Re: dinosaurs/petroleum

[cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au (Chris Nedin)]

>Hello, I am a lurker with a problem and am seeking some help.  I am
>extremely bothered by the Geo Metro radio commercials that use
>dinosaurs in a cute and I believe false way to sell cars.  One states
>that petroleum was formed from ancient creatures, dinosaurs were
>ancient creatures and your car may be powered by an Apatasaurus (but
>that doesn't mean it has to be a dinosaur.)
>     I always believed petroleum was formed from ancient marine
>creatures, dinosaurs are not marine creatures and so it is very
>unlikely that my car is powered by an Apatasaurus (or Stegasaurus or
>Velociraptor as another ad states).  I did, however, speculate,
>jokingly, that a small group of Apatasaurs were was swimming in the
>Niobara Sea heading for an island that was sending out the aroma of
>good food for miles when they were attacked by sharks and the debris
>from the attack fell to the sea floor and later turned into petroleum.
>That made me smile and not grit my teeth when I heard the commercials.
>(Thanks to the list for putting that twisted idea in my head.)

The vast majority of oil is formed from the decay of single celled
organisms such as marine algae and plankton.  The small portion that is
not, is derived from particulate terrestrial plant material.  We know this
because oil contains various biomarkers - recognisable organic compounds -
which are only found in single celled organisms (oils and fats) or plant
material (waxes).

Chris

cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au                  nedin@ediacara.org
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Many say it was a mistake to come down from the trees, some say
the move out of the oceans was a bad idea. Me, I say the stiffening
of the notochord in the Cambrian was where it all went wrong,
it was all downhill from there.