Giuseppe Etiope, Ph.D.
Natural Gas Geology and Geochemistry
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INGV
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
Sezione Roma 2
via V. Murata, 605 - 00143 Roma (ITALY)
"Whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard"
Lao-Tzu, 600BC
"Science is truthful, but not truth itself"
R. Yoshida
“At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful..."
A. Alda
Welcome to my website.
I am a geologist, Research Director at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Sezione Roma 2) based in Rome, and Director of the ENGAGE Laboratory at the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. My research deals with natural gas geology and geochemistry. I study the origin of natural gas, its occurrence and migration in the geosphere, with particular reference to methane and hydrogen.
My studies include:
- biotic (microbial, thermogenic) origin of methane in sedimentary basins
- abiotic origin of methane in ultramafic rocks (serpentinization systems)
- gas seepage (seeps, mud volcanoes, microseepage; onshore and offshore)
- global geological methane emissions into the atmosphere
- methane origin and seepage on Mars
- natural hydrogen (H2) exploration
These studies have implications on:
- energy resource exploration (assessment of petroleum systems, source rocks, secondary alterations of gas, oil biodegradation, hydrogen sources)
- environment (groundwater and soil pollution, geo-hazards)
- global climate changes (atmospheric methane budget)
- astrobiology and planetary geology (origin of life, life on other planets)
My research follows a HOLISTIC approach. Geochemical data are interpreted taking into account the geological context. In complex systems, the data interpretation is based on integrating information from different but complementary disciplines, in collaboration with experts on structural geology, mineralogy, chemistry, physics, statistics, microbiology and planetary sciences.
I also teach Global Climate Changes as Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania).
NATURAL GAS ORIGIN
For starters
See also a "geological" summary picture here
A new genetic isotopic diagram to define methane origin
Microbial vs Thermogenic vs Abiotic
Milkov A.V., Etiope G. (2018). Revised genetic diagrams for natural gases based on a global dataset of >20,000 samples. Org. Geochem., 125, 109-120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.09.002.
A mysterious gas in Transylvania
ABIOTIC METHANE
Changing a paradigm:
- Abiotic CH4 is not related to Earth's mantle (magma does not release methane)
- The largest abiotic CH4 amounts observed in surface seeps and boreholes are produced in the crust (ophiolites, peridotite massifs,
crystalline shields).
- Abiotic CH4 can be produced at low temperatures (<150°C);
hydrothermal systems are not necessary.
ABIOTIC METHANE IN OPHIOLITES:
CHROMITITES ARE THE SOURCE ROCKS (2018)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-27082-0
REVIEW PAPERS ON
ABIOTIC METHANE
Etiope G., Oze C. (2022). Microbial vs abiotic origin of methane in continental serpentinized ultramafic rocks: a critical review and the need of a holistic approach. App. Geochem., 143, 105373,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2022.105373
Etiope G., Whiticar M.J. (2019). Abiotic methane in continental ultramafic rock systems: Towards a genetic model. App. Geochem., 102, 139-152, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2019.01.012.
Etiope G., Schoell M. (2014). Abiotic gas: atypical but not rare. Elements, 10, 291-296.
Laboratory experiments
(Etiope and Ionescu, 2015, Geofluids)
Abiotic gas in Greece
(Etiope et al 2013, Chem. Geol.).
(Etiope et al, 2016; Appl.Geoch.)
Abiotic gas in Bosnia-Herzegovina
(Etiope et al, 2017; Appl.Geoch.)
(Etiope et al, 2013; Mar.Petrol.Geol.)
Abiotic gas in Italy
(Boschetti et al. 2013)
(Sciarra et al. 2019)
Abiotic gas and
methane clumped-isotopes
GAS SEEPAGE
The global distribution of hydrocarbon seepage
A global grid map of geo-methane emissions
(project on atmospheric methane budget - NOAA-Colorado University)
Etiope, G., Ciotoli, G., Schwietzke, S., Schoell, M. (2019). Gridded maps of geological methane emissions and their isotopic signature. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1-22, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1-2019.
The discrepancy of global geo-methane emission estimates
Etiope G., Schwietzke S. (2019). Global geological methane emissions: an update of top-down and bottom-up estimates. Elem. Sci. Anth. 7, 47, http://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.383.
Thornton B.F., Etiope G., Schwietzke S., Milkov A.V., Klusman R.W., Judd A., Oehler D.Z. (2021). Conflicting estimates of natural geologic methane emissions. Elem. Sci. Anth., 9, 1, https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00031
How to distinguish seeps and leaks
Molofsky L., Etiope G., Segal D.C., Engle M. (2025). Methane-rich gas emissions from natural geologic seeps can be chemically distinguished from anthropogenic leaks. Commun Earth Environ 6, 11, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01990-8.
Methane seepage in Italy
project PRIN-MIUR (2009)
Hydrocarbon Seeps
Database Italy
Example of local measurements
Methane seepage in
La Brea (Los Angeles)
Seeps in the Ancient World: Myths,
Religions, and Social Development
Read Chapter 9 of the "Natural Gas Seepage"
A new project to discover links between gas seepage and archaeological structures, historic or legendary events of ancient Rome
The gas of Delphi
METHANE ON MARS
European Space Agency
(Guest Investigator)
How to interpret methane in the atmosphere of Mars
Understanding CH4 origin from ExoMars
(Etiope, 2018, Planet.Space Sci.)
The enigma of methane on Mars: conflicting atmospheric measurements
NEW DETECTION OF METHANE ON MARS!
A methane degassing event detected by the Mars Express orbiter
see the Nature Geosci. paper - Giuranna et al (2019)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0331-9
A geological perspective of methane on Mars
Etiope G., Oehler D.Z. (2019). Methane spikes, background seasonality and non-detections on Mars: a geological perspective. Planetary and Space Science, 168, 52-61, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.02.001
If you wish to know more about "Methane on Mars"
watch the talk at the SETI Institute (September 2016)
NATURAL HYDROGEN
A potential low-C energy resource
IEA TASK 49
www.ieahydrogen.org/task/task-49-natural-hydrogen/
Etiope, G. (2024). Natural hydrogen extracted from ophiolitic rocks: a first dataset. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 78, 368-372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.06.292
Baciu, C., Etiope, G. (2024). A direct observation of a hydrogen-rich pressurized reservoir within an ophiolite (Tișovița, Romania). Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 73, 402-406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.06.065
Etiope G. (2023). Massive release of natural hydrogen from a geological seep (Chimaera, Turkey): gas advection as a proxy of subsurface gas migration and pressurised accumulations. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 48, 9172-9184, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.12.025
Etiope G., Ciotoli G., Benà E., Mazzoli, C., Röckmann T., Sivan M., Squartini A., Laemmel T., Szidat S., Haghipour N., Sassi R. (2024). Surprising concentrations of hydrogen and non-geological methane and carbon dioxide in the soil. Sci. Total Environm., 948, 174890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174890
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