pagantek and others who believe in abiotic oil (or at least DEEP abiotic oil, i.e. “The Deep Hot Biosphere”), watch as I flatly disprove it before your very eyes.
To do so, try EITHER ONE of these simple experiments, at least one of which you probably performed for yourself as a child more than once (#1 most likely, #2 if your childhood predates the compact audio disc [aka “CD”]):
1. Sit on a merry-go-round, and have someone spin it for you. Try sitting in different places: at the center (or as close as you can if the particular merry-go-round has a central pole), at the edge, hanging off the edge and holding on to the outer bar for dear life, and somewhere in-between. Note the difference in the centrifugal force you experience at each location. At what point do you HAVE to hold on to the bar or other part of the structure to avoid being hurled off?
2. If you're old enough to remember phonograph records, or still have a phonograph (maybe you're a DJ?), try placing a tiddly-wink (or coin if the record itself isn't too valuable and you don't mind it being scratched) on the record while it's turning at a constant speed (45RPM for a single, 33.333… RPM for an LP). Try placing the tiddly-wink on the paper label, near the paper label but still on the slipperier vinyl part, and closer to the edge. At what point does the centrifugal force cause the tiddly-wink to fly off? Near the edge, or closer to the center?
So what do we learn from this, boys and girls? Answer: at a given rotational speed (RPMs), centrifugal force INCREASES with distance from the CENTER of rotation!
Now imagine that Mt. Everest up and moved to the Equator, and that you stood at its summit. At the Equator, given the above, the centrifugal force would be greatest, and standing on the highest point on the planet while also at the equator would make it greater still. Would it be enough to overcome gravity and hurl you into space or even into the air a short distance? No. Not even close.
The Earth rotates such that a given point at sea level at the Equator moves at about 1,000MPH. Being on the summit of Mt. Everest would add little to that, as compared to the Earth as a whole, even Mt. Everest is insignificant (if the Earth were the size of a pool cue ball, and all its mountains and ocean trenches were scaled accordingly, it would be much smoother than a brand new cue ball). This rotational velocity does help when launching spacecraft, which is why NASA has its launch facilities near Miami and Houston instead of Bangor, Maine or Pt. Barrow, Alaska — specifically to get as close as possible to the Equator.
Now, if the centrifugal force on MOUNTAINS or at the EQUATOR isn't enough to hurl people nor objects into the air with NOTHING ABOVE THEM TO STOP THEM *EXCEPT* FOR AIR ITSELF (even the considerably less dense air at high mountain elevations!), do you HONESTLY expect us to believe that THICK CRUDE PETROLEUM formed DEEP BELOW THE CRUST (which we have never managed to drill below), somehow gets hurled AGAINST not only GRAVITY but THROUGH the “pores” of SOLID GRANITE (what the mantle is made of! This ain’t sandstone or shale, let alone pumice, we’re talking about here!), by MUCH WEAKER CENTRIFUGAL FORCE deep INSIDE the Earth, not to mention near the POLES (or else why are so many oil fields in places like NORTHERN ALASKA [ANWR, don'cha know, not to mention Prudhoe Bay] and SIBERIA!?) which would ALSO weaken the centrifugal force!?
To do so, try EITHER ONE of these simple experiments, at least one of which you probably performed for yourself as a child more than once (#1 most likely, #2 if your childhood predates the compact audio disc [aka “CD”]):
1. Sit on a merry-go-round, and have someone spin it for you. Try sitting in different places: at the center (or as close as you can if the particular merry-go-round has a central pole), at the edge, hanging off the edge and holding on to the outer bar for dear life, and somewhere in-between. Note the difference in the centrifugal force you experience at each location. At what point do you HAVE to hold on to the bar or other part of the structure to avoid being hurled off?
2. If you're old enough to remember phonograph records, or still have a phonograph (maybe you're a DJ?), try placing a tiddly-wink (or coin if the record itself isn't too valuable and you don't mind it being scratched) on the record while it's turning at a constant speed (45RPM for a single, 33.333… RPM for an LP). Try placing the tiddly-wink on the paper label, near the paper label but still on the slipperier vinyl part, and closer to the edge. At what point does the centrifugal force cause the tiddly-wink to fly off? Near the edge, or closer to the center?
So what do we learn from this, boys and girls? Answer: at a given rotational speed (RPMs), centrifugal force INCREASES with distance from the CENTER of rotation!
Now imagine that Mt. Everest up and moved to the Equator, and that you stood at its summit. At the Equator, given the above, the centrifugal force would be greatest, and standing on the highest point on the planet while also at the equator would make it greater still. Would it be enough to overcome gravity and hurl you into space or even into the air a short distance? No. Not even close.
The Earth rotates such that a given point at sea level at the Equator moves at about 1,000MPH. Being on the summit of Mt. Everest would add little to that, as compared to the Earth as a whole, even Mt. Everest is insignificant (if the Earth were the size of a pool cue ball, and all its mountains and ocean trenches were scaled accordingly, it would be much smoother than a brand new cue ball). This rotational velocity does help when launching spacecraft, which is why NASA has its launch facilities near Miami and Houston instead of Bangor, Maine or Pt. Barrow, Alaska — specifically to get as close as possible to the Equator.
Now, if the centrifugal force on MOUNTAINS or at the EQUATOR isn't enough to hurl people nor objects into the air with NOTHING ABOVE THEM TO STOP THEM *EXCEPT* FOR AIR ITSELF (even the considerably less dense air at high mountain elevations!), do you HONESTLY expect us to believe that THICK CRUDE PETROLEUM formed DEEP BELOW THE CRUST (which we have never managed to drill below), somehow gets hurled AGAINST not only GRAVITY but THROUGH the “pores” of SOLID GRANITE (what the mantle is made of! This ain’t sandstone or shale, let alone pumice, we’re talking about here!), by MUCH WEAKER CENTRIFUGAL FORCE deep INSIDE the Earth, not to mention near the POLES (or else why are so many oil fields in places like NORTHERN ALASKA [ANWR, don'cha know, not to mention Prudhoe Bay] and SIBERIA!?) which would ALSO weaken the centrifugal force!?
So much for THAT hypothesis.