Mysterious Methane Fueling Fire-Breathing Mountain in Turkey Discovered in Dozens of Locations Worldwide

Mystery Source of Fire-Breathing Mountain Found in 20+ Countries

A mysterious source of methane gas that fuels a fire-breathing mountain in southwest Turkey has been discovered in more than 20 countries worldwide.

Known as the Flames of Chimaera, the fires that have shot out of Chimaera Mountain for millennia at Turkey's Yanartas National Park are fueled by methane gas located deep within the earth's surface.

Unlike most methane gas that typically originates from organic material such as the decay of plants, algae and animal life — think fossil fuels — this gas comes from a chemical reaction within the rocks themselves, scientists hypothesize.

Giuseppe Etiope, a member of a group of international scientists who helped discover the origins of the Chimaera's flames in 2014, told the New York Times they have "discovered these unusual types of methane in many, many sites," noting that it's "not a rare phenomenon.”

Known as abiotic methane, the gas at Chimaera results from a chemical reaction that occurs between water and rocks many miles below the earth's surface, according to a study by the team of scientists published in the March 2019 issue of the journal Applied Geochemistry.

While not rare, abiotic methane still remains a bit of a mystery. There are several theories as to why non-organic methane is emerging from the earth, including hypotheses that it comes from cooling magma or from primordial meteorites that may have brought methane to Earth while the planet was being formed.

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Only a very few of the abiotic sites actually burn, Etiope told weather.com.

"Flames also occur in the Philippines (Los Fuegos Eternos) and in another minor seep in Eastern Turkey," Etiope said. "In other locations, abiotic gas is released through springs or bubble plumes. Many springs (with bubbles) have been found in Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina. These sites release a considerable amount of gas into the atmosphere, in addition to Chimaera in Turkey."

Etiope said scientists are able to locate the sites by searching for highly alkaline springs and "seeps in peridotite rocks, the rock that may generate hydrogen gas."

"All abiotic gas issues from peridotites," he said, noting that highly alkaline springs are "typical of serpentinization."

New York Times reporter JoAnna Klein noted that learning to distinguish abiotic methane from organically-produced methane may help scientists identify life on other planets. As it stands now, researchers do not know whether methane gas found in the atmosphere of Mars originates from organic material, which may point to microbial life, or to serpentinization below the planet's surface.

That distinction could mean all the difference in determining whether life exists on other planets.