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Originally published in Science Express on 1 April 2004
Science 14 May 2004:
Vol. 304. no. 5673, pp. 1002 - 1005
DOI: 10.1126/science.1096033
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Reports

Hydrocarbons in Hydrothermal Vent Fluids: The Role of Chromium-Bearing Catalysts

Dionysis I. Foustoukos* and William E. Seyfried, Jr.

Fischer-Tropsch type (FTT) synthesis has long been proposed to account for the existence of hydrocarbons in hydrothermal fluids. We show that iron- and chromium-bearing minerals catalyze the abiotic formation of hydrocarbons. In addition to production of methane (CH4aq), we report abiotic generation of ethane (C2H6aq) and propane (C3H8aq) by mineral-catalyzed hydrothermal reactions at 390°Cand 400 bars. Results suggest that the chromium component in ultramafic rocks could be an important factor for FTT synthesis during water-rock interaction in mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems. This in turn could help to support microbial communities now recognized in the subsurface at deep-sea vents.

Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fous0009{at}umn.edu

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