Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at Lost City Hydrothermal Field

2008/02/01 by G. Proskurowski, Marvin D. Lilley, Jeffery Seewald +5 · 20 citations
Environmental Science · Engineering · Chemistry · #Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena #Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics #Abiogenic petroleum origin #Ultramafic rock #Hydrothermal circulation #Carbon fibers #Isotopes of carbon #Methane #Geochemistry #Hydrothermal vent #Seawater #Hydrocarbon #Chemistry #Environmental chemistry #Geology #Total organic carbon #Organic chemistry #Materials science #Paleontology #Oceanography

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1151194

openalex publication_date 2008/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons in natural hydrothermal fluids have been attributed to abiogenic production by Fischer-Tropsch type (FTT) reactions, although clear evidence for such a process has been elusive. Here, we present concentration, and stable and radiocarbon isotope, data from hydrocarbons dissolved in hydrogen-rich fluids venting at the ultramafic-hosted Lost City Hydrothermal Field. A distinct "inverse" trend in the stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of C1 to C4 hydrocarbons is compatible with FTT genesis. Radiocarbon evidence rules out seawater bicarbonate as the carbon source for FTT reactions, suggesting that a mantle-derived inorganic carbon source is leached from the host rocks. Our findings illustrate that the abiotic synthesis of hydrocarbons in nature may occur in the presence of ultramafic rocks, water, and moderate amounts of heat.

Cited by

• The physiology and habitat of the last universal common ancestor
• The pH of Enceladus’ ocean
• Thermodynamic constraints on hydrogen generation during serpentinization of ultramafic rocks
• Serpentinization as a source of energy at the origin of life
• Serpentinization and the Formation of H 2 and CH 4 on Celestial Bodies (Planets, Moons, Comets)
• Serpentinite Mud Volcanism: Observations, Processes, and Implications
• Serpentinization, Carbon, and Deep Life
• How did LUCA make a living? Chemiosmosis in the origin of life
• Compositional controls on hydrogen generation during serpentinization of ultramafic rocks
• Serpentinites, Hydrogen, and Life
• A testable hypothesis on the possible role of electron spin in the origin of bio-homochirality
• Gas discharges from four remote volcanoes in northern Chile (Putana, Olca, Irruputuncu and Alitar): a geochemical survey
• Endosymbiotic theories for eukaryote origin
• Biological methane production under putative Enceladus-like conditions
• The Origin of Membrane Bioenergetics
• RNA Oligomerization in Laboratory Analogues of Alkaline Hydrothermal Vent Systems
• The energetics of organic synthesis inside and outside the cell
• Hydrothermal vents and prebiotic chemistry: a review
• Origin of Evolution versus Origin of Life: A Shift of Paradigm
• Thomas Gold [wikipedia]

Related

• Formation of abiogenic hydrocarbons in supercritical fluids under Earth's upper mantle conditions
• An Adaptive Call Admission and Resource Management Scheme for Multi-class Wireless and Mobile Networks.
• A large intraplate hydrogen-rich hydrothermal system driven by serpentinization in the western Pacific: Kunlun
• Carbon Isotopic Behavior During Hydrocarbon Expulsion in Semiclosed Hydrous Pyrolysis of Type I and Type II Saline Lacustrine Source Rocks in the Jianghan Basin, Central China
• Origin of life's building blocks in Carbon and Nitrogen rich surface hydrothermal vents