Why is petroleum called fossil fuel if it isn't made from fossils?

Question

The theory as to where petroleum comes from is not very well defined. Some scientist believe that petroleum is actually a renewable resource produced by the immense pressure forces in the earth's crust. So why do we still think petroleum comes from decaying dinosaurs.

Answer 1

I was taught that decaying matter formed coal and petroleum. Since then, I have come to believe that Thomas Gold is likely correct when he theorizes that petroleum comes from methane seeping deep within the earth's crust. This methane seeps upward and comes into the realm of a "deep hot biosphere," the title of his book. This deep hot biosphere formes the petroleum. This theory also accounts for the methane hydrate deposits deep in the ocean, high grade coal deposits, and the presence of petroleum in places where it shouldn't be, such as a fractured granite. Although it is not produced by pressure forces in the Earth's crust, the juvenile methane from the comets (and other particles) that accreted to form the Earth, is forced upward. The decaying dinosaur theory is a dinosaur of a theory in my view. Petroleum is somewhat renewable with this theory, yet there is still a finite amount. It is far in excess of what is generally believed.

Answer 2

Fossils don't have to be derived from dinosaurs. Fossils can be anything from animals to plants to whatever. Petroleum is indeed formed by immense pressure of the earth's crust; however this force acts upon dead/decaying plant matter.

Petroleum doesn't just magically appear because two rocks are pushed together for a million years. It is plant matter and other organic material that is fossilized that will eventually become petroleum.

Answer 3

Because that is the dogma being perpetuated by the fearmongers. We've already pumped way more oil than could be accounted for by fossil origin. And contrary to the cry of the fearmongers, we aren't even close to exhausting this resource. Ask them about Eugene Island along with the old Saudi oil fields that are mysteriously replinishing themselves and they simply stare at you blankly, because they are woefully ignorant of these glaring holes in the fossil-origin theory.

Next, ask them why these alleged "fossil" fuels are so abundant on Jupiter and Saturn's moon Titan. Surely they could not be a byproduct of life in those places.

The entire fossil fuel theory was based on the unexplained presence of a chemical isotope within petroleum being pumped out of the ground. Fossil origin was just one hypothesis...it's never actually been proven. Albiet, back in the early 20th century, that explanation best fit the observation. Today we understand that biological activity deep in the Earth (where we have now discovered microbes living happily) could also explain the presence of this isotope.

P.S. Curt, you have to be careful when saying that most "scientists" agree with fossil origin. If you narrow it down to those scientists which are qualified petroleum geologists, you would discover that this is a rather large controversy in that community. There certainly is NOT a major consensus among petroleum geologists...for they see firsthand the biggest piece of evidence against fossil orgin...simply that there is far too much oil in the ground (that we already know about) to be explained by fossils (and, yes, that means ALL fossils, not just dinosaurs).

Answer 4

There is some confusion with the term "fossil fuels". Fossils are not converted into fossil fuels. The term fossil fuels is used to describe naturally occurring carbon deposits (coal) and liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons (oil and gas). I will try to explain it in the most simple terms possible. Coal is the remains of vast areas of prehistoric swamp land vegetation where the dead plants were covered with water and over long periods of time built up and became compressed. The compression process gradually converted them to a fossilized state containing mainly carbon with other hydrocarbons which can now be mined and used as fuel. Oil is the result of minute sea life (plankton etc.) falling to the bottom of the sea and being covered other deposits causing it to break down in anaerobic conditions. The break down products of this process are oil and gas. I am sorry to say that Daniel Escurel is totally confused and misinformed and his answer makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Dinosaurs have nothing to do with fossil fuels at all and as to the idea on them still living in caves is a complete fantasy.

Answer 5

Let me try to simplify. CO2 is taken in to plants and in the process of photosynthesis . The plants hold on to the C and give us back the O2 ,that is the first step. Now pick the plants holding on to the C which the plants make there food ,so they grow faster and bigger . Then winter comes and the leaves fall off and wash down the river to the delta where it deteriorates into Gas ,Oil,and after a long time Coal. So the fossil fuels are renewable and the plants not only recycle our air but our fuel.
Hope this helps. Look for natures cycles

Answer 6

It's not made from dinosaurs, and no one thinks that except people who saw a stupid commercial on TV.

Some single-celled marine algae stores its energy as waxes. Petroleum is made from the remains of these. This is why petroleum is often found under "salt domes" or in fossilized mud (oil shale).

Answer 7

I think the best way I've learned it that it is basically seafloor gunk/ooze made of trillions of decaying organisms that is deposited in the ocean floor, that is later "cooked" by the earth's heat and forms hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas).

***Here, I'll post the quote:

"....trillions of tiny animals that have made up most of the living gunk (the scientific name for this gunk is "ooze") deposited on the ocean floor. You have probably heard of the Ozone Layer. You probably did not know there was an "OOZONE LAYER", too! Well, it's not really called that, but that's what it is! Just a mixture of sand, silt, mud, and the bodies of ocean animals piled up on the sea floor. Sea-floor gunk!

Later, when thousands of feet of shale have piled up over millions of years, and the animal bodies are buried very deep (more than two miles down), an amazing thing happens. The heat from deep inside the earth "cooks" the animals, turning their bodies into what we call hydrocarbons......oil and natural gas."

Answer 8

Because it is made from fossils.

There are three major forms of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. All three were formed many hundreds of millions of years ago before the time of the dinosaurs - hence the name fossil fuels. The age they were formed is called the Carboniferous Period. It was part of the Paleozoic Era. "Carboniferous" gets its name from carbon, the basic element in coal and other fossil fuels.

Answer 9

Very few so-called "scientists" disagree with the fossil origin of fossil fuels.

Answer 10

if its a fuel that comes form the ground its considered a fossil fuel