Abiotic Hydrocarbons Discharge from A Felsic Rock-Hosted Hydrothermal System

Abiogenic hydrocarbons are fundamentally important for understanding the deep microbial communities and the origin of life. The generation of abiogenic hydrocarbons was proposed to be limited to ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems, fueled by the serpentinization product H2. Here, we present the discharge of short-chain alkanes from an andesitic rock-hosted Lutao geothermal field in the north Luzon arc, carrying abiotic chemical and isotopic signals. These abiogenic hydrocarbons were generated from CO2-H2O-rich fluid inclusions, where the long-term storage since Lutao volcanism (~ 1.3 Ma) allowed overcoming the sluggish kinetics of CO2 to CH4 reduction at temperatures of 174 - 206 oC. Natural abiogenic production of hydrocarbons, therefore, can be more ubiquitous than previously thought. The hypothesis regarding the origin of methane in Earth’s early atmosphere and its implication to the origin of life may require reconsideration.

[1]  Yongli Wang,et al.  Isotopic Composition of Abiogenic Gas Produced in Closed-System Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis: Implications for the Origins of the Deep Songliao Basin Gases in China , 2019, Geofluids.

[2]  J. Seewald,et al.  Abiotic methane synthesis and serpentinization in olivine-hosted fluid inclusions , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[3]  C. Dai,et al.  Variable uplift rate through time: Holocene coral reef and neotectonics of Lutao, eastern Taiwan , 2018 .

[4]  J. Gagné.  Literature Review , 2018, Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

[5]  J. Mcdermott,et al.  Clumped isotopologue constraints on the origin of methane at seafloor hot springs , 2018 .

[6]  G. Etiope,et al.  Methane clumped isotopes in the Songliao Basin (China): New insights into abiotic vs. biotic hydrocarbon formation , 2018 .

[7]  Moran,et al.  Methane clumped isotopes: Progress and potential for a new isotopic tracer , 2017 .

[8]  Crispin T. S. Little,et al.  Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates , 2017, Nature.

[9]  Alexander S Bradley,et al.  The sluggish speed of making abiotic methane , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[10]  Thomas M. McCollom,et al.  Abiotic methane formation during experimental serpentinization of olivine , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[11]  P. Welander,et al.  Fractionation of the methane isotopologues 13 CH 4 , 12 CH 3 D, and 13 CH 3 D during aerobic oxidation of methane by Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) , 2016 .

[12]  Christopher R. German,et al.  Pathways for abiotic organic synthesis at submarine hydrothermal fields , 2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[13]  O. Vaselli,et al.  Isotopic patterns of hydrothermal hydrocarbons emitted from Mediterranean volcanoes , 2015 .

[14]  C. N. Sutcliffe,et al.  Nonequilibrium clumped isotope signals in microbial methane , 2015, Science.

[15]  M. Zahniser,et al.  Measurement of a doubly substituted methane isotopologue, ¹³CH₃D, by tunable infrared laser direct absorption spectroscopy. , 2014, Analytical chemistry.

[16]  O. Vaselli,et al.  Carbon-bearing gas geothermometers for volcanic-hydrothermal systems , 2013 .

[17]  Barbara Sherwood Lollar,et al.  ABIOTIC METHANE ON EARTH , 2013 .

[18]  K. Muehlenbachs,et al.  Isotope reversals and universal stages and trends of gas maturation in sealed, self-contained petroleum systems , 2013 .

[19]  T. McCollom.  Laboratory Simulations of Abiotic Hydrocarbon Formation in Earth’s Deep Subsurface , 2012 .

[20]  G. Etiope,et al.  Abiotic methane flux from the Chimaera seep and Tekirova ophiolites (Turkey): Understanding gas exhalation from low temperature serpentinization and implications for Mars , 2011 .

[21]  R. Summons,et al.  Multiple origins of methane at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field , 2010 .

[22]  B. Lollar,et al.  The influence of carbon source on abiotic organic synthesis and carbon isotope fractionation under hydrothermal conditions , 2010 .

[23]  W. Martin,et al.  Hydrothermal vents and the origin of life , 2008, Nature Reviews Microbiology.

[24]  Deborah S. Kelley,et al.  Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at Lost City Hydrothermal Field , 2008, Science.

[25]  J. Spangenberg,et al.  Natural evidence for rapid abiogenic hydrothermal generation of CH4 , 2007 .

[26]  J. Seewald,et al.  Abiotic synthesis of organic compounds in deep-sea hydrothermal environments. , 2007, Chemical reviews.

[27]  Dana R. Yoerger,et al.  A Serpentinite-Hosted Ecosystem: The Lost City Hydrothermal Field , 2005, Science.

[28]  W. Seyfried,et al.  Hydrocarbons in Hydrothermal Vent Fluids: The Role of Chromium-Bearing Catalysts , 2004, Science.

[29]  J. Charlou,et al.  Geochemistry of high H2 and CH4 vent fluids issuing from ultramafic rocks at the Rainbow hydrothermal field (36°14'N, MAR) , 2002 .

[30]  J. Ward,et al.  Abiogenic formation of alkanes in the Earth's crust as a minor source for global hydrocarbon reservoirs , 2002, Nature.

[31]  J. Horita.  Carbon isotope exchange in the system CO2-CH4 at elevated temperatures , 2001 .

[32]  Michael J. Whiticar,et al.  Carbon and hydrogen isotope systematics of bacterial formation and oxidation of methane , 1999 .

[33]  J. Horita,et al.  Abiogenic methane formation and isotopic fractionation under hydrothermal conditions , 1999, Science.

[34]  D. Kelley,et al.  Abiogenic methane in deep‐seated mid‐ocean ridge environments: Insights from stable isotope analyses , 1999 .

[35]  G. V. D. Laan,et al.  Kinetics and Selectivity of the Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis: A Literature Review , 1999 .

[36]  W. Giggenbach.  Relative importance of thermodynamic and kinetic processes in governing the chemical and isotopic composition of carbon gases in high-heatflow sedimentary basins , 1997 .

[37]  B. Marty,et al.  Origin of carbon in fumarolic gas from island arcs , 1995 .

[38]  J. Böhlke,et al.  Geochemistry of reduced gas related to serpentinization of the Zambales ophiolite, Philippines , 1990 .

[39]  H. Craig,et al.  Helium isotope ratios in circum-Pacific volcanic arcs , 1989, Nature.

[40]  N. Blair,et al.  Carbon isotope composition of low molecular weight hydrocarbons and monocarboxylic acids from Murchison meteorite , 1984, Nature.

[41]  J. Barker,et al.  Carbon isotope fractionation during microbial methane oxidation , 1981, Nature.

[42]  D. D. Marais,et al.  Molecular carbon isotopic evidence for the origin of geothermal hydrocarbons , 1981, Nature.

[43]  W. Brazelton,et al.  Serpentinization, Carbon, and Deep Life , 2013 .

[44]  D. Kelley,et al.  Lost City Hydrothermal Field , 2007 .

[45]  D. Wilbur,et al.  CARBON ISOTOPE FRACTIONATION DURING GAS-WATER EXCHANGE AND DISSOLUTION OF CO2 , 1995 .