Dinosaurs NOT the source of oil?, ABC World News tonight, 6:30 pm EST

segment featured Astrophysicist Thomas Gold, whom ABC cited as unusually successful in counterintuitive predictions of now proven scientific facts but has been scofflawed in the past by colleagues. Gold speculates that oil was created during creation of the planet itself and may prove a tremendously abundant resource though not infinite. Gold cites findings of oil and gas on other planets now proven by NASA where there is no evidence of dinosaurs on those planets. Gold speculates that because of this, oil and gas are essential constituents of undetermined frequency throughout created systems. Gold feels that wells run dry but are eventually refilled through upward pressure of deeper oil reserves though it was acknowledged in the segment that some wells have been dry for very long periods of time.

If natural mixtures of hydrocarbons had been formed during the formation of the Earth and its early stages, we would probably have no more of them underground than a very few sparse tons here and there, due to massive gassification when the planet's thermal regime was, to say so, more vivacious! With consequent volatilisation and dispersal in the atmosphere and outer space. It's certainly possible that minor amounts of organic compounds belonged in the constituents of the Earth's crust and maybe mantle in minor amounts ever since the very beginning. But geochemical and stratigraphic evidences point to an origin related to 'reworking and maturation' of biological remains. Whatever NASA found, I'd expect pools of hydrocarbons and other organic goop to develop and remain stable much more easily in the outer fringes of the solar system, due to the early differentiation of the pre-solar nebula, rather than in our whereabouts. Suffice it to say, though I'm appallingly ignorant at planetology, that Saturn's Titan sports an atmosphere where light hydrocarbons are a main constituent. And dinosaurs weren't in the least involved in hydrocarbon formation on our planet either!!!!! It takes other organisms to make the good stuff... Not so good actually, but that's just because we haven't learned yet how to resort to alternatives... A final note of caution... Astrophysicists (physicists in general...) have a nasty tendency to step onto other people's turf with an alarming ease. Sometimes that brings about constructive debate and a refreshing inflow of new ideas and viewpoints. (See the new catastrophism which benefited from Alvarez dad snooping into his son's stratigraphic research and suggetsing impacts and so on..) Most times they just do it with a haughtiness that betrays their intimate conviction to be the best kind of scientists, the only ones able to tackle questions with success. Don't know if this is so in your countries over there, but that's what it is in Italy. And at those most times, all they can show is ignorance and presumption. Greetings everybody out there..

dinoven

<< Gold cites findings of oil and gas on other planets now proven by NASA where there is no evidence of dinosaurs on those planets. >>

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Finding oil on another planet would have made the headlines of every major newspaper in the world, not to mention the opening story on the evening news on all three major US TV networks. What planets and when was this discovery?

eric l.

on the news broadcast they didn't cite when this was discovered.....contact ABC News for more info...

The following link discusses Dr. Gold's report. They site Saturn's moon, Titan, as having both oil and gas.
http://more.abcnews.go.com/onair/closerlook/ wnt_000316_cl_oilheretic_... .html

Keep in mind that in order to commercially exploit Titan's oil (presumably as plastics feedstock) would require advanced nuclear power generation systems (liquid-metal cooled fission reactors or fusion power) to propel the cargo vessels. In which case, of course, oil would no longer be all that important for energy purposes on Earth.

Sincerely Yours,

I wish hereby to highlight this really wise comment by Mr.Jordan Bassior, and let's cool the thing down because we really couldn't find any use for 'hydrocarbons from outer space'!! Second, compliments to myself because if it really is Titan where they claim to have found oils (but are they sure...?) and gas, then I'm not so 'appallingly' ignorant at planetology!!! Greetings!

dinoven

Gold has been around a long time, and is apparently regarded as something of a joke by petroleum geologists. Apparently ABC neglected to mention that Gold has occasionally managed to get funding to drill for his 'primadoreal gas/oil' and has come up pretty much dry. Doesn't prove he's wrong or course, but you might do better to invest your spare cash in perpetualmotion.com.

I've *NEVER* heard that dinosaurs were the origins of oil!! My understanding has always been that it was the plant swamps of the Mississipian & Pennsylvanian eras compressed as sediment that became the oil-producing areas of this century.

You must be young. When I was a kid they never really taught us, formally, in school, that dinos were the source of oil. However, it was 'common knowlege' if you know what I mean (ask any non-nerd kid on the block and he/she would have told you). Even Sinclair had (still has) a dino as their logo. It was all a bunch of 1950s marketing.

<< Subject: Re: Dinosaurs NOT the source of oil?, ABC World News tonight, 6:30 pm EST

Date: Mon, Apr 17, 2000 8:37 PM

You must be young. When I was a kid they never really taught us, formally, in school, that dinos were the source of oil. However, it was 'common knowlege' if you know what I mean (ask any non-nerd kid on the block and he/she would have told you). Even Sinclair had (still has) a dino as their logo. It was all a bunch of 1950s marketing.

>>

I had learned that coal was the product of plant decay, compression, heat etc and maybe that dinos were a part of that. Now some scientists say oil was a natural product that developed in earth's formation.