens in living beings). These data indicated that hydrocarbons have not been produced from organic matter, but through inorganic reactions. They have an abiotic origin. Oceanographers

believe that the minerals of hydrothermal chimneys are produced by reacting with sea water and forming hydrocarbons by reacting with the neighboring carbon atoms. The most generated is methane, the smallest hydrocarbon, but also have been detected kerosene and octane in the Lost City.

Deborah Kelley and Mitch Elend (University of Washington)