UNIT 22: Geology

The Danger of Global Warming

Preparing to read: What are in your opinion the causes of global
warming and what measures are taken to slow this process?

New Vocabulary
plate tectonics
ice lattice
clathrate
permafrost
subducted
mantle
release
to spew out
on the verge of
glimpse

Suffixed Words
realization
ultimately
extremely
transformational
biological
volcanism

Prefixed Words
unexplored
unexpected
geophysicist
subducted

Carbon buried in the Earth could ultimately determine the fate of our
planets atmosphere. So concluded a pioneering meeting last week
about the Earths long-neglected deep carbon cycle.
Carbon is locked away down in the Earths crust: in magma and old
carbonate rocks buried by plate tectonics, in fossil fuels like coal and
oil, and in ice lattices beneath the ocean bed. It has long been assumed
that this carbon was largely cut off from the surface, and could safely
be ignored when analyzing the effect of greenhouse gases on the
climate.
Now it seems there may be much more deep carbon ready to spew
out than we thought. This realization could have profound implications
for our climate, argues Robert Hazen of the Carnegie Institution, who
organized the meeting at the institutions Geophysical Laboratory in
Washington DC. We may be on the verge of a transformational
momenta glimpse of new, unexplored scientific territory, he says.
Perhaps the greatest threat of an unexpected release of carbon from
the deep comes from an indirect effect of human-made CO2. Global
warming could destabilize some deep carbon reserves, notably in
clathrates - ice lattices which are found beneath the ocean floor and
continental permafrost, and even under freshwater lakes like Lake
Baikal in Siberia. [] These ice structures may hold trillions of tones
of methane.
We are extremely concerned that clathrates are the largest single
source of greenhouse gases that could be added to the atmosphere,
says Hazen. If you raise the temperatures even slightly, they could be
released. According to Ronald Cohen, a geophysicist at the Carnegie
Institution, natural warming caused large releases of methane around
55 million years ago.
Though the deep carbon cycle could theoretically absorb human-made
emissions, Hazen points out that this would take millions of years.
Catastrophic methane emissions could happen over just a few decades.
Natural processes such as volcanism are also known to bring carbon
to the surface, but there may be other mechanisms to release buried
carbon that have not been considered by mainstream climate science.
For example, there is growing evidence that microbes living deep in the
crust may be converting carbon into forms that can migrate to the
surface - notably methane.
Vladimir Kutcherov of the Royal Institute of Technology in
Stockholm, Sweden, speculates that unknown non-biological chemical
reactions may also be able to produce methane or hydrocarbons that
seep up through the crust. For example, methane or petroleum might be
produced when carbonate rocks react with water and iron upon being
subducted into the mantle. Kutcherov and colleagues say hydrocarbon
deposits from Kidd Creek in Ontario, Canada, have an isotopic
signature suggesting they are not organic in origin - though this claim
was disputed by others at the meeting.
Pearce, Fred; Earth May Hide a Lethal Carbon Cache in New Scientist, 24
May 2008, Vol. 198, No. 2657, p.8.

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Section I
Vocabulary Activities

I. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best meaning for the underlined

words below.
1. A pioneering meeting held last week concluded that the carbon buried in
the Earth could determine the fate of our planets atmosphere.
a) the first gathering of scientist doing exploratory work
b) a gathering of the settlers of a new territory
2. All the scientists at that meeting also studied the greenhouse effect
a) the effect that a greenhouse has upon the development of plants inside it.
b) the warming of a planet and its lower atmosphere caused by trapped solar radiation
3. They said that there are huge carbon reserves under some freshwater lakes like Lake Baikal in
Siberia.
a) reservoirs of cold, freezing water
b) reservoirs of water that is not salty
4. The mainstream climate science has not tackled all the mechanisms of bringing carbon to the
surface.
a) the way science studies the middle of air currents where the flow of hot air is the strongest.
b) the major, prevailing way of thinking in climate science
5. The geologists discussed the way carbonate disappeared into the mantle.
a) the layer of the Earths interior between the crust and the core
b) a loose sleeveless coat or cape.

II. GUESSING MEANING: Match the following words/ phrases with the definitions: crust, plate,
tectonics, fuel, lattice, permafrost, cache. (See G: C.1)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

the study of Earths crustal structure and the forces that produce changes in it
an openwork structure of crossed strips or bars of wood, metal used as screen, support
any material burned to supply heat or power
permanently frozen soil
....a safe place for hiding or storing things
a smooth, flat relatively thin piece of metal or other material
the solid, rocky outer portion or shell of the Earth, lithosphere

III. REPHRASING: Replace the underlined phrases or sentences with the following phrasal verbs
from your text: to lock away, to cut off, to spew out, to seep up. The phrasal verbs can be used
more than once. (See G: XVIII)
1. The geologists assumed that the fuel reserves were separated from the surface of the ocean floor by
a thick layer of rocks and sediments.
2. The meteorite has been stored in a locked container until the arrival of the researchers.
3. All the data they have gathered called attention to the fact that these carbon reserves can easily
reach the surface.
4. Methane or hydrocarbons that may leak slowly through small openings in the crust can be triggered
by several chemical reactions.
5. The avalanches progress was stopped abruptly by the thick forest.

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Section II
Language Focus
Direct and Reported Speech
(See G: IX)
I. REPHRASING: Rewrite these sentences in reported speech.
1. These discoveries may have profound implications for our climate.
The researcher from the Carnegie Institution concluded that
2. We are on the verge of a transformational moment.
He admitted that..
3. For some time the clathrates have been the single source of greenhouse gases that were added to
the atmosphere.
The scientist commented that..
4.Natural warming caused large releases of methane around 55 million years ago.
A geophysicist maintained that .
5. It will take million of years for the deep carbon cycle to absorb human made emissions.
He argued that
6. Unknown non-biological chemical reactions may produce methane or hydrocarbons that seep up
through the crust.
The researcher speculated that..
7. The hydrocarbon deposits from Kidd Creek have an isotopic signature which suggests they are not
organic in origin.
He claimed that

II. REPHRASING: Report each of these statements using an appropriate verb form from the
following: to accuse, to consider, to encourage, to recommend, to refuse, to remind, to warn.
Make the necessary changes.
1. The skeptics: It is hard to believe that the carbon buried in the Earth can ultimately determine the
fate of our planets atmosphere.
2. The professor: It is better to continue the study of carbon reserves that were found in the clathrates
and continental permafrost.
3. The opponents: The results you are presenting are incorrect.
4. A geophysicist: If temperatures are raised even slightly, greenhouse gases can be released in the
atmosphere.
5. The research team: We should meet here tomorrow to further discuss the results.
6. A fellow colleague: You would better check these results again.
7. A supporter of the project: Do not forget to bring the studies we discussed yesterday.

III. MISTAKE CORRECTION: Four of these six sentences contain mistakes in grammar or
punctuation. Find and correct the mistakes.
1. This realization could have profound implications for our climate, said he.
2. The scientist told us the day before yesterday that deep carbon reserves had been found in clathrates
and continental permafrost.
3. A geophysicist said that natural warming caused large releases of methane around 55 million years
ago.
4. She told that natural processes such as volcanism also bring carbon to the surface.
5. He said me that carbonate rocks react with water and iron upon being subducted into the mantle.
6. The researcher commented that ice lattices were found now beneath freshwater lakes like Lake
Baikal in Siberia.

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Section III
Text Structure

I. SUMMARIZING: Ten potential summarizing points are listed below. Match the paragraphs with
the points. Two points are extra. (See G: XX.B.1)
1. Huge reserves of carbon from the clathrates can be released into the atmosphere due to the global
warming.
2. Carbon can reach the Earths surface by means of volcanic activity and microbes living deep in
the crust which can convert it into methane.
3. If released from the clathrates, carbon could be extremely dangerous because it adds to the
greenhouse gases effect.
4. The methane which can reach the surface of the Earth may be both of organic and non-organic
origin.
5. There have been discovered effective ways to prevent carbon reserves from reaching the surface.
6. Greenhouse gases are human-made only.
7. The deep carbon cycle which could absorb human-made emissions may prove to be inefficient.
8. A revolutionary study presented the importance of subterranean carbon reserves for the Earths
atmosphere.
9. A revolutionary new study by Robert Hazen mentions that these reserves are much bigger in
quantity than previously believed and ready to be released from the Earth.
10. People believed that the carbon reserves from magma and coal, oil and ice lattices have no effect
on the climate.

II. TRUE/FALSE STATEMENTS: Decide whether the following statements are true or false or not
stated.
1. It is Robert Hazen who said that a natural warming caused large releases of methane around 55
million years ago.
2. It is a scientist from the Carnegie Institution who said that deep carbon reserves may be released
into the atmosphere due to the global warming.
3. It is the team of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm which believes strongly that
unknown non-biological chemical reactions may produce methane.
4. It is only Ronald Cohen to whom the article refers to as working for the Carnegie Institution.
5. It is Vladimir Kutcherov who is a geophysicist.

III. WRITING AN ESSAY: In a short opinion essay present your point of view regarding the
measures that every individual/ national leader/people can do to limit the emissions or the
negative effects of greenhouse gases. Use the following expressions/ linking words /phrases:
(See G: G)
I strongly believe that.
I agree with Xs point of view..but..
I also./In my opinion.
It is said thatbut I disagree because
I would (rather) suggest.
To summarize, I would say that.

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