Re:

[ornstn@hookup.net (Ronald Orenstein)]

>Tom Gold, famous physicist, suggested that petroleum was not organic
>in nature at all. His idea that it was formed chemically inside the earth
>was tested by a drilling project (in Norway). As I recall the hypothesis
>which appeared in the Atlantic, formation of petroleum was somehow linked
>to his model of the earth.
>  Interesting.
>
>                  Alan Brush

I know nothing whatever about Dr. Gold, and I certainly wouldn't ascribe
such thoughts to Dr. Brush (quite the reverse), but this sounds remarkably
like the kind of thing creationists seize on do "disprove" the biological
origin of fossils.  Surely there must be reams of evidence for the
biological origin of petroleum (otherwise why would knowledge of
foraminiferan deposits be so important to oil prospectors, as I belive it is?).
--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886 (home)
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116 (home)
Home: 1825 Shady Creek Court                  Messages: (416) 368-4661
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2          Internet: ornstn@hookup.net
Office: 130 Adelaide Street W., Suite 1940    Compuserve ID: 72037,2513
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5H 3P5