Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution May 1996
Description:
This thesis details two years of research conducted with the guidance and support
of three advisors: Dr. J. K. Whelan, Dr. J. S. Seewald and Dr. T. I. Eglinton. Each of the
three chapters represents a different, self-contained research project. All of the projects
are related to the organic geochemistry of marine sediments, however, this is a fairly
encompassing area of study. Chapters 1 and 2 stem from the same experimental study -the
use of hydrous-pyrolysis to investigate mechanisms leading to the production of
petroleum-related products during kerogen maturation. Chapter 3, on the other hand,
utilizes a recently developed technique of isolating and AMS-14C dating individual
compounds from complex sedimentary organic mixtures.
The samples used in each investigation came from all over the world. The first
two chapters utilize ancient marine sediment samples obtained from an outcrop in
California (Chpts. 1 and 2) and from a well in Alabama (Chpt. 2). In contrast, recent
marine sediment samples were obtained from the Arabian and Black Seas for the third
chapter. Several preparative and analytical methods are common to all three studies.
Nevertheless, each employ techniques totally unique from one another and from previous
investigations. In Chapter 1, for example, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) is
used to determine the speciation of organic sulfur present in kerogen, bitumen, and bulk
sediment samples. While Chapter 3 represents the first study in which the 14C ages of
individual, known hydrocarbon biomarkers are determined after isolation by Preparative
Capillary Gas Chromatography (PCGC). The insights gained by these investigations are
discussed in detail in the following chapters. The common thread between the three
chapters is that the source of organic matter, the rate at which it is delivered to marine
sediments and the depositional environment, all set the stage for kerogen formation and
eventual petroleum generation.
Keywords:
Radiocarbon dating
;
Organic geochemistry
;
Marine sediments
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Thesis
Format:
application/pdf
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