The Zhou Hypothesis: A Preliminary Model of Coal Formation via Deep Hydrocarbon Fluid Migration and Dehydrogenation
- 1Independent Researcher
Abstract
Traditional theories of coal formation (the "plant-origin" hypothesis) face difficulties in explaining large-scale horizontal coal seams, the random distribution of plant and animal fossils in coal, the spatial association of coal with natural gas, and the presence of transitional carbonaceous materials. This paper proposes the "Zhou Hypothesis," which strictly sets a research boundary: it suspends the question of petroleum's parent material and treats hydrogen-rich fluids (such as petroleum) as objectively existing physicochemical entities. The hypothesis argues that coal is the solid carbon-rich residue resulting from the dehydrogenation of these fluids under specific geological temperature-pressure conditions and permeability environments. The model covers: (1) the inevitability of fluid migration channels (principle of least resistance and river-evolution analogy); (2) the ubiquity of heat sources for dehydrogenation (geothermal gradients and hydrothermal systems); (3) medium differentiation and random entrapment of fossils (coal gangue and the sporadic distribution of plant/animal fossils); (4) coal quality and maturity being controlled by fluid quality, substrate permeability, geological structure, and heat source; and (5) stress release and leaching leading to a porous structure (the "popcorn effect" and supergene leaching). It also proposes a "tectonic-fluid coal-controlling" exploration framework, supported by actual exploration data from Xinjiang coalfields and a mass-conservation criterion for natural gas reserves. A three-stage evolutionary sequence (oil-sand state → solid-bitumen state → mature coal state) is outlined, with a corresponding two-set reactor experimental design for future verification. The hypothesis welcomes scrutiny and expects future high-temperature and high-pressure experiments to quantitatively verify the kinetic parameters of the dehydrogenation-carbonization process.
This work was conceived by Kaishui Zhou. AI tools were used to organize and polish the language of the manuscript. The author takes full responsibility for all content of this preprint.
This is Version 2 of the preprint. The only revision is the removal of an erroneous reference to EarthArXiv on the title page. This manuscript has NOT been published on EarthArXiv.
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BibTeX
@misc{zhou2026zhou,
title = {{The Zhou Hypothesis: A Preliminary Model of Coal Formation via Deep Hydrocarbon Fluid Migration and Dehydrogenation}},
author = {Kaishui Zhou},
howpublished = {Zenodo},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23792414},
url = {https://zenodo.org/records/23792414},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The Zhou Hypothesis: A Preliminary Model of Coal Formation via Deep Hydrocarbon Fluid Migration and Dehydrogenation
AU - Kaishui Zhou
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/25
PB - Zenodo
DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23792414
UR - https://zenodo.org/records/23792414
AB - Traditional theories of coal formation (the "plant-origin" hypothesis) face difficulties in explaining large-scale horizontal coal seams, the random distribution of plant and animal fossils in coal, the spatial association of coal with natural gas, and the presence of transitional carbonaceous materials. This paper proposes the "Zhou Hypothesis," which strictly sets a research boundary: it suspends the question of petroleum's parent material and treats hydrogen-rich fluids (such as petroleum) as objectively existing physicochemical entities. The hypothesis argues that coal is the solid carbon-rich residue resulting from the dehydrogenation of these fluids under specific geological temperature-pressure conditions and permeability environments. The model covers: (1) the inevitability of fluid migration channels (principle of least resistance and river-evolution analogy); (2) the ubiquity of heat sources for dehydrogenation (geothermal gradients and hydrothermal systems); (3) medium differentiation and random entrapment of fossils (coal gangue and the sporadic distribution of plant/animal fossils); (4) coal quality and maturity being controlled by fluid quality, substrate permeability, geological structure, and heat source; and (5) stress release and leaching leading to a porous structure (the "popcorn effect" and supergene leaching). It also proposes a "tectonic-fluid coal-controlling" exploration framework, supported by actual exploration data from Xinjiang coalfields and a mass-conservation criterion for natural gas reserves. A three-stage evolutionary sequence (oil-sand state → solid-bitumen state → mature coal state) is outlined, with a corresponding two-set reactor experimental design for future verification. The hypothesis welcomes scrutiny and expects future high-temperature and high-pressure experiments to quantitatively verify the kinetic parameters of the dehydrogenation-carbonization process. This work was conceived by Kaishui Zhou. AI tools were used to organize and polish the language of the manuscript. The author takes full responsibility for all content of this preprint. This is Version 2 of the preprint. The only revision is the removal of an erroneous reference to EarthArXiv on the title page. This manuscript has NOT been published on EarthArXiv.
ER -