3.2.

3 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ABIOGENIC THEORY AND THE BIOGENIC

THEORY
There are several differences between the biogenic and abiogenic theories and
these arelisted below
1. Raw material
. Biogenic: remnants of buried plant and animal life.
. Abiogenic: deep carbon deposits from when the planet formed or subducted
material.
2. Events before conversion
. Biogenic: Large quantities of plant and animal life were buried. Sediments
accumulating over the material slowly compressed it and covered it. At a depth of
several
hundred meters, catagenesis converted it to bitumen and kerogen.
2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
. Abiogenic: At depths of hundreds of kilometers, carbon deposits are a mixture
of
hydrocarbon molecules that leak upward through the crust. Much of the material
becomes methane.
3. Conversion to petroleum and methane
. Biogenic: Catagenesis occurs as the depth of burial increases and the heat and
pressure breaks down kerogen to form petroleum. Significant advances in the
understanding of chemical processes and organic reactions and improved
knowledge about the effects of heating and pressure during burial and diagenesis
of organic sediments support
biogenic processes.
. Abiogenic: When the material passes through temperatures at which
extremophile microbes can survive some of it will be consumed and converted to
heavier hydrocarbons.
4. Evidence supporting abiogenic theory
Cold planetary formation: In the late 19th century, it was believed that the Earth
was extremely hot, possibly completely molten, during its formation. One reason
for this was that a cooling, shrinking, planet was necessary to explain geologic
changes such as mountain formation. A hot planet would have caused methane
and other hydrocarbons to be out-gassed and oxidized into carbon dioxide and
water, thus there would be no carbon remaining under the surface. Planetary
science now recognizes that formation was a relatively cool process until
radioactive materials accumulate together deep in the planet.
Known hydrocarbon sources: Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites contain carbon
and hydrocarbons. Heated under pressure, this material would release
hydrocarbon fluids in addition to creating solid carbon deposits.Further, at least
ten bodies in our solar systemare known to contain at least traces of
hydrocarbons. In 2004, the Cassini spacecraft confirmed methane clouds and
hydrocarbons on Titan, a moon of Saturn.
Unusual deposits: Hydrocarbon deposits have been found in places which are
poorly explained by biogenic theory. Some oil fields are being refilled fromdeep
sources, although this does not rule out a deep biogenic source rock. The White
Tiger field in Vietnam and many wells in Russia, in which oil and natural gas are
being produced from granite
basement rock. As this rock is believed to have no oil-producing sediments under
it, the biogenic theory requires the oil to have leaked in from source rock dozens
of kilometers away.
Deep microbes:Microbial life has been discovered 4.2kmdeep in Alaska and 5.2
kmdeep in Sweden.
5. Evidence supporting biogenic theory
It was once argued that the abiogenic theory does not explain the detection of
various biomarkers in petroleum. Microbial consumption does not yet explain
some trace
chemicals found in deposits. Materials that suggest certain biological processes
include tetracyclic diterpane, sterane, hopane, and oleanane. Although
microorganisms exist deep underground and some metabolize carbon, some of
these biomarkers are only known so far to be created in surface plants. This
shows that some petroleum deposits may have been in contact with ancient plant
residues, though it does not show that either is the origin of the other.