Uncovered beneath the surface of the Earth could be enigmatic energy source that’s reshaping what scientists understand of natural disasters and clean energy. According to current research, while earthquakes release tectonic stress, it also produces a vast amount of hydrogen gas which could be a potentially new energy source. Companies are advancing to unlock underground hydrogen deposits, and an increasing body of evidence suggests that seismic activity may be the warning sign of larger tremors yet to come.
Making the earthquake connection- drawing hydrogen from rocks
While earthquakes shake the ground when they strike, tectonic plates shift and grind, and fracture rock formations like quartz. Quartz is a mineral known for its interesting electrical properties. The fractures created allow water to seep into newly created gaps, setting off chemical reactions that generate molecular hydrogen.
A study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin showed that when piezoelectric minerals like quartz get crushed under high pressure in the presence of water, they produce significant amounts of hydrogen gas. This process activates mechanical stress, which is key to understanding hydrogen-rich zones found along active fault lines. Earthquakes are possibly Earth’s own subterranean hydrogen factories.
What all these findings pertaining to the earthquake and hydrogen connection point to is an interest in gold hydrogen deemed a natural hydrogen that some claim exists in massive underground reserves. Should this earthquake-induced hydrogen be captured efficiently, it could become a game-changer for the clean energy industry. At this point, it seems that gold hydrogen is far better than black hydrogen.
Piezoelectrochemical reactions at work
Using science as the premise, a recent geological study proposed an explanation for how the earthquake results in hydrogen production. It starts with a phenomenon called piezoelectrochemical (PZEC) effect. When piezoelectric minerals, such as quartz and serpentine, are deformed under tectonic stress, they transform mechanical energy directly into chemical energy. The deformation causes these minerals to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gases.
Researchers observed during laboratory experiments that when piezoelectric minerals are strained in the presence of water, they release molecular hydrogen due to the extremely low solubility of hydrogen gas. This creates tectonic hydrogen.
The hydrogen produced serves as a valuable energy source for microbial life deep within Earth’s crust, including at the glacier-bedrock interface. These microbial ecosystems depend on molecular hydrogen for metabolism, making this tectonic process vital to the planet’s hidden biosphere. Furthermore, researchers uncovered that oxygen generated in this process could oxidize iron compounds and organic materials in the water, providing a hint at how small amounts of oxygen appeared on Earth before the Great Oxidation Event. In turn, assumably tectonic oxygen played a role in the early evolution of life on Earth.
Hydrogen is an early warning system
Tectonic hydrogen may play another important role of being an early warning system for earthquakes. Since hydrogen gas is poorly soluble in water and escapes considerably from rock formations, elevated levels near active faults could show ongoing subterranean strain. By monitoring hydrogen levels in fault zones, insight into deep geological activity can be offered, providing early signs of seismic events.
The double-sided discovery
While it was found that hydrogen gas may be a byproduct of earthquakes, it was also seen that hydrogen could be a tool used to predict earthquakes. Although hydrogen has long been overlooked in geologic studies, this emerging research reframes it as a key player in Earth’s internal mechanics.
While more research is being conducted on natural hydrogen, scientists are rushing to uncover better methods to detect and extract this important resource. Tectonic hydrogen does represent a hidden force with vast potential. More discoveries indicate that hydrogen has been resting for many years underneath the Earth’s mountain ranges.
