The Dark Secret of the South Gobi
Like China's buried army of the dead, a dark secret is hidden under the barren rocky surface of Mongolia's south Gobi desert. Two hundred fifty million years ago, as the world's climate began to spin out of control into the earth's greatest mass extinction, a hundred-mile long swamp laid down one of the world's largest deposits of coal. Today, the south Gobi,"the Saudi Arabia of Coal" is being developed to feed China's insatiable appetite for energy. The mines are bringing wealth to Mongolia, but the desert is expanding. Traditional nomads are watching their way of life go up in clouds of dust. China's full exploitation of these massive coal seams (and other fossil fuels) threatens to unearth the ghosts of the Permian extinction.
MONGOLIA: THE SAUDI ARABIA OF COAL
Mongolia's vast reserves of high-quality coal, combined with its close proximity to China, the world's largest consumer of coal, and high demand Asian markets - make Mongolia a growing strategic player in the global coal market. Mongolia plays an important, expanding role in powering China's heavy industries and coal-fired generating capacity.
China's economy is growing at approximately 10% annually, demand for coal and other energy sources is outstripping supply.
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Importance of the Ovoot Khural Basin:
• Permian-age coal bearing basin only 40 km from China
• Coal identified over 150 km strike length
• Land equivalent to prime hard coking coal region of Bowen Basin in Australia (largest seaborne coking coal exporting region today)
• Rail infrastructure and coal loader(s) (have been) constructed by Chinese to access (the coal)
China now emits 50% more CO2 than the U.S. Climate change is already causing drought and desertification across large areas of China.
And now China is just beginning to develop the "Saudi Arabia" of coal in the Gobi.
About 250 million years ago, about 95 percent of life was wiped out in the sea and 70 percent on land. Researchers at the University of Calgary believe they have discovered evidence to support massive volcanic eruptions burnt significant volumes of coal, producing ash clouds that had broad impact on global oceans.
"This could literally be the smoking gun that explains the latest Permian extinction," says Dr. Steve Grasby, adjunct professor in the U of C's geoscience department and research scientist at Natural Resources Canada.
Apparently, the huge volume of basaltic flood volcanism, erupted through massive coal deposits in Siberia, setting them on fire. This has been a suspected cause for a number of years, but no evidence has been found until this discovery was made. The fires were so large that the coal ash was deposited thousands of miles away in Canada. (At the end Permian the Atlantic had not yet opened up. Eastern Canada was attached to Greenland and Europe. Siberia was thousands of miles from the site where the coal ash was found.)
The Permian extinction, known as the great dying, was the largest extinction in earth's history.
MONGOLIA: THE SAUDI ARABIA OF COAL
Mongolia's vast reserves of high-quality coal, combined with its close proximity to China, the world's largest consumer of coal, and high demand Asian markets - make Mongolia a growing strategic player in the global coal market. Mongolia plays an important, expanding role in powering China's heavy industries and coal-fired generating capacity.
China's economy is growing at approximately 10% annually, demand for coal and other energy sources is outstripping supply.
---
Importance of the Ovoot Khural Basin:
• Permian-age coal bearing basin only 40 km from China
• Coal identified over 150 km strike length
• Land equivalent to prime hard coking coal region of Bowen Basin in Australia (largest seaborne coking coal exporting region today)
• Rail infrastructure and coal loader(s) (have been) constructed by Chinese to access (the coal)
China now emits 50% more CO2 than the U.S. Climate change is already causing drought and desertification across large areas of China.
And now China is just beginning to develop the "Saudi Arabia" of coal in the Gobi.
About 250 million years ago, about 95 percent of life was wiped out in the sea and 70 percent on land. Researchers at the University of Calgary believe they have discovered evidence to support massive volcanic eruptions burnt significant volumes of coal, producing ash clouds that had broad impact on global oceans.
"This could literally be the smoking gun that explains the latest Permian extinction," says Dr. Steve Grasby, adjunct professor in the U of C's geoscience department and research scientist at Natural Resources Canada.
Apparently, the huge volume of basaltic flood volcanism, erupted through massive coal deposits in Siberia, setting them on fire. This has been a suspected cause for a number of years, but no evidence has been found until this discovery was made. The fires were so large that the coal ash was deposited thousands of miles away in Canada. (At the end Permian the Atlantic had not yet opened up. Eastern Canada was attached to Greenland and Europe. Siberia was thousands of miles from the site where the coal ash was found.)
The Permian extinction, known as the great dying, was the largest extinction in earth's history.
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