Thomas Gold "The Deep Hot Biosphere" (1999) 5.0 out of 5 stars Science Bubbles Up!, December 14, 2005 By R. Cargill (Troy, MT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels (Paperback) My late Father worked at Argonne National Labs, a National research think-tank. My hitch in the Navy (Never Again Volunteer Yourself) was up and I returned home to attend College (1980). My Father came home one day asking me if I wanted to attend a seminar at Argonne where an astrophysicist, by the name of Thomas Gold, was to present an "earth shaking", new theory on the origin of oil, natural gas and coal. I attended the seminar. Dr. Gold started out, "I always thought it strange that before the dinosaurs died, the majority of them hiked to Saudi Arabia!" I lost track of him for years, recently, discovered his last book, "The Deep Hot Biospere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels". The core of the earth is constantly giving off gasses, Dr. Gold termed it "out-gassing"; methane and carbon dioxide being the most abundant. As these various hydrocarbons rise through pores in the rock, they encounter proven life forms that love to eat methane. These life forms, as a bi-product, leave behind the fuels we use; oil, natural gas and coal. Oil companies have capped "drained" oil wells, only to come back thirty years later to find they are full again! I have found it to be written user friendly, contains a good dose of humor, and lays out an incredible theory, with volumes of empirical data to support his thoughts. "To ask a living cell to accept all the energy one photon contains is like asking a baseball outfielder to catch bullets from a machine gun!!" He convinced the Swedish Government to bank roll a very deep drilling operation into rock formations that geologists deemed impossible for oil to exist. They went down 5 or 6K, discovered oil and pumped it to the surface. In this oil, were to be found the remains of microbes, thermopiles, that live at great depth. He, and others, theorizes that there is ,exponentialy, more biomass in the earth then on the surface of the earth! These proven life-forms are the source of biologically derived molecules that other scientists exclaimed where the proof that oil was derived from surface biological sources, i.e. dino- powered; when in fact, they were waste products from a newly discovered biosphere, "The Deep Hot Biosphere". Dr. Gold claims that part of the problem is a "mental" condition. He deemed that condition "surface chauvinism" i.e., if life exists, it had to have originated on the surface! Diamonds, due to the pressure required to form them, can only be formed at 150 k below the surface. How do they get to or near the surface? He explains. Earthquakes, not just a thing of "plates". He theorizes that the major source of this action is due to incredible pressure build up of gasses below our feet. Water? I had the privilege of cave diving in northern Florida. The limestone bedrock is honey combed with tunnels that have no end. These tunnels run VERY close, in spots, to the surface and,from time to time, create sink holes and springs. The beauty of these springs can only be experienced, for there are no words that do it justice. MILLIONS of gallons of water per second flows out of a single spring. It is absolutely pure, clear as air water; a constant temperature of 72 degrees F. The source of this water is unknown. Some speculate that this aquifer starts in Canada, but, then again, that thought was only a scientifically wild-butt guess (SWAG). Range magazine, recently, ran an article about Las Vegas coming to an aquifer near you! The article went on to talk about a little known, massive, aquifer found 4-5,000 ft below the surface in Nevada. An, apparently, endless source of water. (Pg, 88 of Gold's book) "To begin with, simple chemistry and physics tell us that hydrocarbons will suffer a loss of hydrogen on their way up through the crust. Why is this so? First, any opportunity for a stray (or microbially catalyzed) oxygen atom to interact with a hydrocarbon fluid of any sort will result in that fluid losing two hydrogen atoms for every oxygen atom encountered, thus generating water. This represents nothing more than a drive toward chemical equilibrium." I have heard "SWAG's" concerning how earth acquired liquid water, e.g., comets crashing to the primordial earth, depositing their tank loads to the surface, etc. If Gold is right, and there is an amazing amount of information that supports his thoughts, our water is generated deep inside the earth; that these huge aquifers are not water that has found its way to depth, but water that was formed at depth. He addresses the origin of life; where did it begin? He observed that the surface of the earth is the extreme environment for life to habitat, where as, in the deep hot biosphere, conditions vary little. Which biosphere would make the better incubator? I find his book INCREDIBLY attractive to read due to his numerous observations of nature at work that everyone else stared at, trampled on and rolled over, but only he saw. He had an open mind to how things work vs. how the world demands it to be. Finally, with all of his prestigious credentials, Journals and other organizations refused to print his papers. The following paragraph sums his thoughts towards that problem. "Most men can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it obliges them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven thread by thread into the fabric of their lives." I highly recommend this book, not as a proof, but rather, as a means to stimulate more individuals to question the current litany. To scrutinize the surface connection to oil is tantamount to heresy. I am giving a copy of it to my daughter's high school Chemistry teacher. Rhoda Cargill . 5.0 out of 5 stars A scientific revelation/revolution, June 2, 2002 By Jerald R Lovell (Clinton Township, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels (Paperback) This book is more than a mere milestone. If approached with an open mind, it will revolutionize much traditional thinking in the areas of energy, seismology, and the life sciences. Professor Gold is an astrophysicist of high repute, who applies his excellent, free-thinking mind and impeccable logic to disciplines outside his chosen field with astonishing success. This disturbs traditionalists and adherents of scientific orthodoxy no end, especially when Dr. Gold, more often than not, is correct in his iconoclasms. The instant work presents and consolidates Dr. Gold's seminal work in the area of earth sciences. Dr. Gold argues convincingly, and with easily understood reasoning, that petroleum, and even coal, are not biogenic, i.e., created from previously living organisms. Instead, he contends, so-called "fossil fuels" are the result of hydrocarbons being brought up from and through the earth's mantle, and being transformed into their present states by bacteria living in the Earth's crust. These bacteria compose the "deep, hot biosphere" in the book's title. Thus, fossil fuels are a self-renewing resource not nearly as susceptible to the depletion so often forecast by doomsayers. Dr. Gold's logic appears impeccable to this writer, and the tests he has done to date, such as drilling in the granite of a large Swedish impact structure and finding hydrocarbons where none "should" exist are persuasive indeed. The popular conception of oil, gas, and coal being the remains of once living creatures seems hopelessly out of date in light of Dr. Gold's research. Dr. Gold goes on to discuss the origin of life, as it relates to microorganisms found in the earth's crust and asks whether these primitive creatures may exist on other planets as well. Another interesting theory arising from the implications of mobile hydrocarbons in the Earth's interior relates to earthquakes and their prediction. Dr. Gold notes many cultures have spoken of physical changes occuring prior to earthquakes and suggests that these tangible phenomena are related to gases moving in the crust. When a critical point is reached in terms of shifting tensions, Dr. Gold suggests the result is an earthquake. Interestingly, much Russian research agrees with Dr. Gold on this and other of his theories. Western research appears more bound to orthodox thinking. It is this writer's belief that Dr. Gold and his cohorts have much to say on the true state of the planet beneath us, and its contents. The book receives my highest recommendation, and it will be interesting to see how much of Dr. Gold's thinking becomes the scientific orthodoxy of the future. The book is rated a must read for anyone with an interest ie earth sceiences, energy issues, or both. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment 89 of 106 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars This book could change everything, June 10, 2001 By Alexander E. Paulsen "AlexP" (Jacksonville, Fl United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels (Paperback) Thomas Gold is no stranger to controversy, and this is book is about as controversial as it gets. He has a habit of unleashing a firestorm of whenever he publishes a new book, but Gold has this annoying tendency to be right most of the time. If what Gold says is true, then even the term "fossil fuels" would have to be dropped. Gold's theory is too involved to go into in a short review but basically he contends that petroleum is promordial and currently supports biological activity in the Earth and is not the converted remains of ancient life after a few million years of decomposition. Gold presents compelling evidence that is hard to refute. In addition, these theories explain the presence of compostion of mineral enriched earth as an a few other mysteries such as the presence of helium which has been so far unexplained by conventional ideas. One thing about Gold is that he backs up everyting he says with sufficent evidence to convince most skeptics ( except the ones with a lot to lose). If Gold's ideas are true then thousands of textbooks will have to scrapped and re-written - which of course explains the widespread resistance by the scientific community to this idea. The principles of science are supposed to be observe, theorize, test and predict. If your theory is true then it can make a valid prediction. After reading the book I am convinced that Gold is right. After reading a few of the references I also discovered that the conventional theory of oil and gas creation has no real evidence to back it up. The conventional theory fails in between the testing and predicting phases. As Gold points out, so far no one has ever been able to come up with the chemical reactions needed to form petroleum from decaying organic matter. I found this book fascinating and well written even for the non-technical person. The issues are well presented and backup up with meticulous notes and backup data. I would recommend this book to anyone, and I am sure this page will accumlate several "reviews" from people who have never read it challenging the data, but I suggest that you make up your own mind. You will find Gold to be very convincing. *** Update It appears as if the Russians are making monkeys out of us westerners. They noow have over 300 ultra deep oil wells producing oil from as far down as 40,000 feet. Way beyond any possibility of finding sludge from dead dinosaurs and old rotting cabbage patches. Russia is now the worlds #1 oil producer handily surpassing Saudi Arabia. Speaking Of Saudi Arabia - known reserve estimates there have been increased yet again. The skeptics continue to amuse and embarass themselves as Viet Nam now joins the club of oil producing nations pumping from areas western "experts" proclaimed oil-free based on geology. Eugene Island is an underwater mountain located about 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. It is refilling itself from deep fissures. Jean Whelan, a geochemist and senior researcher with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute assigned to study the Eugene field. Becoming familiar with the phenomenon, she said " . . .. I believe there is a huge system of oil just migrating deep underground" By every measure - known oil reserves are INCREASING despite vastly increased demand. Gold was right again. ()