Polar aromatic biomarkers of Miocene-aged Chukurovo resinite and correlation with a progenitor macrofossil

Functionalised aromatic constituents of Chukurovo resinite are compared here with the chemical composition of a macrofossil assigned paleobotanically as Taxodium dubium (Sternb.) Heer. Terpenoids and lipids of fossil wood tissue embedded in a clay sediment were extracted and analyzed for comparison. The information was interpreted in relation to the biomarker compositions of different conifer families, as well as to the effects of contamination by inward migration of organic matter from the adjacent sediments.Many of identified geolipids, i.e., alkanes, alkanols, alkan-2-ones, and steranes/triterpanes have no chemosystematic value because they are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. Ferruginol, sugiol, and products of their diagenetic transformations were identified as the dominant specific biomarkers in the resinite. Ferruginol and its analogues were the most abundant diterpenoids in Taxodium dubium sample. Thus, the biomarker composition of the extractable matter of the resinite strongly suggests that species of Cupressaceae contributed significantly to the Chukurovo paleoenvironment.     

The Diagenesis of Plant Lipids during the Formation of the Krepoljin Coal Basin (Serbia)—Using Multivariate Statistical Analysis in the Saturated Biomarkers

The composition of the saturated hydrocarbon fraction of soluble organic matter (bitumen) from the Krepoljin brown coal basin (East Serbia) of Miocene age was investigated. The Krepoljin basin is especially interesting from a geochemical point of view. Namely, by the end of Tertiary Period, the basin was covered by powerful Mesozoic formations of great possibilities, the bedding became hermetically enclosed and protected from subsequent external influences. The nature of early diagenetic processes in the environment with abundant accumulation of organic substance is defined by the molecular content of bitumen through the connections of molecular structures to potential precursors in paleoplant phylla, as well as by the degree of their diagenetic transformations. The hierarchy of parameters based on molecules of saturated hydrocarbons was determined by applying the principal component analysis to the soluble organic matter. The most significant, most "loadings" values of component Cl, are the plant types such as precursors or participants in early diagenetic transformations of steranes Cs27-algal precursor material, Cs28-moulds, Cs29-higher land and water plants; resinous from the group of higher plant gymnosperms (G); also triterpanes a and p-amirin-dicotyledonous angiosperms (A) and bacterial and/or terrestrial plants population represented by hopanes/moretanes; as well as the parameters which describe the degree of diagenetic/maturation transformation of precursor biomass, and based on next reactions: (1) shifting of methyl group, influenced by the inorganic sediment constitutents, sterane-rearranged steranes, (2) isomerization in the ring system,ααα→βββ　C29 sterane as well as (3) isomerization on chiral center of the side chain sequence R→S C29 sterane S/(S R). Additionally, a pyrite-derived inhibitory effect on the rearrangment of C29 steranes must be taken into account, but not on triterpanes reaction. Non-appearance of statistically important correlations, before all with maturational depended parameters, and after all also with source indicators contributies to the affirmation of the newly-suggested parameter α-Phyllocladane/S27 as the real source biomarker of coal. Indicators derived from the distribution and abundance of n-alkanes and isoprenoid alkanes are of less significance in hierarchy of parameters     

A possible shale gas prospect? First results of the organic composition and thermal maturity of the Carboniferous Namoi Formation,northern NSW,Australia

The Namoi Formation in the Werrie Syncline, north and west of Tamworth, is part of the well-preserved Devonian–Carboniferous fore arc in the New England Fold Belt. The formation is between 640–914 m thick and consists of dominant olive-green mudstones with lenses of sandstone and oolitic limestone. To assess shale gas prospectivity, we analysed five outcrop samples from the Namoi Formation in the Keepit area. Well-preserved aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon fractions do not show evidence of weathering or biodegradation. n-Alkanes in all samples have a unimodal distribution maximising at C₂₆ to C₂₈. Little odd-to-even n-alkane carbon number predominance and relatively low Pr/n-C₁₇ and Ph/n-C₁₈ ratios are consistent with a high thermal maturity. Based on the distribution of alkylnaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes, the Namoi Formation is in the gas window. Calibration of the methylphenanthrene index and ratio with vitrinite reflectance suggests a calculated reflectance around 2.1%, which given a normal geothermal gradient is equivalent to a maximum temperature of 205°C for the deepest burial of the formation. There is a dominance of parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) over alkylated PAHs, supporting a high thermal maturity. Some samples contain biomarkers suggestive of a marine depositional environment, including the C₃₀ sterane index and the C₃₁/C₃₀ hopane ratio. The Namoi Formation is a prospective shale-gas source, as it has been buried sufficiently to be well within the gas window. Where it is exposed at the surface gas will have been lost, but elsewhere it will be buried beneath other sediments and may still retain gas. Key exploration uncertainties include information on organic richness, lateral variation in thermal maturity, mineralogy, and porosity–permeability relationships.     

应用鱼类生物标志物和IBRv2监测与评价泉州湾石油类污染生物效应状况

以褐菖鲉(Sebastiscus marmoratus)细胞色素P4501A四种生物标志物,即鳃丝EROD活性、肝EROD活性、肝CYP1A mRNA和肝CYP1A蛋白为指标,在泉州湾海域选择6个站位(包括1个对照站位),开展了为期两周的野外监测实验,研究了上述生物标志物的变化特征以及它们同表层海水中石油类含量和沉积物物中16种优先监控的PAHs含量之间的相关性,并利用新一代综合生物标志物响应指数法(IBRv2)对监测站位石油类和PAHs污染效应进行了评价.结果显示,不同站位的上述四种生物标志物变化趋势基本一致;生物标志物的变化与相应站位表层水中石油类含量及沉积物中PAHs总含量相吻合;IBRv2分析结果表明,各监测站位IBRv2指数介于1.5~4.2之间,其中2号站环境污染压力最大,4号站最小.在复杂的海洋污染条件下,采用CYP1A多种生物标志物监测技术能够更加全面反映石油类等污染及其生物效应状况.     

Regional geology, depositional environment and maturity of organic matter of Early to Middle Jurassic coals, coaly shales, shales and claystones from the Eastern Pontides, NE Turkey

Jurassic coals, coaly shales, shales and claystones from the Eastern Pontides in NE Turkey have been investigated using microscopical, petrophysical and detailed organic geochemical methods in order to determine their catagenetic stage, to reveal the composition of the organic matter and to discuss the depositional environment. The Liassic–Dogger period in the Eastern Pontides was characterised by the presence of a rift system which resulted in rock units of very variable lithology and facies. Coal seams, ranging from a few centimetres to several decimetres and intercalated with shales, claystones and sandstones occur within the basal part (the Aggi Formation) as well as in the uppermost part (the Hamurkesen Formation) of the rift deposits. All coal seams investigated are at a catagenetic maturation stage corresponding to subbituminous B up to low volatile bituminous ranks. They represent a depositional environment of short-lived swamp areas with intense aerobic reworking of the higher plant detritus by heterotrophic bacteria, but with possible anaerobic microenvironments at deeper levels. At least some coal seams were influenced temporarily by marine ingressions. Most samples are impure humic coals with highly variable chemical compositions as indicated by the broad range of their hydrogen contents. This variation in hydrogen content is partly attributed to variable contributions of algal material. On the other side, considering several analytical results, the hydrogen variation is primarily due to bacterial reworking that affected the composition of the organic matter to variable extent and resulted especially in an enrichment of bacterial lipids. Bacterial reworking by an active microbial community within the upper layer of the peat swamp is inferred from elevated concentrations of iso-alkanes even exceeding those of the corresponding n-alkanes in several samples which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been observed with coals before.     

甘肃的侏罗系(续)

３甘肃省侏罗系生物群特征及生物区别３．１芨芨沟组生物群特征及地质时代芨芨沟组所产化石主要为植物,但各地不同。靖远盆地的芨芨沟组所获化石较多,以蕨类为主,共１０属１２种以上：银杏５属７种,松柏类４属８种,分类不明者１属１种,繁殖器官４属４种。其属种名单...     

Long‐distance fluid migration defines the diagenetic history of unique Ediacaran sediments in the East European Craton

The diagenetic history of the Ediacaran sedimentary rocks in the East European Craton (EEC) over the area extending from Arkhangelsk (Russia) in the north to Podolia (Ukraine) in the south was revealed by means of the XRD characterization and K–Ar dating of clay fractions, mudstone porosity measurements and organic geochemistry investigations. Mudstone porosity measurements produced direct evidence of shallow maximum burial of the Ediacaran sediments on the craton (Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Volyn), not exceeding 1.5 km, and much deeper burial at the cratonic margin, in Podolia and Poland. In general, illitization of smectite and biomarker indices indicates more advanced diagenesis at the cratonic margin. K–Ar dating of authigenic illite–smectite and aluminoceladonite revealed the Palaeozoic age of mineral diagenesis (ca. 450–300 Ma) both on the craton and its margin, with older ages generally observed in the north. When the maximum palaeotemperatures were evaluated from illite–smectite and biomarkers, based on the calibrations from the conventional burial diagenetic sections, a major mismatch was detected for the cratonic area: 100°C–130°C from illite––smectite and tens of ^oC lower from the lipid biomarkers. This diagenetic pattern was interpreted as the result of short‐lasting (in ky scale) pulses of potassium‐bearing hot fluids migrating from the Caledonian and Variscan orogens deep in the craton interior, effectively promoting illitization in porous rocks without altering the organic matter. Analogous short pulses of fluids were responsible for numerous diagenetic phenomena, including Mississippi Valley‐Type ore deposits, in the American Midwest, in front of the Appalachians. K–Ar dating indicates that the entire Proterozoic sedimentary cover of the Great Unconformity on the EEC remained untouched by measureable post‐sedimentary changes until the early Palaeozoic, thus for over 1000 My, which is an unprecedented finding.     

Episodes of terrestrial geologic activity during the past 260 million years: A quantitative approach

Records of major geologic events of the past 260 Myr including: biologic extinction events, ocean-anoxic and black-shale events, major changes in sea level, major evaporite (salt) deposits, continental flood-basalt eruptions, first-order discontinuities in sea-floor spreading, and major mountain building events, have been aggregated and analyzed with moving-window and spectral techniques that facilitate recognition of clustering and possible cyclieity. Significant clustering of events suggests a model in which changes in rates and directions of sea-floor spreading (ridge jumps) are associated with episodic rifting, volcanism, mountain building, global sea level and changes in the composition of the earth's atmosphere via the carbon cycle. Variation in atmospheric CO₂ affects global climate, ocean circulation and marine productivity. The geologic data formally show a statistically significant underlying periodicity of 26.6 Myr for the Mesozoic and Cenozoic (the exact period differs with minor changes in geologic dating). Phase information suggests that the most recent maximum of the cycle occurred within the last 9 Myr, and may be close to the present time. The quasi-regular pulses of activity might be related to internal earth processes. However, a similar periodicity in impact craters and in galactic dynamics, and a one-to-one correlation among mass extinctions, large impact events, and flood-basalt volcanism, indicate an extraterrestrial pacemaker.     

Hydrocarbon compositions of bitumens from mineralized Devonian lavas and Carboniferous sedimentary rocks, central Scotland

Solid bitumens occur in mineralized veins in the Lower Devonian Ochil Volcanic Formation in the Midland Valley of Scotland. Bitumens are also widespread in the Carboniferous of the Midland Valley. Gas chromatography (g.c.) - mass spectrometry (m.s.) studies undertaken on bitumens from the Devonian rocks and on Devonian and Carboniferous mudrocks show that the bitumens contain biomarkers and that Carboniferous rocks are the more likely source for the bitumens. Hydrocarbons may have migrated into the Devonian rocks along the Ochil Fault zone from a downthrown Carboniferous basin to the south of the fault. The organic geochemistry of bitumen samples from the Carboniferous rocks reflects varying degrees of biodegradation, and heating by igneous intrusions.     

Distribution of sterol and fatty alcohol biomarkers in particulate matter from the frontal structure of the Alboran Sea (S.W. Mediterranean Sea)

Sterol and fatty alcohol biomarkers were analyzed in suspended and sinking particles from the water column (20–300 m) of the Almeria–Oran frontal zone to characterize the biogenic sources and biogeochemical processes. Diatom- and haptophyte-related sterols were predominant at all sites and vertical distributions of sterol, and fatty alcohol biomarkers in sinking particles were markedly different from suspended particles. In contrast to the relatively fresh sinking particles with elevated concentrations of phyto- and zooplanktonic sterols, suspended particles were extensively degraded with increasing depth and exhibited a more terrestrial and zooplanktonic signature with depth.Sterol and alcohol biomarkers distributions and δ¹³C values from the jet core and the associated gyre of Atlantic waters showed a decoupling between the sinking particles of 100- and 300-m depth, demonstrating the influence of lateral advection in the frontal zone. In contrast, vertical transport of the particulate organic matter in Mediterranean waters was interpreted from the similar isotopic and molecular composition at both depths. The high abundance of phytosterols and phytol below the euphotic zone at 100 m signified that downwelling of biomass occurred on the downstream side of the gyre. The high concentrations of phytosterols and POC, in combination with the high phytosterols/phytol ratio, indicated the accumulation of detrital plant material in the oligotrophic Mediterranean waters near the frontal zone.A higher contribution of phytol in the sinking particles collected during the night at the surface of the jet and at the upstream side of the gyre provided evidence of diel vertical zooplankton migration and important grazing by herbivorous zooplankton.Carbon isotope ratios of sterols confirmed that the 24-ethylcholest-5-en-3β-ol, commonly associated with terrestrial sources, was a substantial constituent of the phytoplankton in this area. However, the more δ¹³C depleted values obtained for this compound in suspended particles suggested that there was some terrestrial contribution that only becomes evident after degradation of the more labile marine organic matter.