I find the following information rather mind-boggling since it defies conventional wisdom. The first of which is that hydrogen doesn’t occur naturally on this planet, that it is bonded with other atoms and it has to be brutally ripped from those atoms in order to create pure H2.
The second bit of conventional wisdom which is a spin off of the first is that if you can’t find hydrogen naturally occurring on this planet you surely cannot drill for it. Well, both of these pieces of conventional wisdom are being challenged in the Ukraine and in Russia.
Scientists believe that hydrogen degassing of the planet is to blame for craters in central Russia. These craters have no explanation as to how they were created except for the hydrogen rich soil beneath them, which is giving away.
Here is a brief explanation of how hydrogen degassing occurs, “The process of inner core crystallization leads to the release of hydrogen, which is then accumulated at the boundary of the liquid core and the mantle and diffuses outward to the Earth’s surface. The gravitational influence of the Moon and Sun on the Earth modulates this process.”
Scientists also theorize that there are underground streams of hydrogen flowing deep from within the earth’s core to the surface. In addition, researchers believe that pockets of hydrogen exist approximately ½ mile and below the Earth’s surface and that drilling can bring significant amounts of hydrogen up to be used as fuel.
There is way too much information on this subject than I can present in the confines of this blog, so please follow the links provided for more information. Many thanks to Viacheslav Zgonnik, Director of Ukrainian Association for Hydrogen Energy for making me aware of the recent developments regarding hydrogen degassing as a potential fuel source.
In 1956, I worked with Shell Development [Oil] on hydrogen embrittlement problems created by free hydrogen found in deep oil wells. This led to a published mongraph in 1978, copyright 1979, The HYDROGEN HYPOTHESIS, a Geophysical Alternative. This included sections very similar to those of Tom Gold in his 1981 book, The DEEP EARTH GAS HYPOTHESIS.
Now, long retired, I am encouraged by the work of Viasheslav Zgonnik, Vladimer Larin, Warren Hunt, Neil Christianson and others. My dream is to someday be thought correct instead of crazy. My Abstract of a more documented paper follows.
Copyright 2012, Charles Odendhal
OUR HYDROGEN SATURATED PLANET
Around 90% of the Universe consists of hydrogen, atoms and molecules. Hydrogen atoms are small enough to reside inside many other elements. Therefore, hydrogen atoms most likely saturated the interior of many other elements during solar system formations.
Space telescopes have recorded solar systems beginning as spinning disks within cosmic clouds of dust and gases.
Centrifugal Force would concentrate the lightest element, hydrogen, into their centers; creating suns surrounded by rotating rings of remaining dust and gases. Planets were recorded begining as spinning disks within these rotating rings. Even Moons were observed begining within rings rotating around Planets.
Therefore, Centrifugal Force could concentrate any remaining hydrogen within these rings into the cores of Planets and Moons, with hydrogen saturated elements becoming their mantles and heaviest elements forced into crustal layers.
If Earth formed as a spinning disk of hydrogen and hydrogen saturated elements, then Earth’s hydrogen core and mantle of saturated elements would be relatively lighter and denser than calculations based on an iron core.
Understandably, the iron core belief arose because, at that time, Iron was the only known element capable of creating Earth’s magnetic field. Unfortunately, iron becomes non-magnetic at assumed core temperatures, so a rotating, inner core “geodynamo” was assumed to generate a magnetic field, despite the implausibility of anything rotating inside Earth.
Furthermore, Earth’s magnetic field history includes widely varied intensities and even multiple polarity reversals. Fortunately, hydrogen appears capable of creating a magnetic field without iron’s residual magnetism.
Therefore, a hydrogen core’s magnetic field could vary in strength, even reverse polarity in accord with our Sun’s magnetosphere; with its corresponding, hydrogen based, magnetic variations and polarity reversals.
Earth’s present equatorial bulge also verifies Earth’s evolution from a rapidly spinning disk, wherein centrifugal force initially forced the heaviest elements outward; where they are found today in Earth’s crust.
In addition, the Moon’s transitory gravity creates earth-tides within Earth. These strains can force otherwise static hydrogen atoms to move through or effuse from within other molecules inside Earth’s mantle. Effusing hydrogen atoms can then combine as hydrogen molecules within grain boundaries, expanding the surrounding materials.
However, hydrogen molecules are unable to infuse back inside other molecules. While grain elasticity will allow limited displacement, excessive numbers of hydrogen molecules will eventually separate the grains. This is Hydrogen Embrittlement, a process which can destroy the strength of many materials; a serious industrial problem.
Surfacing effusion of hydrogen can range from concentrated gaseous seepage which can swell rock layers as well as hydrogen combining with oxides; with their exothermic reaction creating water and releasing enough heat to melt rock. This can result in volcanic venting of hydrogen based water vapor, methane and other gaseous compounds.
Most of these vented gases will rise into Earth’s stratosphere, to be dissociated by solar radiation. Newly released hydrogen, too light to be retained by Earth’s gravity, will escape into space while heavier oxygen and newly combined carbon dioxide will descend into Earth’s atmosphere.
Recently, polar orbiting satellites have recorded hydrogen’s escape rate as 6.5 pounds per second or 102,500 tons per year. This equals 465 Trillion tons of hydrogen during Earth’s approximated 4.54 Billion years. However, because immense quantities of hydrogen compounds are vented during major eruptions, these apparently numbering in millions over eons, many thousands of times more hydrogen by mass must have escaped since Earth was formed.
Finally, after drilling 7.6 miles deep into Russia’s Kola Peninsula, geologists were quoted as “surprised to find mainly hydrogen gas and water.”
Furthermore, no radioactive elements were located, which were assumed to create Earth’s internal heat flow; something easily created when effusing hydrogen within combines with oxygen.