Overview
- An international team from the University of Lausanne and GFZ reports that erosion governs how natural hydrogen forms and collects beneath mountain ranges.
- The peer-reviewed study in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth uses computer models to test how geology and landscape change affect hydrogen potential.
- Hydrogen forms when iron-rich mantle rocks react with water in a process called serpentinization, which can feed gas into porous layers that act as reservoirs.
- The models show a delicate balance, with moderate erosion helping lift mantle rocks into the right temperature zone while rapid erosion can cool the system or strip away storage rocks.
- Comparisons point to strong potential in the Pyrenees and promising signs in the Alps, with Spain’s Betic Cordillera ranking lower, and the authors urge targeted field mapping since large, commercial deposits remain unproven despite small-scale production in Mali.