Document [original]

Geochemical Significance of Biomarkers

in Paleozoic Coals

vorgelegt von

Dipl.-Chem.

Antje Armstroff

aus Ludwigshafen

Der Fakult¨at VI - Bauingenieurwesen und Angewandte Geowissenschaften

der Technischen Universit¨at Berlin

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades

Doktorin der Naturwissenschaften

- Dr. rer. nat. -

genehmigte Dissertation

Promotionsausschuss:

Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. W. Dominik

Berichter: Prof. Dr. B. Horsfield

Berichter: Prof. Dr. R. Littke

Tag der m¨undlichen Pr¨ufung: 14. Juli 2004

Berlin 2004

D 83

Acknowledgement

This thesis was performed at the Institute for Sedimentary Systems (ICG-V) at

the Research Center J¨ulich. First of all I would like to thank my supervisors Prof.

Brian Horsfield and Dr. Heinz Wilkes at the Research Center J¨ulich and now at

the GFZ Potsdam for their support. I always found them ready to discuss scientific

issues and ideas. I would also like to thank Prof. Ralf Littke from the Institute

of Geology and Geochemistry of Petroleum and Coal at the Aachen University of

Technology for the valuable input he provided to this thesis.

Many thanks for the pleasant co-operation are extended to all persons involved

in the project of this thesis. I wish to thank Dr. Jan Schwarzbauer from the

University of Technology in Aachen for constructive discussions which were very

productive for the progress of my dissertation. I also would like to thank Dipl.-

Geol. Birgit Gieren (Univ. Aachen) who worked on a co-project and performed

the microscopy of the samples. Dr. Chris Wheatley from the Geological British

Survey helped to organise the samples from British locations and contributed

substantially on finding literature for the specific locations. Prof. Hans Kerp,

University of M¨unster contributed the samples from Russia. I would also like

to thank Dr. Wolfgang Peters-Kottig, University of M¨unster who, within many

discussions helped me to assign the age of the Russian samples. Dr. Bojesen-

Koefoed of GEUS (Denmark) is acknowledged for providing the samples from

the Ravnefjeld Formation. Prof. Schneider and Dipl.-Geol. Frank K¨orner (both

University of Freiberg) contributed the samples from France. I especially wish to

thank Frank K¨orner for giving me insights in his investigations on the geology of

this specific samples. Additionally thanks are extended to Dipl.-Geol. Hartkopf-

Fr¨oder at the GLA in Krefeld who contributed the two fossils.

Thanks are extended to all my colleagues at the ICG-V in J¨ulich. Technicians,

scientists and Ph.D. students at the ICG-V provided an excellent working envi-

ronment. Thanks especially to Dr. Thomas Fischer, Dr. Andreas Fuhrmann, Dr.

Thomas Oldenburg, Dr. Jochen Naeth and Dr. Klaus Zink, Stephan Gerisch, Ul-

rich Herten, Marina Kloppisch and Oliver Kranendonk. This thesis would not have

been possible without the support and expertise of Franz Leistner, Helmut Willsch,

III

Ulrich Disko, Anne Richter, Wolfgang L¨udke, Willi Benders, Christoph Mathesius,

Werner Laumer and many others from the Organic Geochemistry group. Addi-

tionally thanks are extended to M. Kleikamp from the library at the Research

Center J¨ulich for seeking out obscure literature.

This Ph.D. thesis was sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft as

part of the DFG priority programme ”Evolution des Systems Erde w¨ahrend

des j¨ungeren Pal¨aozoikums im Spiegel der Sedimentgeochemie” (Grant Wi 1359).

Thanks to many other scientists I met at the DFG-meetings for fruitful discussions.

Abstract

Based on macroscopic fossils, the evolution of land plants is well documented. In

contrast, knowledge on the biochemical evolution based on the geochemical char-

acterisation of fossil plant material is poorly understood. The investigations of

this thesis focus on the composition of extractable organic matter aiming to get

insights into biochemical evolution. Additionally, the interdependency between

oxygen containing compounds and the non functionalised aromatic hydrocarbons

is investigated in detail. A set of 40 samples spanning the time range from Mid-

dle/Late Devonian to Permian has been investigated. Criteria for the selection of

the samples were: (i) organic matter predominantly originating from terrestrial

sources, (ii) having suffered little thermal alteration and (iii) only weak weather-

ing. Due to the rarity of Paleozoic samples exhibiting all of these characteristics,

the samples had to be sought from numerous locations worldwide. With the excep-

tion of two samples, they all belong to the Euramerian flora realm. The vitrinite

reflectances of the samples range from 0.32 to 1.80% Rr. Most of them are coaly

shales, though a few sediments and two fossils are included in the collection.

For the characterisation of compound classes and individual compounds, low

molecular weight organic matter was extracted and separated into compound class

fractions via liquid chromatography. Five of the gained fractions, the aliphatic

hydrocarbons, the aromatic hydrocarbons, the low-polarity and middle-polarity

NSO compounds and the acid fractions were investigated in detail. Individual

compounds were identified and quantified applying gas chromatography (GC) for

the aliphatic hydrocarbons and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

for the other four compound class fractions.

Aliphatic hydrocarbons were minor contributors to the extractable organic matter

for most of the samples and yielded little biogenic information. They served to

estimate the thermal maturity and the redox potential of the samples. The absence

of long chain n-alkanes in most of the immature samples, indicates that cuticular

waxes are not an unambiguous characteristic of vascular plants in the Paleozoic.

Among the investigated compound classes, alkyldibenzofurans, alkylphenylnaph-

thalenes and benzo[b]naphthofurans were assigned to be terrestrial biomark-

ers. While variations in relative amounts of alkyldibenzofurans point to dif-

ferent origins of individual isomers, isomers of alkylphenylnaphthalenes and

benzo[b]naphthofurans seem to originate from the same sources. It is suggested

in this thesis that alkylphenylnaphthalenes may originate from lignans and that

benzo[b]naphthofurans are condensation products of an ubiquitous terrestrial

source.

Alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes are predominant in all investigated sam-

ples, this being typical for terrestrial organic matter of the investigated matu-

rity range. Isomers of alkylphenanthrenes showed weaker correlation than iso-

mers of alkylnaphthalenes. It is therefore suggested, that alkylnaphthalenes are

formed earlier than alkylphenanthrenes with respect to thermal stress and that

isomerisation reactions of alkylnaphthalenes therefore proceed prior to those of

alkylphenanthrenes. The biogenic significance of individual alkylnaphthalenes

and -phenanthrenes is rather complex and is discussed in detail. Based on the

data of this thesis the significance of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene as a marker of

angiosperms is questionable. In contrast 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene could be

identified as a compound showing high variations in relative amounts. Thus, it

is suggested that the compound originates from tetracyclic triterpenoids of the

dammarane type or from plant steroids.

Functionalised compounds based on the naphthalene and phenanthrene skeleton

are also highly abundant in the low-polarity NSO compound fraction and the

acid fraction, this being more pronounced for compounds of the naphthalene type.

Both, aldehydes and ketones as well as carboxylic acids strongly correspond to

their non-functionalised aromatic counterparts. This strongly indicates that func-

tionalised compounds are formed from the aromatic hydrocarbons via oxidation

within the investigated maturity range. This is supposed to occur under mild

conditions in the case of aldehydes and ketones, while the formation of carboxylic

acids is probably forced under thermal stress. By analogy methylfluorenes and

methylfluoren-9-ones show strong correlation indicating that alkylfluorenes are

easily oxidised in sediments, too.

The lowest overall yields of extractable compounds were obtained for the middle-

polarity NSO-compound fractions containing alcohols and phenols. This observa-

tion was attributed to their depleted thermal stability with regard to the maturity

range of the investigated samples. The presence of isoborneol, borneol, fenchyl

alcohol, camphor, verbenone, menthol, carvacrol, thymol and menthone in many

immature samples expanding the period from the Middle/Late Devonian to Per-

mian ages, however, is observed for the first time. This is remarkable due to the

fact that some of these compounds are strained and their presence probably is of

great significance, pointing to the capacity of these ancient terrestrial plants to

synthesize these monoterpenes.

VII

Kurzfassung

Die Evolution der Landpflanzen ist durch fossile ¨

Uberlieferung auf der

makroskopischen Ebene gut dokumentiert. Im Gegensatz dazu ist die zugrun-

deliegende biochemische Evolution im Hinblick auf die geochemische Charak-

terisierung fossilen Pflanzenmaterials so gut wie nicht erforscht. Diese Arbeit

analysiert extrahierbares organisches Material mit dem Ziel, Einblicke in die bio-

chemische Evolution der Landpflanzen zu gewinnen. Zus¨atzlich wird der Zusam-

menhang zwischen sauerstoffhaltigen Verbindungen und den nicht funktional-

isierten aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen detailliert untersucht. Es wurden 40

Proben des Zeitraumes Mittleres/Oberes Devon bis Perm analysiert. Kriterien f¨ur

die Auswahl der Proben waren: das organische Material sollte (i) haupts¨achlich

terrestrischen Ursprungs sein, (ii) nur geringe thermische ¨

Uberpr¨agung erfahren

haben und (iii) der Witterung m¨oglichst wenig ausgesetzt gewesen sein. Aufgrund

der geringen Anzahl an Pal¨aozoischen Proben, die diese Eigenschaften auf sich vere-

inigen, stammen die Proben von zahlreichen Orten weltweit. Bis auf zwei Proben

geh¨oren jedoch alle zur Euramerianischen Florenprovinz. Die Vitrinitreflektion

der Proben liegt zwischen 0,32 und 1,80% Rr. Die meisten sind kohlige Tonsteine,

außerdem sind einige Sedimente und zwei Fossilien Bestandteil der Probenserie.

Zur Charakterisierung der Verbindungsklassen und spezifischer Verbindun-

gen wurde das niedermolekulare organische Material extrahiert und mittels

Fl¨ussigkeitschromatographie in Verbindungsklassenfraktionen separiert. Unter

den hier gewonnenen Fraktionen wurden f¨unf, die aliphatischen und aroma-

tischen Kohlenwasserstoffe, die Fraktionen der niederpolaren und mittelpo-

laren Heteroverbindungen sowie die der S¨aurefraktion detailliert untersucht.

Einzelverbindungen wurden f¨ur die aliphatischen Kohlenwasserstoffe mittels

Gaschromatographie (GC) und f¨ur die ¨ubrigen vier Verbindungsklassen mit-

tels Gaschromatographie-Massenspektrometrie (GC-MS) identifiziert und quan-

tifiziert.

Aliphatische Kohlenwasserstoffe machten einen geringen Anteil des extrahierbaren

organischen Materials aus und lieferten f¨ur den Großteil der Proben wenig bio-

gene Information. Sie dienten dazu, die thermische Reife und das Redoxpotential

der Proben zu bestimmen. Das Fehlen von langkettigen n-Alkanen in vielen der

unreifen Proben weist jedoch darauf hin, daß Kutikularwachse nicht notwendiger-

weise von Gef¨aßpflanzen des Pal¨aozoikums produziert wurden.

Alkylnaphthaline und -phenanthrene dominieren in allen Proben. Dies ist typ-

isch f¨ur terrestrisches organisches Material des untersuchten Reifeintervalls. Die

Verteilung der Alkylphenanthrene korreliert schw¨acher als die der Alkylnaphtha-

line. Dies wird darauf zur¨uckgef¨uhrt, daß durch die thermische Reifung Alkyl-

naphthaline vor Alkylphenanthrenen entstehen und daß ihre Isomerisierung de-

mentsprechend fr¨uher einsetzt. Die biogene Signifikanz spezifischer Alkylnaph-

thaline und -phenanthrene ist komplex und wird detailliert diskutiert. Aufgrund

der Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit ist davon auszugehen, daß 1,2,7-Trimethylnaphthalin

nur eingeschr¨ankt als Angiospermenmarker genutzt werden sollte. Bei 1,2,8-

Trimethylnaphthalin handelt es sich hingegen wahrscheinlich um einen Biomarker,

der von tetracyclischen Triterpenen des Dammarane-Types oder von Pflanzens-

teroiden abstammen k¨onnte.

Funktionalisierte Verbindungen des Naphthalin- und Phenanthrentypes sind

außerdem wichtige Bestandteile der niederpolaren Heterokomponenten und der

S¨aurefraktion. Dieser Befund ist bei den Verbindungen, die auf dem Naph-

thalinger¨ust basieren, besonders ausgepr¨agt. Sowohl Aldehyde und Ketone als

auch Karbons¨auren korrelieren stark mit den entsprechenden nichtfunktional-

isierten aromatischen Verbindungen. Dies l¨aßt stark vermuten, daß die funktion-

alisierten Verbindungen f¨ur das untersuchte Reifeintervall mittels Oxidation aus

den nicht funktionalisierten aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen gebildet wurden.

Dies geschieht f¨ur Aldehyde und Ketone unter milden Bedingungen, w¨ahrend die

Bildung der Karbons¨auren durch thermische Reifung beg¨unstigt wird. Analog

hierzu zeigen Methylfluorene und Methylfluoren-9-one eine starke Abh¨angigkeit.

Das weist daraufhin, daß Alkylfluorene in Sedimenten bevorzugt oxidiert werden.

Die mittelpolaren Heteroverbindungen, d.h. die Fraktion der Alkohole und Phe-

nole, bilden die Fraktion mit der geringsten Ausbeute. Dies wird auf die geringe

thermische Stabilit¨at dieser Verbindungen im untersuchten Reifeinterval zur¨uck-

gef¨uhrt. Das Vorhandensein von Isoborneol, Borneol, Fenchylalkohol, Kampher,

Verbenon, Menthol, Carvacrol, Thymol und Menthon in vielen unreifen Proben

des gesamten untersuchten Zeitintervalls wird in dieser Arbeit erstmals dokumen-

tiert. Dies ist insbesondere bemerkenswert, da es sich bei einigen um gespannte

Verbindungen handelt. Ihr Auftreten in den untersuchten Proben zeigt, daß die

Landpflanzen des Pal¨aozoikums bereits die F¨ahigkeit besaßen, diese Verbindungen

zu synthetisieren.

Contents

Acknowledgement III

Abstract V

Kurzfassung IX

Contents XI

List of Figures XV

List of Tables XIX

List of Abbreviations XXIII

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Evolution of the System Earth .................... 1

1.2 Origin and Evolution of Land Plants ................ 5

1.2.1 Evolution of Morphology and Secondary Metabolites . . . 8

1.2.2 Flora Realms in the Late Paleozoic ............. 11

1.3 Preservation of Terrestrial Organic Matter ............. 12

1.3.1 Composition of Coals ..................... 13

1.3.2 Controls on the Composition of Sedimentary Organic Matter 14

1.4 Significance of Biomarkers ...................... 18

1.4.1 Biomarkers .......................... 18

1.4.2 Age-Specific Biomarkers ................... 19

2 Objectives 21

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples 25

3.1 North England ............................ 26

3.1.1 West Cumberland- the West Cumbrian Coalfield ...... 29

Namurian - Hensingham Group ............... 29

Westphalian .......................... 33

3.1.2 Durham and Northumberland ................ 35

3.2 Moscow Basin ............................. 36

3.3 East Germany ............................. 39

3.4 East Greenland-Ravnefjeld Formation ................ 39

3.5 Lod`eve Basin ............................. 42

3.6 Spitsbergen .............................. 43

3.7 Fossils ................................. 44

3.8 South China .............................. 45

3.9 Petchora Basin ............................ 47

4 Materials and Methods 49

4.1 Elemental Analysis .......................... 49

4.2 Rock-Eval Pyrolysis .......................... 50

4.3 Extraction ............................... 51

4.4 Iatroscan ................................ 51

4.5 Liquid Chromatographic Separation into Compound Class Fractions 52

4.6 Gas Chromatography ......................... 52

4.7 Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry .............. 54

4.8 Standard Compounds ......................... 54

5 Bulk Geochemical Results 57

5.1 Elemental Analysis .......................... 57

5.2 Microscopy .............................. 57

5.3 Rock-Eval Pyrolysis .......................... 60

6 Molecular Geochemical Results 65

6.1 Compound Class Distribution by Iatroscan ............. 65

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons ....................... 65

Introduction .......................... 65

n-Alkanes ........................... 67

Pristane and Phytane ..................... 71

Steranes and Diasteranes ................... 72

Hopanes ............................ 76

Resum´ee ............................ 80

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons ....................... 82

Introduction .......................... 82

Naphthalene and Alkylnaphthalenes ............. 83

Phenanthrene and Alkylphenanthrenes ........... 94

Biphenyl and Alkylbiphenyls ................. 101

Fluorene and Alkylfluorenes ................. 102

Phenylnaphthalenes and Alkylphenylnaphthalenes . . . . . 104

Resum´ee ............................ 105

XII

6.4 NSO Compounds ........................... 107

Introduction .......................... 107

6.4.1 Low-Polarity NSO Compounds ............... 107

Introduction .......................... 107

Dibenzothiophene and Alkyldibenzothiophenes ....... 108

Dibenzofuran and Alkyldibenzofurans ............ 113

Benzo[b]naphthofurans .................... 117

Carbazole and Alkylcarbazoles ................ 118

Fluoren-9-one and Alkylfluoren-9-ones ........... 122

Xanthones ........................... 124

Alkylnaphthaldehydes and Alkylnaphthylketones . . . . . 125

Resum´ee ............................ 128

6.4.2 Alcohols and Phenols ..................... 130

Introduction .......................... 130

Monoterpenoic Alcohols ................... 130

Alkylphenols ......................... 133

6.4.3 Carboxylic Acids ....................... 136

Introduction .......................... 136

Saturated n-Fatty Acids ................... 137

Alkylbenzoic Acids ...................... 142

Lignin and Resin derived Acids ............... 145

Alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic Acids .............. 148

Alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic Acids ............. 150

Alkylphenanthrene- and Alkylanthracenecarboxylic Acids . 152

Hopanoic Acids ........................ 154

Resum´ee ............................ 155

7 Discussion 157

7.1 Maturity and Environment ...................... 159

7.1.1 North English Coals, Group I ................ 159

7.1.2 Immature Type III Coals, Group II ............. 168

7.1.3 Samples Containing Type II-III Kerogen of Enhanced Ther-

mal Maturities, Group III .................. 173

7.1.4 Samples Containing Predominantly Type I Kerogen, Group

IV ............................... 178

Aliphatic Hydrocarbons in Type I Kerogen Samples . . . . 180

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes ............... 182

7.2.1 Group I ............................ 182

7.2.2 Group II ............................ 196

7.2.3 Group III ........................... 203

7.2.4 Group IV ........................... 208

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones211

XIII

7.3.1 Group I ............................ 211

7.3.2 Group II ............................ 217

7.3.3 Group III ........................... 222

7.3.4 Group IV ........................... 225

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds ....................... 227

7.4.1 Group I ............................ 227

7.4.2 Group II ............................ 234

7.4.3 Group III ........................... 239

7.4.4 Group IV ........................... 242

7.5 Resum´ee ................................ 245

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances .................... 253

7.6.1 Compounds and Compound Classes of Little Chemotaxo-

nomic Value .......................... 253

7.6.2 Individual Compounds of Enhanced Chemotaxonomic Sig-

nificance ............................ 261

8 Summary and Conclusions 269

Bibliography 273

Appendix A1

A Data Compilation A3

A.1 Bulk Results .............................. A3

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons ....................... A7

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons ....................... A31

A.4 NSO-Compounds ........................... A63

A.5 Carboxylic Acids ........................... A88

XIV

List of Figures

1.1 Atmospheric oxygen and the evolution of flora and fauna ..... 4

1.2 Phylogenetic relationship of seed plants ............... 7

1.3 Oxygen content of lignins ...................... 9

1.4 Evolution of flavonoids ........................ 10

1.5 Low molecular weight constituents of early land plants ...... 15

1.6 Age-specific biomarkers ........................ 17

3.1 Geographic origin of Late Paleozoic samples ............ 26

3.2 Locations in Cumberland ....................... 30

3.3 Stratigraphy of the Hensingham Group ............... 32

3.4 Stratigraphy in Cumberland ..................... 34

3.5 Regional setting of the Moscow Syncline .............. 38

3.6 Geological map of East Greenland .................. 40

3.7 Stratigraphy of the Ravnefjeld Formation .............. 41

3.8 Position of the Lod`eve Basin ..................... 43

3.9 Shuicheng Basin in South China ................... 45

3.10 Stratigraphy of the Shuicheng Basin ................. 46

4.1 Procedures applied in this work ................... 50

4.2 Liquid chromatographic separation ................. 53

5.1 Maceral group distribution ...................... 58

5.2 HI vs. OI ............................... 61

5.3 HI vs. Tmax .............................. 62

5.4 S2 vs. TOC .............................. 63

6.1 Compound class distribution ..................... 66

6.2 Gas chromatograms of aliphatic hydrocarbons ........... 69

6.3 Formation of pristane and phytane from phytol .......... 71

6.4 Steroid compounds referred to in the text .............. 74

6.5 Ternary plot of steranes and diasteranes .............. 75

6.6 Hopanoic compounds referred to in the text ............ 76

6.7 Vitrinite reflectance vs. hopane isomerisation ratios ........ 79

6.8 Gas Chromatogram of hopenes ................... 80

6.9 Aromatic compound classes ..................... 83

6.10 Pyrolytic degradation of β-carotene ................. 85

6.11 Precursors of selected alkylnaphthalenes .............. 86

6.12 Gas Chromatograms of alkylnaphthalenes ............. 90

6.13 Cross plot of vitrinite reflectance vs. DNR ............. 92

6.14 Precursors of retene and pimanthrene ................ 95

6.15 Gas Chromatograms of alkylphenanthrenes ............. 98

6.16 Vitrinite reflectance vs. alkylphenanthrene isomerisation ratios . . 100

6.17 Formation of 1-methylfluorene .................... 102

6.18 Gas Chromatogram of alkylfluorenes ................ 103

6.19 Gas Chromatograms of phenylnaphthalenes ............ 104

6.20 Tricyclic and tetracyclic aromatic NSO compounds ........ 108

6.21 Possible formation of alkyldibenzothiophenes ............ 109

6.22 Gas Chromatogram of alkyldibenzothiophenes ........... 110

6.23 Vitrinite reflectance vs. A) MDR´ and B) EDR´ ......... 112

6.24 DBT/Phenanthrene vs. pristane/phytane .............. 112

6.25 Dibenzofuran metabolites present in extant lichens ........ 114

6.26 Gas Chromatogram of alkyldibenzofurans .............. 115

6.27 1-MDBF/(1-MDBF + 4-MDBF) vs. vitrinite reflectance . . . . . 115

6.28 (MDBF 5)/(MDBF 5 + MDBF 11) vs. vitrinite reflectance . . . . 116

6.29 MDBTs/MDBFs vs. pristane/phytane ............... 117

6.30 Gas Chromatogram of benzobnaphthofurans ............ 118

6.31 Possible origin of alkylcarbazoles .................. 118

6.32 Gas Chromatogram of alkylcarbazoles ................ 120

6.33 Plots representing the distribution of alkylcarbazoles ....... 121

6.34 Formation of floren-9-one ....................... 122

6.35 Gas Chromatogram of alkylfluoren-9-ones .............. 123

6.36 Gas Chromatogram of alkylxanthones ................ 125

6.37 Gas Chromatogram alkylnaphthaldehydes and -acetylnaphthalenes 127

6.38 Ethylnaphthalenes vs. acetylnaphthalenes ............. 128

6.39 Structures and Gas Chromatogram of monoterpenes ........ 132

6.40 Ternary plot of isopropylmethyphenols ............... 134

6.41 Acidic compound classes ....................... 137

6.42 Gas Chromatograms of n-fatty acids ................ 140

6.43 Maturity dependence of alkylbenzoic acids ............. 143

6.44 Gas Chromatogram of alkylbenzoic acids .............. 143

6.45 Gas Chromatograms of alkylhydroxy-/-methoxybenzoic acids . . . 146

6.46 Cross plot of hydroxybenzoic acids ................. 147

6.47 Gas Chromatograms of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids . . . . . 149

6.48 Gas Chromatograms of alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids . . . . 151

XVI

6.49 Gas Chromatogram of alkylphenanthrene-/-anthracenecarboxylic

acids .................................. 153

7.1 Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and B) HI vs. Tmax .......... 160

7.2 MPI-1 vs. vitrinite reflectance and vs. Tmax ............ 161

7.3 DNR, DPR and MDR’ vs. vitrinite reflectance .......... 162

7.4 DBT/P and MDBT/MDBF vs.pristane/phytane .......... 165

7.5 Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and HI vs. Tmax ........... 169

7.6 Cross plots of hopane isomers vs. vitrinite reflectance ....... 170

7.7 Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and HI vs. Tmax ........... 173

7.8 MPI-1, MNR and ENR vs. vitrinite reflectance .......... 175

7.9 MDBTs/MDBFs vs. pristane/phytane ............... 176

7.10 Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and HI vs. Tmax ........... 178

7.11 Cross plots of hopane isomers vs. vitrinite reflectance ....... 179

7.12 Tetracyclic triterpanes vs. vitrinite reflectance ........... 181

7.13 Possible genetic relationships ..................... 184

7.14 Cross plots of compounds based on the naphthalene skeleton . . . 185

7.15 Volatilisation effects ......................... 187

7.16 Cross plots of carboxylic acids .................... 188

7.17 Baeyer-Villiger-oxidation ....................... 189

7.18 Cross plots of specific alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes . . . 190

7.19 Cross plots of maturity ratios of alkylnaphthalenes ........ 193

7.20 Volatilisation effects ......................... 197

7.21 Cadalene vs. 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene .............. 199

7.22 Genetic relationship of specific alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes200

7.23 Cross plot of 1,7-dimethylnaphthalene vs. 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene202

7.24 Volatilisation effects ......................... 206

7.25 Volatilisation effects ......................... 210

7.26 Radical phenylation and cyclisation ................. 212

7.27 Cross plots of alkylfluorenes vs. -fluoren-9-ones ........... 214

7.28 Missing correlation between alkylbiphenyls and -phenylnaphthalenes 216

7.29 Cross plots of alkylfluorenes vs. -fluoren-9-ones ........... 218

7.30 Possible biogenic precursors of alkylphenylnaphthalenes ...... 220

7.31 Cross plot of phenylnaphthalenes vs. Tmax ............. 223

7.32 Correlation of alkyldibenzothiophenes to environmental factors . . 229

7.33 Cross plots based on correlations of methyldibenzofurans . . . . . 230

7.34 Cross plot of MDBFs vs. MDBTs .................. 231

7.35 Formation of alkyldibenzothiophenes ................ 235

7.36 Cross plot of two alkyldibenzofurans ................ 237

7.37 Oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons ................. 246

7.38 Relative amounts of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene ......... 255

7.39 Formation of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene ............. 256

XVII

7.40 Precursors of cadalene ........................ 259

7.41 Amounts of gymnosperm markers .................. 263

7.42 Cross plot of ratios 1,2,7-TMN/1,3,7-TMN to 1,2,5-TMN/1,3,6-TMN266

XVIII

List of Tables

3.1 Geological age of the investigated samples ............. 27

3.2 Geographical origin, lithology and rank of the samples ...... 28

3.3 Samples of the Hensingham Group ................. 31

3.4 Samples of the Westphalian ..................... 33

3.5 Samples from Rowlands Gill ..................... 36

3.6 Samples from Throckley ....................... 36

5.1 vitrinite reflectances ......................... 59

6.1 CPI- and ATRHC-values of the samples ............... 70

6.2 Values of pristane/phytane and pristane/n-C17 ........... 73

6.3 Selected parameters reflecting the proportions of different hopane

isomers ................................. 78

6.4 Maturity parameters based on alkylnaphthalenes .......... 88

6.5 Values of selected alkylnaphthalene ratios .............. 91

6.6 Maturity parameters based on alkylphenanthrenes ......... 97

6.7 Maturity parameters based on alkyldibenzothiophenes ....... 109

6.8 Occurrence and composition of monoterpenes ........... 132

6.9 n-fatty acid ratios of the samples .................. 141

7.1 Occurrence of compounds based on the naphthalene and phenan-

threne skeleton ............................ 183

7.2 Occurrence of compounds based on the naphthalene and phenan-

threne skeleton ............................ 196

7.3 Occurrence of compounds based on the naphthalene and phenan-

threne skeleton ............................ 204

7.4 Occurrence of compounds based on the naphthalene and phenan-

threne skeleton ............................ 209

7.5 Occurrence of alkylfluorenes, -biphenyls, -phenylnaphthalenes and

-fluoren-9-ones ............................. 213

7.6 Occurrence of alkylfluorenes, -biphenyls, -phenylnaphthalenes and

-fluoren-9-ones ............................. 217

XIX

7.7 Occurrence of alkylfluorenes, -biphenyls, -phenylnaphthalenes and

-fluoren-9-ones ............................. 222

7.8 Occurrence of alkylfluorenes, -biphenyls, -phenylnaphthalenes and

-fluoren-9-ones ............................. 225

7.9 Occurrence of heterocyclic compounds ............... 228

7.10 Occurrence of heterocyclic compounds ............... 235

7.11 Occurrence of heterocyclic compounds ............... 240

7.12 Occurrence of heterocyclic compounds ............... 243

7.13 Compound classes formed randomly ................. 248

7.14 Compound classes with specific terrestrial precursors ....... 248

A.1 Maceral Group Distribution and Data of Elemental Analysis . . . A4

A.2 Data of Rock-Eval Pyrolysis ..................... A5

A.3 Compound Class Distribution of Extractable Organic Matter . . . A6

A.4 Nomenclature of n-Alkanes ...................... A8

A.5 Concentrations of n-Alkanes ..................... A9

A.6 Distribution of n-Alkanes (samples without standard) ....... A13

A.7 Concentrations of Pristane and Phytane .............. A15

A.8 Distribution of Pristane and Phytane (samples without standard) A16

A.9 Nomenclature of Steranes and Diasteranes ............. A17

A.10 Distribution of Steranes and Diasteranes .............. A18

A.11 Definition of Sterane- and Diasterane-Ratios ............ A22

A.12 Ratios of Steranes and Diasteranes ................. A22

A.13 Nomenclature of Hopanes ...................... A23

A.14 Concentrations of Hopanes ...................... A24

A.15 Distribution of Hopanes ....................... A28

A.16 Concentrations of Alkylhopenes ................... A29

A.17 Concentrations of Tetracyclic Secohopanes ............. A30

A.18 Concentrations of Alkylnaphthalenes ................ A32

A.19 Distribution of Alkylnaphthalenes (samples without standard) . . A40

A.20 Ratios of Alkylnaphthalenes ..................... A44

A.21 Concentrations of Alkylphenanthrenes ............... A45

A.22 Distribution of Alkylphenanthrenes (samples without standard) . A53

A.23 Concentrations of Alkylbiphenyls .................. A57

A.24 Concentrations of Alkylfluorenes ................... A59

A.25 Concentration of Phenylnaphthalenes ................ A60

A.26 Distribution of Alkylbiphenyls (samples without standard) . . . . A61

A.27 Distribution of Alkylfluorenes (samples without standard) . . . . A62

A.28 Distribution of Phenylnaphthalenes (samples without standard) . A62

A.29 Concentrations of Alkyldibenzothiophenes ............. A64

A.30 Distribution of Alkyldibenzothiophenes (samples without standard) A65

A.31 Concentrations of Alkyldibenzofurans ................ A66

A.32 Concentrations of Benzo[b]naphthofurans .............. A70

A.33 Distribution of Alkyldibenzofurans (samples without standard) . . A71

A.34 Distribution of Benzo[b]naphthofurans(samples without standard) A73

A.35 Distribution of Alkylcarbazoles ................... A74

A.36 Distribution of Alkylfluoren-9-ones ................. A80

A.37 Distribution of Alkylxanthones ................... A83

A.38 Distribution of Alkylnaphthaledhydes and -naphthylketones . . . A84

A.39 Distribution of Phenols ........................ A87

A.40 Nomenclature of n-Fatty Acids ................... A89

A.41 Distribution of n-Fatty Acids .................... A90

A.42 Distribution of Alkylbenzoic Acids ................. A95

A.43 Distribution of Alkylhydroxy-/Alkylmethoxybenzoic Acids . . . . A98

A.44 Distribution of Alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic Acids ......... A102

A.45 Distribution of Alkylanthracene/Phenanthrenecarboxylic Acids . . A105

A.46 Distribution of Alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic Acids ........ A109

A.47 Distribution of Hopanoic Acids ................... A112

A.48 Distribution of additional Hopanoic Acids present in Immature CoalsA113

XXI

List of Abbreviations

ATR Aquatic/ Terrigenous Ratio of Hydrocarbons

BP Before Present

CO2Carbondioxide

CPI Carbon Preference Index

DBF Dibenzofuran

DNR Dimethyl-Naphthalene-Ratio

DPR Dimethyl-Phenanthrene-Ratio

EI Electron Ionisation

eV Electron Volt

FID Flame Ionisation Detector

GC Gas Chromatography

GC-MS Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

HC Hydrocarbons

HI Hydrogen Index (mg HC/g TOC)

HHI HomoHopaneIndex

H-MPLC Hetero-Medium Pressure Liquid Chromatography

i.d. Internal Diameter

m/z Mass/Charge

MPLC Medium Pressure Liquid Chromatography

MPI Methyl-Phenanthrene-Index

n.d. not detected or unreliable

NSO Nitrogen, Sulphur and Oxygen

OEP Odd-over-Even Predominance

OI Oxygen Index (mg CO2/TOC)

OM Organic Matter

RcCalculated Vitrinite Reflectance, extrapolated from a geo-

chemical parameter

RrVitrinite Reflectance

SO3Sulphurtrioxide

TC Total Carbon

TOC Total Organic Carbon

TS Total Sulphur

XXIII

1 Introduction

1.1 Evolution of the System Earth during the Late

Paleozoic

Evolution is an ongoing process. However, especially the Late Paleozoic (354-

251.4 Ma BP) is characterised as the period when terrestrial life evolved and

differentiated most significantly. The two periods attributed to the Late Paleozoic

are the Carboniferous (354-292 Ma BP) and the Permian (292-251.4 Ma BP). The

era is preceded by the Devonian (Middle Paleozoic, 417-354 Ma BP) and followed

by the Triassic (Mesozoic, 250-205.1 Ma BP).

At the beginning of the Paleozoic (545 Ma BP), life of fauna and flora is limited

to the sea. While marine life did not differ strongly since the Devonian, terrestrial

environments until the end of the Paleozoic were subject to extreme changes basi-

cally due to the evolution of land plants. Although fossil spores from the Middle

Ordovician (Early Paleozoic, 495-440 Ma BP) indicate the existence of land plants

at this time (Gray,1993), a significant colonization of land masses by plants proba-

bly has not occurred until the Middle Paleozoic (440-354 Ma BP). The inhabitance

of terrestrial environments by plants is an important evolutionary challenge as it

is the beginning of life for both fauna and flora beneath the sea (Kenrick and

Crane,1997). After early colonization, significant diversification and expansion

of land plants is attributed to the Late Paleozoic. While especially the Carbonif-

erous is characterised by the evolution of new animal and plant groups which in

turn influenced the deposition processes of sediments, the Permian is the period

at whose end the biggest mass extinction took place and many of the evolved

1 Introduction

fauna and flora disappeared again. Although there is common agreement on the

approximate evolutionary steps of land plants, detailed knowledge is limited.

In any case the transition of life from sea to land means a drastic change in life style

(Gray and Shear,1992). To survive and expand on land, plants required significant

evolutionary adaption. The generation of a transport system for nutrient and

water supply for example is necessary due to the different environmental conditions

on land in comparison to the sea i.e. the presence of an atmosphere in general.

The early evolution of land plants is also influenced by several changing environ-

mental factors which to different degrees show an interdependency to the evolu-

tion of land plants. Indeed environmental conditions are significantly influenced

by the expansion and evolution of land plants. Elevated photosynthesis and there-

fore liberation of oxygen for example strongly influences the composition of the

atmosphere, while enhanced production of biomass changes composition of land

masses and in turn results in elevated fluxes of these sedimented biomasses into

sea. In turn the evolution of land plants for example the composition of lignin

is influenced by the oxygen contents of the atmosphere. Tectonic movements in

contrast show weaker dependence on the evolution of plants. Tectonics however

is an important factor with regard to the first occurrence of land plants, due to

its influence on the position of land masses. The inhabitance of land masses by

plants began at low latitudes. Due to their influence on the evolution of early land

plants, both tectonic and climatic conditions of the Paleozoic have to be regarded.

The significant inhabitance of terrestrial environments probably began in the Sil-

urian (Middle Paleozoic, 440-417 Ma BP) and was predominantly restricted to

land masses that were located in temperate to subtropical regions. At this time,

the supercontinent Gondwana expanded from the South Pole to the equator and

made up to 70% of the Earths continental area (Scotese et al.,1999). At the

same time different parts of Gondwana experienced polar, temperate, subtropi-

cal and equatorial climates. Baltica and Greenland, but also the north eastern

part of Gondwana, i.e. Australia then were located at the equator. In the Early

Devonian Euramerica had formed at low latitudes, whereas the center of Gond-

wana had moved northwards. Paleozoic forests inhabited Euramerica. Whereas

at the beginning of the Late Paleozoic in the Early Carboniferous continents had

1.1 Evolution of the System Earth

generally drifted northwards, the Late Carboniferous was characterised by the for-

mation of Pangea due to the collision of the southern parts of Gondwana and the

continents that would later form North America and Europe (Euramerica) (Ross,

1999). In the Late Permian Pangea and Gondwana formed a huge continent ex-

panding from the South Pole to the North Pole. Whereas Australia had separated

from Gondwana during the Early Carboniferous, Siberia, North and South China

already evolved separately from the Middle Silurian (Scotese,2000). While the

evolution of land plants probably began uniform the, the separation of individual

land masses may be important due to the formation of separate flora realms.

Moreover latitudal movements of continents result in climate changes for certain

land masses, and therefore influence their settlement by land plants. Nevertheless

the changes in climate are not restricted to latitudal movements of land masses

only. From Middle to Late Paleozoic global climate changed from hot house to ice

house conditions and ended in hot house conditions again. Hot house periods are

characterised by the fact that none of the poles is permanently covered with ice

and strong seasonal cooling in general is rare. In contrast during ice house periods

both poles are permanently covered with ice. Mean temperatures are 12-14◦C for

ice house periods, while the average temperature of hot house periods lies around

18-22◦C. A change from ice house to hot house conditions occurred from Late

Ordovician to earliest Silurian and was followed by a period of global warming

expanding from the Silurian to the Middle Devonian. A decrease in global climate

during the Middle/Late Devonian results in predominantly ice house conditions

during the Carboniferous and the Permian. At the end of the Permian and the

beginning of the Mesozoic temperatures raised again. The change in climate at

the end of the Permian is supposed to have a significant influence on the mass

extinction.

Floral changes are known to depend on climatic variations (Kerp,1996). Addi-

tionally global average temperatures significantly influences terrestrial areas and

sedimentation. Warm periods normally result in transgressions while sea regresses

when polar caps are covered with permanent ice. The flooding of terrestrial envi-

ronments in times of transgressions results in a depletion of terrestrial land masses

and an increase of marine input into the sedimentary organic matter. Due to

1 Introduction

EA IN CF MI RE

1.5

1.0

0.5

500 400 300 200 100 0

Geological Age (Myr)

Atmospheric Oxygen [10 g]

Early Vascular Plants

Pteridophytes

Gymnosperms

Angiosperms

Early Marine Animals

Insects

Cartilagenous Fish

Modern Insects

Reptiles

Amphibians

Bony Fish

Birds

Mammals

Figure 1.1: Correlation between the oxygen content of the atmosphere and evolution of land

plants and animals (Gottlieb,1989)

transgressions depositional environments become marine, while in warm periods

terrestrial depositional environment show little input of marine organic matter.

Although climatic conditions and therefore the mean temperatures on Earth are

influenced by several factors, for example the solar radiation and the biosphere, the

composition of the atmosphere probably plays the most important role. While Mi-

lankowitch cycles describe the orbit of the Earth around the sun and therefore help

to assess solar radiation, mean temperatures on Earth would be low without the

atmospheres capacity to retain heat (Barnes,1999). This does especially account

for the contents of CO2in the atmosphere. High proportions of CO2support hot

house conditions. While the amounts of nitrogen (N2) are assumed to have been

relatively constant during the Paleozoic, partial pressures of oxygen (O2) and car-

bon dioxide (CO2) have varied more significantly (Graham et al.,1995). Crowley

and Baum (1995) found a positive correlation between CO2contents of the atmo-

sphere and changes in climate, and assumed, that diversification of life may have

depressed CO2levels. The significant decrease of CO2levels is supposed to have

started in the Silurian/End-Ordovician, reaching its minimum in the Carbonifer-

1.2 Origin and Evolution of Land Plants

ous/Permian period (Graham et al.,1995). This decrease of CO2is accompanied

by an increase of oxygen partial pressure (Fig. 1.1). It is most likely that the

CO2depression can be attributed to the evolution of land plants and their expan-

sion, i.e. the significant increase of biodiversity in Late Paleozoic times (Rothman,

2001). Indeed an emergence of plants correlates with times when oxygen shows

depleted levels, compared to CO2(Fig. 1.1), while their diversification coincides

with elevated oxygen levels (Gottlieb,1989). Conversion of CO2to organic matter

results from photosynthesis. The CO2required for photosynthesis in land plants

is taken from the atmosphere. The consumption of CO2is controlled by diffu-

sion. Animals on the other hand emerged at times of oxygen maxima (Fig. 1.1).

This is due to the fact, that their respiration requires oxygen. Mass extinctions

correspond to times when oxygen levels have been low, while atmospheric oxygen

contents are not necessarily the causes for these extinctions (Gottlieb,1989).

1.2 Origin and Evolution of Land Plants

Earliest land plants belong to the groups of bryophytes ( mosses, hornworts and

liverworts) and tracheophytes (lycopyds, horsetails, ferns and seed plants). The

colonization of land masses by plants probably took place in low-lying freshwater

or marginal marine environments. Most of the landmasses where land plants

evolved were located between 30◦and 60◦of the paleoequator and offered tropical

or subtropical climate, abundant sunlight, frequent dry periods and poor soil

formation (Gensel and Andrews,1987).

Earliest inhabitants of terrestrial environments probably have been bacteria, algae,

lichens and fungi (Kenrick and Crane,1997). These organisms played a significant

role within the conversion of inorganic soils, especially with respect to the release

of nutrients. They therefore developed important features that facilitated the

inhabitance of terrestrial environments (Gray and Shear,1992).

The ancestors of early land plants are not certainly known. It is presumable that

both groups, the bryophytes and the tracheophytes have an aquatic origin. How-

ever they differ notably and it is most likely that they therefore have an indepen-

1 Introduction

dent algal origin (Strickberger,1996). Their similarities respecting this hypothesis

then are not the product of an homology but a parallel evolution (Strickberger,

1996). It is commonly presumed that early tracheophytes evolved from charo-

phytes i.e. green algae, which share many important characteristics, for example

the capacity to produce sporopollenin, cutin, phenolic compounds and the glyco-

late oxidase pathway (Graham,1985). The question which plant has been the

earliest land plant is contradictory. Qiu et al. (1998) suggested liverworts to be

the earliest land plants due to the fact that they miss some traits typical for other

land plants. The uncertainty results from the fact that earliest land plants left

no recognisable fossils. Whereas spores have already been discovered in Middle

Ordovician deposits, megafossils attributed to plants can be dated back to the

Silurian, only (Gray and Shear,1992;Gray,1993). These fossils of vascular plants

belong to the genus of Cooksonia which reached heights of only few centimeters,

showed no differentiation into steams and leaves and was characterised by the

absence of true roots. These early vascular land plants probably were short lived,

partly reflecting the fact that their capability was limited to primary growth (Ed-

wards and Feeham,1980;Gensel and Andrews,1987). Vascular plants, which

became established during Silurian times, diversified rapidly and outnumbered

the non vascular plants by the end of the Devonian (Gensel and Andrews,1987).

Significant diversification of early land plants occurred during the Devonian.

While modern bryophytes still are predominantly limited to moist habitats, tra-

cheophytes developed vascular tissues. The so-called xylem and phloem offers the

opportunity to circulate water and nutrients. These features helped tracheophytes

to adapt to widely different habitats (Gray and Shear,1992).

Seed plants i.e. gymnosperms evolved during the Carboniferous and the Permian

(Hart,1987;Kerp,1996). The evolution of heterospority, distinguishing seed

plants had already proceeded in the Late Devonian (Gensel and Andrews,1987).

Tracheophytes, in particular horsetails and ferns probably are the ancestors of

seed plants (Pryer et al.,2001). Cycads, ginkgoales and conifers are attributed

to gymnosperms (Fig. 1.2), the classification of Gnetales in contrast is contradic-

tory (Bowe et al.,2000;Chaw et al.,2000;Schmidt and Schneider-Poetsch,2002).

While Schmidt and Schneider-Poetsch (2002) found that Gnetales are closest to

1.2 Origin and Evolution of Land Plants

Angiosperms

Taxaceae

Taxodiaceae

Cupressaceae

Pinaceae

Podocarpaceae

Araucariaceae

Cycads

Ginkgoales

Gnetales

Conifers

Gymnosperms

Figure 1.2: Relationship of seed plants and Gnetales according to Schmidt and Schneider-

Poetsch (2002); in contrast Chaw et al. (2000) found Gnetales to be strongly related to Pinaceae

angiosperms (Fig. 1.2), Bowe et al. (2000); Chaw et al. (2000) found Gnetales

to be monophyletic to conifers and to be a sister group to Pinaceae. Cycads and

thereafter ginkgoales were the first gymnosperms to separate. Among the conifers

it is generally accepted that Pinaceae were the first to separate (Hart,1987;Bowe

et al.,2000;Chaw et al.,2000;Schmidt and Schneider-Poetsch,2002). The ques-

tion of the phylogeny of Gnetales is important due to the fact, that they normally

are regarded to be the ancestors of angiosperms. In contrast many of the recent

studies cited above indicate, that the separation of angiosperms already occurred

in the Late Paleozoic due to Gnetales showing a stronger relation to conifers and

especially Pinaceae than to angiosperms.

At the end of the Paleozoic most families of the plant kingdom had evolved. Post-

Paleozoic periods are characterised by a significant diversification and expansion

of angiosperms. Fossils of angiosperms can be dated back to the Upper Cretaceous,

whereas DNA-analysis of modern angiosperms indeed indicate that evolutionary

specification related to their formation took place already during the Carbonifer-

ous (Martin et al.,1989).

1 Introduction

1.2.1 Evolution of Morphology and Secondary Metabolites

The adaptation of plants to terrestrial environments required several developments.

These changes strongly affected the morphology of early land plants. They devel-

oped:

•waxy outer coatings, or cuticles to prevent the loss of water by cell surface

evaporation,

•chemical mechanisms to protect plants from destructive influences of UV-

radiation,

•stomata (pores) for gas exchange with the atmosphere,

•a system to transport water and nutrients,

•characteristical reproductive features (gametophytes and sporophytes)

adapted to land.

In addition to be successful in terrestrial environments, plants evolved progressive

differentiation into specialised parts, i.e stems, roots and leaves (Gensel and An-

drews,1987). The development of roots and stems enabled the vertical growth of

plants. Vertical growth indeed is a characteristic of land plants, probably stimu-

lated by the competition for sun light (Kenrick and Crane,1997). Leaves became

the places where photosynthesis is carried out. All listed features are characteristic

for land plants and distinguish them from their likely aquatic ancestors.

These listed macro- and microscopical steps of evolution have been accompanied

by the biochemical evolution of plant constituents. Although earliest findings

of spores due to the preservation by sporopollenin coatings were attributed to

earliest land plants, the capacity to produce sporopollenin is also due to living

charophycean algae. Lignin, on the other hand, characterises vascular plants.

Tracheophytes contain xylem which consists of lignin. Xylem is generally absent

in bryophytes (Gray and Shear,1992). The enhanced resistance of lignin against

biotic and abiotic degradation may be an important factor for the formation of

fossils (Gray and Shear,1992). Another important constituent of land plants are

1.2 Origin and Evolution of Land Plants

400 300 200 100 0

Geological Age [Myr]

160

200

240

280

"O"

EP DI

Pteridophyta

Coniferopsida

Cycadopsida

Welwitschia

Winteraceae

Ephedra & Gnetum

Poaceae

Monocotyledoneae

Dicotyledoneae

Figure 1.3: Correlation between the oxygen content of lignins and geological age (Gottlieb,

1989)

cuticles which protect them from evaporation. Cuticels consist of macromolecular

(cutine, cutane) and low molecular (long-chain alkanes, ketones, alcohols, fatty

acids and wax esters) constituents. Low molecular compounds in general fulfil

various functions and are essential for terrestrial life. Pigments for example protect

plants from UV radiation, allelochemicals act as defense against predators and

antioxidants are important to prevent abiotic oxidation.

While lignins are the most abundant, flavonoids are the most widespread materials

of terrestrial plants, except carbohydrates. An increase of the oxygen content of

lignin has been observed with progressive evolution (Fig. 1.3). The oxygen content

of lignin derived from angiosperms for example is higher than for gymnosperms

(Gottlieb,1989). This does also account for flavonoids (Fig. 1.4). With progres-

sive evolution they show an enhanced chemical functionalisation, accompanied

especially by an increase of oxygen contents (Gottlieb,1989).

The importance of atmospheric oxygen has been mentioned previously. Although

it does not seem to act directly within molecular evolution, an enhanced avail-

ability of oxygen probably triggers the evolution of enzymatic protective devices

(Gottlieb,1989). In general the morphological evolution is characterised by a pro-

gressive increase of the oxygen content of secondary metabolites (Gottlieb,1989).

1 Introduction

}

Complete range of flavonoids

(biflavonyls rare)

Most flavonoids, but usually

structurally simple types.

Biflavonyls characteristic

Structurally simple flavonoids:

3-Deoxyanthocyanins

Flavanones

Flavonols

Chalcones

Flavanones

Few flavonoid types:

only 3-deoxyanthocyanins,

flavonols and

glycoflavones.

Flavonoids completely

absent

Bacteria

Green Algae

Fungi

Red Algae

Mosses

Horsetails

Lycopods

Ferns

SPERMATOPHYTES

Gymosperms

Angiosperms

}

Phylogenetic Tree Flavonoid Complement

Figure 1.4: Evolution of flavonoids (Harborne,1973)

1.2 Origin and Evolution of Land Plants

1.2.2 Flora Realms in the Late Paleozoic

A problem considering the evolution of plants is the formation of distinguished

flora assemblages (Chaloner and Meyen,1973;Raymond et al.,1985;Scott and

Galtier,1996). This diversification of flora assemblages is due to the separation

of land masses in general but also to the formation of local communities where

related plants adapt to different environments. Investigations on the formation of

different flora provinces often are contradictory (Scott and Galtier,1996). Plants

from different regions but same ages may be considered to originate from different

ages when viewing them outside their geological context (Scott and Galtier,1996).

Additionally relationship may not be recognisable when viewing the morphology

of fossils only. For angiosperms it is known, that they possess different leaf shapes

due to different habitats (Raymond et al.,1985). Another important factor is the

magnitude of preservation. The original composition of flora realms often is hard

to characterise, due to the fact that especially wetland plants such as lycopsids

are much better preserved and their relative contribution to fossil organic matter

therefore might not reflect their true regional abundance (Falcon-Lang,1999).

Additionally fossil plants are better preserved in continental strata than in deltaic

strata which is intercalated in a marine sequence (Chaloner and Meyen,1973).

Although discussions have been controverse, it is commonly accepted, that from

the Devonian to the Early Carboniferous floral differentiation has been small and

that these periods were dominated by an uniform Lepidodendropsis flora (Chaloner

and Meyen,1973;Raymond et al.,1985). Nevertheless this has been questioned

by Falcon-Lang (1999) lately. The author recognised the presence of growth rings

in fossil woods from northern Britain indicating a tropical savanna like climate for

this region. Growth rings are typical for gymnosperms and Falcon-Lang (1999)

therefore suggested that at least Northern Britain during the Early Carboniferous

was dominated by gymnosperms.

For the Late Carboniferous in contrast to the predating periods at least three

flora provinces have often been recognised (Chaloner and Meyen,1973;Anderson

et al.,1999). Most of Gondwana was dominated by the Glossopteris flora. The

Euramerian flora realm expanded from North America and Europe in the West

1 Introduction

to the Balkans in the East and from northern Turkey to the Donetz Basin. It

is supposed to have been dominated by arborescent lycopsids for example Lepi-

dophloios, Sigillaria and Bothrodendron, the sphenopsids, the genera of fern like

foliage including pteridosperms and true ferns and the gymnosperm genus Cor-

diates (Chaloner and Meyen,1973). The Angaran flora occupied the presentday

Siberia and Mongolia. It shared many genera of the Euramerian flora realm, but

some forms were present only in Angara while many typical Euramerian members

were absent (Chaloner and Meyen,1973). In general the Angaran flora was much

poorer in lycopodes while Cordaites-like plants and pteridosperms were predomi-

nant (Chaloner and Meyen,1973;Raymond et al.,1985).

1.3 Preservation of Terrestrial Organic Matter

In general terrestrial sedimentary organic matter is derived from plants and bac-

teria, while animals are only minor contributors. Especially humic coals represent

sedimentary organic matter characterised by high proportions of autochthonous

organic matter i.e. predominantly plant remains.

Humic coals are distinguished from sapropelic coals due to their organic matter

being primary derived from woody tissues of vascular plants. Sapropelic coals in

contrast consist of varying amounts of allochthonous organic and inorganic matter.

They are subdivided in two groups, cannel and boghead coals. Both lack stratifi-

cation and show a homogeneous texture (Taylor et al.,1998a). Boghead coals in

contrast to cannel coals, are characterised by high amounts of algal remains. In

contrast to humic coals, sapropelic coals normally do not go through a peat stage

but are formed in oxygen-deficient shallow waters (Taylor et al.,1998a). Humic

coals normally are formed by compaction and induration of plant remains which

often have been deposited as peat in mires, mainly in swamps and raised bogs

(Taylor et al.,1998a;Killops and Killops,1993). A widespread development of

peat did not occur until the emergence of vascular plants (Taylor et al.,1998a).

The formation of coals is supported by different environmental factors. An impor-

tant factor according the formation of coals is a high primary production. Primary

1.3 Preservation of Terrestrial Organic Matter

production is affected by the rate of photosynthesis and therefore light, the avail-

ability of water and a moderate temperature (Killops and Killops,1993). A wet

and warm climate supports the formation of a luxuriant flora characterised by a

fast growth and a short need of time to renew itself (Taylor et al.,1998a). How-

ever a moderate climate does not only increase the rate of plant growth but also

the rate of decomposition (Taylor et al.,1998a). The second and even more im-

portant factor supporting the formation of coals is the depositional environment.

Accumulation of organic matter within an ecosystem results from the incapability

of decomposers to cope with the input of organic matter into sediments (Moore,

1989). Besides the rate of burial the amount of oxygen present in sediments is

an important factor. Respiratory activity of aerobic microorganisms is predomi-

nantly reduced by low concentrations of oxygen (Moore,1989). Anoxic conditions

therefore support the preservation of organic matter and the formation of coals.

A stagnant groundwater close to the ground surface depletes the decomposition of

organic matter by microorganisms. Both tectonic and paleogeographic factors do

additionally influence the formation of coal bearing strata (Courel,1989a). Sea

level variations due to strong subsidence may result in a drowning of the peat

while slow subsidence results in the rotting of the peat. Although coal seams

accumulate organic matter, the amounts represent only a minor fraction of what

has originally been available (Taylor et al.,1998a).

1.3.1 Composition of Coals

Coals are characterised by heterogeneousity of organic matter due to the differ-

ent plants and plant organs they are composed of (Taylor et al.,1998a). The

organic matter of coals is described by three maceral groups: vitrinite, liptinite

and inertinite.

Vitrinite is the major maceral group present in humic coals. It is believed to

predominantly consist of coalified lignin (Hatcher et al.,1989). Lignins are con-

stituents of xylem an important constituent of the vascular system in higher plants.

Lignin consists of aromatic nuclei, aliphatic side chains and hydroxyl groups, phe-

nolic hydroxyl groups and methoxyl groups. It shows a high resistance against

1 Introduction

microbial or fungal degradation. Hatcher et al. (1989) found a predominance of

catechol-like units showing a high degree of aromatic-ring substitution within pro-

gressive thermal alteration of xylem originating from gymnosperm wood. Besides

lignin, cellulose (polysaccharides) is an important constituent of the xylem. Cel-

lulosic materials however are no important contributors to macroscopical organic

matter in coals, due to their significant depletion via early microbial degradation

(Taylor et al.,1998a). Nevertheless they participate in the formation of vitrinite

(Hatcher et al.,1989). Tannins are also important contributors to the vitrinite

group. They consist of high-molecular weight compounds incorporating phenolic

structures and, like lignins also are relatively resistant against degradation. Sphag-

num for example is an important peat former in temperate climatic zones, due to

the relatively high contents of tannins (Taylor et al.,1998a).

The liptinite group in contrast to the vitrinite group, shows high amounts of

aliphatic constituents. The organic matter originates from plant materials like

sporopollenin, cutin, resins, waxes, fats etc. (Taylor et al.,1998a). Fatty com-

pounds are major contributors to this maceral group and can be divided into low

molecular soluble and insoluble highly polymerized groups. Nitrogen-containing

compounds like amino acids, low molecular weight peptides but also low molec-

ular carbohydrates, such as sugars and starches normally are recycled initially.

The majority of low molecular compounds originates from the so-called secondary

metabolism of plants. The most important compound classes that due to preser-

vation become concentrated in the sedimentary organic matter are acetogenins,

steroids, resins, waxes, cutins, suberins, carotenoids, flavonoids, xanthones, tan-

nins, alkaloids and porphyrins. The biological function of these compound classes

varies widely. Additionally some of these compounds are restricted to certain

plant groups (Fig. 1.5).

1.3.2 Controls on the Composition of Sedimentary Organic

Matter

Besides the early depositional environment and the contributing organisms the

composition of coals is strongly influenced by both microbial and thermal degra-

1.3 Preservation of Terrestrial Organic Matter

COOH

HOOH

O-Gluc

MeO

OMe

HOOO

HOOC

MeO

OMe

HOOH

ginkgoatae

(Gingkobiloba)

taxaceae(yew)

pinaceae(spruce, pine, cedar, larch) cupressaceae(juniper)

Byrophyta, mosses

gymnospermae

sphagnum acid

cimmanoic acid derivatives

frullanolid

(sesquiterpenlactones)

ginkgetin

(bisflavonoides)

abietic acid

(diterpene)

pinosylvin

(stilbene)

pinoserinole

(lignane)

carvacrol

(monoterpene)

thymol

(monoterpene)

a-thujaplicine

(tropolone)

ginkgolid

(diterpene)

taxicin I

(diterpene)

sphagnorubin

(flavonoides)

albaspidin

(phloroglucides)

ptaquilosides

(sesquiterpenes)

Pteridophyta, ferns

Figure 1.5: Low molecular weight constituents of early land plants with chemotaxonomic

significance

1 Introduction

dation. These degradations affect the organic matter to different degrees, i.e. some

compounds are more resistant while others are degraded easily (Killops and Kil-

lops,1993). The transformation of organic matter in the sediments is subdivided

into three different stages: diagenesis, catagenesis and metagenesis.

Sedimentation but also diagenesis are the levels on which organic matter is mainly

destroyed by oxidative processes (oxygen, sulphate and further electron-acceptors

and early diagenetic fermentation). The transformations taking place during dia-

genesis occur under mild conditions. The most important factor influencing the

magnitude of diagenesis is the activity of microorganisms. The depletion of com-

pounds via microbial degradation is accompanied by the formation of organic

material originating from these decomposers. Some compounds are not altered

significantly by biological activities but are transformed via isomerisation reac-

tions. Biogenic compounds often possess a configuration, that is thermodynam-

ically instable. Alteration of these configurations under mild conditions results

in the formation of equilibrium mixtures. Biopolymers may be destroyed via bi-

otic or abiotic degradation and form liquids, gases and solid residues. The loss

of functional groups, especially hydroxyl groups characterises the early processes

of coalification (Taylor et al.,1998a). These defunctionalisation reactions result

in the rise of carbon contents and in the formation of geopolymers. At the end

of diagenesis the majority of carboxy groups is removed, aliphatic structures are

significantly depleted and organic matter mainly consists of kerogen (Tissot and

Welte,1984). Aerobic bacteria besides fungi are the most important decomposers

of organic matter. They act at the top of the peat and consume the oxygen from

the atmosphere. Their activity is best in neutral to weakly alkaline media (Taylor

et al.,1998a). To inhibit microbial activity a stagnant oxygen poor groundwater

is of advance. Beyond the top of the peat aerobic activity is soon replaced by

anaerobic activity, showing a reduced microbial life (Taylor et al.,1998a).

Diagenesis is followed by catagensis. Catagenic processes start at vitrinite re-

flectances beyond 0.5% Rr(Tissot and Welte,1984). With increasing burial

depth, temperature and pressure are considerably increased (Tissot and Welte,

1984). Whereas the increase of temperature results in chemical reactions, the

alteration of physico-structural properties is attributed to pressure (Taylor et al.,

1.3 Preservation of Terrestrial Organic Matter

4 ,23,24-trimethylcholestane

(Dinosterane)

4 -methyl-24-ethylcholestanea

24-norcholestane

24-nordiacholestane

Oleanane

Figure 1.6: Age-specific biomarkers

1998a). Catagenic processes result in the loss of hydrogen via liquid and gaseous

hydrocarbons. Loss of hydrogen results in the increase of aromatic structures. At

the end of catagenesis aliphatic hydrocarbons have completely disappeared (Tissot

and Welte,1984).

Coals that have not experienced catagenesis show minor alteration in the com-

position of organic matter. Plant structures often are recognisable. This does

not account for more mature coals, where aromatisation and defunctionalisation

result in a significant alteration of biogenic structures. Organic matter that has

been altered by metagenesis according its degree of aromatisation does not differ

significantly despite its origin.

1 Introduction

1.4 The Significance of Individual Organic

Compounds

1.4.1 Biomarkers: Organic Fossils

The significance of molecular compounds in terrestrial organic matter is variable.

Some compounds are constituents of many organisms while others are specific for

a particular group of organisms. Some compounds are produced due to transfor-

mations via diagenesis and catagenesis while others retain their specific molecular

structure within these processes. Biomarkers are organic compounds attributed

to known biological precursors which retain their specific structure within the sedi-

mentary record. The value of biomarkers results from the fact, that they are stable

at moderate temperatures and may still be present in sediments when recognisable

fossils are already absent (Moldowan et al.,1994).

Biomarkers may provide information on origin, redox potential and maturity.

Long chain n-alkanes and -fatty acids for example are attributed to the cuticu-

lar waxes of higher plants and therefore are an indicator for terrestrial organic

matter. Hopanes have a bacterial origin and indicate the contribution of microor-

ganisms to the sedimentary record. Pristane and phytane in contrast are the

oxidation and reduction products of the side chain from chlorophyll. Although

their presence in the sedimentary organic matter is of low significance according

the contributing organisms the ratio of pristane/phytane is diagnostic with re-

gard to the redox conditions during early sedimentation. Gammacerane on the

other hand is a compound indicating hypersaline depositional environments. Ra-

tios based on the distribution of different isomers for example for hopanes but

also alkylphenanthrenes may also serve to estimate the thermal maturity of the

organic matter.

1.4 Significance of Biomarkers

1.4.2 Age-Specific Biomarkers

Age-specific biomarkers are organic compounds that can not only be attributed

to a certain biological source but that also are specific for a certain geological age.

The organic compounds that are age-specific biomarkers have to be significant

for a group of organisms that appeared at a certain geological age. Age-specific

biomarkers therefore are supposed to maintain important information about the

evolution of the Earth´s environment in common and of individual organisms in

special. Although long chain n-alkanes and -fatty acids, are age-specific biomark-

ers, as they originate from higher plants which had not evolved until the inhabition

of terrestrial environments occurred, they normally are not diagnostic. This re-

sults from the fact, that the evolution of land plants occurred during the Middle

Paleozoic and that organic matter which is subject to investigations, often post-

dates this era. Many other compounds that might be characteristic often are not

unambiguously produced by a specific groups of organisms. Although vanillin for

example is the main product within the oxidation of lignins derived from gym-

nosperms, it has also been found in bryophytes (Thomas,1986). Due to this

vanillin is not suitable as an age-specific biomarker.

A more exact age-specific biomarker is oleanane (Fig. 1.6). This compound is

suggested to derive from β-amyrin, which is a constituent of angiosperms. The

presence of angiosperms, and therefore of β-amyrin is restricted to periods of the

Cretaceous and younger. Nevertheless findings of oleanane in a coal originating

from the Pennsylvanian and investigations on the DNA of modern angiosperms

indicate that evolutionary processes resulting in the formation of angiosperms

predate the Cretaceous (Martin et al.,1989;Moldowan et al.,1994).

Beside oleanane, few other age-specific biomarkers are known. The occurrence

of 4-methylsteroids (Fig. 1.6) in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic ages correlates with

the fossil record of acritarchs and dinoflagellates (Moldowan and Talyzina,1998).

The presence of 4-methylsteroids in fossil organic matter therefore normally is

taken as an indication that acritarchs and dinoflagellates had already evolved and

have been contributors. 24-Norcholestane (Fig. 1.6) on the other hand has been

attributed to the presence of diatoms (Holba et al.,1998). Although the biologi-

1 Introduction

cal precursor of 24-norcholestane is unknown, the compound shows a significant

increase in samples from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. This strongly correlates

with the evolution and distribution of diatoms.

Although age-specific biomarkers may contribute significantly to the understand-

ing and knowledge of evolutionary processes, few are known. This is due to the

fact that among the bulk of organic compounds known, only few are diagnos-

tic for particular organisms and do additionally preserve the significance of their

molecular skeleton at moderate temperatures. The few age-specific correlations of

Moldowan et al. (1994), Moldowan and Talyzina (1998) and Holba et al. (1998)

additionally base on aliphatic hydrocarbons (Fig. 1.6). This probably is due to

the fact, that especially for aliphatic hydrocarbons biogenic relationships are easily

established as modifications of the biogenic skeleton are either weak or still recog-

nisable. Additionally aliphatic hydrocarbons for low molecular weight compounds

are the best investigated compound classes in organic geochemistry.

2 Objectives

This thesis was prepared in the framework of a project of the current DFG-program

”Evolution of the system Earth during the Late Paleozoic in the mirror of sediment

geochemistry”. This program aims to investigate paleoenvironmental conditions

during the Late Paleozoic in detail which in turn based on the correlations for

different projects serve to provide a common time scale of this geological period.

The Late Paleozoic is a period when important marine, terrestrial, tectonic and

atmospheric changes occurred. However, there is no detailed knowledge of these

transformations. Although for example paleoclimate and -tectonics of the Late Pa-

leozoic have been subject to broad investigations (Ross,1999;Scotese et al.,1999),

knowledge on details is limited and correlations of different data are rare. This on

one hand is due to the fact, that many factors like for example the composition

of the atmosphere and climate can only be established indirectly. Additionally

the age-specific correlation of sediments from different locations is difficult. The

knowledge about the evolution of both marine and terrestrial systems is limited by

this lack of age-specific correlations. Fossils may serve to the knowledge of terres-

trial evolution, however they are rare in the Late Paleozoic and do not generally

indicate phylogenetic relationships. Investigations on secondary metabolites, i.e.

molecular organic matter may serve to overcome this problem. However, besides

the fact that it also often can not be attributed to a certain period unambiguously,

the organic matter additionally often has been subject to significant alterations

based on biotic and abiotic processes. These alterations normally result in the

loss of valuable biogenic information.

This thesis bases on investigations of extractable organic matter of Paleozoic coals

and clastic sediments containing elevated amounts of terrestrial organic matter.

They aim to describe the biochemical evolution of plants in the Paleozoic on the

2 Objectives

basis of geochemical characterisations of the low molecular weight compounds. To

overcome the problem of biotic transformations coals were preferentially selected.

They consist of high proportions of terrestrial organic matter, which normally was

not altered significantly by biodegradation. Regarding strong abiotic, i.e. ther-

mal alterations, sample origins normally are from areas that are known to have

suffered weak thermal transformations. The detailed qualitative and quantitative

characterisation of the extractable organic matter, besides on aliphatic and aro-

matic hydrocarbons is especially focussed on the nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen

(NSO) containing compounds. This focus aims to investigate relationships be-

tween aromatic hydrocarbons and their functionalized analogues. Besides the fact

that functionalized compounds often are highly abundant in terrestrial organic

matter, they in comparison to aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons additionally

are supposed to contain enhanced information according biogenic relationships.

However the possibility exists that the relationships are not only genetic but may

also result from abiotic oxidation/reductions or polymerisations in the sedimen-

tary history of the organic matter.

Prior to the estimation of the biogenic significance of individual compounds and

compound classes these factors therefore have to be considered. It will be investi-

gated whether relationship between different compounds are due to their kinetic

or thermodynamic stability and whether they are formed randomly in sediments.

The biogenic value of compounds and compound classes which show weak corre-

lations will then be considered. The potential biogenic precursors of these char-

acteristic compounds and compound classes will then be searched based on the

chemotaxonomy of modern land plants. To estimate the age-specific value, both

the qualitative and quantitative appearance of these compounds and compound

classes will be considered in correlation to the geological age of the organic matter.

The predominant evolutionary challenge within the plant kingdom in the Late Pa-

leozoic to the actual knowledge is the evolution of conifers from gymnosperms.

Conifers but also gymnosperms in general are characterised by strong phyloge-

netic differences to other plants of the Late Paleozoic. Therefore especially the

occurrence of markers for conifers are investigated in detail.

Aiming to get a complete overview on the organic matter of the investigated

samples, a co-project of the University of Aachen, Germany, focussed on the cor-

responding biogenic particles and macromolecules of the same samples. A corre-

lation of the results of both projects was supposed to support the findings for the

single projects.

3 Geographical and Geological

Setting of the Samples

A total of 40 Late Paleozoic samples were investigated. Their stratigraphic age ex-

tends from the Middle Devonian to the Late Permian. Nine samples were ascribed

to the Permian, 23 to the Upper Carboniferous, seven to the Lower Carboniferous

and one to the Devonian period. The investigated samples originate from different

locations (Fig. 3.1). Although the majority of the samples are coals, some are

sediments containing predominantly terrestrial organic matter and two are fossils

of vascular plants.

Due to the need of relatively low maturity samples, locations are limited to areas

beyond the Variscan front in Eastern, Northern and Central Europe, i.e. especially

England and the Moscow Basin. Furthermore the investigations mainly base on

coals as they represent well preserved organic matter (OM) deposited in swamp

and bog areas. The availability of sample series from one stratigraphy which

imply the complete Late Paleozoic is difficult to obtain. Due to the fact, that

most of the locations do not imply stratigraphies of the complete Upper Paleozoic,

the origin of the samples expands from East Greenland and Spitsbergen in the

North, England and Germany in the West, France in the South and Russia but

also South China in the East (Fig. 3.1). Although flora may differ for different

locations, except for the coal from South China (Late Permian), provided by Y.

Sun (Hebei Institute of Architectural Science and Technology, Handan, PR China)

and the coal from the Petchora Basin provided by H. Kerp (University of M¨unster,

Germany), all belong to the Euramerian flora realm (Fig. 3.1).

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

4 samples,

Permian

1 sample,

Permian

3 samples,

Permian

2 samples,

Upper and Lower

Carboniferous

2 samples,

Lower Carb. and

Late Devonian

5 samples,

Lower

Carboniferous

2 samples,

Lower Carb. and

Permian

20 samples,

Upper Carboniferous

Figure 3.1: Geographic origin of Late Paleozoic samples

Table 3.2 refers to the locations of the samples and their lithology. In the following

a brief overview about the origin and the specific conditions of sedimentation for

individual basins will be given.

3.1 North England

The Upper Carboniferous samples from North England were provided by the

British Geological Survey (England). They were obtained from English sites of the

Pennine Basin. The Pennine Basin is located in Central and Northern England

and North Wales, and is limited by the Southern Uplands in the North and the

Wales-London-Brabant Massif in the South. The investigated samples are from

Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland.

At the beginning of the Carboniferous, Northern Britain has drifted northwards

into tropical latitudes. The area, after Caledonian tectonism and intrusion, was re-

3.1 North England

Table 3.1: Geological age of the investigated samples

Sample Period Epoch

E 49710 Permian Lower Zechstein

E 49748

E 49749

E 49750 Ravnefjeld Formation

E 49751

E 48990 Guadalupian

E 48478

E 48479 Rotliegend

E 48480

E 48996 Upper Carboniferous Westphalian D

E 48388

E 48389 Westphalian C

E 48390

E 48214

E 48216 Westphalian B

E 48430

E 48403

E 48220 Westphalian A

E 48392

E 48393 Westphalian A (?)

E 48394

E 48395

E 48396

E 48397 Namurian (?)

E 48398

E 48400

E 48401 Namurian

E 48405

E 48425 Namurian C

E 48382

E 48383 unknown

E 48384

E 48985 Lower Carboniferous

E 48986

E 48987

E 48988

E 48989 Upper Vis´ean

E 48993

E 48991

E 48992 Devonian Givetium-Frasnium

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Table 3.2: Geographical origin, lithology and rank of the samples

Sample Origin Location Lithology and rank

E 49710 South China Dahe Mine high vol. bit. coal

E 49748 East Greenland Jameson Land slate

E 49749 East Greenland Gauss Halvo silt

E 49750 East Greenland Jameson Land silt-slate

E 49751 East Greenland Kap Stosch silt, laminated slate

E 48990 Russia Petchora Basin medium vol. bit. coal

E 48478 South France Lod`eve Basin

E 48479 South France Lod`eve Basin

E 48480 South France Lod`eve Basin

E 48996 Germany Lugau-Oelsnitz high vol. bit. coal

E 48388 England Keekle high vol. bit. coal

E 48389 England Keekle high vol. bit. coal

E 48390 England Keekle high vol. bit. coal

E 48214 England Potato Pot high vol. bit. coal

E 48216 England Potato Pot high vol. bit. coal

E 48403 England Rowlands Gill mud-/ siltstone

E 48220 England Potato Pot high vol. bit. coal

E 48392 England Distington I high vol. bit. coal

E 48393 England Distington I high vol. bit. coal

E 48394 England Distington I high vol. bit. coal

E 48395 England Distington I high vol. bit. coal

E 48396 England Distington I high vol. bit. coal

E 48397 England Distington I high vol. bit. coal

E 48398 England Distington I high vol. bit. coal

E 48400 England Dearham high vol. bit. coal

E 48401 England Dearham high vol. bit. coal

E 48405 England Rowlands Gill high vol. bit. coal

E 48382 England Throckley sandstone

E 48383 England Throckley high vol. bit. coal

E 48384 England Throckley mudstone

E 48985 Russia Moscow Basin cannel-boghead coal

E 48986 Russia Moscow Basin cannel-boghead coal

E 48987 Russia Moscow Basin soft brown coal

E 48988 Russia Moscow Basin soft brown coal

E 48989 Russia Moscow Basin soft brown coal

E 48993 Germany Borna-Hainichen high vol. bituminous coal

E 48991 Spitsbergen Pyramiden high vol. bit. coal

E 48992 Spitsbergen Mimerdalen cannel-coal

E 48430 fossil Sigillaria Westphalian B

E 48425 fossil Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus Namurian C

3.1 North England

duced to a peneplain due to erosion and a relatively stable block area was formed.

Sedimentation in the Carboniferous was influenced by tectonic, climatic and eu-

static forces. In the Dinantian, limestones, shales, sandstones and coals were

deposited during repeated cycles of marine transgressions and regressions. In the

Namurian to mid-Westphalian the basin experienced influx of terrestrial sediments

from the north-west and north-east and a freshwater deltaic environment with la-

goons and coal swamps developed. Thin marine bands proof periodic marine

incursions. In the Westphalian environmental conditions became more continen-

tal. The Pennine basin subsided during most of the Westphalian and deposition

occurred persistently close to sea level (Guion and Fielding,1986). The Variscan

orogeny resulted in an regional uplift during latest Carboniferous times. For the

Pennine Basin these effects are less evident than for the continent of Europe.

3.1.1 West Cumberland- the West Cumbrian Coalfield

The West Cumbrian Coalfield of West Cumberland is of Westphalian age. It is

located in the north western part of the Pennine Basin. It has a size of 233 km2

and extends from Maryport southwards to Whitehaven, bordering the coast at a

length of 26 km and a width of 7 km (Fig. 3.2). Additionally it extends eastwards

from Maryport for an area of 19 km length and 2.5 km width. The West Cumbrian

Coalfield is bordered by the Solway Syncline from the Canonbie Coalfield in the

North. The coal-bearing strata of the West Cumbrian Coalfield has a thickness of

400 m. Samples were obtained from four locations in West Cumberland. While the

boreholes from Distington and Dearham represent the Namurian, the opencasts

Keekle and Potato Pot represent the Westphalian (Fig. 3.2).

Namurian - Hensingham Group

Depositional environments in the Early Carboniferous were almost exclusively

marine. The Namurian represents the transition from these predominantly ma-

rine conditions to almost exclusively freshwater deltaic environments in the West-

phalian (Young and Armstrong,1989). The majority of the sediments were sup-

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Distington

Dearham

Figure 3.2: Location of the boreholes and opencast sites from the Cumberland district investi-

gated in this thesis; after Jones (1992)

3.1 North England

Table 3.3: Samples of the Hensingham Group

Sample Origin Depth Epoch

[m]

E 48392 Distington I 12.26 Westphal A(?)

E 48393 Distington I 12.66 Westphal A(?)

E 48394 Distington I 12.86 Westphal A(?)

E 48395 Distington I 35.65 Namurian

E 48396 Distington I 56.60 Namurian

E 48397 Distington I 72.00 Namurian

E 48398 Distington I 110.55 Namurian

E 48400 Dearham 44.75 Namurian

E 48401 Dearham 55.32 Namurian

plied from the Northern part of the Pennine delta (Hallsworth et al.,2000). The

Hensingham Group (Fig. 3.3) experienced little attraction, due to its little eco-

nomic importance (Young and Armstrong,1989;Young and Boland,1992). It is

located between the First Limestone (Chief Limestone Group), representing the

beginning of the Namurian and the Gastrioceras subcrenatum marine band at the

base of the coal measures of the Westphalian (Young and Boland,1992). Sedi-

ments of the Hensingham Group consist of mudstones, laminated siltstones and

sandstones with thin coal seams (Young and Boland,1992). The Group crops out

in the northern part of the West Cumbrian district but also as inliers at Disting-

ton (Young and Boland,1992). The Hensingham Group thickens from 50 m in

the north to 110 m and 140 m in the east for the Distington and Rowhall Farm

(Dearham) boreholes. The lower part of the Hensingham Group, the Hensingham

Grit (Fig. 3.3) is a prominent sandstone layer which is suggested to have been

deposited near-coast (Young and Armstrong,1989). The two boreholes at Dist-

ington I and Rowhall Farm (Dearham) represent sediments of the Hensingham

Group that have been subject to recent investigations. While the sediments of

Distington extent to the Westphalian A, younger strata than Namurian is absent

for the Rowhall Farm Borehole (Dearham) (Fig. 3.3). Therefore it may be presum-

able that the three uppermost samples of Distington, that have been investigated

belong to the Westphalian A (Table 3.3, Fig. 3.3). The coals of Distington pos-

sess a thickness of few centimeters and overlie mudstones or siltstone seatearths.

Two samples from Distington (Table 3.3, depth: 35.65 m and 110.55 m) contain

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Figure 3.3: Stratigraphy of the Hensingham Group in the Distington Borehole and correlation

with the Rowhall Farm Borehole; after Young and Boland (1992)

3.1 North England

Table 3.4: Samples of the Westphalian

Sample Origin Depth Period Seam

[m]

E 48388 Keekle 2194 32.0 Westphalian C -

E 48389 Keekle 2194 40.0 Westphalian C -

E 48390 Keekle 2194 64.0 Westphalian C -

E 48214 Potato Pot 24.7 Westphalian B Rattler

E 48216 Potato Pot 29.9 Westphalian B Yard

E 48220 Potato Pot 77.8 Westphalian A Sixquarters

enhanced amounts of total sulphur. Therefore it is presumable that they were

deposited under marine influence.

Westphalian

The West Cumbrian Coalfield is of Westphalian age, with coal seams of the West-

phalian A and B being predominant. The Westphalian strata was deposited on

an upper delta plain to lower alluvial plain, extending from present day north Eu-

rope to north America. In Britain shallow lakes were infilled by sediment supplied

from a systems of fluvially-dominated lacustrine deltas, transported by a system

of channels (Young and Boland,1992;Jones,1992). Deposition on these delta

plains, took place in interdistributary bays and lakes. Extensive peat-forming

mire complexes developed. Rare glacio-eustatic sea level rises periodically led to

marine conditions. A gradual northward thickening of the Westphalian is related

to increased regional subsidence towards the Solway Basin. The coal measures

are thinner than those in most other English coalfields. The Westphalian of the

West Cumbrian Coalfield is limited by the Gastrioceras subcrenatum marine Band

and the reddened strata of the Pre-Permian, which has been subject to inten-

sive oxidation (Young and Boland,1992). Eight marine bands are recognised for

the Westphalian indicating marine intrusions (Fig. 3.4). While coals often form

only minor components of the succession, sandstones, mudstones and siltstones

are strongly abundant (Fig. 3.4). For the Westphalian A and B, coal seams are

named and well correlated for different boreholes; in contrast coal seams of the

Westphalian C lack names (Fig. 3.4).

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Stage Bivalve

Zonation

Litho-

strati-

graphy

2Marine Bands

(Local names

In brackets)

1Standard

Seam

Name

Major

Sandstone

Units

1After British Coal Opencast Executive

After Ramsbottom 1978

2et al.

Figure 3.4: Generalised vertical stratigraphy in the Cumberland district; after Young and

Boland (1992)

3.1 North England

Both locations, Potato Pot and Keekle represent outcasts located in the Southern

Part of the West Cumbrian Coalfield. The three coal seams from Potato Pot

belong to the Westphalian A and B respectively (Fig. 3.4, Table 3.4). One coal is

ascribed to the Sixquarters seam, one of the prime coal seams of the area, which

is overlain by the Sixquarters sandstone. The two Westphalian B coal seams from

Potato Pot (Table 3.4, Yard and Rattler) are located between mussel beds. The

three coals from Keekle are ascribed to the Westphalian C.

3.1.2 Durham and Northumberland

Two samples originate from Rowlands Gill, located in the district of Tyne

and Wear in Durham, while three were obtained from the Throckley borehole,

Northumberland. The areas are also part of the Pennine Basin and therefore

probably have been subject to depositional conditions strongly corresponding to

the ones of Cumberland. Additionally it has been suggested, that these areas in

particular in comparison to the rest of the Pennine Basin have been slightly ele-

vated. Therefore marine bands are significantly less abundant and thin in relation

to the rest of the Pennine Basin (Jones,1992).

The two samples from Rowlands Gill originate from the Westphalian A and the

Namurian (Table 3.5). The upper Westphalian A strata, where one of the samples

is from corresponds to the Lower Coal Measures of the West Cumberland Coalfield

(Fig. 3.3), while the lowest Westphalian A and Namurian strata comprise what is

often termed the Millstone Grit and Upper Limestone Group (Mills,1982). The

Namurian sample from Rowlands Gill originates from the Millstone Grit. In the

area of Durham and the eastern parts of Northumberland only Westphalian B and

the middle and upper part of Westphalian A strata crop out (Mills,1982). The

Westphalian strata of the area consists of rhythmic alternations of sandstone, silt-

stone, mudstone, shale, coal seatearth and uncommon shales, while coal comprises

a very small proportion of the total thickness (Mills,1982).

The three samples from the opencast mine of Throckley in Northumberland could

not be assigned with certainty (Table 3.6). The district, due to its complex,

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Table 3.5: Samples from Rowlands Gill

Sample Origin Depth Period

[m]

E 48403 Rowlands Gill 51.61 Westphalian A

E 48405 Rowlands Gill 93.80 Namurian

Table 3.6: Samples from Throckley

Sample Origin Depth Period

[ft]

E 48382 Throckley 396.11

E 48383 Throckley 559.10

E 48384 Throckley 848.30

laterally variable succession, its poor exposion and numerous faults has received

little attention from geologists (Holliday and Pattison,1987). Solid rocks of this

area are mainly of Namurian and early Westphalian age and broadly comprise

the Upper Limestone Group and the Millstone Grit (Holliday and Pattison,1987).

Carboniferous sediments of Northumberland comprise a laterally and vertically

variable repetitive sequence dominantly of sandstones, siltsones and mudstones.

This is suggested to result from alternating marine and fluvio/deltaic conditions,

like described for the other parts of northern England previously (Holliday and

Pattison,1987). The Throckley borehole has been examined in 1964-1965 aiming

to establish a sequence from undoubted Lower Coal Measures down to the Great

Limestone (Holliday and Pattison,1987). It therefore is assumed, that the three

samples of the Throckley borehole are of Namurian age. One is a mudstone (848.30

ft), one a coal (559.10 ft) and the third a mudstone (396.11 ft).

3.2 Moscow Basin

Five samples, provided by H. Kerp originate from the Moscow Syneclise and were

deposited during the Vis´ean (Table. 3.1). The Moscow Basin is located on the

East European platform, one of the largest Precambrian Cratons of the world. The

craton is covered by extensive Devonian and Carboniferous sediments which ex-

3.2 Moscow Basin

perienced only insignificant intraplate tectonic movements (Alekseev et al.,1996).

The Moscow Basin is located in the center of this craton and expands from North

to South about 600 km and more than 1000 km from East to West (Fig. 3.5). It

is limited by the Voronezh Anticline southwards and the Tokmovo Uplift and the

Ok-Tsna Swell eastwards (Alekseev et al.,1996;Nikishin et al.,1996). Changes

in sea-level are attributed to tectonical movements of the uplift areas, resulting

in regional changes of facies. The Moscow Syneclise due to its geology can be

subdivided into a western, southern, northern and eastern part. After the East

European platform has been uplifted during the Lower Devonian, shallow-marine

carbonate sequences were deposited during the Devonian and Carboniferous. The

sequences include several subordinate terrigenous intervals. A significant regres-

sion in the latest Famenian was followed by a short transgression in the early

Tournaisian, covering almost the entire area with marine waters (Alekseev et al.,

1996). During the Upper Tournaisian to Middle Vis´ean a regression occurred.

The eastern part of the Basin was uplifted and eroded, while the southern and

western parts were flooded and organic rich sediments were deposited. The Upper

Vis´ean is characterised by a strong transgression followed by a regression at the

boundary between the Lower and Middle Carboniferous (Alekseev et al.,1996).

Eight coalfields, predominantly located in the southern part of the Moscow Basin

are known. Most of the coals are assigned to the Bobrikian and Tulian (Middle

Vis´ean) period, and seldomly to the Radaevkian (Lower Vis´ean).

The five coals from the Moscow Basin (Table 3.2), with one exception can not be

assigned to a certain age. One coal belongs to the Tulian Group of the Middle

Vis´ean. Within the formations of this group, clays and limestones of a marine

fauna are predominant, with sand, silt but also coals being present. Due to the

coal-bearing sediments being present at these times the investigated samples may

originate from the Middle, perhaps also the Lower Vis´ean, when organic-rich sedi-

ments were deposited primarily in the southern part of the basin (Alekseev et al.,

1996). All coals of the Moscow Basin can be classified as loose, laminated dull

brown coals, characterised by vitrinite reflectance values in the range of 0.35-0.45%

Rr(Bode and Feist,1928). Coals of the Moscow Basin show the presence of mio-

and macrospores and cuticules. These cuticules often consist of the steams and

branches of Lycophytes, the predominating flora of this area. Besides the dull

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Figure 3.5: Regional setting of the Moscow Syncline. Main tectonic elements are marked by

solid lines, while dashed lines display the western, southern, eastern and northern part of the

basin. The map is modified after Alekseev et al. (1996)

brown coals, cannel coals have also been reported to be present, while boghead-

coals occur seldomly (Bode and Feist,1928;Bode,1930). The depositional envi-

ronments were presumed to be strongly anoxic (Jacob,1961;Taylor et al.,1998b)

while climate was predominantly tropical (pers. com. W. Peters-Kottig, Univer-

sity of M¨unster, Germany).

3.3 East Germany

Two coals from East Germany, one ascribed to the Westphalian D and one to the

Vis´ean were provided by H. Kerp. Both originate from the Erzgebirge, Saxony.

The coal from the Westphalian D originates from Lugau-Oelsnitz and was taken

from the Deutschlandschacht at a depth of 2.00 m beneath the ground. The coal

from the Vis´ean originates from a surface seam. During the Carboniferous Saxony

was placed in subvariscian foredeeps. The Lower Carboniferous is characterised by

marine dominated depositional environments whereas the Upper Carboniferous is

predominantly paralic. The vegetation for both periods has been tropical (pers.

com. W. Peters-Kottig).

3.4 East Greenland-Ravnefjeld Formation

Four sediments of the East Greenland Basin (Jameson Land, Kap Stosch and

Gauss Halvø) (Fig. 3.6) were provided by J. A. Bojesen-Koefoed (Geological

Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Denmark). They belong to the Ravnefjeld

Formation, deposited during the Late Permian, the Capitanian equivalent to the

Zechstein 1 (Christiansen et al.,1993).

Upper Permian and Mesozoic sediments outcrop extensively in this part of the

East Greenland Basin (Fig. 3.6). The basin extends from North to South about

400 km and 80 km from East to West. On the western side the Caledonian moun-

tain belt forms the boundary, whereas the Norwegian Sea is the East boundary.

The East Greenland Basin was formed by a series of westward-tilted fault blocks

(Birkelund and Perch-Nielsen,1976). During the Upper Permian a transgression

from north-east occurred, accompanied by minor regressions. Afterwards the East

Greenland Basin subsided (Piasecki and Stemmerik,1991). The Upper Permian

sediments have a thickness of 15-20 m and are thickest in the southern part of the

basin, i.e. Jameson Land because of regional subsidence due to thermal concentra-

tion (Christiansen et al.,1992). The sediments are thinner along the margins of the

basin (Christiansen et al.,1993). They predominantly consist of marine shales and

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Figure 3.6: Geological map of East Greenland after; Christiansen et al. (1992)

3.4 East Greenland-Ravnefjeld Formation

Figure 3.7: Stratigraphy of the

Ravnefjeld Formation; investigated by

Piasecki and Stemmerik (1991)

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

carbonates. The depositional environment was controlled by climatically driven,

major eustatic sea-level changes (Christiansen et al.,1992,1993). The formation

consists of five subunits (Fig. 3.7). Two intervals are organic-rich, laminated clay-

silt layers, deposited under anoxic conditions at high eustatic sea-levels. These

intervals are separated by three intervals of gray bioturbated siltstones, deposited

under more oxic conditions and during low stands of sea-level (Christiansen et al.,

1993;Piasecki and Stemmerik,1991). The formation is overlain by grey biotur-

bated shales due to increased siliciclastic supply and a relative fall of sea level

in the latest Permian (Piasecki and Stemmerik,1991). In the Upper Permian

climatic conditions in East Greenland have been hot and arid (Christiansen et al.,

1992). However it was suggested, that the relative lowering in sea level was as-

sociated with a short-term change in climate from arid to humid correlating to

the bioturbated intervals (Christiansen et al.,1993). Although the depositional

environment of the sediments from the Ravnefjeld Formation is primarily marine,

the investigated samples contain notable amounts of terrigenous material (pers.

com. J. A. Bojeson-Koefoed). Therefore the samples are suggested to originate

from the bioturbated intervals, containing coalified type III kerogen (Piasecki and

Stemmerik,1991). Although sulphate reducing bacteria did not strongly affect

the bioturbated intervals, sulphate contents are generally high for the Ravnefjeld

Formation (Piasecki and Stemmerik,1991). Outcrop samples from the Ravnefjeld

Formation, except for the Werner Bjerge-Scoresby Land area and the Wegener

Halvø are immature (Christiansen et al.,1992).

3.5 Lod`eve Basin

Three sediment samples originate from the Lod`eve Basin (Fig. 3.8), southern

France and were provided by F. K¨orner and J. Schneider (University of Freiberg,

Germany). The basin is located in the southern part of the French Central Massif

and extends 26 km from East to West and 10 km from North to South. It is

bordered by the Montagne Noire in the North and the Tertiary plain of Languedoc

in the South. The sediments (Usclas et St. Privat Formation and Formation de

Tuilieres-Lorias) were deposited during the Lower Permian (Autunian) in a fluvial

3.6 Spitsbergen

AUMANCE

BASIN

LODEVE

BASIN

PERMIAN

(Autunian & Saxonian)

STEPHANIAN

(Found by drilling beneath

post-Paalaeozoic cover)

STEPHANIAN

BLANZY-

MONTCEAU

BASIN

Clermont-

Ferrand

Lyon

Nimes

Figure 3.8: Position of the Lod`eve Basin in Southern France after Courel (1989b)

to lacustrine environment. They discordantly overlay Pecambrian and Cambrian

slates, gneisses, granits and dolomites. The climate during sedimentation was

humid tropical. The organic matter of the samples is suggested to be a mixture

of algae and land plants.

3.6 Spitsbergen

Two coals, provided by H. Kerp (University of M¨unster, Germany) originate from

Spitsbergen. Spitsbergen is the largest island of a group called Svalbard. These

island group is located in the northwestern corner of the Barents Shelf (Birken-

majer,1981). Svalbard has experienced strong vertical and horizontal movements

due to the Caledonian Orogeny and has been subject to notable deformations from

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

the Pecambrian to the Upper Paleozoic. The Caledonian Foldbelt, outcropping in

the western and north-central parts of Spitsbergen strongly correlates to the Cale-

donian belt of East Greenland. After the Caledonian Orogeny during Frasnian

and Famenian Svalbard was subjected to intensive compressional events leading to

the separation of the eastern plate of Svalbard from the western Greenland plate

(Birkenmajer,1981). The rocks of the Caledonian Foldbelt are formed of Precam-

brian and Middle Ordovician sediments (Birkenmajer,1981). At the beginning of

the Carboniferous the Svalbard area became part of the continental Barents-Kara

platform and was subjected to recurrent denudation and accumulation of mainly

terrigenous deposits. The region was tectonically stable from Carboniferous to

Late Cretaceous times (Manby and Lyberis,1996). During the Lower Carbonif-

erous postorogenic molasse basins developed. From Carboniferous to Permian

Svalbard is characterised by unstable land-shallow sea conditions. The Carbonif-

erous and Permian of Svalbard can be separated in three regions, characterised by

strong differences in lithology.

One of the two investigated coals is a cannel coal which is ascribed to the Up-

per Givetium or Lower Frasnium. It originates from the Mimerdalen Forma-

tion/Dickson Land. The second coal originates from the Mumien Formation, Dick-

son Land (per. comm. W. Peters-Kottig) and is a cannel coal. Both coals have

been deposited in tropical environments (pers. com. W. Peters-Kottig).

3.7 Fossils

The two fossils, provided by C. Hartkopf-Fr¨oder (Geologischer Dienst NRW,

Krefeld, Germany) are a Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus from the Namurian C and a

Sigillaria from Westphalian B. Both plants belong to the group of pteridophytes

and have been predominant in Upper Paleozoic forests. Although pteridopyhtes

inhabited all climatic zones, they diversified strongest and grew highest in tropical

regions (Strasburger et al.,1991). While Sigillaria belongs to the genus of Lycopo-

diopsida,Calamites is ascribed to the Equisetopsida. Already in the Devonian

these plants reached the size of trees.

3.8 South China

Figure 3.9: Shuicheng Basin and Coal Bearing strata of Southern China; after (Zhong and

Smyth,1997)

For the Sigillaria this was due to a secondary growth in thickness and the for-

mation of a supplying system. Sigillaria may have reached heights of 40 m and

breadth of 5 m. Sigillaria inhabited humic areas, due to faint formation of roots

expanding near to top of the soils. The plants are characterised by simple leaves

up to 1 m length and 10 cm breadth, growing at the end of a little forked stem.

At the lower parts of the treetop sporophyllcones were attached to the stem by

short branches.

Equisetopsida (Calamites), i.e. horsetails are characterised by small leaves in

comparison to their stems. Both, leaves and stems are arranged in whorls, this

especially for the stems is contrary to the rest of the pteridophytes. In contrast

to recent horsetails, Upper Paleozoic Equisetopsida were characterised by a great

variety in species.

3.8 South China

One of the two samples, not belonging to the Euramerian flora realm is a coal

from the Dahe Mine, Shuicheng Basin, Guizhou Province, in Southwest China

(Fig. 3.9). The Shuicheng Basin is located in the southern part of the Kangdian

3 Geographical and Geological Setting of the Samples

Changxing

Formation

Longtan

Formation

~200m

Ermei Mountain

Basalt

LEGEND

Sandstone Coal Seam

Marl and calca-

reous shale

Limestone

Basalt

Sandy Shale

Argillaceous

rocks

Figure 3.10: Generalised Late Permian stratigraphy in the Shuicheng Basin; after Zhong and

Smyth (1997)

Craton and was formed adjacent to a mountainous region on Permian volcanics

(Zhong and Smyth,1997). The coal was deposited during the Lower Zechstein

(pers. com. Y. Sun) in a paralic, deltaic depositional system with marine influence

on the peat (Zhong and Smyth,1997). The Late Permian coal-bearing strata of

the Shuicheng basin has a thickness of 250 m (Fig. 3.10) (Zhong and Smyth,

1997). The flora in this region was dominated by Lepidodendron and the tree fern

Psaronius. In correspondence to the differences in flora realm, the Chinese coal

contains ”barkinite”, a liptinite maceral widespread in Chinese coals (Zhong and

Smyth,1997;Sun and Wang,2000).

3.9 Petchora Basin

The second coal not belonging to the Euramerian flora realm comes from the

Petchora Basin in Russia and was deposited during the Rotliegendes, Permian. It

was provided by H. Kerp (University of M¨unster, Germany).

The Petchora Basin is ascribed to the Siberian region, where from the beginning of

the Upper Permian a separate flora evolved. This Angara or Kusnezk flora realm in

contrast to the Euramerian flora realm was dominated by Cordiates-like plants and

pteridosperms, while lycopydes where minor contributors (Chaloner and Meyen,

1973). During the Rotliegendes, this region experienced cool to temperate climates

(pers. com. W. Peters-Kottig).

4 Materials and Methods

All samples were analysed using the same procedure given in Fig. 4.1. Mi-

croscopy was not part of this thesis. Prior to further analytical procedures, the

samples were crushed to fine powder using a rotating disk mill (0.5 min). Known

amounts of an internal aliphatic standard (α-androstane) and an internal aromatic

standard mixture (1-phenylhexane, 1-phenylheptane, 1,8-dimethylnaphthalene, 1-

phenylnapthalene, ethylpyrene and butylpyrene) were added to the powder of the

coals, prior to extraction. The amounts of added standard depended on the TOC

contents of these samples.

4.1 Elemental Analysis

Contents of total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC) and total sulphur (TS)

were determined using a Leco Carbon-Analyser IR-112. Determination of the con-

tents were carried out in duplicate by total burning of the powdered sample at

1100◦C in an induction furnace under an oxygen stream. CO2and SO3were quan-

titatively determined by an infrared detector. All measurements were calibrated

using certified reference samples. For determination of total organic carbon, car-

bonates were removed from the samples by treatment with hydrochloric acid prior

to measurement.

4 Materials and Methods

Grinding

Microscopy

1. Addition of

Standards

2. Extraction

TOC, TC and

TS Contents

Rock-Eval Pyrolysis

Sample

Powder

Soluble Organic

Matter

1. H-MPLC

2. MPLC

1. Derivatisation

2. Gas Chromatography

Gas Chromatography-

Mass Spectrometry

Identification and Quantification

of Individual Compounds

Compound Class

Fractions

Figure 4.1: Procedures applied in this work

4.2 Rock-Eval Pyrolysis

Rock-Eval measurements were carried out using a Rock-Eval II instrument. The

applied procedure refers to the method established by Espitali´e et al. (1977). An

external standard was used for calibration. Peak S1 represents the free volatile

organic compounds released in an inert atmosphere (Helium stream) up to a tem-

perature of 300◦C. In the following step the temperature is raised from 300◦C to

550◦C at a rate of 25◦C/min. The volatile organic compounds released at this

heating period due to cracking of the kerogen are expressed in the peak S2. The

CO2released between 300◦C and 550◦C results in the peak S3. The oxygen and

hydrogen content of the kerogen is proportional to carbon dioxide (S3) and hydro-

carbons (S2) released during Rock-Eval pyrolysis (Peters,1986). The parameters

4.3 Extraction

S1, S2 and S3 are expressed in mg HC and CO2/g sample. S2 and S3 provide in-

formation about the quality of the organic matter in the sample. By determining

the Hydrogen Index (HI) and the Oxygen Index (OI) as the values of S2 and S3

normalized to TOC (mg HC)/(g TOC) and in (mgCO2)/(g TOC) an analogue to

the van Krevelen diagram can be constructed. Tmax is the temperature at which

S2 maximises. A plot of HI against Tmax serves to type the organic matter of the

sample and provides information on its maturity.

4.3 Extraction

Amounts of 1-20 g (according to the content of total organic carbon) of homoge-

nized samples were extracted with an azeotropic mixture of chloroform (47 wt%),

acetone (30 wt%) and methanol (23 wt%) in two successive 5 min steps, using

a modified flow blending method (Radke et al.,1978). After sedimentation of

the extraction slurry the supernatant liquid was decanted over a Soxhlet (glass

fibre thimbles), concentrated in a Zymmark (Hopkinton, MA, USA) Turbovap 500

evaporator and transferred into 10 ml vials.

4.4 Iatroscan

Iatroscan has been applied to determine the amounts of saturates, aromatics,

resins and asphalthenes of the samples from England. Separation of the four

fractions is achieved by thin layer chromatography. The amounts of the indi-

vidual fractions are determined by flame ionization detection (FID). The sample

extracts are applied on precleaned Chromarods. The components on the Chro-

marods are then eluted successively with n-heptane, toluene/n-heptane (80/20)

and dichloromethane/methanol (95/5).

4 Materials and Methods

4.5 Liquid Chromatographic Separation into

Compound Class Fractions

For the separation of extracts into compound class fractions a liquid chromato-

graphic method developed by Willsch et al. (1997) was applied. This method is

based on combined polarity/affinity chromatography of the soluble organic mat-

ter. Two liquid chromatographic procedures, the Hetero-Medium-Pressure Liquid

Chromatography (H-MPLC) and the Medium-Pressure Liquid Chromatography

(MPLC) are combined. The extracts are subjected to this column chromatogra-

phy to recover seven fractions (Fig. 4.2). The high-, medium-, and low-polarity

compounds including the aromatic and saturated hydrocarbons are separated ac-

cording to their polarity. Acids and bases are retained according to their affinity

to modified basic and acidic silica. For subdivision of the low-polarity compounds

into saturates, aromatics, and low-polarity nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen (NSO)

containing compounds conventional MPLC was applied. The solvent of the ob-

tained fractions was removed and the concentrates have been transferred into

vials.

4.6 Gas Chromatography

For quantification of n-alkanes, pristane and phytane the total aliphatic fractions

were analysed by capillary gas chromatography. A Hewlett Pacard 5890 Series

II, equipped with an Gerstel on-column-injector, an electronic pressure control

(EPC), a fused silica capillary column (HP Ultra I) of 50 m length, 0.2 mm inner

diameter and 0.33 µm film thickness and a standard flame ionization detector

(FID) was applied. Hydrogen was used as carrier gas at a flow rate of 1ml/min

(pressure controlled). The oven temperature was programmed from 90◦C (hold

time 5 min) to 310◦C at a rate of 4◦C/min. A Multichrom 2-online data system

(Fisons) was employed to store and process retention times and peak areas.

4.6 Gas Chromatography

CH OH

CH Cl +

1% CHO H

2 2

Bitumen

SiO

HCl

SiO2

SiO

KOH

Acids

CH OH

3CH Cl + 1% CH OH

2 2 3

MPLC

Precolumn 1

Precolumn 2

Precolumn 3

Main Column

Medium-polarity

NSO compounds

High-polarity

NSO compounds

Bases

Saturates

Low-polarity

NSO compounds

Aromatics

SiO2

SiO

KOH

Figure 4.2: Schematic sketch of the liquid chromatographic separation procedure after Willsch

et al. (1997)

4 Materials and Methods

4.7 Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Hopanes, steranes and compounds of the other fractions were analysed by gas-

chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using a Hewlett Packard 5890B gas

chromatograph coupled to a Finnigan MAT 95 SQ mass spectrometer. The gas

chromatograph was equipped with a temperature-programmable injection system

(KAS 3, Gerstel) and a BPX 5 (0.25µfilm thickness) fused silica capillary column

(SGE) of 50m length and 0.22 mm i.d.. Helium was used as carrier gas with elec-

tronic pressure control (EPC 1 ml/min). The oven temperature was programmed

from 60 to 340◦C (final hold time 8 min) at 3◦C/min for the aromatic fraction

and from 120 to 340◦C for other fractions. Except for analyses of steranes, the

mass spectrometer was operated in the EI mode at an electron energy of 70eV

and a source temperature of 260◦C. Full scan mass spectra were recorded over the

mass range of 50-600 Da at a scan rate of 1 sec/decade an inter scan time of 0.2

sec and a scan cycle time of 0.5 sec. Identification of individual compounds was

based on gas chromatographic and mass spectral data and partly on comparison

with authentic standards.

4.8 Standard Compounds

The internal standards (purity) were obtained from commercial sources; α-

androstane, 1-phenylhexane (97%) and 1-phenylheptane (98%) from Riedel-

de-Ha¨en, Seelze, Germany; 1,8-dimethylnaphthalene (96%) from E.Merck, 1-

phenylnaphthalene (96%) from Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany and 1-ethylpyrene

(95%) and 1-butylpyrene (95%) from Varessa, Baden, Switzerland. For iden-

tification of compounds the following standards (purity) were purchased from

Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany: (1R)-endo-(+)-fenchylalcohol (96%), (1R)-(+)-

camphor (98%), (1R,2S,5R)-(-)-menthol (97%), (1S)-(-)-verbenone (99%), isobor-

neol (95%), [(1S)-endo]-(-)-borneol (98%), carvacrol (98%), thymol (99%), 2-

biphenylcarboxylic acid (95%), 4-biphenylcarboxylic acid (95%), dimethyl-2,6-

naphthalenedicarboxylate (98%), 2,3-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (95%), 1,4-

naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (94%), 9-anthracenecarboxylic acid (99%), 9-

4.8 Standard Compounds

anthracenecarboxylic acid (99%), 4-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid (purity un-

known) and 9-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid (purity unknown). 1,2,8-Tri-

methylphenanthrene, benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]-, benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]- and benzo-

[b]naphtho[2,3-d]furan were purchased from Chiron AS, Trondheim, Norway.

5 Bulk Geochemical Results

5.1 Elemental Analysis

For the investigated samples the content of organic carbon (Table A.1) varies

widely ranging from 0.2 to 81.5% total organic carbon (TOC). Organic carbon

content is generally low for the Permian sediments from Eastern Greenland and

Southern France and three samples originating from the Upper Carboniferous.

In other samples TOC values exceed 50%. According to Taylor et al. (1998a)

only few samples can be classified as coals, whereas most represent impure coals.

Sulphur contents range between 0.1-9.7% total sulphur (TS), and average at 1-2%.

TS is elevated for the Permian samples from East Greenland and South France.

Additionally four Upper Carboniferous coals, the Namurian and Westphalian A

ones from Rowlands Gill and two Namurian from Distington are characterised by

elevated contents of TS. Carbonate contents normally are low but are distinctly

higher in the samples from East Greenland and South France and the Namurian

from Rowlands Gill (Table A.1).

5.2 Microscopy

Microscopy is not part of this investigations and was carried out by Birgit Gieren

(RWTH Aachen, Germany, unpubl. results), according to the methods described

by Taylor et al. (1998a). Only general trends are therefore presented here.

5 Bulk Geochemical Results

020 40 60 80 100

Vitrinite[%]

100

Inertinite[%]

100

Liptinte[%]

020 40 60 80 100

Vitrinite[%]

100

Inertinite[%]

100

Liptinte[%]

100

020 40 60 80 100

Vitrinite[%]

100

Inertinite[%]

Liptinte[%]

East Greenland

South China

South France

East Germany

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowland Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Fossils

Throckley

Moscow Basin (Cannel-Boghead Coals)

Moscow Basin

East Germany

Spitsbergen (Upper Devonian)

Spitsbergen

Lower Carboniferous

and

Upper Devonian

Upper Carboniferous

(North England)

Permian

Figure 5.1: Maceral group distribution of Permian, Upper Carboniferous, Lower Carboniferous

and Upper Devonian samples

5.2 Microscopy

Table 5.1: vitrinite reflectances

Sample % RrSample % RrSample % Rr

E 49748 1.00 E 48216 0.81 E 48425 1.80

E 49749 0.85 E 48430 0.94 E 48382 0.94

E 49750 1.10 E 48403 1.23 E 48383 0.88

E 49751 0.84 E 48220 0.82 E 48384 0.91

E 49710 0.65 E 48392 n.d. E 48985 0.42

E 48990 1.08 E 48393 0.76 E 48986 0.39

E 48478 n.d. E 48394 0.81 E 48987 0.32

E 48479 0.59 E 48395 0.78 E 48988 0.41

E 48480 0.75 E 48396 0.68 E 48989 0.37

E 48996 0.57 E 48397 0.72 E 48993 0.57

E 48388 0.83 E 48398 0.67 E 48991 0.88

E 48389 0.88 E 48400 0.78 E 48992 0.76

E 48390 0.84 E 48401 0.77

E 48214 0.80 E 48405 1.26

n.d.: not determined

The vitrinite reflectance of the samples ranges from 0.32 to 1.8% Rr(Table 5.1).

Vitrinite reflectances (Rr) for the Vis´ean coals of the Moscow Basin are low and

only slightly higher for the German coals from both the Westphalian C and the

Vis´ean (Table 5.1). Further samples show vitrinite reflectances corresponding to

the oil window (Table 5.1). The highest maturity is observed for the Mesocalamites

cf. Taitianus from the Namurian C (Table 5.1).

The four sediments from East Greenland contain high proportions of minerals

(Table A.1). In three sediments liptinite is the most abundant maceral group.

The forth shows a higher proportion of vitrinites (Fig. 5.1 A). The two coals

from Russia and South China contain negligible amounts of minerals but high

proportions of vitrinites (Fig. 5.1 A). Among the three French sediments only two

were microscopically investigated. They in correspondence to the Permian samples

from East Greenland exhibit high proportions of minerals. One of them contains

high amounts of vitrinites while the other is characterised by higher proportions

of liptinites (Fig. 5.1 A).

5 Bulk Geochemical Results

The Upper Carboniferous samples are coals or coaly shales. Only few exhibit

elevated proportions of minerals. For the majority of the samples vitrinite is the

most abundant maceral group (Fig. 5.1 B). One coal (Table A.1) is characterised

by high proportions of inertinites and two samples of the Throckley site exhibit

no preference of a specific maceral group (Fig. 5.1 B).

Maceral group distribution of the Lower Carboniferous and Devonian samples

are also variable (Fig. 5.1 C). Three samples from the Moscow Basin are cannel-

boghead coals. They show high proportions of liptinite macerals (Fig. 5.1 C). One

sample from the Moscow Basin and the German coal exhibit high proportions

of vitrinites. The fifth coal from the Moscow Basin and the Vis´ean coal from

Spitsbergen show no significant preference of either maceral group (Fig. 5.1 C).

The Devonian sample from Spitsbergen is a cannel coal, characterised by high

proportions of liptinites (Fig. 5.1 C).

5.3 Rock-Eval Pyrolysis

According to the van Krevelen diagram kerogen can be separated into three types.

Kerogen containing high proportions of aliphatic moieties is called type I. It ex-

hibits high H/C and low O/C ratios. The material of this kerogen type is primarily

rich in lipids, whereas polyaromatic and heteroatomic compounds are rare. Oxy-

gen, present in this type of kerogen normally is ester bound (Tissot and Welte,

1984). Contributors to the organic material of type I kerogen are algae and mi-

crobially reworked biomass. The predominant maceral group of type I kerogen

is liptinite. Type I kerogen normally is rare. The depositional environments are

mainly lacustrine (Killops and Killops,1993).

Type III kerogen is characterised by relative low H/C but high O/C ratios. Poly-

aromatic and heteroatomic compounds are highly abundant. Oxygen is prefer-

entially present in ketones and carboxylic acids. The organic matter of type III

kerogen is primarily derived from terrigenous sources. Vitrinite macerals, formed

from vascular plants are predominant (Tissot and Welte,1984).

5.3 Rock-Eval Pyrolysis

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

England (Rowlands Gill)/ Upper

Carboniferous

England, South China, Russia/

Permian and Upper Carboniferous

Moscow Basin (Cannel Boghead Coals)/

Lower Carboniferous

Germany, Moscow Basin,

Spitsbergen/Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/Upper Devonian

Fossils/ Upper Carboniferous

040 80 120 160

OxygenIndex[mgCO2/gTOC]

200

400

600

800

1000

HydrogenIndex[mgHC/gTOC]

type I

type III

type II

Figure 5.2: HI vs. OI

(OI values often are low.

Kerogen typing in the

plot is in clear contrast

to the microscopical data

and the typing according

to the plots of HI vs.

Tmax and S2 vs. TOC

(Fig. 5.3 and 5.4))

Type II kerogen is an intermediate between type I and III and is characterised

by relatively high H/C and low O/C ratios. Polyaromatic compounds and het-

eroatomic groups are more abundant than in type I but less abundant than in

type III kerogen. Type II kerogen often originates from marine sediments and

autochthonous organic matter, derived from a mixture of phytoplankton, zoo-

plankton and microorganisms, deposited in reducing environments (Tissot and

Welte,1984). It can also be formed from allochthonous material where the mac-

erals from lipid-rich higher plant debris together with plant membrane secretions

become concentrated (Killops and Killops,1993).

The temperature Tmax at which the maximum amount of volatile organic com-

pounds is released by thermal degradation, is influenced by the maturity of the

kerogen. It normally increases with increasing maturity of the organic matter and

can be used for quick estimation of the maturity degree (Espistali´e,1985). Tmax

depends on the type of organic matter. The value is strongly related to maturity

for oxygen-rich type III organic matter, but is only slightly sensitive to maturity

for hydrogen-rich type I kerogen.

5 Bulk Geochemical Results

Figure 5.3: HI vs.

Tmax indicating a

mixed type II-III

kerogen for most of the

samples

400 440 480 520

Tmax [°C]

200

400

600

800

HydrogenIndex[mgHC/gTOC]

0.5% Rr

1.0% Rr

1.3% Rr

type I

type II

type III

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

England (Rowlands Gill)/ Upper

Carboniferous

England, South China, Russia/

Permian and Upper Carboniferous

Moscow Basin (Cannel Boghead Coals)/

Lower Carboniferous

Germany, Moscow Basin,

Spitsbergen/Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/Upper Devonian

Fossils/ Upper Carboniferous

When interpreting data obtained by Rock-Eval pyrolysis some limitations have to

be considered (Katz,1983). While H/C and O/C ratios are established on pure

kerogen, HI and OI base on the pyrolysis of the complete sediment. It was shown,

that sediments containing high proportions of minerals release depleted amounts

of volatile organic compounds. This can be caused by absorption of organic com-

pounds onto the mineral matrix (Peters,1986). This mineral matrix effect is

normally accompanied by elevated Tmax values. On the other hand breakdown of

carbonates during pyrolysis may result in an enhanced OI (Katz,1983).

OI values are low for most of the samples (Table A.2). In the HI vs. OI plot

(Fig. 5.2) they are beneath the line for type I kerogen. Few values plot near

that line. Only one sediment from East Greenland can be assigned to type III or

perhaps type IV kerogen. The latter is not among the originally defined kerogen

types (Tissot and Welte,1984) due to its low reactivity and high proportions of

inertinite macerals (Killops and Killops,1993). The sample which has high OI

values also has high amounts of minerals. Therefore Rock-Eval data of this sample

may be influenced by a mineral matrix effect (Katz,1983). Two sediments from

5.3 Rock-Eval Pyrolysis

020 40 60 80

TOC[%]

200

400

S2[mg/gsample]

type I

type II

type III

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

England (Rowlands Gill)/ Upper

Carboniferous

England, South China, Russia/

Permian and Upper Carboniferous

Moscow Basin (Cannel Boghead Coals)/

Lower Carboniferous

Germany, Moscow Basin,

Spitsbergen/Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/Upper Devonian

Fossils/ Upper Carboniferous

Figure 5.4: S2 vs. TOC graph

supporting the distribution visu-

alised in the HI vs. Tmax graph

East Greenland can be assigned to mixed type II and III kerogen. These samples

exhibit high proportions of minerals.

The cannel-boghead coals from the Vis´ean and the cannel coal from the Upper

Devonian, according to the HI vs. OI plot, contain type I kerogen. However for

most of the other samples the HI vs. OI plot is in clear contrast to their maceral

group distribution (Fig. 5.1). Type I kerogen does not contain high proportions of

vitrinite. Peters (1986) reported, that values of coals containing type III kerogen

can lie between type II and III. This is caused by an overestimation of the liquid-

hydrocarbon-generative potential. It especially was observed for coals showing

maturities beyond 0.6% Rr. In these coals pyrolytic oxygen in high amounts is

released as carbon monoxide, which is not detected by Rock-Eval. Nevertheless

the very low OI values for most of the samples can not be explained by these facts

and therefore may be of little significance. The HI values of 300 mg HC/ g TOC

for most of them in contrast is typical for coals containing high amounts of type

III organic matter (Peters,1986).

According to the plot of HI vs. Tmax (Fig. 5.3) most of the samples are classified

as type II to type III kerogen. This is in good agreement to their maceral group

5 Bulk Geochemical Results

distribution (Fig. 5.1). The cannel-boghead coals and the cannel coal in this plot

are assigned to contain type I to type II kerogen. The maturity of the samples

according to the Rock-Eval data is low in comparison to the vitrinite reflectances

determined via microscopy (Table A.1).

The comparison between the HI vs. OI (Fig. 5.2) and the HI vs. Tmax plot (Fig.

5.3) strongly supports the suggestion that OI values are not reliable. Additionally

the S2 vs. TOC plot (Fig. 5.4) correlates well to the data of the HI vs. Tmax plot.

The S2 vs. TOC plot was established by Langford and Blanc-Valleron (1990) to

avoid problems related to the S3 peak. According to this plot (Fig. 5.4) the fossils

and four coals strongly correspond to type III kerogen. Due to the low amounts of

TOC for the four sediments from East Greenland their organic matter composition

is difficult to assign (Fig. 5.4). The cannel-boghead coals from the Vis´ean and

the Upper Devonian cannel coal again are classified to contain type I kerogen.

According to both the HI vs. Tmax and the S2 vs. Tmax plot most of the samples

contain organic matter that can be assigned to a mixture of type II and III kerogen.

The cannel-boghead coals and the cannel coal show the same kerogen typing in

all three plots. The Rock-Eval data for the sediments from East Greenland due

to the low amounts of TOC are insecure.

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

6.1 Compound Class Distribution by Iatroscan

The relative proportions of aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons and

resins (i.e. nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen containing compounds) were investi-

gated for all of the Upper Carboniferous samples, with two exceptions (Table

A.3). Additionally Iatroscan was applied for three Permian samples from South-

ern France (Table A.3). Resins (NSO compounds) are generally the most abundant

compound class for all samples (Fig. 6.1), ranging from 47 to 90%, and are signif-

icantly highest for the Sigillaria. Aromatic hydrocarbons normally are present in

higher amounts than aliphatic hydrocarbons. They are abundant in the range of

5-41%. Aliphatic hydrocarbons are present in proportions from 1 to 37%. They

are only significantly enriched in two of the samples from Southern France.

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Introduction

The geochemistry of aliphatic hydrocarbons was subject to intensive investigations

in the past. Aliphatic hydrocarbons, including the so-called biomarkers, are often

applied and provide useful information about the biological origin, the depositional

environment and the maturity of organic matter (Peters and Moldowan,1993).

They are highly abundant in kerogen derived from marine sources, but less predom-

inant in kerogen originating from terrestrial environments (Tissot and Welte,1984).

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

020 40 60 80 100

NSO-Compounds[%]

100

rmaticHydrocarbons[%]

100

AliphaticHydrocarbons[%]

Southern France Sediments

English coals

Sigillaria

Figure 6.1: Ternary plot showing the relative amounts of aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic

hydrocarbons and NSO compounds

Except for n-alkanes and pristane (2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane), biomarkers

often are rare in coals (Norgate et al.,1999). Aliphatic by-products of decomposers

may contribute the major part of biomarkers to the kerogen of terrestrial origin

(Killops and Killops,1993). Increasing maturity often results in aromatisation of

cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons. Therefore a depletion in the relative proportion of

cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons in samples of high maturity may additionally result

in a more pronounced predominance of n-alkanes and pristane.

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

n-Alkanes

n-Alkanes are constituents of coals, sediments and petroleum (Killops and Killops,

1993). They provide information on the biological sources of the organic matter

(Killops and Killops,1993;Peters and Moldowan,1993). In organisms they nor-

mally show odd numbers of C-atoms, due to their biosynthesis from fatty acids

via enzymatic decarboxylation (Killops and Killops,1993). n-Alkanes in the range

from C27 to C31, showing a clear odd over even predominance (OEP) are attributed

to waxes of higher plants. Short-chain n-alkanes (C15 to C19), exhibiting an OEP

are presumed to originate from algae (Tissot and Welte,1984).

The influence of different contributors to the distribution of n-alkanes can be ex-

pressed in ratios. The AT RHC (aquatic/terrigenous ratio of hydrocarbons, Wilkes

et al. (1999)) is a parameter to determine the amounts of aquatic to terrigenous

derived n-alkanes, i.e. short-chain to long-chain n-alkanes :

ATRHC =(C15 +C17 +C19)

(C15 +C17 +C19 +C27 +C29 +C31)(6.1)

Values below 0.5 indicate an enhanced input of long-chain n-alkanes, i.e. organic

matter derived from terrestrial sources. The ratio depends on the maturity of the

samples and is only distinctive for immature organic matter.

Samples of low maturity normally show the biogenic distribution of n-alkanes.

This predominance of odd- over even-numbered n-alkanes becomes less pronounced

with increasing maturity of the organic matter. Due to thermal cracking an in-

crease of short-chain n-alkanes is observed, leading to equal proportions of odd-

and even- numbered n-alkanes (Killops and Killops,1993). Several ratios reflecting

the OEP of n-alkanes are known (Peters and Moldowan,1993). The CPI (carbon

preference index) used in this study is often applied (Norgate et al.,1999;Wilkes

et al.,1999) and takes the distribution of C(24−32) n-alkanes into consideration:

CPILHC =1

2 (C25 +C27 +C29 +C31)

(C24 +C26 +C28 +C30)+(C25 +C27 +C29 +C31)

(C26 +C28 +C30 +C32)!(6.2)

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

The ATRHC is only reliable for CPI values significantly higher than one.

The amounts of summed C(12−32)-n-alkanes range from 23 to 6080 µg/g TOC (Ta-

ble A.5). n-Alkanes, besides pristane normally are the most abundant compounds

of the aliphatic fraction (Fig. 6.2). They are significantly enriched for the more

immature samples, characterised by high proportions of liptinite. They are lowest

for samples showing enhanced maturities. Most of the samples in the maturity

range of 0.72-0.91% Rrshow proportions of n-alkanes at around 500-700 µg/g

TOC.

An unimodal distribution (Fig 6.2 A, C), maximising around n-C(21−25) (Fig. 6.2

C) characterises most of the fractions of aliphatic hydrocarbons. Only few of

the immature samples show a clear predominance of long-chain odd-numbered

n-alkanes (Fig. 6.2 B). The values of the carbon preference index (CPI) normally

range from 1.03 to 1.66 (Table 6.1), indicating, that organic matter for most of the

samples is mature. Low CPI values for samples of maturities beyond 0.6% Rrare

in good agreement with data from the literature (Radke et al.,1980;Norgate et al.,

1999). Only two samples exhibit a clear OEP, typical for immature organic matter

(Table 6.1). In contrast, samples that are also characterised by low maturities

(Table 5.1, confirmed by high HI-values (Table A.2)) show CPI-values, that are

only slightly enhanced.

One sample exhibits an even over odd predominance (EOP) of n-alkanes, this

being characteristic for strongly reducing, hypersaline environments (Peters and

Moldowan,1993).

The values for AT RHC vary widely (Table 6.1). Their significance is limited

according to the low CPI-values. The ATRHC is low for samples that show a CPI

higher than 1.6 (Table 6.1). This may indicate a strong contribution of cuticular

waxes from higher plants to the organic matter of these samples. The CPI of the

Sigillaria is in contrast to its enhanced maturity (Table 6.1).

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

100

120

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 min

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

n-C16

n-C13

n-C12

n-C14

n-C15

n-C18

n-C17

n-C19

n-C20

n-C30

n-C31

n-C32

n-C33

n-C21

n-C22

n-C23

n-C24

n-C25

n-C26

n-C27

n-C28

n-C29

n-C28

Androstane Androstane

Phytane

Pristane

n-C16

n-C15

n-C14

n-C18

n-C17

n-C19

n-C20

n-C30

n-C31

n-C32

n-C33

n-C34

n-C21

n-C22

n-C23

n-C24

n-C25

n-C26

n-C27

n-C29

n-C28

Androstane

Phytane

Pristane

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

100

150

200

250

Figure 6.2: Gas chromatograms of the aliphatic hydrocarbon fraction of samples from A) the

Westphalian (England) B) the Vis´ean (Russia) and C) the Devonian (Spitsbergen); androstane

was added as internal standard

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Table 6.1: CPI- and AT RHC -values of the samples

Sample CPIHC ATRHC Sample CP IHC AT RHC

E 49710 1.21 0.38 E 48395 1.24 0.98

E 49748 1.15 0.47 E 48394 1.21 0.56

E 49749 1.39 0.16 E 48396 1.15 0.54

E 49750 1.11 0.75 E 48397 1.12 0.58

E 49751 1.08 0.35 E 48398 1.13 0.49

E 48990 1.04 0.50 E 48400 1.23 0.49

E 48478 1.08 0.60 E 48401 1.17 0.58

E 48479 1.33 0.56 E 48405 1.27 0.90

E 48480 n.d n.d E 48425 1.66 0.21

E 48996 1.63 0.03 E 48382 1.11 0.41

E 48388 1.14 0.35 E 48383 1.17 0.51

E 48389 1.14 0.56 E 48384 1.08 0.71

E 48390 1.13 0.65 E 48985 1.35 0.29

E 48214 1.11 0.62 E 48986 1.41 0.24

E 48216 1.17 0.54 E 48987 1.45 0.24

E 48430 1.34 0.58 E 48988 0.92 0.74

E 48403 1.17 0.58 E 48989 12.11 0.01

E 48220 1.07 0.64 E 48993 3.45 0.02

E 48392 n.d. n.d. E 48991 1.19 0.33

E 48393 1.09 0.56 E 48992 1.08 0.46

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

COOH

CHO

CH2OH

phytol

phytadienephytenic acid

prist-1-ene

pristane

phytanal

phytene

phytane

dihydrophytol

[H ]

-CO2

-H O

[H ]

Figure 6.3: Formation of pristane and phytane from phytol

Pristane and Phytane

Pristane (2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane) and phytane (2,6,10,14-

tetramethylhexadecane) originate from the phytol side chain of chlorophyll-a.

Chlorophyll is a tetrapyrrole pigment, required for photosynthesis by higher

plants, cyanobacteria and algae (Killops and Killops,1993). Chlorophyll-a is the

most abundant tetrapyrrole. Phytol additionally is present in bacteriochlorophyll-

a and -b. It is released from tetrapyrrole pigments during diagenesis (Peters

and Moldowan,1993). Pristane and phytane normally are the most abundant

isoprenoids in the aliphatic hydrocarbon fraction (Peters and Moldowan,1993).

Whereas pristane is derived by oxidation and decarboxylation of phytol, phytane

is the product of its dehydration and reduction (Fig. 6.3).

The ratio of pristane to phytane is used as an indicator of the redox potential in

sediments. At maturity ranges of 0.65 to 1.3% Rr, values beyond 3 indicate an

input of terrestrial derived organic matter deposited under oxic conditions. Values

below 0.6 indicate anoxic, hypersaline environments. Values in the range of 0.8-

2.5 are less significant and may indicate a lacustrine or marine origin of organic

matter (Peters and Moldowan,1993). The ratio is not sensitive to organic matter

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

of low maturities (Volkman and Maxwell,1986). The ratio of pristane vs. n-C17

is another useful tool to characterise the source of organic matter. Values beyond

0.6 are attributed to organic matter derived from terrestrial sources. Values below

0.5 indicate, that organic material has derived from marine sources (Peters and

Moldowan,1993).

Pristane and phytane are present in the range from 1.4 to 172 µg/g TOC and

0.5 to 97 µg/g TOC (Table A.7), respectively. For the majority of the samples

pristane is present in higher proportions than phytane (Table 6.2). The values of

pristane vs. phytane indicate, that the Upper Carboniferous samples have been

deposited under oxic conditions, and that organic matter except for one sample

is mainly derived from terrestrial sources. The organic matter in most of the

samples of the Permian and Vis´ean period on the other hand, according to the

ratio, originates from lacustrine or marine sources. The immature samples of the

Vis´ean exhibit values below 1. This may indicate, that depositional conditions

have been primarily anoxic. In contrast to the ratio of pristane vs. phytane, the

ratio of pristane vs. n-C17 indicates, that input of terrestrial organic matter is

high for most of the samples (Table 6.2). Only few samples show values below

0.6. None of them is characterised by pristane/phytane ratios higher than 3.0.

Therefore their organic matter may mainly be derived from marine sources.

Steranes and Diasteranes

Sterols (Fig. 6.4) are the natural precursors of steranes and diasteranes (de Leeuw

and Baas,1986). They are components in cell membranes, that serve to maintain

the membrane integrity (Killops and Killops,1993). Sterols naturally show a

8β(H),9α(H), 10β(CH3),13β(CH3),14α(H),17α(H),20R-configuration.

Whereas sterols originating from algae possess rather complex structures, the

ones biosynthesized by higher plants are relatively simple. The variability of their

side-chain structures is limited (Djerassi et al.,1979;Djerassi,1981). Sterols are

present as free and esterified compounds in nature. It is believed, that the initial

step of biotransformation is the hydrolysis of the esterified derivatives (de Leeuw

and Baas,1986). During diagenesis sterols undergo transformations, that result in

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table 6.2: Values of pristane/phytane and pristane/n-C17

Sample pristane

phytane

pristane

n-C17 Sample pristane

phytane

pristane

n-C17

E 49748 1.27 2.54 E 48394 4.90 4.43

E 49749 1.16 1.47 E 48395 1.27 0.24

E 49750 1.71 0.92 E 48396 4.36 3.26

E 49751 1.66 2.50 E 48397 2.89 0.66

E 49710 6.81 3.41 E 48398 3.68 2.46

E 48990 2.91 1.11 E 48400 4.33 2.76

E 48478 1.22 0.67 E 48401 4.83 2.28

E 48479 1.33 0.50 E 48405 2.34 0.46

E 48480 0.21 0.47 E 48425 1.13 0.81

E 48996 3.33 5.56 E 48382 5.61 3.65

E 48388 3.49 3.70 E 48383 5.41 5.66

E 48389 4.62 2.88 E 48384 2.27 0.17

E 48390 5.40 2.65 E 48985 0.49 0.74

E 48214 5.07 2.16 E 48986 0.97 0.37

E 48216 5.32 4.73 E 48987 0.82 0.16

E 48430 6.28 2.26 E 48988 0.59 0.84

E 48403 3.44 1.37 E 48989 0.81 0.45

E 48220 5.08 2.77 E 48993 3.06 1.29

E 48392 n.d. n.d. E 48991 3.38 0.63

E 48393 4.45 2.99 E 48992 4.75 0.80

the formation of steranes and diasteranes (Brassell,1985). The most likely direct

precursors of steranes and diasteranes are sterenes and diasterenes, respectively

(de Leeuw and Baas,1986). The saturated isomers are the result of hydrogena-

tion. The ratio of diasteranes to steranes provides information about the presence

of minerals. The formation of diasteranes and their unsaturated counterparts,

the diacholestenes results from rearrangement processes, catalyzed by certain clay

minerals under acidic conditions (Rubinstein et al.,1975;Sieskind et al.,1979).

The relative proportions of diasteranes do not depend on the total amount of clay

minerals, but on the relative proportion of clay minerals to the proportion of or-

ganic matter (van Kaam-Peters et al.,1998). This effect becomes less distinctive

with increasing maturity of the samples (Inaba et al.,2001). At elevated matura-

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

(R)

(20 )-24-ethyl-5 (H),14 (H),17 (H)-cholestaneRa a a

(R)

D5-sterols

(20 )-24-ethyl-13 (H),17 (H)-diacholestaneRb a

Figure 6.4: Steroid compounds referred to in the text

tion stages enhanced proportions of diasteranes can be attributed to their greater

thermal stability. Furthermore diasteranes are less susceptible to biodegradation

than regular steranes (Seifert and Moldowan,1979).

The relative proportions of C27-, C28- and C29-steranes and diasteranes to some

extend provide information on the origin of the organic matter (Peters and

Moldowan,1993). Whereas C29-steranes are suggested to predominantly origi-

nate from higher plants, C28-steranes are supposed to originate from phytoplank-

ton (Huang and Menschein,1979). Isomerisation at the double bond of sterenes

and diasterenes yields in an equilibrium mixture of different isomers. During di-

agenesis and catagenesis isomerisation at the C-5, C-14, C-17 and C-20 atoms

of the sterane skeleton results in an equilibrium mixture of αααR,αααS,αββR,

αββS-steranes at about 1:1:3:3 (Peters and Moldowan,1993).

Steranes and diasteranes were trace compounds in the aliphatic hydrocarbon frac-

tions of few samples, only. For many samples αααRC27-, C28- and C29-steranes

were the only detectable steranes (Table A.10). In correspondence, these samples

often are characterised by relatively low maturities. Diasteranes on the other hand

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

C27

C28

C29

South France/ Permian/ steranes

England/ Potato Pot/ U. Carboniferous/ steranes

England/ Throckley/ U. Carboniferous/ steranes

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian/ steranes

East Germany/ L. Carboniferous/ steranes

Russia/ L. Carboniferous/ steranes

Moscow Basin/ L. Carboniferous/ steranes

England/ Throckley/ U. Carboniferous/ diasteranes

Sigillaria/ U. Carboniferous/ diasteranes

East Germany/ Permian/ steranes

100

020 40 60 80 100

100

Figure 6.5: Ternary plot showing the relative proportions of C27-, C28- and C29-steranes and

diasteranes

are predominant in some of the more mature samples and in few samples that ex-

hibit enhanced proportions of clay minerals (Table A.10). Maturity ratios based

on the relative proportions of different sterane isomers, due to the low proportions

of these compounds could only be determined for five samples (Table A.12). These

values are of little significance and it is concluded, that the low proportions of ster-

anes and diasteranes result in an enhanced inaccuracy of quantification. αααR-

C29-Steranes and βαS-C29-diasteranes often are the most abundant isomers (Fig.

6.5), indicating a contribution of land plant derived material to the organic mat-

ter of the samples. This conclusion is limited by the fact, that high proportions

of C29-steranes have also been found in samples characterised by the absence of

land plant derived organic matter (Peters and Moldowan,1993). Nevertheless the

predominance of C29-steranes is significant for the two German samples (Fig. 6.5).

The relative amounts of C27- and C28-isomers do not vary significantly, showing a

slight predominance C28-steranes/diasteranes, only.

The ratio of diasteranes to steranes could be established for five samples only

(Table A.12). A direct correlation between the ratio of clay minerals to organic

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

HOOH

(R)

23 24

14 28

19 20

30 29 31

33 34 35

( )b

bacteriohopanetetrol diplopterol

17 ,21 -hopanesa b hop-17(21)-enes 17,21-secohopanes

Figure 6.6: Hopanoic compounds referred to in the text

matter and the relative proportions of diasteranes was not observed. The Devonian

cannel-coal is the only sample, which is characterised by an enhanced influence of

acidic clays on the sterane/diasterane distribution.

Hopanes

The name hopane refers to a group of aliphatic biomarkers consisting of a pen-

tacyclic terpenoic skeleton, incorporating a five membered E-ring (Fig. 6.6).

Hopanes in the range of C27 to C35 are present in sediments, petroleum

and coals (Simoneit,1986). They originate from natural precursors like C35-

bacteriohopanetetrol and related C30- or C35-bacteriohopanoids (Fig. 6.6), which

are constituents of cell membranes in a great range of bacteria (Ourisson et al.,

1979,1987). These compounds are the counterparts of sterols, the latter being

present in eukaryotes (Ourisson et al.,1987).

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Hopanes possess a chiral center at all ring junctures (C-5, C-8, C-9, C-10, C-13,

C-17 and C-18) and at the C-21 and C-22 atoms. The biological hopane precur-

sors show a 17β(H),21β(H),22R-configuration. In sediments three isomeric series,

17α(H),21β(H)-, 17β(H), 21β(H)- and 17β,21α(H)-hopanes, are present. The lat-

ter compounds are called moretanes. The presence of different isomers results

from a great number of complex reactions, including isomerisation, destruction

and release from kerogen (ten Haven et al.,1992;Requejo,1994).

Hopanes and their biological precursors were extensively studied for some decades.

Although their transformation pathways during diagenesis and catagenesis are not

fully understood (Farrimond et al.,1996,2000), they are often applied for both ma-

turity and environmental assessment (Peters and Moldowan,1993). High values

for the ratio of C35-/C31−35-hopanes (Table 6.3, HHI=homohopane index) for ex-

ample indicate highly reducing marine environments (Peters and Moldowan,1991).

In non-reducing environments bacteriohopanetetrol is oxidised to C32-hopanoic

acid. Loss of the carboxylic group results in enhanced proportions of C30- and

C31-hopanes.

Maturity parameters based on hopanes normally consider the relative propor-

tions of different isomers (Table 6.3). Isomerisation of naturally occurring 22R-

homologues results in an equilibrium mixture of 22R- and 22S-isomers. Beyond

maturities of 0.6% Rran equilibrium value (0.6) is observed. The ratio of

hopanes/(hopanes + moretanes) (Table 6.3) does also correspond to maturity

(Table 6.3). At elevated maturity ranges the relative proportions of moretanes

show a decrease.

Hopenes (Fig. 6.6), due to dehydrogenation possess a double bond in the penta-

cyclic skeleton (Tritz et al.,1999). The most prominent hopenes are C30-hop-

17(21)-ene and its higher homologues (Summons and Jahnke,1992;Gallegos,

1981). The relative proportions of hop-17(21)-enes decrease with increasing matu-

rities.

Another compound class, that may be related to hopanes are tetracyclic terpanes.

In contrast to hopanes, they lack the presence of the five membered E-ring. Tetra-

cyclic terpanes have been detected in sediments and petroleum (Aquino Neto et al.,

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Table 6.3: Selected parameters reflecting the proportions of different hopane isomers

Name Formula Significance

HHI C35

C31+C32+C33+C34+C35 environment

22S

22S+R

22S−17α(H),21β(H)-29-Dihomohopane

22S−+R−17α(H),21β(H)-29-Dihomohopane maturity

Hopane

Hopane+Moretane

17α(H),21β(H)-Hopane

17α(H),21β(H)-Hopane+17β(H),21α(H)-Hopane maturity

1983). They are called 17,21-secohopanes, refering to the fact, that they may orig-

inate from hop-17(21)-enes via cleavage of the 17(21)-bond. These tetracyclic

terpanes are absent in recent sediments and are suggested to be more resistant

against biodegradation and maturity effects than hopanes (Aquino Neto et al.,

1983).

Hopanes have been assigned by mass spectra and literature. Their proportions and

composition vary widely. They have not been identified in all of the investigated

samples. When determined, summed hopanes were present in ranges from 3.3 to

317.1 µg/g TOC (Table A.14). Proportions of hopanes were relatively enhanced

for most of the immature samples, but exhibit no uniform decrease with increas-

ing maturities. Whereas the hopanoic compounds for most of the samples are re-

stricted to few isomers only, four immature samples show a high diversity. For the

majority of the samples 17α-22,29,30-trinorhopane, 17α(H),21β(H)-hopane and

17α(H),21β(H)-norhopane are the most abundant isomers. While C35-hopanes

were generally absent, isomers with up to 34 carbon atoms were present. Addi-

tionally in comparison with Summons and Jahnke (1992) a 2- or 3-methyl-hopane

was also detected in few of the samples. Due to the absence of C35-hopanes the

HHI could not be determined. However, the absence or negligible proportions of

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

East Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

17 (H),21 (H)-hopane

17 (H),21 (H)-hopane + 17 (H),21 (H)-hopane

a b

a b b a

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.4

0.6

0.8

22 + 22

S R of 17 (H),21 (H)-29-dihomohopanesa b

Figure 6.7: A) Cross plot of the distribution of 22Sand 22R17α,21β-homohopanes and B) of

C32-17α,21β-hopanes and moretanes vs. the vitrinite reflectance of the samples

these higher homologues indicate, that the environmental conditions for none of

the samples have been strongly anoxic.

Maturity parameters basing on the relative proportions of different isomers, show

a correlation to the vitrinite reflectance of the samples (Fig. 6.7). The equilib-

rium value for the ratio of 22S

22S+R17α-dihomohopanes is reached for most of the

samples (Fig. 6.7 A). This is in good agreement with the applicability of the

ratio up to maturities of 0.6% Rr. One sample of the Permian in East Greenland

exhibits a low ratio in contrast to its vitrinite reflectance (Fig. 6.7 A). The ratio

of C30-17α(H),21β(H)-hopanes to C30-moretanes also exhibits good correlation to

vitrinite reflectances (Fig. 6.7 B).

Hop-17(21)-enes, in the range from C29- to C35 have only been detected in four

immature samples originating from the Moscow Basin. They are absent in samples

with maturities beyond 0.5% Rr. The higher homologues (C(31−35)) are present as

Rand Sisomers (Sinninghe Damst´e et al.,1995). The presence of C(31−35)-hop-

17(21)-enes correlates to the presence of 17β(H),21β(H)-hopane. This indicates,

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

80.0 82.0 84.0 86.0 88.0 90.0 92.0

C35-hop-17(21)-enes

C32-hop-17(21)-enes

C31-hop-17(21)-enes

C33-hop-17(21)-enes

C34-hop-17(21)-enes

norhopene

hop-17(21)-ene

neohop-13(18)-ene

RETENTION TIME [min]

Figure 6.8: Gas Chromatogram of hopenes (m/z 396,410,424,438,452,466,480) in a sample from

the Moscow Basin

that the compounds are of enhanced thermal instability. The homohop-17(21)-

ene index (Table A.16) is low, this being in good agreement with the absence of

C35-hopanes. The relative proportions of R- and S-isomers are similar for all four

samples. A slight predominance of the R-isomer is observed for lower homologues

of the hop-17(21)-ene series, only (Table A.16).

Up to five tetracyclic C24−26-17,21-secohopanes have been detected (Table A.17).

Besides one C25- two C24- and two C26-tetracyclic terpanes are present. While one

C24- and one C25-isomer are present in most of the samples, the presence of other

compounds is restricted to fewer samples.

Resum´ee

The fraction of aliphatic hydrocarbons for most of the samples is dominated by n-

alkanes. Only one sample shows a strong OEP, whereas most of the samples show

no significant predominance of odd-numbered n-alkanes. This does also account

for samples, that are suggested to have suffered little thermal alteration.

6.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

The ratio of pristane/phytane shows enhanced values for most of the Upper Car-

boniferous samples. The samples from the Moscow Basin in contrast are char-

acterised by pristane/phytane values below one, whereas most of the Permian

samples show values in the range of 1-2.

The values of pristane/n-C17 for most of the samples support the suggestion, that

their organic matter is derived from terrestrial sources. In contrast to the generally

low pristane/phytane values for the samples of the Moscow Basin, their values of

pristane/n-C17 vary more widely.

Steranes and diasteranes in general are minor constituents of the fractions of

aliphatic hydrocarbons. Nevertheless two samples, characterised by an elevated

CPILHC and a low ATRHC show high proportions of C29-steranes/diasteranes.

Other samples show no significant variations of steranes and diasteranes. This

probably results from the low proportions of these compounds.

Hopanoic compounds are present in higher amounts than steranes. This is in-

dicative for a strong input of terrigenous organic material (Peters and Moldowan,

1993). Whereas the variability of different hopane-isomers is low for most of the

samples, this does not account for the ones from the Moscow Basin. These sam-

ples, with one exception show an enhanced variability of different isomers. The

ratio of 22S/(22S+ 22R)-17α(H),21β(H)-29-dihomohopanes is in excellent corre-

lation to data from literature, except for one sample (Peters and Moldowan,1993).

The proportions of C30-17α(H),21β(H)-hopanes to C30-moretanes in contrast are

of depleted significance, they show weaker correspondence to vitrinite reflectances.

While hop-17(21)-enes were present in the immature samples from the Moscow

Basin only, 17,21-secohopanes are present in an elevated number of samples. How-

ever few isomers are predominantly present in organic matter originating from the

Devonian and Lower Carboniferous.

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Introduction

Terrestrial organic matter, especially in coals, in comparison to organic matter

derived from marine sources, normally is characterised by high proportions of aro-

matic hydrocarbons (Tissot and Welte,1984). Many of the precursors originating

from higher plants show either cyclic or already aromatic structures. Additionally

aromatisation, besides defunctionalisation is the main chemical reaction occur-

ring during coalification i.e. maturation of coals. Increasing maturity therefore is

accompanied by an increase of compounds showing non-functionalised aromatic

structures (Hazai et al.,1989;Teichm¨uller and Teichm¨uller,1968).

Investigations on brown coals (Hazai et al.,1989;Chaffee and Fookes,1988;Chaf-

fee and Johns,1983) showed that pentacyclic monoaromatic ring systems were

highly abundant, whereas bi- and tricyclic polyaromatic rings (alkylnaphthalenes

and -phenanthrenes) were absent. In contrast to this, bituminous coals, i.e. more

mature coals normally are characterised by high proportions of alkylphenanthrenes

and alkylnaphthalenes (Radke et al.,1990;Hayatsu et al.,1978b).

The presence of aromatic hydrocarbons in the extractable organic matter can

result either from the aromatisation of free non-aromatic biogenic precursor

molecules, for example retene derived from abietic acid (Radke et al.,1982b) or

from fragmentation of the polymeric coal matrix leading to the release of aromatic

hydrocarbons at elevated maturities (Borwitzky and Schomburg,1979). Addition-

ally aromatic hydrocarbons, especially polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are

products of combustion. They are introduced into the organic matter during or

before early diagenesis (Radke et al.,1982a).

Increasing yields of aromatic hydrocarbons, incorporating 11 or more carbon

atoms are observed at vitrinite reflectances in the range of 0.7-0.9% Rr. Beyond

that stage a stepwise decrease in yields up to maturities of 1.1% Rrhas been

noticed (Radke et al.,1990;Hayatsu et al.,1978b).

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

2´ 4´

5´

6´

1´

3´

biphenyl

910

naphthalene phenanthrene

fluorene 1-phenylnaphthalene

1´

2´

3´

4´

5´

6´

Figure 6.9: Aromatic compound classes present in the samples and their ring numbering

conventions

Within the aromatic hydrocarbon fractions of the investigated samples alkylnaph-

thalenes and alkylphenanthrenes have been the most abundant compound classes

and will be discussed in detail. Additionally alkylbiphenyls, alkylfluorenes and

alkylphenylnaphthalenes have been minor contributors to the fraction. Due to

their relative low abundances and little variations only a brief overview will be

given.

Naphthalene and Alkylnaphthalenes

Alkylnaphthalenes are mainly derived from terrestrial sources (Radke et al.,1994);

several precursors are known:

•cyclic sesquiterpenoids, derived from resinous constituents of conifers are

potential precursors of alkylnaphthalenes (Pentegova et al.,1968),

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

•thermal degradation of β-carotene (Fig. 6.10) led to the formation of 2,6-

dimethylnaphthalene, 1- and 2-methylnaphthalene and naphthalene (Day

and Erdman,1963;Achari et al.,1973),

•1,6-dimethyl-4-isopropylnaphthalene (cadalene) is a possible depolymerisa-

tion and aromatisation product of polycadinenes (van Aarssen et al.,1990,

1992), and is produced via thermal treatment of farnesol (Douglas and Mair,

1965),

•1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene (1,2,7-TMN) is suggested to originate from com-

pounds like β-amyrin (Fig. 6.11), that are constituents of angiosperms (Stra-

chan et al.,1988),

•β-amyrin and monoaromatic seco-hopanes are among several potential pre-

cursors of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene and 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene

(1,2,5,6-TeMN)(P¨uttmann and Villar,1987),

•1,2,4-trimethylnaphthalene might originate from α-tocopherol, present in

recent marine sediments (Brassell and Eglington 1986),

•1,2,2,5-tetramethyltetralin and 1,2,2,5,6-pentamethyltetralin, from micro-

bial sources, might be precursors of 1,2,6-trimethylnaphthalene, 1,2,5,7- and

1,2,3,5-tetramethylnaphthalene (Alexander et al.,1992).

Some alkylnaphthalenes have various potential biological sources. Strachan

et al. (1988) found high proportions of 1,2,5- and 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene

in sediments from the Cretaceous and younger. The authors assumed, that

these compounds are degradation products of pentacyclic triterpenoids of the

oleanane-type, for example β-amyrin. The degradation of β-amyrin via 8,14-

seco-triterpenoids (Fig. 6.11), is supposed to additionally yield in high propor-

tions of 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene (P¨uttmann and Villar,1987). High pro-

portions of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene have been attributed to the presence of

angiosperms in sediments (Fig. 6.11). In contrast 1,2,5-trimethyl- and 1,2,5,6-

tetramethylnaphthalene may also derive from natural precursors showing a dif-

ferent structural constitution (Fig. 6.11). They may be formed via degrada-

tion of monoaromatic seco-hopanoids (Hussler et al.,1984). Additionally both,

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

2,6-dimethylnaphthalene

b-carotene

1,1,6-trimethyltetralin

1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene

2-methylnaphthalene

Figure 6.10: Suggested scheme for the pyrolytic degradation of β-carotene according to Achari

et al. (1973)

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

HOOC

(Z)

1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene

1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene

1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene

HOOC

COOH

cis-communic acid

C -monoaromatic 8,14-secohopanoid

manool

agathic acid

b-amyrin

Figure 6.11: Possible precursors of 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene, 1,2,7,- and 1,2,5-

trimethylnaphthalene after P¨uttmann and Villar (1987) and Strachan et al. (1988)

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

1,2,5-trimethyl- and 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene were detected as major con-

stituents in the fluorinite filling of needles from Abietites linkii, a gymnosperm

(Heppenheimer et al.,1992). 1,2,5-Trimethylnaphthalene (agathalene) may also

originate from the dehydrogenation of biological precursors (Fig. 6.11) like agathic

acid, communic acid and manool (Thomas,1969;Carman and Craig,1971). The

latter compounds are constituents of gymnosperms (Karrer,1976;Thomas,1969).

It has been mentioned that 1,6-dimethyl-4-isopropylnaphthalene (cadalene) is a

product of thermal treatment of farnesol in the presence of sulphur. It was fur-

ther assumed to be an aromatisation product of cadinane via depolymerisation

of cadinenes and polycadinanes (Simoneit,1986;van Aarssen et al.,1990,1992).

While cadinenes are present in resins of higher plants and resinous material in

conifers (Pentegova et al.,1968;Heppenheimer et al.,1992), polycadinenes orig-

inate from dammar resins of angiosperms. A biogenetic relationship between

cadalene and 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene, as a possible by-product in the depolymeri-

sation of polycadinenes has been suggested (van Aarssen et al.,1992). However

Radke et al. (1994) assumed other sources of 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene. High con-

centrations of this compound in immature sediments are unlikely to originate from

cadinenes as aromatisation and depolymerization is supposed to require elevated

thermal stress.

A series of isohexylalkylnaphthalenes has been identified in crude oils (Ellis et al.,

1996). The compounds were only abundant in crude oils that showed the pres-

ence of specific higher plant biomarkers. Ellis et al. (1996) suggested that these

isohexylalkylnaphthalenes originate from resinous diterpenoids for example phyllo-

cladanes via aromatisation and ring opening. The highest homologue of the series

is 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1-(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene (ip-iHMN).

To recognise source effects, Strachan et al. (1988) compared the relative

amounts of 1,2,7- to 1,3,7-trimethylnaphthalene and the ones of 1,2,5- to

1,3,6-trimethylnaphthalene. While 1,2,7- and 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene are

supposed to have direct biogenic precursors (Fig. 6.11), 1,3,7- and 1,3,6-

trimethylnaphthalene are suggested to originate from the isomerisation of these

two potential biomarkers. Although the two ratios depend on the maturity of the

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Table 6.4: Maturity parameters based on the relative abundance of different alkylnaphthalenes

Name Formula Reference

MNR 2−methylnaphthalene

1−methylnaphthalene Radke et al. (1982b)

ENR 2−ethylnaphthalene

1−ethylnaphthalene Radke et al. (1982b)

DNR 2,6−+2,7−DMN

1,5−DMN Radke et al. (1982b)

TNR1 2,3,6−T MN

1,3,5−+1,4,6−T MN Alexander et al. (1986b)

TNR2 1,3,7−+2,3,6−T MN

1,3,5−+1,3,6−+1,4,6−T MN Radke et al. (1986)

TNNr 1,3,7−T MN

1,3,7−+1,2,5−T MN van Aarssen et al. (1999)

TeMN 1,3,6,7−T eMN

1,3,6,7−+1,2,5,6−T eMN van Aarssen et al. (1999)

TrMN 1,3,7−T MN+1,3,6−T MN+2,3,6−T MN

PT MN Kruge (2000)

samples, source effects are assumed to be recognisable, when establishing their

logarithmic plot (Strachan et al.,1988).

Besides these ratios reflecting source effects, the distribution of alkylnaphthalenes

is supposed to be mainly influenced by the thermal history of organic matter in

sediments. Increasing maturity for example results in the progressive conversion of

1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene into the more stable 1,3,6-trimethylnaphthalene and

other isomers (Strachan et al.,1988). This results from isomerisation reactions,

leading to the predominance of more stable β-isomers with increasing maturity.

Several ratios based on the distributions of alkylnaphthalenes therefore compare

the amounts of more stable to less stable isomers (Table 6.4).

The more stable β-isomers are substituted at position 2-, 3-, 6- and 7- of the

naphthalene skeleton. Radke et al. (1982b) found, that samples of enhanced ma-

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

turity (>0,9% Rr) show elevated proportions of 2-methylnaphthalene compared to

1-methylnaphthalene. This does also account for the ratio of 2-ethylnaphthalene

to 1-ethylnaphthalene (Table 6.4). Like the MNR and the ENR, the ratios of

dimethylnaphthalenes (DNR) and trimethylnaphthalenes (TNR1 and TNR2) also

increase with increasing maturity (Table 6.4). More recently van Aarssen et al.

(1999) established ratios on the basis of laboratory experiments (Table 6.4). These

experiments investigated the influence of thermal treatment on the distribution of

alkylnaphthalenes in the presence of clay. The TrMN (Table 6.4) used by Kruge

(2000) is a modification of the TNR2.

Investigations on the susceptibility of alkylnaphthalenes to microbial degrada-

tion showed that it depends on their substitution pattern. Naphthalenes char-

acterised by a 1,6-substitution pattern are more susceptible to biodegradation

than other isomers (Ahmed et al.,1999). Furthermore dimethylnaphthalenes are

more rapidly biodegraded than ethylnaphthalenes (Volkman et al.,1984) and 2-

ethylnaphthalene is preferentially degraded in comparison to 1-ethylnaphthalene

(Ahmed et al.,1999). In general the susceptibility of alkylnaphthalenes to

biodegradation decreases with increasing number of methyl-substituents.

In the samples studied in this project naphthalene, methylnaphthalenes, ethyl-

naphthalenes, dimethylnaphthalenes, trimethylnaphthalenes, tetramethylnaph-

thalenes, cadalene and 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene (Fig.

6.12) were identified by retention indices, mass spectra and by literature (Alexan-

der et al.,1983;Rowland et al.,1984). 1,8-Dimethylnaphthalene was used as an

internal standard. Further alkylnaphthalenes, that were quantified, normally are

minor contributors to the group ( Fig. 6.12, Table A.18).

The absolute amounts of alkylnaphthalenes vary widely between 6 and 3228 µg/g

TOC (Table A.18). Highest proportions were obtained within the maturity range

of 0.80-0.88% Rr, except for two samples. Maturity parameters based on the

distribution of alkylnaphthalenes, show no systematic dependence on the vitrinite

reflectance of the samples (Table 6.5, Table A.18). An increase of the MNR within

the maturity range of 0.6-1.5% Rrfor example was not observed (Table 6.5). A

predominance of 2-methylnaphthalene over 1-methylnaphthalene is significant for

some of the most immature samples. On the other hand, some of the more ma-

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Naphthale

1-MN

1-EN

2-EN

2,6-DMN

2,7-DMN

1,3-+1,7-DMN

1,6-DMN

1,4- + 2,3-DMN

1,5-DMN

1,2-DMN

1,3,7-TMN

1,3,6-TMN

1,3,5 + 1,4,6-TMN

2,3,6-TMN

1,2,7-TMN

1,6,7-TMN

1,2,6-TMN

1,2,4-TMN

1,2,5-TMN

1,3,5,7-TeMN

1,2,4,6 + 1,2,4,7 + 1,4,6,7-TeMN

1,3,6,7-TeMN

1,2,5,7-TeMN

2,3,6,7-TeMN

1,2,6,7-TeMN

1,2,3,7-TeMN

1,2,3,6-TeMN

1,2,5,6- + 1,2,3,5-TeMN

A-C -N

B-C -N

C-C -N

D-C -N

F-C -N

G-C -N

H-C -N

I-C -N

J-C -N

E-C -N

1,8-DMN

(standard)

Cadalene

2-MN

34.0

1,2-DMN

22.0 24.0 26.0 28.0 30.0 32.0

1.7E+07

Naphthalene

1-MN

2-MN

1-EN

2-EN

2,6-DMN

2,7-DMN

1,3-DMN

1,7-DMN

1,6-DMN

1,4-+2,3-DMN

1,5-DMN

A-C -N

36.0 38.0 40.0 42.0 44.0

5.7E+06

1,3,7-TMN

1,3,6-TMN

1,3,5- + 1,4,6-TMN

2,3,6-TMN

1,2,7-TMN

1,6,7-TMN

1,2,6-TMN

1,2,4-TMN

1,2,5-TMN

1,3,5,7-TeMN

1,2,4,6- + 1,2,4,7- + 1,4,6,7- TeMN

1,2,5,7-TeMN

1,2,3,6-TeMN

1,2,5,6- + 1,2,3,5-TeMN

Cadalene

C-C -N

D-C -N

E-C -N

F-C -N

G-C -N

N = Naphthalene

EN = Ethylnaphthalene

DMN= Dimethylnahthalene

TMN = Trimethylnaphthalene

TeMN = Tetramethylnaphthalene

Figure 6.12: Gas Chromatogram (m/z 128, 142, 156, 170, 184, 198) of alkylnaphthalenes

in A) an Upper Carboniferous and B) a Lower Carboniferous sample (for the latter sample,

the chromatogram has been split due to the high proportions of the internal standard 1,8-

dimethylnaphthalene)

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table 6.5: Values of selected alkylnaphthalene ratios; samples are listed in order of increasing

maturity according to vitrinite reflectance (further ratios are listed in Table A.18)

Sample MNR ENR DNR Sample MNR ENR DNR

E 48987 1.30 2.11 2.79 E 48216 1.38 1.16 4.49

E 48989 1.93 2.61 4.13 E 48394 0.28 0.86 4.09

E 48986 n.d. 1.88 2.68 E 48220 0.60 1.62 4.20

E 48985 n.d. 1.06 2.31 E 48388 1.24 1.13 4.22

E 48993 0.64 1.11 0.89 E 48390 1.67 1.35 5.54

E 48479 0.88 0.86 1.41 E 48991 1.08 1.30 2.48

E 49710 1.41 1.73 2.63 E 48383 0.78 1.15 2.44

E 48398 0.32 1.23 1.95 E 48389 1.47 1.27 5.44

E 48396 0.08 2.86 1.39 E 48384 1.46 1.19 2.74

E 48397 n.d. 0.47 2.30 E 48382 1.18 1.05 2.04

E 48393 0.59 0.99 3.03 E 48430 1.09 1.26 2.31

E 48992 0.94 0.87 1.34 E 49478 1.43 1.00 2.39

E 48401 0.39 0.56 1.61 E 48990 0.27 0.38 0.55

E 48400 0.59 1.08 2.69 E 49751 0.94 0.66 2.52

E 48395 0.50 4.41 3.77 E 48403 0.45 0.87 4.21

E 48214 1.40 1.30 4.52 E 48405 2.26 2.22 8.94

ture samples show relatively high proportions of 1-methylnaphthalene. A natural

source of 2-methylnaphthalene, previously suggested by Borrego et al. (1997) may

be the reason for its relatively high abundance in samples of low maturity. However

this does not explain the enhanced proportions of 1-methylnaphthalene in some of

the mature samples. The ENR is characterised by the same phenomenon (Table

6.5). High concentrations of 2-ethylnaphthalene compared to 1-ethylnaphthalene

for the immature samples correspond to the high MN ratios of these samples

(Table 6.5). The DNR correlates best with the maturity of the samples (Fig.

6.13). The ratio increases with increasing maturity for most samples at vitrinite

reflectances in the range from 0.70 to 0.88% Rr. The Russian samples of low

maturity again show relatively enhanced DN ratios in contrast to their vitrinite

reflectance (Fig. 6.13). The Permian sample from Russia in contrast exhibits very

low proportions of 2,6- and 2,7-dimethylnaphthalene considering its rather high

maturity (Fig. 6.13). Whereas the DNR shows a slight correlation with vitrinite

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

South China/ Permian

DNR

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.4 0.6 0.8 11.2

Figure 6.13: Cross plot of vitrinite reflectance vs. DNR

reflectance in the range of 0.70-0.88% Rr, this in any maturity range does not

account for the TNR1, the TNR2 and further ratios (Table A.18).

Among the dimethylnaphthalenes, 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene often is highly abun-

dant (Table A.18). The relative concentration shows no dependence on either age

or maturity of the samples. Besides that, either 1,7- or 1,3-dimethylnaphthalene

are major contributors to alkylnaphthalenes for many samples. The two com-

pounds normally were not quantified separately. When quantified separately 1,7-

dimethylnaphthalene is present in higher proportions (Table A.18). Enhanced

concentrations of the two compounds in comparison to the amounts of summed

2,6- and 2,7-dimethylnaphthalene, even in samples of high maturity, contradict

their depleted thermal stability (Budzinski et al.,1993). The low concentrations

of 1,5- and 1,2- dimethylnaphthalene in most of the samples on the other hand,

can be attributed to their minor thermodynamic stability. However variations of

individual compounds for different samples are weak.

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

In contrast to dimethylnaphthalenes, the distribution of trimethylnaphthalenes

varies more widely. Normally 1,2,4-trimethylnaphthalene plays a minor role (Table

A.18). 1,2,7-Trimethylnaphthalene, presumed to be an indicator of angiosperms,

when highly abundant, shows relatively high proportions for some of the imma-

ture samples from the Vis´ean. 1,2,5-Trimethylnaphthalene often is a predominant

compound. The relative proportion of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene, in contrast to

its low thermal stability (Budzinski et al.,1993), is not significantly influenced

by the maturity of the samples (Table A.18). Enhanced proportions of 2,3,6- and

1,3,6-trimethylnaphthalene for many samples of rather high vitrinite reflectances,

correspond to the thermal stability of these isomers.

High concentrations of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene often are accompanied by en-

hanced proportions of the 1,2,5,6- and 1,2,3,5-tetramethylnaphthalene which

coelute. Like for 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene, their proportions show no signif-

icant depletion in samples of enhanced maturities. This is in contrast to sug-

gestions made by P¨uttmann and Villar (1987), who suggested a recognisable

decrease of the two potential biomarkers 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene and 1,2,5,6-

tetramethylnaphthalene at elevated thermal maturities.

Whereas the distribution of trimethylnaphthalenes shows high variations for some

isomers, the one of tetramethylnaphthalenes is dominated by fewer variations.

1,2,5,6-, 1,2,3,5-, 1,2,3,6- and 1,3,6,7-tetramethylnaphthalene are highly abun-

dant for many samples. Due to the fact that the relative proportions 1,2,5-

trimethylnaphthalene show strong correlation to the relative amounts of the coelut-

ing compounds 1,2,5,6- and 1,2,3,5-tetramethylnaphthalene, it is presumed that

the relative amounts of the two tetramethylnaphthalenes are strongly dominated

by the relative proportions of 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene. Although a nat-

ural source for 1,2,3,5-tetramethylnaphthalene has been suggested by Alexander

et al. (1992), the authors did not suggest that 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene orig-

inates from the same source. Additionally a common source of the three com-

pounds is unknown. In contrast a common source of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene

and 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene has been suggested previously (P¨uttmann and

Villar,1987).

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

High concentrations of 1,3,6,7-tetramethylnaphthalene correspond to the en-

hanced thermal stability of this compound (van Duin et al.,1997). It is present

in high amounts in most of the samples at vitrinite reflectances beyond 0.65% Rr,

but significantly increases for the few samples at maturity ranges above 1.08% Rr.

The high proportions of cadalene in most of the immature samples from the Vis´ean,

give rise to the assumption, that this compound has been highly abundant in the

flora of this region and period. Thermal instability of cadalene probably is the

reason for its depletion in samples of later periods and higher thermal maturities.

6-Isopropyl-2-methyl-1(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene is present in many samples.

Except for two samples, it is the only isomer present of the homologous series

which Ellis et al. (1996) suggested to originate from resinous diterpenoids. It

generally is a minor contributor to the group of alkylnaphthalenes.

Phenanthrene and Alkylphenanthrenes

Diterpenoids, showing an abietane and pimarane skeleton (Fig. 6.14) are likely

biological precursors of alkylphenanthrenes (Simoneit et al.,1986). These com-

pounds are constituents of ambers and resins (Thomas,1969;Simoneit et al.,

1986) present in vascular plants.

The most prominent alkylphenanthrene, directly attributed to diterpenoids

of the abietane type is 1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene (retene). 1,7-

Dimethylphenanthrene (pimanthrene) probably originates from diterpenoids of

the pimarane type (Fig. 6.14) but is also a potential decomposition product of

retene (Simoneit et al.,1986). Additionally phenanthrene and alkylphenanthrenes

may originate from pentacyclic triterpenoids for example steroids (Streibl and Her-

out,1969;Greiner et al.,1976).

A detailed study on the distribution of alkylphenanthrenes regarding their poten-

tial biological origin and the dependence on maturity has been carried out by

Budzinski et al. (1995). The authors compared distributions of methyl-, dimethyl-

and trimethylphenanthrenes in samples originating from terrestrial and marine

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

COOHCOOH

dehydroabietane simonellite

phyllocladene 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1-(4-

methylpentyl)naphthalene

retene

abietic acid

pimaric acid

pimarane

dehydroabietic acid

abietane

pimanthrene

COOH

Figure 6.14: Possible pathways for the formation of retene and pimanthrene from diterpenoids

after Simoneit (1986) and Alexander et al. (1987)

sources. High proportions of 1-methylphenanthrene were preferentially found in

organic matter of terrestrial source rocks, whereas 9-methylphenanthrene was rel-

atively enriched in organic matter from marine shales. Additionally a predomi-

nance of pimanthrene and retene has been attributed to terrestrial organic matter.

Among trimethylphenanthrenes, 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene, in general was the

most abundant isomer. The authors therefore suggested that it originates from

an ubiquitous natural source.

While there is much evidence for the biological origin of alkylnaphthalenes, in-

vestigations on alkylphenanthrenes mainly address their common use as maturity

parameters (Radke et al.,1982b). In immature samples 9-methylphenanthrene

and 1-methylphenanthrene often are highly abundant, with 9-methylphenanthrene

being predominant (Radke et al.,1982a). With increasing maturity 2-

methylphenanthrene and 3-methylphenanthrene become more predominant, due

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

to their enhanced thermal stability. Normally 2-methylphenanthrene is present in

higher proportions than 3-methylphenanthrene.

Based on these observations the Methylphenanthrene Ratios (MPI, Table 6.6)

were established, showing excellent correlation with the vitrinite reflectance for

organic material of type III kerogen (Radke et al.,1982a). Therefore the vitri-

nite reflectance of terrestrial organic matter, with ratios of MPR <2.65 can be

approximated by calculation (Rc, Table 6.6). MPI 2 normally is little enhanced in

comparison to MPI 1, due to the slight predominance of 2-methylphenanthrene.

Relatively enhanced proportions of 2,6-, 2,3-, 2,7- and 3,6-dimethylphenanthrenes

in a coal sample of high maturity, compared to a shale sample of lower maturity

led to the suggestion, that these compounds are formed by isomerisation reactions

of alkylphenanthrenes (Garrigues et al.,1987). The enhanced stability of the β-

substituted isomers at elevated maturity ranges is applied in the Dimethylphenan-

threne Ratio (DPR, Table 6.6).Wilhelms et al. (1998) found an increase of the

ratio of 3-methylphenanthrene/retene (Table 6.6) with increasing maturities.

Although high amounts of 9-methylphenanthrene have been attributed to indicate

immature organic matter originating from marine sources, they may also result

from a preferential methylation of alkylphenanthrenes at this position of the skele-

ton in the presence of acidic clay (Alexander et al.,1995). Furthermore phenan-

threnes showing a substitution at position 9 are supposed to be less susceptible

to biodegradation (Bastow et al.,1999).

In the samples studied in this project C0−2-phenanthrenes (Fig. 6.15) and

retene were identified according to literature. 1,2,8-Trimethylphenanthrene

was identified by coelution with an authentic standard. Additionally 20 C3-

and 11 C4-phenanthrenes have been quantified. The total amount of C(0−4)-

alkylphenanthrenes ranges between 71-2103 µg/g TOC (Table A.21). They are

highly abundant in humic coals, but minor contributors to the samples char-

acterised by low proportions of vitrinite and inertinite. However, the relative

amounts of alkylphenanthrenes do not correlate to vitrinite reflectances, inerti-

nite or vitrinite proportions.

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table 6.6: Maturity parameters based on the relative abundance of different alkylphenanthrenes

Name Formula Reference

MPI 1 1.5(2−MP +3−MP )

P+1−MP +9−MP Radke et al. (1982a)

MPI 2 3(2−MP )

P+1−MP +9−MP Radke et al. (1982a)

Rc0.60 MPI 1 + 0.40 (for MPR <2.65) Radke et al. (1986)

MPR 2−Methylphenanthrene

1−Methylphenanthrene Radke et al. (1982b)

MPR 1 1−Methylphenanthrene

P henanthrene Radke et al. (1982a)

MPR 2 2−Methylphenanthrene

P henanthrene Radke et al. (1982a)

MPR 3 3−Methylphenanthrene

P henanthrene Radke et al. (1982a)

MPR 9 9−Methylphenanthrene

P henanthrene Radke et al. (1982a)

DPR 2,6−+2,7−+3,5−DMP

1,3−+1,6−+2,5−+2,9−+2,10−+3,9+3,10−DMP Radke et al. (1986)

3-MP/Retene 3−Methylphenanthrene

Retene Wilhelms et al. (1998)

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

3-MP

2-MP 9-MP

1-MP

C -P

3-EP

2-EP

9-EP

3,6-DMP

2,6-DMP

2,7-DMP

1,6-+2,9-DMP

1,7-DMP

2,3-DMP

1,8-DMP

1,2,8-TMP

1,9-+1,4-DMP

1,3-+2,10-+3,9-+3,10-DMP

3-MP

2-MP 9-MP

1-MP C -P

3-EP

2-EP 9-EP

3,6-DMP

2,6-DMP

2,7-DMP

1,6-+2,9-DMP

1,7-DMP

2,3-DMP

1,8-DMP

1,2,8-TMP

1,9-+1,4-DMP

Figure 6.15: Gas Chromatogram (m/z 178, 192, 206, 220, 234) of alkylphenanthrenes in A)

an Upper Carboniferous and B) a Permian sample

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

The calculated vitrinite reflectances Rc(Fig. 6.16) normally are in good agreement

with the measured vitrinite reflectances of the samples. Strong deviations are

restricted to the samples predominantly containing type I kerogen or showing

relatively high proportions of minerals.

Whereas the calculated vitrinite reflectances show higher values for the imma-

ture samples which are determined by high proportions of type I kerogen organic

matter, they show lower values for samples characterised by high proportions

of minerals. It is probable that the inorganic matrix influences the thermal be-

haviour of the organic matter or that the minerals support methyl shift reac-

tions leading to an increase of 9-methylphenanthrene. Most of the samples that

show strong deviations are characterised by high proportions of phenanthrene.

Normally either 2- or 9-methylphenanthrene are the predominant methylphenan-

threnes. With one exception, 2-methylphenanthrene is present in higher amounts

than 3-methylphenanthrene. Further ratios, like the DPR (Fig. 6.16) are also

in good correlation with the vitrinite reflectances for most of the samples. This

does not account for samples of low maturities and a predominance of type I kero-

gen. The ratio of 3-methylphenanthrene to retene shows no correlation to vitrinite

reflectances.

1,7-Dimethylphenanthrene (pimanthrene) compared to other dimethylphenan-

threnes is relatively enriched. The ratio of retene to pimanthrene varies widely

in the range of 0.0-5.7. It is significantly high for some immature samples of the

Vis´ean, but also for few samples of the Upper Carboniferous and the Sigillaria.

The relative high proportions of retene in immature samples is due to the low

thermal stability of this compound in comparison to pimanthrene. A relative de-

crease of pimanthrene at elevated maturities probably results from the destruction

of retene. Nevertheless the relative high concentrations of retene in for example

the Sigillaria shows that different biological precursors of the two compounds may

also influence their relative amounts.

Besides pimanthrene the distribution of dimethylphenanthrenes and ethylphenan-

threnes does not differ significantly. Variations seem to be mainly influenced

by the maturity of the samples. This is due to the fact, that the DPR, i.e.

the distribution of dimethylphenanthrenes showed good correlation to the vit-

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

rinite reflectances of the samples (Fig. 6.16). A relative enrichment of 1,9-

and 4,9-dimethylphenanthrene for samples, that show enhanced proportions of

9-methylphenanthrene indicates a relationship between the compounds. 3,6-

Dimethylphenanthrene is present in relatively high concentrations in some sam-

ples that show no high thermal maturity. High proportions of this compound have

been attributed to samples of enhanced maturities (Budzinski et al.,1995) while

a potential biogenic precursor is unknown.

C3-Phenanthrenes and C4-phenanthrenes are normally present in lower amounts

than their lower homologues. This does not account for retene. Additionally the

relative amounts of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene vary widely.

Anthracene and 2- and 1-methylanthracene due to their molecular structure are

related to alkylphenanthrenes. In comparison to alkylphenanthrenes they are

characterised by depleted thermal stabilities. Therefore they normally are minor

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

DPR

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.4 0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

0.04

0.08

0.12

0.16

0.2

0.24

0.28

0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6

0.8

1.2

1.6

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

South China/ Permian

Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

Figure 6.16: Cross plot of A) vitrinite reflectance vs. MPI-1 (Rc) and B) vitrinite reflectance

vs. DPR

100

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

contributors to the fraction of aromatic hydrocarbons. They were only present in

significant amounts in the two samples originating from Germany.

Biphenyl and Alkylbiphenyls

Alkylbiphenyls often are major contributors to the aromatic fractions of petroleum

and petroleum source rocks, but have also been found in coal extracts (Alexander

et al.,1986a). Their biological origin is uncertain. The compounds are present

in organic matter originating from different geological ages and different source

types. Their occurrence can be dated back to the Middle Cambrian, a period that

predates the evolution of higher plants (Cumbers et al.,1987).

Biphenyl and alkylbiphenyls are combustion products of benzene and alkylben-

zenes (Takatsu and Yamamoto,1993). Kruge et al. (1994) found high proportions

of biphenyl in samples that showed high concentrations of semifusinite and py-

rofusinite. Semifusinite and pyrofusinite result from the partial combustion of

organic matter. Alexander et al. (1994) showed that the relative abundances of

alkylcyclobenzenes and alkylbiphenyls in crude oils are of the same magnitude.

The authors therefore suggest, that these compounds are formed via deposition of

oxygen-rich source materials in oxic depositional environments. Alkylcyclohexyl-

benzenes and alkylbiphenyls may be products of the oxidative coupling of phenols

(Alexander et al.,1994).

Besides the little knowledge on direct biological precursors of alkylbiphenyls their

potential as maturity indicators is also sparse. Para- and meta-substituted alkyl-

biphenyls, i.e. 4- and 3-alkylbiphenyls are more stable, than 2-alkylbiphenyls. A

depletion of ortho-substituted alkylbiphenyls therefore is observed in samples of

enhanced maturities. The depletion probably results from either isomerisation

reactions (Cumbers et al.,1987) or cyclisation reactions (Kagi et al.,1990). The

latter reactions are supposed to involve free radicals and to result in the formation

of alkylfluorenes (Kagi et al.,1990). To some extent alkylbiphenyls may serve

as maturity indicators. A relative increase in the ratio of 3-methylbiphenyl/2-

methylbiphenyl may indicate an enhanced maturity of the organic matter. How-

ever the ratio is suggested to depend on the kerogen type (Alexander et al.,

101

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Figure 6.17: Heating experiments car-

ried out by Alexander et al. (1988)

showed that 1-methylfluorene is a cycli-

sation product of 2,3-dimethylbiphenyl

2,3-dimethylbiphenyl 1-methylfluorene

1986a). Investigations on the susceptibility towards biodegradation showed that

para-substituted isomers are less degradable, whereas biphenyl is degraded first

(Trolio et al.,1999).

Alkylbiphenyls with up to C5-substituents were present as minor compounds in

most of the samples. Due to their low concentrations and their coelution with

alkylnaphthalenes only biphenyl, C1- and few C2-biphenyls were quantified.

The amounts of alkylbiphenyls range from 1 to 211 µg/g TOC (Table A.23). The

relative proportions of different isomers do not vary significantly. Except for one

sample 3-methylbiphenyl is the most abundant compound. The distribution of

methylbiphenyls shows no dependence on the maturity of the samples, either.

Alkylbiphenyls normally are of low abundance in the immature samples, that

additionally were not deposited under oxic conditions. However, no correlation

between the proportion of alkylbiphenyls and the depositional environment for

example the ratio of pristane/phytane was found.

Fluorene and Alkylfluorenes

Fluorene and alkylfluorenes, in correspondence to biphenyl and alkylbiphenyls

are ubiquitous compounds in sediments (Mojelsky and Strausz,1986). They

have often been reported to result from pyrolysis or incomplete combustion of

diverse organic materials (Mojelsky and Strausz,1986). As mentioned previously,

Kagi et al. (1990) suggested, that alkylfluorenes yield from cyclisation reactions

of ortho-substituted biphenyls. Indeed Alexander et al. (1988) showed that 2,3-

102

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

23.0 24.0 25.0 26.0 27.0 28.0 29.0

Retention time [min]

fluorene

3-methylfluorene

2-methylfluorene

1-methylfluorene

4-methylfluorene

Figure 6.18: Gas Chromatogram of fluorene and methylfluorenes (m/z 166, 180) in an Upper

Carboniferous sample

dimethylbiphenyl is transformed to 1-methylfluorene in heating experiments (Fig.

6.17). Nevertheless in sediments no direct correlation between the decrease of 2,3-

dimethylbiphenyl and the increase of 1-methylfluorene has been found (Alexander

et al.,1988). The authors suggested, that the depletion of 2,3-dimethylbiphenyl

does not depend on matrix effects, but on the maturity of the sediments.

Fluorene and alkylfluorenes are only minor contributors to the aromatic frac-

tion. Fluorene and methylfluorenes were quantified for all samples, except one.

Amounts of the summed five compounds range from 0.1 to 107.4 µg/g TOC (Ta-

ble A.24). They show enhanced proportions in the more mature samples and are

relatively depleted in samples of low maturities. Fluorene is generally present in

lower amounts than its alkylated homologues. The distribution of methylfluorenes

shows no significant variations for different samples. In general 1-methylfluorene

is the most abundant methylfluorene, whereas 4-methylfluorene is by far the least

abundant (Fig. 6.18). 2- and 3-Methylfluorene are normally present in equal

amounts (Fig. 6.18).

103

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Figure 6.19: Gas Chromatogram of C0−1-

phenylnaphthalenes (m/z 204, 218) in A) a

coal from the Upper Carboniferous, where 1-

phenylnaphthalene has been added as a stan-

dard and B) a sediment from the Permian where

1-phenylnaphthalene has not been added as a

standard

1-PhN (STD)

2-PhN

ABCDE

1-PhN

C -1-PhN

2-PhN

PhN = phenylnaphthalene

A-E = C -2-phenylnaphthalene

STD = standard

Retention time

Phenylnaphthalenes and Alkylphenylnaphthalenes

Phenylnaphthalenes and alkylphenylnaphthalenes are known to be constituents

of fossil organic matter (White and Lee,1980). However, they were no subject

to intensive investigations in organic geochemistry. This may be due, to the

lack of any obvious biogenic precursors. Like fluorene and alkylfluorenes they

have been reported as pyrolysis products of organic matter (Meyer zu Reckendorf,

1997). It is assumable, that phenylnaphthalenes and their higher homologues, in

correspondence to phenyldibenzofurans are products of radical phenylation (Meyer

zu Reckendorf,1997).

More detailed investigations on phenylnaphthalenes have been carried out by

Marynowski et al. (2001). The authors found that the relative amounts of 1-

104

6.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

and 2-phenylnaphthalene depend on maturity. Due to its enhanced thermal sta-

bility, 2-phenylnaphthalene has been found to be relatively enriched at enhanced

maturity ranges.

Phenylnaphthalenes and alkylnaphthalenes were present in almost all of the

samples (Fig. 6.19). The amounts of 1-phenylnaphthalene, the earlier elut-

ing phenylnaphthalene, could not be determined, due to the compound being

added as a standard prior to extraction for most of the samples. Alkyl-1-

phenylnaphthalene isomers, in analogy are supposed to elute earlier than the

corresponding alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes (pers. comm. H. Willsch, FZ-J¨uelich).

Normally methyl-1-phenylnaphthalenes were minor contributors in comparison

to methyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes (Fig. 6.19 A). Compounds based on the 1-

phenylnaphthalene skeleton have generally not been quantified. Total total

amounts of summed 2-phenylnaphthalene and five methyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes

range from 2.8 to 290 µg/g TOC (Table A.25). They are normally enriched in sam-

ples of enhanced maturities and depleted in samples of low maturities that have

not been deposited under oxic conditions. In general the relative concentrations

are comparable to those of alkylbiphenyls and alkylfluorenes. The distribution of

alkylphenylnaphthalenes does not differ significantly for different samples. Nor-

mally 2-phenylnaphthalene is significantly enriched compared to its methylated

homologues. This does not account for few samples of low maturities.

Resum´ee

Alkylynaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes, were present in all of the investigated

samples. Alkylbiphenyls, alkylfluorenes and alkylphenylnaphthalenes have been

quantified in all samples except one. Anthracene and 1- and 2-methylanthracene

in quantifiable amounts have only been present in two samples.

Generally aromatic compound classes are present in higher amounts in sam-

ples of maturities beyond 0.6% Rr. With few exceptions the sum of quantified

alkylphenanthrenes is higher than the sum of quantified alkylnaphthalenes. Alkyl-

biphenyls, -fluorenes and -phenylnaphthalenes are minor contributors to the frac-

tions of aromatic hydrocarbons. Alkylfluorenes are less abundant in samples of the

105

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Vis´ean exhibiting low maturities, while C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes are relatively

enriched in these samples.

Whereas the distribution of alkylybiphenyls, alkylfluorenes and alkylphenylnaph-

thalenes showed little variations, this does not account for alkylnaphthalenes and

alkylphenanthrenes. Distribution of alkylnaphthalenes was characterised by a

slight dependence on the maturity, only (Fig. 6.13, Table 6.5). Few isomers

like 1,3,6,7-tetramethylnaphthalene show high proportions, attributed to their

enhanced thermal stability at elevated maturities. Cadalene, a higher plant

biomarker has been highly abundant in samples of the Vis´ean, characterised by

low maturities. 1,2,5-Trimethylnaphthalene and 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene

often are highly abundant. This does also account for 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene.

These three alkylnaphthalenes, in contrast to their depleted thermal stability show

weak correlation to vitrinite reflectance. 6-Isopropyl-2-methyl-1-(4-methylpentyl)-

naphthalene, was the only isomer of a homologuous series present. The compound

and its lower isomers were suggested to originate from resinous diterpenoids. How-

ever, concentrations of 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1-(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene were

generally low.

In contrast to alkylnaphthalenes maturity ratios based on the relative amounts

of different alkylphenanthrenes, for example the MPI and the DPR are in good

correlation to vitrinite reflectances (Fig. 6.16). Retene and pimanthrene are

often highly abundant. Their relative proportions, contrary to cadalene show no

dependence on the maturity. A difference in origin for the two compounds is

suggested.

None of the potential biomarkers cadalene, retene and pimanthrene have been

absent in a time period. 1,2,7-Trimethylnaphthalene is characterised by el-

evated proportions for immature samples and the high proportions of 1,2,8-

trimethylphenanthrene in many samples indicate that there is a specific biogenic

source for this compound.

106

6.4 NSO Compounds

Introduction

NSO compounds incorporate nitrogen (N), sulphur (S) and/or oxygen (O) atoms.

These hetero-atoms are present either in so-called hetero-cycles, which often show

an aromatic skeleton (carbazoles, dibenzothiophenes, dibenzofurans) or in periph-

eral functional groups. Oxygen is the most prominent hetero-atom present in

functional groups such as ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and phenols or carboxylic

acids.

Even though the finding of nitrogen-containing compounds (porphyrins) in the

1930s often is regarded to be the beginning of modern organic geochemistry, in-

vestigations on NSO compounds in fossil organic matter are rare in comparison to

those on aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. In fact, for a long period nitrogen

containing tetrapyrrolye pigments have received more attention than other NSO

compound types (Baker and Louda,1986). However, it is presumable that the

more complex skeleton of polar constituents may contain even more information

about biogenic relationships than their aromatic and aliphatic counterparts.

6.4.1 Low-Polarity NSO Compounds

Introduction

Besides the compounds like alkyldibenzofurans and -dibenzothiophenes, which in-

corporate a hetero-atom in the aromatic or aliphatic ring system, ketones and

aldehydes are also constituents of the low-polarity NSO compound fraction. The

former two compound classes due to their low polarity were constituents of the aro-

matic hydrocarbon fraction. In the investigated compound classes sulphur and ni-

trogen were only present in aromatic hetero-cycles, i.e. dibenzothiophenes and car-

bazoles. In contrast oxygen containing compounds in the low-polarity NSO com-

pound fraction differ more widely, with dibenzofurans, dibenzo[b]naphthofurans,

107

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

dibenzothiophene dibenzofuran benzo[ ]naphtho[ ]furanb 1,2-d

carbazole

fluoren-9-one xanthone

Figure 6.20: Different tricyclic- and tetracyclic aromatic NSO compounds and their ring num-

bering conventions

fluoren-9-ones, xanthones, naphthaldehydes and acetylnaphthalenes being present.

Dibenzothiophene and Alkyldibenzothiophenes

A specific biological source of dibenzothiophene and alkyldibenzothiophenes is

unknown. Indeed it is generally accepted that the major part of the organically-

bound sulphur is generated in sediments randomly (Arpino et al.,1987;Sinninghe

Damst´e and de Leeuw,1990). It has been suggested that alkyldibenzothiophenes

are formed via reactions of biomolecules with reduced sulphur (Fig. 6.21), i.e. hy-

drogen sulphide and polysulphides under anoxic conditions and low concentrations

of iron (Orr and Sinninghe Damst´e,1990;Hughes et al.,1995). Therefore the for-

mation of alkyldibenzothiophenes is supposed to be controlled by environmental

factors, i.e. the availability of reduced sulphur in sediments. The availability of

reduced sulphur in turn is related to the activity of sulphate-reducing bacteria

and limited by the availability of sulphate as an electron acceptor for microbial

oxidation of organic matter.

108

6.4 NSO Compounds

R2R2R2R2

incorporation of

inorganic sulphur

species

MATURATION

Isomerisation

Figure 6.21: Possible diagenetic formation of alkyldibenzothiophenes after Sinninghe Damst´e

and de Leeuw (1990)

Table 6.7: Maturity parameters based on the relative proportions of different alkyldibenzoth-

iophenes

Name Formula Reference

MDR 4−MDBT

1−MDBT Radke et al. (1986)

MDR´ 4−MDBT

1−MDBT +4−MDBT Radke and Willsch (1994)

EDR´ 4,6−DMDBT

4−EDBT +4,6−DMDBT Radke and Willsch (1994)

High proportions of dibenzothiophene and alkyldibenzothiophenes are characteris-

tic for marine shales and carbonates, whereas their presence in continental facies

is generally low (Radke et al.,1991). This relationship between alkyldibenzoth-

iophene concentrations and organic facies is expressed in the ratio of dibenzoth-

iophene to phenanthrene (Radke et al.,1991;Hughes et al.,1995). Ratios of

dibenzothiophene to phenanthrene in the range of 0.06-0.2 are typical for coals,

i.e. terrestrial organic matter (Requejo,1994).

The relative proportions of individual alkyldibenzothiophenes in contrast are sug-

gested to depend on the maturity of organic matter. A relative increase of 4-

methyldibenzothiophene during maturation is attributed to its higher thermal

stability (Radke et al.,1986). The Methyldibenzothiophene Ratios (MDR and

MDR´ , Table 6.7) base on a decrease of 1-methyldibenzothiophene with increas-

ing maturity, accompanied by an increase of 4-methyldibenzothiophene. Dzou

109

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

DBT

4-MDBT

2-MDBT 3-MDBT

4-EDBT

4,6-DMDBT

1-MDBT

DBT = dibenzothiophene

MDBT = methyldibenzothiophene

EDBT = ethyldibenzothiophene

DMDBT= dimethyldibenzothiophene

RETENTION TIME

Figure 6.22: Gas Chromatogram of alkyldibenzothiophenes (m/z 184, 198, 212) of an Lower

Carboniferous coal

et al. (1995) for a set of Carboniferous coals and vitrinite concentrates found a

constant amount of 1-methyldibenzothiophene within wide maturity ranges, and

an increase of 4-methyldibenzothiophene with increasing maturity. The authors

therefore suggested that isomerisation reactions play a minor role in controlling

the distribution of methyldibenzothiophenes. In contrast Chakhmakhchev et al.

(1997) for a set of oil and condensate samples from various geological periods

found no dependence of the MDR on the vitrinite reflectances. An influence of

depositional environment and lithology on the distribution of alkyldibenzothio-

phenes below maturities of 1.35% Rr, especially for coals may account for these

observations (Radke et al.,2000;Dzou et al.,1995). The EthylDibenzothiophene

Ratio (EDR´ ) has also been applied to estimate the maturity of organic matter.

It considers the relative increase of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene in comparison

to 4-ethyldibenzothiophene (Table 6.7).

In the samples studied in this project, dibenzothiophene, methyldibenzothio-

phenes, 4-ethyldibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (Fig. 6.22)

have been identified according to their mass spectra and to literature. Further

110

6.4 NSO Compounds

alkyldibenzothiophenes have not been assigned, due to the generally low abun-

dance of this compound class. The relative amounts of the summed isomers are

in the range of 0-100 µg/g TOC (Table A.29). Alkyldibenzothiophenes were ab-

sent in few samples, only (Table A.29). They are highly abundant in samples

of enhanced maturities, but also in some characterised by low maturity but high

TS-contents (Table A.1).

At vitrinite reflectances beyond 0.6% Rrdistributions of methyldibenzothiophenes

for many samples are in good correlation with maturities (Fig. 6.23A). However

this does not account for samples of low maturities (Fig. 6.23 A), showing elevated

proportions of 4-methyldibenzothiophene. Additionally some samples, predom-

inantly characterised by high proportions of minerals show relatively enhanced

proportions of 1-methyldibenzothiophene and therefore no good correlation be-

tween MDR´ and vitrinite reflectance (Fig. 6.23 A). This in contrast is not ob-

served for the EDR´ . Although a slight correspondence between maturity and

EDR´ for maturities beyond 0.5% Rrcan be suggested, variations are wide (Fig.

6.23B).

The high proportions of 4-methyldibenzothiophene for the immature samples corre-

spond to elevated proportions of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene. This supporting

the hypothesis that the MDR and therefore also the MDR´ do not exclusively

depend on the maturity of the organic matter but on the type of organic matter

(Orr and Sinninghe Damst´e,1990).

The low amounts of dibenzothiophene in comparison to the amounts of phenan-

threne (Fig. 6.24), for the majority of the samples, in correspondence to Hughes

et al. (1995) indicate, that organic matter has predominantly been deposited in

lacustrine or fluvio/deltaic environments. It should be noticed that this classi-

fication due to the low amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes is determined by the

ratio of pristane/phytane only. Due to the low amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes

in this study, the significance of alkyldibenzothiophene composition and concen-

trations therefore should not be overestimated. Nevertheless the low amounts

indicate, that the conditions have not been ideal for the formation of alkyldiben-

zothiophenes.

111

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

0.4 0.6 0.8 11.2

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.4 0.6 0.8 11.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

MDR´

EDR´

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

Figure 6.23: Cross plot of A) MDR´ and B) EDR´ vs. vitrinite reflectance

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

0246810

Zone

pristane/phytane

1-3

Depositional

Environment

Marine

Marine and Lacustrine

Lacustrine (sulphate-poor)

Marine and Lacustrine

Fluvio/Deltaic

Lithology

Carbonate

Carbonate and mixed

Variable

Shale

Carbonaceous

Shale and Coal

DBT/P

1-3

pristane

phytane

DBT

Zone 1A

Zone 1B

Zone 3 Zone 4

Zone 2

Figure 6.24: Cross plot of dibenzothiophene/phenanthrene (DBT/P) vs. pristane/phytane

112

6.4 NSO Compounds

Dibenzofuran and Alkyldibenzofurans

A systematic investigation on the occurrence and distribution of dibenzofuran and

alkyldibenzofurans has only been carried out few years ago by Radke et al. (2000).

However the presence of these compounds in bituminous coals has already been

recognised by Hayatsu et al. (1978b). Those findings correspond to the observa-

tions of Radke et al. (2000), that these compounds preferentially are released at vit-

rinite reflectances of around 0.77% Rr. In comparison to alkyldibenzothiophenes,

alkyldibenzofurans are enriched in organic matter originating from terrigenous

sources. Their predominance is attributed to the deposition of higher plant debris

in lacustrine environments (Radke et al.,2000;Sephton et al.,1999). The ratios of

dibenzofuran to dibenzothiophene and methyldibenzofurans to methyldibenzoth-

iophenes therefore, in correspondence to the ratios of Hughes et al. (1995) have

been applied to obtain information on the facies of the organic matter (Kruge,

2000;Radke et al.,2000).

A direct biological precursor of alkyldibenzofurans is unknown. It has been sug-

gested, that tannins, showing a polycondensed phenolic structure may be biologi-

cal precursors. Another assumption points out, that alkyldibenzofurans may orig-

inate from condensed and dehydrated polysaccharides (Sephton et al.,1999) via

thermally controlled aldol, retro-aldol or Diels-Alder reactions. Additionally diben-

zofuran metabolites (Fig. 6.25), substituted at different positions of the dibenzo-

furan skeleton are constituents of lichens. It has been suggested that variations

in concentrations of 1-methyldibenzofuran correspond to secondary metabolism of

dibenzofuran metabolites present in lichens (Radke et al.,2000). Although little is

known about the recognition of lichens in the Paleozoic it has been suggested, that

environments, where conifers or their primitive precursors are abundant could also

be good habitats for lichens. Additionally the evolution of lichens can be dated

back to the Early Devonian (Taylor et al.,1995).

The biogenic relationship corresponds to a predominance of 1-methyldibenzofuran

in samples of elevated maturities. The findings indicate, that 1-

methyldibenzofuran, the least stable of the four methyldibenzofurans is produced

kinetically (Radke et al.,2000). However high amounts of 1-methyldibenzofuran

113

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

C3H7C5H11

COOH

H3CO

COOCH3

OCH3CH3

H3CO

COOH

OCH3

schizopeltic acid

didymic acid

C5H11C5H11

COOH

H3CO

CH3C7H15

COOH

H3CO

melacarpic acid

condidymic acid

Figure 6.25: Dibenzofuran metabolites present in extant lichens

may also result from free radical methylation. Radke et al. (2000) suggested, that

in analogy to the preferential formation of 9-methylphenanthrene via free radical

methylation this could also account for 1-methyldibenzofuran.

Dibenzofuran and methyldibenzofurans in this study were assigned by mass spec-

tra and literature (Radke et al.,2000). Besides, eleven peaks attributed to C2-

dibenzofurans were identified (Fig. 6.26). Among the C2-dibenzofurans, two iso-

mers (No.2 and No.7) are inferred to be ethyldibenzofurans. Their mass spectra

show a base peak at m/z 181 (M+-CH3). The high proportions of peak No.8

probably can be attributed to a coelution of different dimethyldibenzofurans.

Summed amounts of C(0−2)-dibenzofurans range from 10 to 1930 µg/g TOC (Table

A.31). Samples showing low maturities often are characterised by elevated pro-

portions of dibenzofuran. Among the methyldibenzofurans, 4-methyldibenzofuran

and 2-methyldibenzofuran often are the most abundant isomers. With increasing

maturity a relative increase of 1-methyldibenzofuran is observed (Fig. 6.27). How-

ever the ratio of 1-methyldibenzofuran/(1- and 4-methyldibenzofuran) does not

correspond to maturity unambiguously (Fig. 6.27). Samples characterised by ele-

vated amounts of minerals often show high proportions of 1-methyldibenzofuran.

114

6.4 NSO Compounds

22.0 24.0 26.0 28.0 30.0

DBF

4-MDBF 2-MDBF

3-MDBF

1-MDBF

456

910

DBF = dibenzofuran

MDBF = methyldibenzofuran

Compound 2 + 7 = ethyldibenzofurans

Compound 8 = coelution of dimethyldibenzofurans

Compound 1, 3-6, 9-11 = dimethyldibenzofurans

Figure 6.26: Gas Chromatogram of C0−2-dibenzofurans (m/z 168, 182, 196) of an Upper

Carboniferous sample

1-MDBF

1-MDBF + 4-MDBF

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

South China/ Permian

Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

1-MDBF = 1-methyldibenzofuran

4-MDBF = 4-methyldibenzofuran

Figure 6.27: Cross plot displaying the ratio of 1-methyldibenzofuran/(1-methyldibenzofuran

+ 4-methyldibenzofuran) vs. vitrinite reflectance

In general the distribution of C2-dibenzofurans shows less significant variations.

Normally the first eluting C2-dibenzofurans are present in higher proportions (Fig.

115

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

6.26). In correspondence to methyldibenzofurans, few isomers of dimethyldiben-

zofuran however show a slight correlation with vitrinite reflectance. For samples

of vitrinite reflectances higher than 0.57% Rran increase of dimethyldibenzofuran

No. 5 is accompanied by a decrease of dimethyldibenzofuran No. 11 (Fig. 6.28).

Additionally the two ethyldibenzofurans are absent in some samples of low but

also in some of elevated maturity.

In analogy to Hughes et al. (1995), the relative amounts of alkyldibenzofurans

to alkyldibenzothiophenes serve to determine the depositional environment and

the lithology of organic matter (Radke et al.,2000). Due to the elevated ratio

of pristane/phytane for the majority of the samples, the cross plot is of little

significance, indicating fluvio/deltaic depositional conditions. However for samples

of depleted pristane/phytane ratios the plot may be more detailed than the one

of Hughes et al. (1995). It is indicated that some samples with pristane/phytane

ratios higher than one, may additionally be composed of marine derived organic

matter (Fig. 6.29).

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

MDBF 5

MDBF 5 + MDBF 11

0.8 1.2 1.6

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

MDBF 5 = fifth eluting dimethyldibenzofuran

MDBF 11= eleventh eluting dimethyldibenzofuran

Figure 6.28: Cross plot of (MDBF 5)/(MDBF 5 + MDBF 11) vs. vitrinite reflectance

116

6.4 NSO Compounds

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

02468

pristane /phytane

MDBT/ MDBF

Zone 1A

Zone 1B

Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4

Zone 1C

Zone 1D

Zone

pristane/phytane

1-3

Depositional Environment

Marine

Marine and Lacustrine

Lacustrine (sulphate-poor)

Marine and Lacustrine

Fluvio/Deltaic

Lithology

Carbonate

Carbonate and mixed

Variable

Shale

Carbonaceous

Shale and Coal

MDBT/MDBF

1-3

Figure 6.29: Cross plot of the ratio of methyldibenzothiophenes(excluding 1-

methyldibenzothiophene)/methyldibenzofurans(excluding 1-methyldibenzofuran) vs. the

ratio of pristane/phytane

Benzo[b]naphthofurans

Whereas benzocarbazoles have been applied as markers for secondary migra-

tion and maturity (Larter et al.,1996;Clegg et al.,1998b), nothing is known

about the significance of benzo[b]naphthofurans. However, benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-

d]-, benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]- and benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]furan are present in all in-

vestigated samples. The three compounds have been identified by coelution exper-

iments using authentic standards. Normally the relative proportions of alkyldiben-

zofurans and benzo[b]naphthofurans are of the same magnitude. A fourth, later

eluting compound additionally is present, showing a similar mass spectrum.

The relative proportions of the four compounds ranges from 2 to 374 µg/g TOC

(Table A.31). Normally benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]furan and benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-

d]furan are predominant (Fig. 6.30 A), while benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]furan is

present in comparable magnitudes for the more immature samples only (Fig. 6.30

B). In contrast to the maturity trends observed for benzocarbazoles (Clegg et al.,

117

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Benzo[ ]naphtho ]furanb [2,1-d

Benzo[ ]naphtho ]furanb [1,2-d

B[ ]n ]furanb [2,1-d

B[ ]n ]furanb [1,2-d

B[ ]n ]furanb [2,3-d

Retention time

50 100 150 200 250

100

109

189

205

218

m/z

Intensity [%]

M+

M++ [M- CHO]+

[M- CHO]++

50 100 150 200 250

100

94 109

189

205

218

m/z

Intensity [%]

M+

M++

[M- CHO]++

[M- CHO]+

Figure 6.30: Gas Chromatogram of benzo[b]naphthofurans (m/z 218) in A) a Permian sample

B) a Lower Carboniferous sample; and mass spectra of C) benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]furan and D)

benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]furan indicating the similar fractionating pattern of these compounds

1998b), relative amounts of benzo[b]naphthofurans normally show no dependence

on the maturity.

Carbazole and Alkylcarbazoles

Carbazole and alkylcarbazoles are constituents of crude oils and source rock ex-

tracts and make up a large portion of their organic nitrogen compounds (Helm

OCH3

hyellazole (green algae) murrayanine (higher plants)

carbazole

Figure 6.31: Carbazole and two alkaloids (Kapil,1971;Hesse,1974;Cardellina et al.,1979) of

different origin showing a carbazole skeleton

118

6.4 NSO Compounds

et al.,1960;Dorbon et al.,1984;Bakel and Philp,1990;Li et al.,1997;Horsfield

et al.,1998). The primary discussion on these compounds in recent years is based

on their potential as indicators of maturity and primary and secondary migration

(Li et al.,1994,1995;Horsfield et al.,1998;Clegg et al.,1998a). The knowledge

of their biological origin is limited.

It has been suggested that carbazoles (Fig. 6.31) might originate from alkaloids

(Snyder,1965) which are common constituents of blue-green algae (Cardellina

et al.,1979) and terrestrial plants (Kapil,1971;Hesse,1974). This origin has

been discussed in detail by Li et al. (1995), and whereas the authors conclude, that

alkaloids are not the major source of carbazoles they point out, that proteins and

plant pigments might be a potential biological source. In contrast Dorbon et al.

(1984) also line out, that alkaloids are no likely precursors of alkylcarbazoles, but

suggest a complex formation mechanism involving the condensation of ammonia

or low molecular weight amines.

Whereas the significance of the alkylcarbazole distribution as migration marker

is questionable (Horsfield et al.,1998;Clegg et al.,1997), there seems to be an

influence of facies and maturity (Clegg et al.,1997). An increase of alkylcarbazoles

with increasing thermal maturity has been observed for Posidonia Shale bitumen

from Hils Syncline, northern Germany and crude oils from Thithonian source

rocks in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the concentrations of alkylcarbazoles do

not generally increase with maturity. In the Thithonian source rocks a decrease up

to maturities of 0.81% Rr, followed by an increase at higher maturity ranges up to

1.09% Rrhas been observed (Horsfield et al.,1998;Clegg et al.,1998b). Although

several maturity parameters based on the isomeric distribution of alkylcarbazoles

have been established (Li et al.,1997;Clegg et al.,1997,1998b), none of them

showed an unambiguous trend in general. Most recently Bakr and Wilkes (2002)

suggested that the ratio of

(1,8−dimethylcarbazole)

(1,8−dimethylcarbazole + 1 −ethylcarbazole)(6.3)

may depend on the environmental conditions. In crude oils from Egypt the authors

found a slight correlation between this ratio and the pristane/phytane-ratio.

119

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

1-MC

3-MC

2-MC 4-MC

C -C

1-EC

1,8-DMC 1,3

1,6

1,7

1,4 1,5

2,6

2,7

2,4 2,5

1,2

C = carbazole

MC = methylcarbazole

DMC= dimethylcarbazole

EC = ethylcarbazole

C -C = C -carbazole

3 3

Figure 6.32: Gas Chromatogram of alkylcarbazoles (m/z 167, 181, 195, 209) in an Upper

Carboniferous sample (for dimethylcarbazoles except 1,8-dimethylcarbazoles peaks are named

via the position of the methylgroups due to lack of space in the chromatogram)

In the samples studied in this project alkylcarbazoles (Fig. 6.32) were assigned by

comparison with mass spectra and published data (Bowler et al.,1997). C(0−3)-

Carbazoles (Fig. 6.32) are present in most of the investigated samples. They were

not detected in samples where the low-polarity fractions have generally been weak.

Furthermore they were absent in immature samples, that additionally showed low

values of the pristane/phytane-ratio.

For most of the samples the relative abundance of methylcarbazoles (MC) de-

creases in the following order: 1-MC>4-MC>2-MC>3-MC (Fig. 6.33A). This

does not account for few samples only, which often are characterised by either rel-

atively low maturities or high proportions of minerals. For these samples amounts

of methylcarbazoles, except 1-methylcarbazoles are alike, while 1-methylcarbazole

is still predominant. The ratio of 1,8-dimethylcarbazole/(1,8-dimethylcarbazole

+ 1-ethylcarbazole) shows only small variations for samples characterised by pris-

tane/phytane ratios higher than 2.0 (Fig. 6.33B). Bakr and Wilkes (2002) in-

vestigated oils in which the ratio of pristane/phytane did not exceed values of

1.4. Obviously the ratio is not significantly influenced in samples that have been

deposited under oxic conditions (pristane/phytane>3).

120

6.4 NSO Compounds

The distribution of dimethylcarbazoles, in correlation to the elevated proportions

of 1-methylcarbazole, normally is also dominated by isomers, bearing a methyl

group in the adjacent position to the nitrogen function. A predominance of these

isomers has been reported previously (Frolov et al.,1989). Again only few sam-

ples, characterised either by relatively low maturities or high amounts of minerals,

show enhanced proportions of isomers exhibiting different substitution patterns.

Besides these few exceptions, neither dimethylcarbazoles substituted in position

1- of the carbazole skeleton nor those showing no substitution at this position,

are characterised by strong variations in relative amounts of individual isomers.

The fact that alkylcarbazoles were absent in samples of very low maturities (0.31-

0.65% Rr), except one may indicate that the compounds are formed by complex

reactions, like has been suggested by Dorbon et al. (1984). However it may also

result from environmental factors.

100

020 40 60 80 100

100

2- + 3-methylcarbazole

4-methylcarbazole

1-methylcarbazole

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

pristane

phytane

1,8-dimethylcarbazole

1,8-dimethylcarbazole + 1-ethylcarbazole

246

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

A) B)

Figure 6.33: A) Ternary plot displaying the distribution of methylcarbazoles and B) plot of

1,8-dimethylcarbazole/(1,8-dimethylcarbazole + 1-ethylcarbazole) vs. pristane/phytane

121

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

HOO

fluorene9-fluorenol

fluorene

fluoren-9-one

2-phenylbenzoic acid

intramolecular

Friedel-Crafts acylation

abiotic

oxidation

aerobic biodegradation of fluorene

Figure 6.34: Possible pathways leading to the formation of fluoren-9-one

Fluoren-9-one and Alkylfluoren-9-ones

Studies on alkylfluoren-9-ones in both crude oils and sediments are rare. The

compounds have been reported to be highly abundant in the low-polarity NSO

compound fraction of Posidonia shales (Wilkes et al.,1998a) and in extracts

of reservoir cores (Bennett and Larter,2000). Direct biological precursors of

alkylfluoren-9-ones are unknown. However alkylfluorenes may be direct precursor

of alkylfluoren-9-ones (Fig. 6.34). The benzylic carbon of the fluorene skeleton is

activated and exposition of alkylfluorenes to sunlight in the presence of air yielded

alkylfluoren-9-ones (pers. com. T. B. P. Oldenburg). Additionally fluoren-9-one

is an intermediate and major product within the aerobic biological degradation of

fluorene (Garon et al.,2000;Eriksson et al.,2000;Pothuluri et al.,1993;Casellas

et al.,1997).

Cyclisation of 2-carboxybiphenyls via intramolecular Friedel-Crafts-reaction (Fig.

6.34) led to the formation of fluoren-9-ones (Wade Jr. et al.,1979). This path-

way has been suggested to play a major role in the formation of alkylfluoren-9-

ones when depositional conditions are anoxic (Wilkes et al.,1998a). Additionally

122

6.4 NSO Compounds

1-MF

2-MF

3-MF

C -F

4-MF

1-EF

1,8-DMF

F = fluoren-9-one

MF = methylfluoren-9-one

EF = ethylfluoren-9-one

DMF= dimethylfluoren-9-one

C -F= C -fluoren-9-one

2 2

Figure 6.35: Gas Chromatogram of C0−2-fluoren-9-ones (m/z 180, 194, 208) from an Upper

Carboniferous coal

Davies and Waring (1968) observed the formation of fluoren-9-one via oxidation

of ortho-benzylbenzoic acid in the presence of lead tetra-acetate.

In the samples studied in this project fluoren-9-one, methylfluoren-9-ones, 1-

ethylfluoren-9-one and 1,8-dimethylfluoren-9-one (Fig. 6.35) have been assigned

by mass spectra and comparison with published data (Wilkes et al.,1998a). C2-

fluoren-9-ones have been identified by their mass spectra, but substitution pat-

terns are unknown. Besides 1-ethylfluoren-9-one and 1,8-dimethylfluoren-9-one

ten peaks were assigned to be C2-fluoren-9-ones (Fig. 6.35). A coelution of iso-

mers can not be excluded.

Alkylfluoren-9-ones normally were highly abundant in the low polarity NSO com-

pound fraction. In contrast, alkylfluorenes were only minor contributors to the

fractions of aromatic hydrocarbons. The distribution pattern of methylfluoren-9-

ones and methylfluorenes to some extend are similar. 1-Methylfluoren-9-one, in

analogy to 1-methylfluorene normally is the most abundant isomer, whereas 4-

methylfluoren-9-one and 4-methylfluorene, respectively are least abundant. Vari-

ations in the distributions of alkylfluoren-9-one isomers for different samples

normally are negligible. While fluorene was less abundant than methylfluo-

123

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

renes, fluoren-9-one strongly predominates over the methylfluoren-9-ones. The

good correlation between relative amounts of methylfluorenes and corresponding

methylfluoren-9-ones indicate a relationship between the two compound classes.

Xanthones

Xanthones are tricyclic aromatic compounds including an ether and a keto function

within the ring system. Their occurrence in crude oils, i.e. fossil organic matter

has been reported for the first time only very recently (Oldenburg et al.,2002).

Whereas unsubstituted xanthone is not known to occur in biogenic organic matter,

poly-substituted xanthones are constituents of many terrestrial plants, which pref-

erentially inhabit tropical or subtropical environments (Bennett and Lee,1989;

Peres and Nagem,1997). They are known to be constituents of lichens, ferns and

fungis. Oldenburg et al. (2002) suggested, that xanthones in fossil organic matter

might be generated from these naturally occurring poly-substituted xanthones dur-

ing diagenesis. Xanthone may also be formed via cyclisation of 2-phenoxybenzoic

acid due to intramolecular Friedel-Crafts-reaction (Wade Jr. et al.,1979).

Oldenburg et al. (2002) suggested that the relative amounts of xanthone, methyl-

xanthones and C2-xanthones depend on thermal maturity. The authors found a

relative increase of xanthone concentrations in comparison to methylxanthone and

C2-xanthone concentrations at elevated maturities.

In the samples studied in this project xanthone and methylxanthones (Fig. 6.36)

have been assigned by mass spectra and in comparison with published data (Olden-

burg et al.,2002). The relative amounts of 4-methylxanthone to some extend are

not reliable due to coelution of this compound with a C2-carbazole. C2-Xanthones

were not investigated, due to their low abundances.

Only few samples are characterised by the presence of xanthones. They corre-

spond to a maturity range of 0.57-1.1% Rr. However xanthone and methylxan-

thones were not generally present in samples of this maturity range. The relative

amounts of xanthone to methylxanthones showed no unambiguous dependence on

the maturity of the samples. In analogy to methylcarbazoles and methylfluoren-

124

6.4 NSO Compounds

1-MX

4-MX

2-MX

3-MX

X = xanthone

MX= methylxanthone

Figure 6.36: Gas Chromatogram of xanthone and methylxanthones (m/z 196, 210) from an

Upper Carboniferous coal

9-ones variations of methylxanthone distributions for different samples are weak.

Normally 2-methylxanthone (2-MX) is the most abundant isomer. Except for

two samples the proportions of methylxanthones decrease in the following order:

2-MX>4-MX>1-MX/3-MX (Fig. 6.36). Again samples of low maturity show a

different pattern. In these samples, 3-methylxanthone is relatively enriched. Be-

sides the samples from East Greenland, the presence of xanthones is restricted to

samples showing ratios of pristane/phytane >3.

Alkylnaphthaldehydes and Alkylnaphthylketones

Investigations on the occurrence of alkylnaphthaldehydes and alkylnaphthylke-

tones (Fig. 6.37 A) in fossil organic matter are rare. The compounds were present

in oil shales (Costa Neto et al.,1980) and Posidonia shales (Wilkes et al.,1998b).

Wilkes et al. (1998b) for the first time investigated the geochemical significance

of these compounds. The authors suggested, that alkylnaphthaldehydes and alky-

naphthylketones may originate from alkylnaphthalenes. A formation via Friedel-

Crafts acylation in the presence of clay minerals, serving as Lewis catalysts has

been proposed. Additionally it has been suggested, that they may originate from

oxidation of alkylsubstituted naphthalenes.

125

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Maturity dependencies on the distribution of naphthaldehydes and alkynaph-

thylketones have been established on the base of six samples of the Posidonia

shale. Wilkes et al. (1998b) observed an increase of the

(1 −+2 −naphthaldehyde)

(1 −+2 −naphthaldehyde + 1 −+2 −acetylnaphthalene)(6.4)

-ratio with increasing maturity.

C(0−2)-Naphthaldehydes and C(0−1)-alkylnaphthylketones are present in most of

the investigated samples (Fig. 6.37 B). They are absent in samples charac-

terised by weak fractions of low-polarity NSO compounds, only. Both 1- and

2-naphthaldehyde and 1- and 2-acetylnaphthalene have been assigned by compar-

ison with mass spectra and published data (Wilkes et al.,1998b). Higher homo-

logues of these compounds were not identified in terms of their exact structure.

However the isomers present in this study correspond well to the studies of Wilkes

et al. (1998b).

For most of the samples 1- and 2-naphthaldehyde are the most abundant iso-

mers of this compound class, comprising up to 50%. Compared to 1- and 2-

acetylnaphthalene their relative abundance increases with increasing maturity for

most of the samples. This does not account for samples showing high proportions

of minerals, or maturities below 0.45% Rr. However, in contrast to the studies of

Wilkes et al. (1998b) the relative amounts of naphthaldehydes in comparison to

acetylnaphthalenes show no strong dependence on the vitrinite reflectance of the

samples. Additionally, with few exceptions, the ratios are generally higher than

the ones found by Wilkes et al. (1998b).

In analogy, the ratio of methylnaphthaldehydes to methylacetylnaphthalenes

(Wilkes et al.,1998b) also did not show a dependence on the maturity. Strongest

deviations again were observed for samples of either low maturities or elevated

proportions of minerals.

Except for one sample, 2-naphthaldehyde is generally more abundant than

1-naphthaldehyde. This corresponds to the relative proportions of 2-

methylnaphthalene to 1-methylnaphthalene in the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction.

126

6.4 NSO Compounds

1-NA

2-NA

C -NA

C -NA/C -AN

2 1

1-AN

2-AN

NA= naphthaldehyde

AN= acetylnaphthalene

1-naphthaldehyde

1-acetylnaphthalene

A) B)

Figure 6.37: A) Structure of naphthaldehydes and acetylnaphthalenes and B) Gas Chroma-

togram of alkylnaphthaldehydes and -acetylnaphthalenes (m/z 156, 170, 184) from an Upper

Carboniferous coal

The ratio of 2-naphthaldehyde to 1-naphthaldehyde, like the MNR shows no de-

pendence on the maturity. Normally the distributions of methylnaphthaldehydes

in different samples show only little variations. Nevertheless some samples show

an enhanced concentration of the second eluting methylnaphthaldehyde. In sam-

ples, characterised by high proportions of minerals a relative enrichment of 1- and

2-acetylnaphthalene is observed. In correspondence to the findings for ethylnaph-

thalenes and methylnaphthalenes, the relative proportions of 2-acetylnaphthalene

in comparison to 1-acetylnaphthalene show no dependence on maturity. In

contrast the relative abundance of 2-acetylnaphthalene to 1-acetylnaphthalene

for most of the samples is in good correlation to the relative abundance of 2-

ethylnaphthalene to 1-ethylnaphthalene (Fig. 6.38). This in correspondence to

the observations made for ethylnaphthalenes and methylnaphthalenes strongly

indicates, that the distribution of this compounds is not controlled thermodynam-

ically. Additionally a relationship between the aromatic hydrocarbons and their

functionalised analogues is presumable.

127

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

Resum´ee

Alkyldibenzofurans and benzo[b]naphthofurans both are strong contributors to

the extractable organic matter of many samples. The concentration of alkyldiben-

zofurans increases with increasing maturity, followed by a depletion for samples

showing enhanced maturities. Additionally the compounds often are highly abun-

dant in samples characterised by low maturities but high proportions of vitrinite.

The findings support the hypothesis that alkyldibenzofurans are markers of terres-

trial organic matter (Sephton et al.,1999;Radke et al.,2000). The distribution

of some isomers indicates that the distribution of alkyldibenzofurans is influenced

by maturity. An increase of 1-methyldibenzofuran, contrary to its relatively de-

creased thermal stability strongly indicates a specific biogenic contribution.

In contrast the distribution of benzo[b]naphthofurans shows no significant depen-

dence on maturity. Neither an increase of this compound class in general is ob-

served nor a strong variation in the relative proportions of different isomers. Their

presence in all of the samples strongly indicates, that they are not formed due to

elevated temperatures only. Additionally they often are present in same magni-

01234

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

East Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

2-acetylnaphthalene

1-acetylnaphthalene

2-ethylnaphthalene

1-ethylnaphthalene

Figure 6.38: Cross plot of the ratios of 2-ethylnaphthalene/1-ethylnaphthalene vs. 2-

acetylnaphthalene/1-acetylnaphthalene

128

6.4 NSO Compounds

tudes like alkyldibenzofuran, this strongly indicating, that they are not formed

from alkyldibenzofurans due to condensation reactions.

Alkyldibenzothiophenes are minor contributors to the extractable organic matter.

This strongly indicates, that conditions for the formation of these compounds have

not been ideal. However the distribution of isomers for most of the samples shows

a dependence on maturity. Additionally samples of elevated maturities often are

characterised by elevated proportions of alkyldibenzothiophenes.

Alkylcarbazoles were absent in samples showing low pristane/phytane ratios and

low maturities. The relative amounts of isomers for different samples, in contrast

to alkyldibenzothiophenes does not vary significantly. The composition shows

slight variations for more immature samples, which in addition are characterised

by low pristane/phytane ratios. Nevertheless alkyl-1-methylcarbazoles generally

are predominant.

In analogy to alkylcarbazoles, the composition of alkylfluoren-9-ones shows small

variations for most of the samples. Alkylfluoren-9-ones were generally present

and highly abundant in the low-polarity NSO compound fractions. The relative

amounts of methylfluoren-9-ones show a good correlation to the corresponding

alkylfluorenes. This in contrast is not observed for fluorene and fluoren-9-one.

Alkylxanthones, alkylnaphthaldehydes and -naphthylketones show slight correla-

tion with maturity. Whereas alkylxanthones were only present in the maturity

range of 0.57-1.1% Rr, naphthaldehydes and alkylnaphthylketones were present

in a wider maturity range. Maturity trends normally are outlined by samples show-

ing enhanced proportions of minerals or low maturity ranges. Relative amounts

of methylnaphthaldehydes and naphthylketones show a correlation to certain aro-

matic hydrocarbons of the naphthalene skeleton.

129

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

6.4.2 Alcohols and Phenols

Introduction

Alcohols and phenols, i.e. compounds incorporating a hydroxy group as functional

group are minor contributors to the extractable organic matter of the investigated

samples. Because n-alkanes but also n-fatty acids have been strongly predominant

in the specific fractions for most of the investigated samples, it is expectable that

this is also due for n-alkanols. However, the proportions of alcohols and phenols

generally are that low, that only significantly enriched homologues are recognis-

able. Besides these few n-alkanols, biphenols but also naphthalenemethanols were

sometimes present. Likewise these compound classes were abundant to low pro-

portions and in few samples only. Although hydroxy groups are often present in

the original skeleton of natural constituents they indeed are less abundant than

ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic esters and acids in sedimentary organic matter (Tis-

sot and Welte,1984).

Due to their low proportions alcohols and phenols were not investigated in detail.

However, especially the presence of monoterpenes in samples of the Paleozoic has

not been reported yet and therefore a short overview on their composition in the

samples will be given.

Monoterpenoic Alcohols

Monoterpenoic alcohols have not been reported to occur in samples of the inves-

tigated geological age previously. The compounds are constructed from two C5

isoprene units. They are abundant in higher plants and algae (Killops and Killops,

1993). Due to their high volatility and their odour they serve as herbivore defence

but also as attractants. They are constituents of essential oils in plants. Monoter-

penes for example isoborneol, borneol, fenchyl alcohol and camphor often show a

strained bicyclic structure (Fig. 6.39). These compounds, besides terpineol were

reported to occur in baltic amber (Tauber,2000). In ambers they are bond to resin

acids and are also suggested to be incorporated into macromolecules. Armstrong

130

6.4 NSO Compounds

et al. (1996) investigated chiral monoterpenoids in conifers and fossilized resins.

The authors found borneol and isoborneol to be the most abundant monoterpenes

in ambers, whereas in conifers monoterpenes like α-pinene and β-pinene were

predominant.

In the investigated samples, besides the aromatic monoterpenes carvacrol and

thymol, that will be discussed with other phenols, borneol, isoborneol, camphor,

fenchyl alcohol, menthol, menthone and verbenone were abundant (Fig. 6.39).

The compounds were identified by comparison with retention times and mass

spectra of authentic standards. Although non-aromatic monoterpenes have been

detected in samples ranging in age from Upper Devonian to Upper Permian and

extend the maturity range of 0.37 to 1.8% Rr, only menthol, a monocyclic com-

pound was abundant in samples of maturities beyond 1.08% Rr. Camphene, a

possible dehydrogenation product of isoborneol and borneol (Armstrong et al.,

1996) was not found in the aliphatic fraction.

In their studies Armstrong et al. (1996) found similar ratios of borneol to isobor-

neol in most of the ambers investigated. Although the authors point out, that

they only investigated a small amount of ambers, they suggest, that the ratio

of borneol to isoborneol might reflect the early and later geochemical history of

ambers (Armstrong et al.,1996). The ratio of borneol to isoborneol in this study,

in contrast to the studies of Armstrong et al. (1996) varies widely. However, it

has to be considered that the organic matter studied here was not pure amber.

Although the composition of monoterpenoic alcohols in the investigated samples

may be of little significance, their presence in a sample of the Middle/Late Devo-

nian indicates, that the capability to synthesize these compounds most probably

predates the evolution of gymnosperms. For some immature samples, monoter-

penes are highly abundant in the medium-polarity NSO compound fraction. The

quantitative significance of the monoterpenes however is strongly limited by the

high volatility of the compounds. Their presence in the samples probably does

not represent their original amounts. A loss during sample preparation can not

be excluded.

131

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

OOH

2: Camphor 5: Borneol

4: Isoborneol1: Fenchyl alcohol

3: Menthone

6: Menthol

7: Verbenone

9: Carvacrol

8: Thymol

A) B)

Figure 6.39: A) Structure of monoterpenes referred to in the text and B) the chromatogram

(m/z 81, 95, 107, 112, 135) of an Lower Carboniferous sample and C) the chromatogram of a

standard mixture

Table 6.8: Occurrence and composition of monoterpenes

Sample Epoch 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

E 49748 Permian + - n.d. + + + +

E 49749 + - - + + - +

E 49750 + - - + + + -

E 49751 + - - + + + -

E 48990 - - - - + + -

E 48397 Upper Carboniferous - - - - + + -

E 48401 - - - - + + +

E 48383 - - - + + + +

E 48384 + + - - + + +

E 48986 Lower Carboniferous + + - - + - +

E 48988 + + - + + + +

E 48989 + + - + + - +

E 48992 Upper Devonian - - - - + + -

+:detected, -:not detected

132

6.4 NSO Compounds

Alkylphenols

Alkylphenols in general are widespread in nature and are constituents of lower and

higher plants. They have been reported to be present in crude oils and sediments,

where they have been investigated in detail (Ioppolo et al.,1992;Ioppolo-Armanios

et al.,1994,1995;Bennett et al.,1996;Taylor et al.,1997,2001). The presence

of many alkylphenols at least can be dated back to the Ordovician (Ioppolo et al.,

1992). Alkylphenols originate from different sources and may be natural products

like carvacrol and thymol (Fig. 6.39). Ioppolo-Armanios et al. (1994) found the

two monoterpenoic phenols in samples of the Permian. Such specific compounds

occur especially in many families of angiosperms and gymnosperms (Ribereau-

Gayon,1972). They often are not present as free compounds but are bond as esters

of glycosides or even more complex structures like lignins and tannins (Ribereau-

Gayon,1972). Besides in higher plants, phenols are also present in fungi (Ribereau-

Gayon,1972). Another possible source of alkylphenols is the alkylation of phenol

and lower homologues. Indeed alkylation of phenols in the presence of acidic

clays occurs faster than alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons (Ioppolo-Armanios

et al.,1994,1995). It especially results in the formation of ortho-alkylated isomers

(Taylor et al.,1997). Both, Ioppolo-Armanios et al. (1994,1995) and Taylor et al.

(1997) assume, that alkylphenols are predominantly formed in sediments due to

these alkylation reactions. Phenols substituted in the meta-position on the other

hand are the most stable isomers. They often are predominant in sediments and

crude oils. This according to Ioppolo-Armanios et al. (1994) may result from

isomerisation reactions. Although lignins and tannins, i.e. terrestrial organic

matter are likely precursors, alkylphenols are often more abundant in type II

kerogen than in type III kerogen (Taylor et al.,1997). This correlates with the

low proportions of hydroxylated compounds especially in more mature terrestrial

organic matter.

Although a variety of alkylphenols has been identified in fossil organic matter

(Ioppolo et al.,1992;Ioppolo-Armanios et al.,1994,1995;Bennett et al.,1996)

interpretation is limited by the fact, that these compounds are volatile but also

polar and that no relationship between concentration or distribution of alkylphe-

133

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

100

020 40 60 80 100

Thymol

100

Carvacrol

3-Isopropyl-5-methyl-phenol

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Lower Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

Figure 6.40: Ternary plot representing the distribution of thymol, carvacrol and 3-isopropyl-5-

methylphenol

nols and maturity has been found (Ioppolo et al.,1992). The elevated polarity of

alkylphenols often results in their loss due to water washing (Lucach et al.,2002).

For the samples investigated in the study of this project, the amounts and distri-

bution of alkylphenols varies widely. As for the monoterpenes it can not be ruled

out that a loss of alkylphenoles to different extents occurred before but also during

sample preparation. However, carvacrol and thymol, which commonly co-occur in

extant plants, are present in some samples and are of lower volatility and polarity

than their lower homologues. Besides these two natural products, 3-isopropyl-

5-methyl-phenol was often present. This compound has been suggested to be

formed by rearrangement of thymol (Ioppolo-Armanios et al.,1994). Thymol, car-

vacrol and 3-isopropyl-5-methyl-phenol were quantified in 23 samples extending

the Upper Devonian to Upper Carboniferous period and the maturity range from

0.37 to 0.88% Rr. This time range clearly exceeds the one of Ioppolo-Armanios

et al. (1994). In general relative concentrations of the three compounds do not

vary significantly (Fig. 6.40). Normally 3-isopropyl-5-methyl-phenol is the most

abundant isomer, whereas carvacrol is least abundant. In contrast samples of low

maturity are characterised by the absence or low concentration of 3-isopropyl-5-

methyl-phenol and a significant enrichment of carvacrol. The high proportions

of carvacrol in immature samples indicate, that carvacrol might be an important

134

6.4 NSO Compounds

natural product for Late Paleozoic plants. It is presumable that a relative loss of

carvacrol is due to the maturation of the organic matter. The relative depletion

of carvacrol in correlation to the two other isomers however is not supposed to re-

sult from isopropylation. While methylation reactions are suggested to occur over

a wide range of maturities, isopropylation reactions have only been observed in

mature samples (Ioppolo-Armanios et al.,1995). Due to the isopropyl group in car-

vacrol being at the more stable meta-position trans-isopropylation is not supposed

to account for the depletion of carvacrol in more mature samples. The enhanced

proportions of 3-isopropyl-5-methylphenol for samples of enhanced maturities in

contrast may result from rearrangement reactions of thymol (Ioppolo-Armanios

et al.,1994). Due to the fact that a depletion of carvacrol in comparison to thy-

mol probably is not the result of thermal transformations the changes in relative

amounts are supposed to have another reason. It is probable that the significant

depletion of carvacrol in comparison to thymol at enhanced maturities therefore

may be the result of an additional source for thymol. Indeed aromatisation of

menthol due to the stereochemistry of this compound would lead to the forma-

tion of thymol. This does also account for menthone. The latter compound may

even be aromatisized more easily due to the keto-enol-tautomery present. Both

compounds have been present in many of the investigated samples. Although

at least menthol has been present over a wide maturity range it is possible that

aromatisation of this compound partly occurs already at low maturity levels.

135

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

6.4.3 Carboxylic Acids

Introduction

Carboxylic acids are known to be constituents of crude oils, sediments and coals

(Seifert,1975;Hayatsu et al.,1978a;Schmitter et al.,1981). Investigations on

carboxylic acids in fossil organic matter are mainly restricted to the group of fatty

acids, i.e. saturated and unsaturated n-fatty acids, branched fatty acids, hydroxy

fatty acids and α,ω-dicarboxylic acids, the group of hopanoic and steroidal acids

(Lopes et al.,1999;Hinrichs et al.,1999;Murayama et al.,1999) and resin derived

acids (Anderson and Winans,1991;Anderson and Botto,1993;Anderson,1994).

Fatty acids normally are the most abundant compounds in acid fractions and are

often considered because they have been proven to be biomolecules that frequently

survive the transformations that occur during diagenesis.

Dehydroabietic acid is the most abundant diterpenoic acid in sediments of the

northern hemisphere, and is a conversion product of abietic acid, present in resins

of higher plants (Simoneit,1986). Further carboxylic acids, that have been re-

ported to occur frequently are methoxy- and hydroxybenzoic acids, which partly

are constituents of lignin and therefore restricted to vascular plants (Hedges and

Mann,1979). Besides these compounds little is known about the occurrence of

carboxylic acids showing aromatic skeletons in sediments and petroleum.

Apart from saturated n-fatty acids and hopanoic acids (Fig. 6.41), which were

highly abundant in the investigated samples, the acid fractions also contain differ-

ent classes of aromatic carboxylic acids. Whereas there is information about the

origin of methoxy- and hydroxy-benzoic acids, little is known about the origin of

phenanthrene- and anthracenecarboxylic acids, naphthalene- and naphthalenedi-

carboxylic acids (Fig. 6.41). Nevertheless they are known to be present in

petroleum, sediments and coals (Seifert,1975;Hayatsu et al.,1978a).

An increase of acidic compounds has been observed with increasing biodegradation

of oils (Behar and Albrecht,1984). Increasing anaerobic degradation of petroleum

hydrocarbons in groundwater environments also led to elevated levels of acidic com-

136

6.4 NSO Compounds

COOH

(S)(R)

(R)

(S)

COOH

hexadecanoic acid (16:0)

4-methylbenzoic acid 4-hydroxybenzoic acid dehydroabietic acid 2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

2,5-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid

1-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid

C -hopanoic acid

Figure 6.41: Acidic compound types present in the investigated samples

pounds (Cozzarelli et al.,1990). On the other hand a formation of aliphatic and

aromatic hydrocarbons from acidic precursors is known to occur during diagenesis,

for example the conversion of abietic acid via dehydroabietic acid to retene.

Prior to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry the acid fraction of the samples

investigated in the study of this project were methylated. While they were present

as free acids before the identification bases on the esterfied compounds.

Saturated n-Fatty Acids

n-Fatty acids are abundant in most organisms and therein fulfil various functions.

They are components of cellular membranes, serve as energy stores (for example

in triglycerides) and protective coatings (for example in wax esters). n-Fatty acids

normally possess an even number of carbon atoms, as they are formed from acetyl

units (Killops and Killops,1993). While n-fatty acids derived from animals are

137

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

saturated, acids originating from plants are either saturated or mono-, di-, tri- or

polyunsaturated. Unsaturated fatty acids are more susceptible to biodegradation.

Saturated n-fatty acids in the range from C12-C36 have been reported to occur

in sediments and crude oils. The chain length of n-fatty acids to some extent is

indicative for the biological origin. Saturated n-fatty acids with less than 20 carbon

atoms are usually related to microorganisms and multicellular algae (Eglington

et al.,1968;Gong and Hollander,1997). Nevertheless some of these short-chain

n-fatty acids, like hexadecanoic (16:0) and octadecanoic (18:0) acid are ubiquitous

(Volkman et al.,1998) and do also occur in higher plants, for example in seed and

leaf oils of gymnosperms (Vickery et al.,1984;Aitzetm¨uller and Vosmann,1998).

Saturated n-fatty acids, with more than 20 carbon atoms are attributed to cutic-

ular waxes of higher plants (Cranwell,1974;Eglington et al.,1968), and are only

produced in small amounts (<2%) by algae and bacteria (Volkman et al.,1998).

The relative proportions of short-chain saturated n-fatty acids to long-chain satu-

rated n-fatty acids (Wilkes et al.,1999):

ATRF A =(C14 +C16 +C18)

(C14 +C16 +C18 +C26 +C28 +C30)(6.5)

may be used to estimate the origin of sedimentary organic matter. Values below

0.5 indicate a predominance of long-chain n-fatty acids originating from higher

plants.

Carbon preference indices (CPI) have been introduced previously for n-alkanes.

They serve to estimate the alteration in the n-fatty acid composition that has

occurred during diagenesis and catagenesis:

CPISF A =1

2 P10

n=5 C2n

P10

n=5 C2n−1

+P10

n=5 C2n

P10

n=5 C2n+1 !(6.6)

CPILF A =1

2 (C24 +C26 +C28 +C30)

(C23 +C25 +C27 +C29)+(C24 +C26 +C28 +C30)

(C25 +C27 +C29 +C31))!(6.7)

138

6.4 NSO Compounds

CPI values significantly higher than one indicate, that the composition of n-fatty

acids does not differ much from its original distribution. The CPI for long-chain

n-fatty acids (CPILF A) is taken from Wilkes et al. (1999). Additionally a CPI for

short-chain fatty acids (CPISF A) is used as some samples show only low amounts

of long-chain n-fatty acids. The (CP ILF A) for these samples due to the low

amounts may be inexact. Whereas fatty acids in general seem to be relatively

stable, Gong and Hollander (1997) presumed that long-chain saturated n-fatty

acids are even more stable than short-chain saturated n-fatty acids.

Saturated n-fatty acids, ranging from C7to C32 were identified by their mass spec-

tra. They normally are the most abundant compounds of the acid fraction for all

samples. Whereas only few samples are characterised by an envelope distribution

of the n-fatty acids (Fig. 6.42 C), most of the samples show a clear predominance

of C14-, C16- and C18-n-fatty acids (Fig. 6.42 B), and only few samples show a

bimodal distribution with also high proportions of C26-, C28- and C30 n-fatty acids

(Fig. 6.42 A).

The n-fatty acid distribution for most of the samples shows a clear even over

odd predominance (Tab. 6.9). This predominance normally is more pronounced

for short-chain n-fatty acids. The values indicate that the composition of the

saturated n-fatty acids has been altered little by diagenesis and catagenesis.

Nevertheless it should be mentioned, that few samples show an enhanced abun-

dance of heptanoic (7:0) and nonanoic (9:0) acid. These short-chain n-fatty acids

normally are not discussed in literature.

Except for three samples, values of the AT RF A ranging from 0.5 to 1 (Tab. 6.9),

indicate that long-chain n-fatty acids are minor contributors to the sum of n-

fatty acids. Values at around one for most of the samples even indicate a strong

predominance of short-chain n-fatty acids (Tab. 6.9). The predominance of long-

chain n-fatty acids for three samples strongly correlates to their distribution of

n-alkanes (Tab. 6.1).

The distribution of even-numbered C14-C18 n-fatty acids normally is dominated by

palmitic (16:0) acid, whereas stearic (18:0) acid is the least abundant (Tab. A.41).

This distribution pattern is different for few samples only, which include the Per-

139

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

7:0

8:0

18:0

13:0

9:0

10:0

11:0

12:0

16:0

14:0

15:0

19:0

20:0

21:0

22:0

23:0

24:0

25:0

26:0

27:0

28:0

29:0

30:0

31:0

32:0

17:0

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

8:0

18:0

13:0

9:0

10:0

11:0

12:0

16:0

14:0

15:0

19:0

20:0

21:0

22:0

23:0

24:0

25:0

26:0

27:0

28:0

29:0

30:0

31:0

32:0

17:0

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

7:0

8:0

18:0

13:0

9:0

10:0

11:0

12:0

16:0

14:0

15:0

19:0

20:0

21:0

22:0

23:0

24:0

25:0

26:0

27:0

28:0

29:0

30:0

31:0

32:0

17:0

Figure 6.42: Distribution of n-fatty acids in sediments: A) Westphalian D, Saxony B) West-

phalian B, Potato Pot, C) Vis´ean, Moscow Basin

140

6.4 NSO Compounds

Table 6.9: n-fatty acid ratios of the samples

Sample CP ISF A CPILF A AT RF A Sample CPISF A CP ILF A AT RF A

E 49748 4.4 1.4 0.8 E 48394 3.4 - -

E 49749 n.d. n.d. n.d. E 48395 5.4 5.7 1.0

E 49750 7.2 3.9 1.0 E 48396 4.0 1.5 1.0

E 49751 1.9 2.1 0.8 E 48397 4.9 1.6 0.9

E 49710 17.9 - - E 48398 6.5 2.4 1.0

E 48990 10.5 1.4 1.0 E 48400 8.9 3.9 0.9

E 48478 1.2 1.1 0.8 E 48401 11.7 4.8 1.0

E 48479 1.3 1.1 0.7 E 48405 9.9 5.8 1.0

E 48480 4.5 1.8 1.0 E 48425 17.1 1.2 1.0

E 48996 4.5 2.6 0.3 E 48382 6.8 2.4 0.9

E 48388 2.6 1.5 0.9 E 48383 1.9 1.2 0.8

E 48389 2.9 1.4 0.9 E 48384 6.4 1.8 1.0

E 48390 3.3 1.3 0.9 E 48985 1.6 1.7 0.4

E 48214 2.4 1.2 0.9 E 48986 1.4 1.8 0.8

E 48216 2.1 1.1 0.9 E 48987 1.5 1.8 0.5

E 48403 7.6 5.1 1.0 E 48988 2.2 2.3 0.6

E 48220 2.8 1.4 0.9 E 48989 2.2 7.1 0.2

E 48430 5.5 - - E 48993 1.8 5.4 <0.1

E 48392 3.9 1.6 1.0 E 48991 12.1 1.6 1.0

E 48393 5.4 1.6 1.0 E 48992 5.8 2.1 0.9

mian and Westphalian age. Nevertheless little information can be gained by these

distributions, as palmitic and stearic acid have been reported to be ubiquitous.

The distribution of even-numbered C(26−30)-n-fatty acids, which are the most abun-

dant within the long-chain saturated n-fatty acids, normally is dominated by hex-

acosanoic (26:0) acid, while triacontanoic (30:0) acid normally is least abundant

(Tab. A.41). This does not account for few samples of the Permian and the Vis´ean

period, only.

The low proportions of long-chain saturated n-fatty acids do not correspond to the

terrestrial origin of organic matter for most of the samples. The high proportions

of these compounds in two samples of the Vis´ean however indicate, that the op-

portunity to produce long-chain saturated n-fatty acids is a characteristic of this

141

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

period. Low proportions of long-chain saturated n-fatty acids in samples contain-

ing predominantly terrigenous material have been reported previously (Hinrichs

and Rullk¨otter,1997).

Alkylbenzoic Acids

Little has been reported about the occurrence of alkylbenzoic acids in fossil organic

matter. Nevertheless some of them are constituents of plants and their presence

in sediments may indicate which plants have contributed to the organic matter.

Benzoic acid is abundant in resins and essential oils of many plants (Karrer,1976).

It is also set free by the cleavage of alkaloids (cocaine, aconitine etc.) and gluco-

sides (Karrer,1976). Further alkylbenzoic acids that have been reported to occur

in essential oils of plants are 4-methylbenzoic acid and phenylacetic acid (Karrer,

1976). Additionally alkylbenzoic acids are the main metabolites produced during

anaerobic biodegradation of alkylbenzenes (Wilkes et al.,2000;Cozzarelli et al.,

1990).

C0−2-Alkylbenzoic acids, phenylacetic acids and phenylpropanoic acid were as-

signed by mass spectra and comparison with literature (Wilkes et al.,2000). The

compounds were present in the majority of the samples. It is suggested, that the

first eluting dimethylbenzoic acid is 2,6-dimethylbenzoic acid. This is the only

isomer that has not been identified in the literature (Wilkes et al.,2000), and it

is supposed to elute early due to its strong ortho-effect. Additionally one ethyl-

benzoic acid is present in many samples, which according to its retention time is

either 4-ethylbenzoic acid or 3-ethylbenzoic acid. Quantifications of 2,4-, 2,3- and

3,5-dimethylbenzoic acids are sometimes not reliable due to coelution problems.

Therefore the distribution of these three compounds has not been investigated.

Alkylbenzoic acids are present in most of the investigated samples. However their

absence in some samples can not be attributed to a lack of these compounds in

general. Due to their polarity it is also possible, that the compounds were lost

by water washing in the sediments. This is supported by the fact, that samples

lacking these compounds are neither characterised by high or low maturities, nor

142

6.4 NSO Compounds

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 11.2

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.4 0.6 0.8 11.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

England/ Upper Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

3-methylbenzoic acid

3- + 4-methylbenzoic acid

2,6-dimethylbenzoic acid

2,6- + 3,4-dimethylbenzoic acid

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

Figure 6.43: Maturity dependence of the distribution of methyl- and dimethylbenzoic acids

PAA 2

2,6

2,5

2,4EBA

3,4

2,3

3,5

C -PAA

PPA

BA = benzoic acid

PAA = phenylacetic acid

2-4 = 2-4-methylbenzoic acid

2,6-3,5 = 2,6-3,5-dimethylbenzoic acid

C -PAA = C -phenylacetic acid

PPA = phenylpropanoic acid

EBA = ethylbenzoic acid

1 1

Figure 6.44: Gas Chromatogram of C0−2-benzoic acids (m/z 136, 150, 164) in an Upper

Carboniferous coal

by lack of a certain kind of maceral group. However one sample where vitrinite was

not detected in microscopical investigations does show no presence of alkylbenzoic

143

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

acids, although there are high proportions of n-fatty acids in the earlier parts of

the chromatogram.

Benzoic acid normally is highly abundant. In contrast 2-methylbenzoic acid

and phenylacetic acid normally show low amounts in comparison to 3- and 4-

methylbenzoic acid. Among the C2-alkylbenzoic acids, generally 3,4- and 3,5-

dimethylbenzoic acid are predominant. Additionally the ethylbenzoic acid present

sometimes shows enhanced proportions.

The distribution of alkylbenzoic acids slightly correlates with maturity. With

increasing maturity 3-methylbenzoic acid becomes the most abundant methylben-

zoic acid. On the other hand, most of the more immature samples are characterised

by relatively high proportions of 4-methylbenzoic acid. However, the relative in-

crease in comparison to 4-methylbenzoic acid shows no unambiguous trend (Fig.

6.43 A). For immature samples 2,6-dimethylbenzoic acid often is highly abundant.

The relative amounts of this compound in comparison to 3,4-dimethylbenzoic acid

are only significantly enriched for the most immature samples (Fig. 6.43 B). The

majority of the samples in contrast show low variations in the relative amounts

of 2,6- and 3,4-dimethylbenzoic acid (Fig. 6.43 B). This correlates to the rela-

tive amounts of methylbenzoic acids (Fig. 6.43 A). Furthermore the first eluting

methylphenylacetic acid and phenylpropanoic acid seem to slightly decrease with

increasing maturity. The origin of phenylpropanoic acid is unknown, but com-

pounds like cinnamic acid show a similar structure. Further isomers of benzoic

acids show no significant decrease or increase in correspondence to maturity.

The distribution of the three phenylacetic acids show no similar pattern. Although

this may be due to the relative low proportions for the two methylphenylacetic

acids it does also indicate that there is no biogenic relationship between the three

compounds. Especially the relative proportions of phenylacetic acid show only

weak dependence on the maturity of the samples. The compound is highly abun-

dant in samples characterised by low maturities, but is also generally highly abun-

dant in samples of the Permian.

144

6.4 NSO Compounds

Lignin and Resin derived Acids

4-Hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid, 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic

acid and compounds with up two three methoxy groups are normally attributed

to lignin and therefore are indicators of terrestrial organic matter (Stefanova

and Disnar,2000). The magnitude of methoxylation and hydroxylation corre-

lates to the origin of lignin. The absence of syringyl acids, i.e. 3-hydroxy-2,4-

dimethoxybenzoic acid is usually interpreted as an evidence that the lignin derives

from non-woody gymnosperm/angiosperm tissues.

Some hydroxy-/methoxybenzoic acids are also constituents of essential oils. 2-

Hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid) for example has been reported to be present

in many essential oils of different plant types (Karrer,1976). This does also

account for 2-methoxybenzoic acid. 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid is a constituent of

leaves and blooms in several plants, whereas 6-alkyl-4-methoxybenzoic acids are

present in extracts from several woody constituents of for example Gingko biloba

(Karrer,1976).

Additionally salicylic acid but also 4- and 5-methylsalicylic acid are products

within the aerobic biodegradation of 2-methylphenanthrene (Budzinski et al.,2000;

Sabat´e et al.,1999). Phenanthrene and further methylphenanthrenes are probably

biodegraded via the same pathway. Salicylic acid is also produced during aerobic

biodegradation of dibenzofuran (Fortnagel et al.,1989,1990). The biodegradation

of alkylnaphthalenes does also result in the formation of these compounds (Dutta

et al.,1998). Due to the high polarity of these compounds, they may be lost

by water washing (Mackenzie et al.,1983). Additionally, the relatively enhanced

volatility of the lower isomers may strongly influence individual samples to differ-

ent amounts. The composition found in the samples therefore does not necessarily

represent the composition prior to sample preparation.

Like methoxy- and hydroxy benzoic acids, diterpenoic acids are derived from ter-

restrial contributors, i.e. resins. It was mentioned previously, that dehydroabietic

acid is the most abundant diterpenoic acid of sediments in the northern hemi-

sphere. This is due to the fact, that the abietane type is the predominant diter-

145

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

2-hydroxybenzoic acid

(salicylic acid)

2-hydroxybenzoic acid

(salicylic acid)

3-hydroxybenzoic acid 3-hydroxybenzoic acid

4-hydroxybenzoic acid

A-C1

(A-E)-C1=methylhydroxybenzoic acid/methoxybenzoic acid

(A-F)-C2=dimethylhydroxybenzoic acid/methylmethoxybenzoic acid

A-C1

B-C1

B-C1C-C1

C-C1

D-C1

E-C1

A-C2

B-C2

C-C2

D-C2

D-C2E-C2

E-C2

F-C2

D-C1

Retention Time

Figure 6.45: Gas Chromatograms of alkylhydroxy-/-methoxybenzoic acids (m/z 152, 166, 180,

196) of two Upper Carboniferous coals. The two coals are characterised by a similar vitri-

nite reflectance. The strong variations in the amounts of alkylhydroxy-/-methoxybenzoic acids

strongly indicate that neither maturity nor geological age are the main factors influencing their

composition

penoic skeleton for example in Pinus (Thomas,1970). Dehydroabietic acid is a

conversion product of abietic acid, that is formed in resins in situ (Simoneit,1986).

Additionally resins often contain lignin derived compounds (Thomas,1970).

Hydroxybenzoic acids, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid, 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic

acid and diterpenoic acids were identified according to their mass spectra. Besides

the three hydroxybenzoic acids, eight methoxy-/methylhydroxybenzoic acids have

been identified and six compounds that may be either methylmethoxybenzoic acids

or dimethyl-/ethylhydroxybenzoic acids.

146

6.4 NSO Compounds

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 11.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

4-hydroxybenzoic acid

2- + 3- + 4-hydroxybenzoic acid

England/ Upper Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Figure 6.46: Cross plot displaying the ratio of 4-/(2- + 3- + 4-)hydroxybenzoic acid vs. the

vitrinite reflectance

Whereas 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid, 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid and dehy-

droabietic acid are present in most of the samples, alkylmethoxy-, alkylhydroxy-

benzoic acids and further diterpenoic acids often are absent.

Hydroxybenzoic acids and higher homologues were abundant in most of the Upper

Carboniferous samples originating from England, and in the five samples of the

Lower Vis´ean from Moscow Basin. The maturity of these samples extents the

range of 0.32-0.88% Rr. For many of these samples 2-, 3- and 4-hydroxybenzoic

acid have been the only isomers present, while higher homologues often are absent

or present in minor amounts. This does especially account for the immature

samples from the Moscow Basin.

The distribution of hydroxybenzoic acids shows a slight dependence on maturity.

While 4-hydroxybenzoic acid is present in high amounts in the more immature sam-

147

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

ples, 3- and 2-hydroxybenzoic acid are significantly predominant in the more ma-

ture samples (Fig. 6.46). The high amounts of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in samples

of low maturity corresponds to its biogenic significance. 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid

is related to coumaryl type constituents of lignin. Compounds of the coumaryl

type however are normally present in higher plants and their presence in sam-

ples of the Carboniferous are expectable. In contrast to 4-hydroxybenzoic acid,

4-hydroxy-3-methoxy- and 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid were present in samples ex-

tending the time range from Late Devonian to Permian and the maturity range

from 0.32% to 1.26% Rr. The fact, that the two compounds have been present

in a Devonian sample where 4-hydroxybenzoic acid has been absent, may indi-

cate that the biological origin of monohydroxy-/monomethoxybenzoic acids and

4-hydroxy-3-methoxy- and 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid is not the same.

In general the distribution of hydroxy- and methoxybenzoic acids and their higher

homologues varied widely for the samples, not indicating a strong biogenic rela-

tionship. 4-Hydroxy-3-methoxy- and 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid have additionally

been absent in samples characterised by high CPI values of long-chain n-alkanes

and -fatty acids.

Abietic acid was only present in one sample of the Upper Carboniferous.

This sample is characterised by the absence of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy- and 3,4-

dimethoxybenzoic acid. Diterpenoic acids of the pimarane type were present in

few samples ranging from the Lower Carboniferous to the Permian including the

maturity range of 0.32 to 1.80% Rr. Dehydroabietic acid is by far the most abun-

dant resinous acid, present in all samples from Upper Devonian to Permian, except

for three samples, where acidic compounds could merely be characterised, and the

sample from South China, which does not belong to the Euramerian flora realm.

Alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic Acids

Although alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids are known to be present in coals (Hay-

atsu et al.,1978a), no investigations with respect to their relative proportions and

distribution have been carried out. Alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids in the range

of C0-C3were detected in some of the investigated samples. Due to low proportions

148

6.4 NSO Compounds

and coelution problems of higher homologues only C0−1-naphthalenecarboxylic

acids were quantified. The compounds were identified by mass spectra and com-

parison with literature (Zhang and Young,1997). The mass spectra of 1- and 2-

naphthalenecarboxylic acid are characterised by a strong m/z 186 (M+), 155 (M+-

CH3O) and 127 (M+-COOCH3). The mass spectra of C1-naphthalenecarboxylic

acids are characterised by a strong m/z 200 (M+), 169 (M+-CH3O) and 141 (M+-

COOCH3). Besides 1- and 2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid, no further isomer has

been identified unambiguously. Nevertheless, 11 C1-naphthalenecarboxylic acids

could be detected.

While the compounds were present in 17 samples in general, small amounts of

2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid were also present in samples, that lack other ho-

mologues. The samples where the complete set of C(0−1)-naphthalenecarboxylic

acids was present extend the time range from Upper Devonian to Permian and

the maturity range of 0.41 to 1.26% Rr.

00.4 0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

B + C + D + E C -naphthalenecarboxylic acid

G + I + J + K C -naphthalenecarboxylic acid

1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

England/ Upper Carboniferous

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

1-NCA

2-NCA

1-NCA=1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

2-NCA=2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

A-K =C -naphthalenecarboxylic acid

Retention time

Figure 6.47: Gas Chromatograms of C0−1-naphthalenecarboxylic acids of A) an Upper Car-

boniferous coal and B) the Upper Permian sediment from East Greenland; and C) Cross

plot displaying the ratio of (1-/2-)naphthalenecarboxylic acid to the ratio of selected C1-

naphthalenecarboxylic acids

149

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

The presence of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids is not restricted to the presence

of a certain maceral group or a certain maturity range. Their composition does

not vary significantly. Normally 2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid is present in major

proportions compared to 1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid (Fig. 6.47 C). This does

also account for the later eluting C1-naphthalene carboxylic acids, in comparison

to isomers eluting more early (Fig. 6.47 A and C). This strongly indicates that

C1-naphthalenecarboxylic acids B-E are C1-1-naphthalenecarboxylic acids while

isomers G-K are C1-2-naphthalenecarboxylic acids (Fig. 6.47 A and B). The only

two samples where C0−1-1-naphthalenecarboxylic acids are relatively enriched are

characterised by enhanced proportions of liptinites (Fig. 6.47 B and C).

Alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic Acids

The occurrence of alklynaphthalenedicarboxylic acids in fossil organic matter has

not been reported in the literature. In contrast their presence in contaminated

soils is known. The degradation of phenanthrene resulted in the formation of

1,2-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid as by-product (Richnow et al.,2000).

In the acid fraction of some samples three compounds were present, that by com-

parison with standards of 2,6-, 1,4- and 2,3-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids, proba-

bly are also naphthalenedicarboxylic acids but none of the standard compounds.

Additionally seven compounds, that based on their mass spectra might be C1-

naphthalenedicarboxylic acids (Fig. 6.48 A), and four compounds that might be

C2-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids (Fig. 6.48 A) were detected.

The complete set of these compounds was present in 17 of the investigated samples,

which are not fully but often identical with the ones where naphthalenecarboxylic

acids were present. Alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids are generally absent in

samples of the Permian. They are present in the maturity range of 0.67 to 1.23%

Rr.

Among the C1-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids, the first eluting one shows a slightly

different mass spectrum. In comparison to the other isomers it is characterised

by a weak m/z 227 (M+-CH3O) but a strong m/z 213 (possibly M+-C2H5O).

150

6.4 NSO Compounds

A-C0

A-C1

B-C1

C-C1F-C1

G-C1

B-C2

C-C2

D-C2

D-C1

E-C /

A-C

A-C0

B-C0

B-C0C-C0

(A-B)-C

(A-G)-C

(A-D)-C

=napththalenedicarboxylic acid

=methylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acid

=dimethyl-/ethylnapththalenedicarboxylic acid

Retention time

Figure 6.48: Gas Chromatograms of C(0−2)-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids (m/z 244, 258, 272)

A) in a sample from the Upper Carboniferous, where all isomers are present and B) in the

Devonian sample, where only few isomers are present in detectable amounts

M+(m/z 258) was strong for all five isomers. The different mass spectrum of

the first eluting C1-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid strongly indicates that it prior

to derivatisation has been a naphthalenedicarboxylic acid-monoethylester.

While the distribution of C2-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids generally does not

vary significantly, the samples can be divided into two groups based on

the distribution of C0−1-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids. The first eluting C1-

naphthalenedicarboxylic acid is always present in the samples and often the most

abundant compound. Nevertheless the relative proportions seem to be enhanced

for samples where the second eluting C0-naphthalenedicarboxylic is also relatively

enriched (Fig. 6.48 B). Other C1-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids often are depleted

in these samples. The two compounds are also present in samples of the Vis´ean

151

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

and the Upper Devonian, that lack the other isomers of this compound class. Five

samples on the other hand are characterised by low amounts or the absence of the

second eluting C0-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid. Additionally they show high pro-

portions of later eluting C1-naphthalenedicarboxylic acids, while the first eluting

C1-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid is not necessarily depleted (Fig. 6.48 A). Based

on the clear subdivision into two groups of samples it may be proposed, that the

detected alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids originate from at least two different

sources.

Alkylphenanthrene- and Alkylanthracenecarboxylic Acids

The possibility, that phenanthrene carboxylic acids are constituents of petroleum

and sediments has first been mentioned by Seifert (1975), who did not propose,

that anthracene carboxylic acids might also be present.

Alkylphenanthrene- and alkylanthracenecarboxylic acids were detected in 19 of

the investigated samples. Besides three samples, these samples are identical with

the ones, where naphthalenecarboxylic acids were detected. The samples where

alkylphenanthrene-/anthracenecarboxylic acids were present extend the time pe-

riod from Upper Devonian to Permian and the maturity range of 0.59-1.26% Rr.

Besides five C0-phenanthrene-/anthracenecarboxylic acids, 12 C1-isomers were de-

tected. It is probable, that peaks C-C1and I-C1result from coelution of different

isomers.

In general eight isomers of C0-phenanthrene-/anthracenecarboxylic acids ex-

ist. Five of them are phenanthrenecarboxylic acids and three are an-

thracenecarboxylic acids. Coelution experiments with authentic standards of

9-anthracenecarboxylic acid and 4- and 9-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid, showed

that only 9-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid was present. It is the second eluting

C0-phenanthrene-/anthracenecarboxylic acid. Among the four compounds not

identified at least one must be either 1- or 2-anthracenecarboxylic acid. Besides

4-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid, which is not present, only three further phenan-

threnecarboxylic acid isomers, 1-,2- and 3-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid exist.

Compound D differs from the former four C0-phenanthrene-/anthracenecarboxylic

152

6.4 NSO Compounds

acids due to a stronger m/z 177 (M+-COOCH3). The compound is characterised

by a relative depletion with increasing maturity. The relatively high proportions

of compounds B and C may indicate, that these two isomers are 2-phenanthrene-

and 3-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid. This is based on the consideration, that

they in analogy to 2- and 3-methylphenanthrene probably are the most stable

isomers (pers. comm. H. Willsch, FZ-J¨ulich, Germany) and that 2- and 3-

methylphenanthrene are the predominating methylphenanthrenes in the aromatic

fraction. Especially compound B-C0in contrast to D-C0shows an increase with

increasing maturity.

The samples where 1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid was highly abundant (Fig.

6.47) show relatively high proportions of the first eluting C0-phenanthrene-

/anthracenecarboxylic acid as well. Among the 12 C1-phenanthrene-

/anthracenecarboxylic acids compound H-C1shows a mass spectrum similar to

that of compound D-C0. Additionally compound H-C1shows a depletion in rel-

9-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid

A-C0

(A-D)-C0=anthracene-/phenanthrenecarboxylic acid

(A-L)-C1=methylanthracene-/methylphenanthrenecarboxylic acid

A-C1B-C1

C-C1

B-C0C-C0

D-C0

D-C1

E-C1

F-C1

G-C1

H-C1

I-C1

J-C1

K-C1

L-C1

Retention time

Figure 6.49: Gas Chromatogram displaying the distribution of C(0−1)-phenanthrene-

/anthracenecarboxylic acids ( m/z 236, 250) in an Upper Carboniferous sample

153

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

ative amounts with increasing maturity, this strongly corresponding to the be-

haviour of compound D-C1. It therefore is presumable that the two compounds

are characterised by depleted thermal stabilities in comparison to other isomers.

Hopanoic Acids

Hopanoic acids ranging from C28 to C36 have been reported to occur in sediments

(Bennett and Abbott,1999). However normally C30−32 hopanoic acids are pre-

dominant in both sediments and oils (Bennett and Abbott,1999;Meredith et al.,

2000). The compounds are formed via oxidation of the corresponding hopanes

during microbial degradation of crude oils (Wantson et al.,1999) and show a sig-

nificant increase with increasing extent of biodegradation (Meredith et al.,2000).

This is contradictory to the studies of Behar and Albrecht (1984), wherein an

apparent decrease in hopanoic acid concentrations with an increasing degree of

biodegradation amongst five unrelated oils has been observed. On the other hand

it has been suggested, that hopanoic acids may be potential precursors of hopanes

(Bennett and Abbott,1999). The authors observed an increase of hopanes accom-

panied by a decrease of hopanoic acids. Nevertheless they also point out, that

hopanoic acids might be released from macromolecules with increasing maturity

(Bennett and Abbott,1999). Due to the fact that hopanoic acids and hopanes

probably originate from the same precursors i.e. bacteriohopanetetrol and re-

lated biohopanoids, they are characterised by identical biogenic configuration, the

17β/21β(22R)-configuration (Rohmer et al.,1992). This configuration is the least

stable, and is converted into β/α- and α/β-isomers during diagenesis (Seifert,

1975). Additionally the 22R-isomers are transformed to the corresponding 22S-

hopanoic acids resulting in an equilibrium mixture. This behaviour corresponds

to the one of hopanes and the maturity profiles of the homohopanes and hopanoic

acids has indeed been shown to be comparable (Bennett and Abbott,1999).

Hopanoic acids were identified according to their mass spectra and literature.

They were present in the range from C30 to C32. Whereas most of the samples

show the presence of six isomers, this does not account for the four coals from the

Moscow Basin. These samples, in correspondence to the variety of hopanes also

154

6.4 NSO Compounds

show a high variability in hopanoic acids. C30- and β/α-S- and -R-isomers of the

C32-hopanoic acids were only present in these samples. In contrast hopanoic acids

present in the majority of the samples are the α/β- and β/α-Rand S-isomers of

the C31-hopanoic acids and the α/β-S- and -R-isomers of the C32-hopanoic acids.

These samples showing maturities between 0.59 to 0.94% Rrare characterised by

a clear predominance of α/β-(R) and (S) C31-hopanoic acids over their β/α-(R)

and (S)-counterparts. This is not observed for the more immature samples. They

in general show a clear predominance of (R)- over (S)-isomers. Although this

composition probably can be attributed to the relatively low thermal maturity,

β/β-hopanoic acids were also absent in these samples, except for one β/β-C32-

hopanoic acid.

Resum´ee

n-Fatty acids are the predominant compounds of the acid fractions. They are

present in all of the investigated samples. The majority of these samples shows

a clear predominance of short-chain n-fatty acids, indicating that cuticular waxes

of higher plants have been minor contributors to the organic matter. However

the strong EOP for most of the samples indicates that alteration of n-fatty acid

composition has been weak.

The distribution of aromatic carboxylic acids varies more widely. Benzoic acids,

hydroxy- and methoxybenzoic acids are present in a wide maturity range. The

composition of both C0−2-benzoic acids and hydroxybenzoic acids shows a de-

pendence on maturity. The presence of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid and

3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid indicates that gymnospermous lignin may contribute

to the organic matter of the investigated samples. The absence of dehydroabietic

acid in the Permian sample from South China corresponds to the fact, that diter-

penes of the abietane type are predominantly present in sediments of the northern

hemisphere.

The presence of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids, alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic

acids and alkylphenanthrene-/-anthracenecarboxylic acids normally is restricted

to samples of enhanced maturities. This strongly indicates, that these compounds

155

6 Molecular Geochemical Results

are formed at elevated temperatures. However, the presence of especially alkyl-

naphthalenedicarboxylic acids in some immature samples indicates, that the com-

pounds may originate from two different sources and that only one depends on

thermal maturity of organic matter. Hopanoic carboxylic acids were present in

the majority of the samples. While normally only six isomers were present, the

immature samples are characterised by a greater variety of these compounds.

156

7 Discussion

The broad geochemical investigations on forty Paleozoic samples are predomi-

nantly focussed on the biogenic significance of individual molecular compounds

and compound classes. Biogenic compounds often are characterised by low ther-

modynamic stabilities and therefore in sediments are not preserved in their original

structure. Modifications of the structure often make the assignation of the bio-

genic origin more difficult. A biogenic significance is indicated when the relative

amounts of a compound do not strongly correlate to the amounts of corresponding

isomers showing a similar thermodynamic stability. This means that due to the

contribution from a specific source, the relative amounts of a biogenic compound of-

ten do not strongly represent the relationship between its thermodynamic stability

and the thermal maturity of organic matter. Different compounds characterised

by this and additionally showing a strong correlation often are characterised by a

biogenic relationship.

The composition of organic matter besides its origin is influenced by its thermal

maturity and depositional environment. Biogenic relationships of individual com-

pounds are often more apparent for organic matter of low thermal maturity. Over a

wide maturity range both depositional environment and sources of organic matter

i.e. terrestrial or marine normally are recognisable. When discussing the biogenic

significance of individual compounds and compound classes this background there-

fore has to be considered first. As a byproduct of this thesis focussing on biogenic

relationships, the origin and formation pathway of compounds and compound

classes that show no strong biogenic significance will also be considered.

For the discussion the investigated samples have been separated into four groups.

The North English coals represent the biggest group (Group I), characterised by

157

7 Discussion

a moderate maturity range. This group is supposed to give a common overview

over the potential biogenic relationships of individual compounds and compound

classes. The second group (Group II) represents immature coals from different

locations. Correlations within this group are supposed to support the potential

biogenic relationships indicated by the composition of the North English coals.

Additionally biogenic relationships which are not obvious within the maturity

range of the North English coals may be recognisable due to this subset. The

third group (Group III) consists of samples characterised by elevated thermal

maturities and strongly varying depositional environments. This group probably is

of less relevance with respect to the biogenic significance of individual compounds

and compound classes but strongly represents both the influence of depositional

environment and thermal maturity on organic matter. The last group (Group IV)

in contrast to the three previous groups covers samples characterised by enhanced

proportions of type I kerogen, most of them being immature. This group therefore

helps to assess the terrestrial significance of individual compounds and compound

classes. Additionally the immaturity of this group and group II may help to assess

compounds which are typical for immature organic matter independently to its

origin.

Prior to the discussion on the origin of the compounds and compound classes a

broad characterisation of the thermal maturity and the environmental factors for

all investigated samples will be carried out. Although this will not be considered

for the biogenic and non-biogenic significance in general it is necessary to prevent

misinterpretations. For the investigations molecular compounds and compound

classes of five fractions were considered. For the discussion of biogenic relation-

ships two of them, aliphatic hydrocarbons and medium-polarity NSO compounds

often are not respected. For the samples investigated in this study, the composition

of aliphatic hydrocarbons does not indicate biogenic relationships but depositional

environments and thermal maturities of organic matter. Medium-polarity NSO

compounds in contrast have been rare for the majority of the investigated samples

and interpretations due to this are vague.

For compounds and compound classes revealing a biogenic significance finally the

chemotaxonomy of modern land plants will be considered.

158

7.1 Maturity and Environment

7.1 Maturity assessment and determination of

environmental factors influencing the samples

7.1.1 North English Coals, Group I

The subset of North English coals consists of 20 samples originating from six

drilling locations. The age of the samples expands from Namurian to Westphalian

C, normally consisting of a mixture of type II-III kerogen (Fig. 7.1 B). The samples

with two exceptions, are characterised by relatively small variations of Tmax and a

more variable but still narrow range of vitrinite reflectances (0.67-0.94% Rr) (Fig.

7.1 A). The two coals from Rowlands Gill show relatively high vitrinite reflectances

(1.23-1.26% Rr), corresponding to an enhanced Tmax (Fig. 7.1 A). Although Tmax

values (431-438◦C) respecting the vitrinite reflectances are consistently lower than

many published data (Epistali´e and Bordenave,1992) they correspond to the ones

reported by Littke et al. (1990). The authors suggested lower Tmax values to be

characteristic for coals. However the low Tmax for one sample from Potato Pot (Fig.

7.1 B) strongly contradicts its vitrinite reflectance (Tab. 5.1). Due to the lack

of sample material Rock-Eval pyrolysis was not carried out a second time. It is

assumed, that the low Tmax is erratic. Contamination is improbable as molecular

geochemical results are in good agreement with the ones for the two other coals

from Potato Pot, which do not refer to contamination. Plots of Tmax therefore do

not respect this specific sample (Fig. 7.2).

Due to the relatively high proportions of vitrinite for all of the North English

coals (Table A.1), vitrinite reflectances and Tmax were expected to show good

correlation. However this is not generally true (Fig. 7.1 A). While the majority of

the samples show strong correlation, few are characterised by enhanced deviations

from average distributions (Fig. 7.1 A). Respecting the procedures for estimating

both Rrand Tmax it is assumable, that scattering represents the different influences

of the individual sample composition on Tmax. This is well-founded by the fact,

that Rrdoes only depend on the presence of vitrinite, while Tmax is influenced by

the complete petrographic composition of a sample.

159

7 Discussion

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

400 440 480

200

400

600

800

T [°C]

max

HI [mgHC/gTOC]

type I 0.5% Rr

1.0% Rr

1.3% Rr

type II

type III

1.2 1.40.6 0.8 1

430

440

450

460

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

T [°C]

max

A) B)

Figure 7.1: Cross plots of A) Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and B) HI vs. Tmax for North

English coal samples

Normally neither Tmax nor HI of the North English coals correspond to type I

kerogen (Fig. 7.1 B). Tmax for type II and III kerogen on the other hand does

not differ significantly. Normally values are only slightly lower for the latter type.

Nevertheless small deviations which are observed for individual samples may result

from different composition in organic matter. However, it is unlikely that more

pronounced scattering can be explained by differences in kerogen typing due to

the similarity of Tmax for type II and III kerogen.

Strongest deviations are observed for the two coals from Dearham, characterised

by a relatively high Tmax and the two samples originating from Potato Pot show-

ing comparably low ones (Fig. 7.1 A). All four samples at least show a strongly

different composition in maceral groups (Table A.1). Nevertheless Tmax is charac-

terised by a strong dependence on the individual locations while organic matter

composition seems to be of little importance.

Two distinct factors that are known to influence Tmax are the amounts of resinite

in a sample (Peters,1986) and its mineral matrix (Katz,1983;Littke,1993). While

the presence of resinites can strongly reduce Tmax, high amounts of specific miner-

als, to different extends result in an enhanced Tmax due to adsorption of organic

matter on the mineral surfaces (Littke,1993). Both effects are not recognisable

160

7.1 Maturity and Environment

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

1.4

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

MPI 1

T [°C]

max

MPI 1

A) B)

0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

430 440 450 460

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

Figure 7.2: Cross plots of A) MPI-1 vs. vitrinite reflectance and B) MPI-1 vs. Tmax for North

English coal samples

for the North English coals. The mineral matrix effect is known to be negligible

for samples showing high amounts of organic matter (Katz,1983;Langford and

Blanc-Valleron,1990). The influence of the mineral matrix, if present should be

recognisable for samples that show relative high amounts of minerals only. This

is true for two samples originating from Throckley and one from Rowlands Gill,

which show low amounts of TOC (Table A.1). However none of them is charac-

terised by a significantly enhanced Tmax. Therefore it can be presumed, that the

mineral matrix of the North English coals shows no significant influence on Tmax.

The influence of resinites for Tmax can not be estimated directly. The relative

proportions of compounds originating from resinous sources (cadalene, retene, ip-

iHMN) however, show no distribution that would support a significant influence of

resinites on Tmax. For the North English coals vitrinite reflectance in comparison

to Tmax will be considered as the more reliable maturity parameter.

Regarding to their vitrinite reflectances higher than 0.6% Rr, all North English

coals are expected to have passed diagenesis and to some extend have suffered

catagenetic transformations. Aliphatic hydrocarbons mainly are influenced by

processes that are restricted to the diagenetic stage. Therefore their composition

maintained little information for the classification of the English samples. In fact

hopane ratios have reached equilibrium (Fig. 6.7); in correspondence to literature

161

7 Discussion

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

DNR = 0.64

MDR´= 0.86

DPR = 0.86

Correlation:

A) B)

0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

DNR

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

MDR´

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

DPR

Reife

0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

0.08

0.12

0.16

0.2

0.24

0.28

0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 7.3: Cross plots of A) DNR, B) DPR and C) MDR’ vs. vitrinite reflectance for North

English coal samples; for definition of the used maturity parameters see Tables 6.4,6.6 and 6.7

(Radke et al.,1980;Littke et al.,1990;Norgate et al.,1999), all samples are

characterised by CPI values not significantly higher than one (Table 6.1).

Maturity parameters based on aromatic hydrocarbons, in contrast are not re-

stricted to low maturity levels. Among several established parameters (Radke

et al.,1982b,1986;Alexander et al.,1986b), the MPI-1 (Table 6.6) is generally

accepted to strongly correspond to maturity for organic matter predominantly

originating from terrestrial sources and showing maturities beyond 0.6% Rr.

Although MPI-1 is not the molecular parameter showing strongest correlation to

maturity, it indeed corresponds to vitrinite reflectance for the majority of the

North English coals (Fig. 7.2 A). The most striking deviations are given for the

Namurian coal from Rowlands Gill and two samples from Throckley. These three

samples are characterised by low TOC contents. The strong deviation for the

sample from Rowlands Gill can be attributed to its organic matter composition,

162

7.1 Maturity and Environment

which might also explain the scattering of samples from Distington (Fig. 7.1 B).

The low MPI-1 values of the two samples from Throckley indicate, that these

samples differ strongly from the rest of the North English coals. This can not be

attributed to the kerogen typing (Fig. 7.1 B) and therefore may result from either

depleted isomerisation reactions due to a weaker mobile phase or due to another

sedimentological history. It for example may be possible that the Throckley bore-

hole has been subject to a fast heating rate which did not affect the mobile phase

that strong.

A comparison between the MPI-1 vs. vitrinite reflectance and MPI-1 vs. Tmax

plots (Fig. 7.2 A and B) shows that especially for the coals from Dearham and

Potato Pot, vitrinite reflectance is a more reliable parameter than Tmax. In Fig.

7.2 B deviations again are strong for two of the three samples from Throckley and

the Namurian coal from Rowlands Gill. In contrast this does not account for the

sample subset originating from Distington. Actually MPI-1 and Tmax are charac-

terised by a good correlation for coals from Distington, while for the correlation

between MPI-1 and vitrinite reflectance they show a random distribution (Fig.

7.2 A and B).

Besides the MPI-1 many maturity parameters based on aromatic hydrocarbons

do also reveal good accordance to vitrinite reflectances (Fig. 7.3 A-C). The corre-

lation for individual sample subsets are variable, while especially the coals from

Throckley normally show strong deviations (Fig. 7.3). The samples from Potato

Pot are characterised by the strongest similarity. This again supports the unreli-

ability of the low Tmax for one of these coals. Samples from Keekle show a more

or less pronounced correlation to the maturity parameters, without strong scatter-

ing. Both Keekle and Potato Pot are located in the West Cumbrian Coalfield and

the analogy in behaviour accords to a similar sedimentological history. Amongst

samples from Distington deviations normally are strongest for the two samples

of highest and lowest vitrinite reflectance (Fig. 7.3 A-C), while especially the

DNR strongly correlates to the maturity for this subset of samples. This indicates

that the composition of alkylnaphthalenes for the samples from Distington does

not depend on the origin of organic matter but on the thermal maturity. The

effect of different kerogen typing despite their enhanced maturity is recognisable

163

7 Discussion

for the two coals from Rowlands Gill. This is indicated by the strongly different

behaviour especially in DNR and DPR (Fig. 7.3 A-B). In contrast, the two coals

from Dearham do only show a similarity for ratios of alkylphenanthrenes, this

contradicting their kerogen typing based on the HI (Fig. 7.3,7.1 B).

The majority of the ratios therefore based on the vitrinite reflectance helps to

assess the maturity of individual samples, while deviations indicate, that distinct

effects like contribution from a specific source or depositional environment are still

recognisable within the investigated maturity range.

The HI vs. Tmax plot (Fig. 7.1 B) serves to classify the composition of organic

matter and to explain deviations observed within the maturity assessment for the

North English coals. With regard to the narrow range of Tmax for most of the

North English samples, they all are characterised by equal maturities in the HI vs.

Tmax plot (Fig. 7.1 B). The two coals from Rowlands Gill again differ significantly

due to their enhanced maturity (Fig. 7.1). Although all North English coals, with

two exceptions, predominantly consist of a mixture of type II-III kerogen, they

nevertheless are characterised by some differences.

The Namurian sample from Rowlands Gill corresponds to type I kerogen, explain-

ing the strong deviations for the MPI-1 (Fig. 7.1 B, Fig. 7.2 A and B). In

contrast the scattering of samples from Distington does not strongly correspond

to HI. However samples from Distington sometimes are characterised by elevated

HI with respect to the rest of the North English coals.

Considering HI, the three coals from Potato Pot represent a uniform subset of

samples (Fig. 7.1 B). Their vitrinite reflectances and HI values do not differ sig-

nificantly. The three samples from Keekle, which are characterised by a wider

maturity range (0.83-0.88% Rr) show a more pronounced variability in HI corre-

sponding to the vitrinite reflectances. The sample of lowest HI is characterised by

the highest maturity (Fig. 7.1). HI for the two coals from Dearham in contrast

to the Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance plot (Fig. 7.1 A) is characterised by a good

correlation to the HI for coals from Potato Pot. The samples from Throckley and

Distington, in correspondence to Fig. 7.1 A are characterised by a wider scattering

in HI. HI values for the three samples from Throckley vary significantly and do

164

7.1 Maturity and Environment

123456

0.04

0.08

0.12

0.16

0.2

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

A) B)

DBT = dibenzothiophene

P = phenanthrene

MDBT = methylDBT (excluding 1-MDBT)

MDBF = methylDBF (excluding 1-MDBF)

DBT

MDBT

MDBF

pristane

phytane

pristane

phytane

Figure 7.4: Cross plots of A) DBT/P and B) MDBT/MDBF vs. the ratio of pristane/phytane

for North English coal samples

not correspond to their Tmax but to their vitrinite reflectances. The kerogen of the

most mature sample from Throckley may be classified as type III (Fig. 7.1 B). Due

to Tmax for the Throckley samples not referring to an influence of minerals this is

also improbable for HI. Nevertheless the strong differences for these samples are

left unexplained and do not correspond to the strong deviations for the majority

of the maturity parameters (Fig. 7.2,7.3). Although the samples from Distington

show strong variations for HI (Fig. 7.1), this does not hold for the scattering

in maturity parameters. The fact, that vitrinite reflectances do not correspond

to Tmax and HI indicates, that the samples from Distington are characterised by

enhanced variations in kerogen composition. However three samples representing

highest HI of the complete English sample set are not the ones showing strongest

deviations for maturity parameters.

Molecular geochemical parameters representing depositional conditions in contrast

to maturity parameters are rare. The absence of gammercerane and C35-hopanes

however indicates that depositional environments for North English coals have

not been hypersaline. While C29-steranes indicate a contribution of organic mat-

ter from higher plants, they have only been present as minor compounds in few of

165

7 Discussion

the North English samples and therefore possess little significance. Nevertheless

especially the scattering of samples from Distington for many maturity parame-

ters corresponds to their inhomogeneities in the few parameters representing de-

positional environment. This does account for the ratios of pristane/phytane,

pristane/n−C17 and alkyldibenzothiophenes to both alkylphenanthrenes and

alkyldibenzofurans. These parameters for some samples from Distington often

differ from the relatively similar values for the rest of the North English coals. In

correspondence to its kerogen typing the Namurian sample from Rowlands Gill is

characterised by a relatively high CP IHC of 1.27 (Table 6.1), an enhanced AT RHC

and low ratios of pristane/phytane and pristane/n−C17 (Table 6.2). These val-

ues strongly correspond to the kerogen typing and the strong deviation for the

MPI-1 (Fig. 7.2). The majority of the North English samples show high pris-

tane/phytane and pristane/n−C17 ratios (Table 6.2), which does not account for

the Distington samples in general. While the behaviour of aliphatic hydrocarbons

does only show strong deviations for two samples from Distington, amounts of

alkyldibenzothiophenes to alkyldibenzofurans and -phenanthrenes correspond to

the deviating behaviour of two further coals from Distington. Generally enhanced

proportions of alkyldibenzothiophenes are attributed to organic matter originat-

ing from marine sources. Although alkyldibenzothiophenes were generally present

in minor amounts, two samples from Distington show a relative enrichment of

these compounds, but lowest vitrinite reflectances (Fig. 7.4). This supports the

hypothesis that these samples are characterised by relative high amounts of or-

ganic matter, not originating from terrestrial sources and therefore may explain

deviations in maturity parameters especially for the MPI-1. The relatively high

proportions of alkyldibenzothiophenes for the two samples from Rowlands Gill

(Fig. 7.4) correspond to their comparably high proportions of organic sulphur

(Table A.1). They may also result from progressive maturation of organic matter.

Altogether, differences in depositional environment and sources of organic matter

but probably also geological age are recognisable in both bulk and molecular geo-

chemical parameters. The samples from Keekle and Potato Pot, all of Westphalian

age represent relatively homogenous subsets. The two coals from Dearham are

characterised by a similar behaviour to the Potato Pot samples. Nevertheless or-

ganic matter composition among these two samples differs more significantly than

166

7.1 Maturity and Environment

for the ones from Keekle and Potato Pot. The Dearham coals were deposited dur-

ing the Namurian. The two coals from Rowlands Gill are characterised by signifi-

cantly enhanced maturities. Additionally the Namurian coal from Rowlands Gill

is the one of the whole set, which mostly represents type I kerogen. This charac-

teristic, despite its enhanced maturity is still recognisable for some of the maturity

parameters based on aromatic hydrocarbons (Fig. 7.2,7.3). The differences for

samples from Distington can be attributed to their different organic matter compo-

sition, predominantly represented by the ratios of dibenzothiophene/phenanthrene

and methyldibenzothiophenes/methyldibenzofurans (Fig. 7.4). The Distington

samples belong to the Westphalian and Namurian. The Namurian is characterised

by marine transgressions corresponding to a more or less terrestrial signature of

the organic matter. The variations of the Throckley coals in contrast do not

correspond to differences in organic matter composition. The behaviour of this

subset of samples can not unambiguously be explained by factors like depositional

environment or organic matter composition and may despite the Tmax values cor-

respond to influences of the mineral matrix or a fast heating period on the organic

matter.

167

7 Discussion

7.1.2 Immature Type III Coals, Group II

Six samples, two from Germany and the Moscow Basin respectively and one from

South China and Spitsbergen, equally to the North English samples, are also

characterised as coals consisting predominantly of mixed type II-III kerogen (Fig.

7.5 B). The age of these coals extends from Upper Vis´ean to Permian. In contrast

to the North English coals, they are, with two exceptions, characterised by lower

vitrinite reflectances normally corresponding to depleted values of Tmax (Fig. 7.5

A). Additionally variations in Tmax are much more pronounced than for the North

English coals. This corresponds to literature (Epistali´e and Bordenave,1992),

reporting that Tmax normally shows a stronger increase in comparison to vitrinite

reflectances. However, the two samples from Germany are characterised by the

same vitrinite reflectance but strong differences in Tmax (Fig. 7.5 A). Additionally

the coal from South China shows an elevated Tmax. Differences in kerogen typing

(Fig. 7.5 B) for the two more mature samples from South China and Spitsbergen

are not strong enough to hold for the differences in Tmax. Actually the amounts

of resins may have an influence on the behaviour of the South Chinese coal as it

is the only one of this subset of samples, which is characterised by the absence

of dehydroabietic acid, an important constituent of resins. This may indicate,

that the amounts of resins are significantly depleted for this coal not originating

from the Euramerian flora realm. Whether the differences for the two German

coals can also be attributed to the contents of resins is insecure. Surely they

do not result from mineral matrix effects, as both coals show high TOC contents

(Table A.1). The two coals are characterised by differences in kerogen composition.

However, the enhanced Tmax for the Upper Vis´ean coal contradicts its HI, strongly

corresponding to type III kerogen (Fig. 7.5 B).

The differences in kerogen typing for the two German samples correspond to the

differences for the two coals originating from the Moscow Basin. While one of

the coals for each location is characterised by enhanced proportions of type III

organic matter, the second shows a kerogen composition similar to the ones of

the North English coals (Fig. 7.5 B). However, in contrast to the German coals,

Tmax does not differ strongly for the two coals originating from the Moscow Basin.

Except for the two coals showing enhanced correlation to type III organic matter,

168

7.1 Maturity and Environment

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

410

420

430

440

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

T [°C]

max

A) B)

400 440 480 520

200

400

600

800

T [°C]

max

HI [mgHC/gTOC]

0.5% Rr

1.0% Rr

type I

type II

type III

1.3% Rr

South China/ Permian

Germany/ Westphalian D

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

Germany/ Upper Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Viséan

Figure 7.5: Cross plots of A) Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and B) HI vs. Tmax for type III

coals from different locations and ages

the other coals are characterised by a composition corresponding to the one of the

North English coals.

Due to the relatively low maturity of the six coals, maturity parameters based on

aliphatic hydrocarbons are expected to strongly correspond to maturity. In con-

trast maturity parameters of aromatic hydrocarbons will show little correlation at

least for the coals from Germany and the Moscow Basin. Indeed ratios represent-

ing the distribution of 22S- to 22S- and 22R-17α(H),21β(H)-29-dihomohopanes

strongly correspond to vitrinite reflectance (Fig. 7.6 A). For the more mature

sample from the Moscow Basin the ratios could not be determined due to negli-

gible amounts of hopanes. Equilibrium is reached for the two more mature coals

from Spitsbergen and South China (Fig. 7.6 A). The two coals from Germany

show ratios contradicting their Tmax. Considering the ratio of dihomohopanes the

Westphalian D sample is supposed to show a higher maturity (Fig. 7.6 A). The

relative amounts of hopanes to moretanes are of little significance. Except for the

one coal from the Moscow Basin all other coals have reached equilibrium (Fi. 7.6

B). In contrast to CPIHC for the North English coals, samples of maturities below

0.6% Rr, with one exception are characterised by values strongly differing from one

(Fig. 7.6 C), this corresponding to literature (Radke et al.,1980;Norgate et al.,

1999). The low CPIHC for one of the samples originating from the Moscow Basin

169

7 Discussion

South China/ Permian

Germany/ Westphalian D

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

Germany/ Upper Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Viséan

0.2

0.4 0.6 0.8 1

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

CPIHC

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

of 17 (H),21 (H)-29-dihomohopanesa b

22 + 22

S R

17 (H),21 (H)-hopane

17 (H),21 (H)-hopane + 17 (H),21 (H)-hopane

a b

a b b a

Figure 7.6: Cross plots of A) 22S/22S- + Rof 17α(H),21β(H)-29-dihomohopane, B) C32-

(17α(H),21β(H)-/17α(H),21β(H)- + 17β(H),21α(H))-hopane and C) CP IHC vs. vitrinite re-

flectance

can be attributed to the fact, that its organic matter has been deposited under

reducing conditions. Even over odd (EOP) predominance of n-alkanes in reducing

environments is suggested to result from the reduction of the corresponding even-

numbered n-fatty acids (Lutz et al.,2000). The second sample from the Moscow

Basin in contrast is characterised by a significantly enhanced CPIHC . Addition-

ally this sample shows the presence of ββ-homologues and of hop-17(21)-enes and

significantly depleted values for the hopane ratios (Table A.14,A.16). ββ-Hopanes

are absent at maturities beyond 0.4% Rr(Peters and Moldowan,1993) and their

presence indicates that the sample has been altered little by thermal influence.

Maturity parameters of aromatic hydrocarbons, except for the MPI-1 and -2

showed no correlation to the vitrinite reflectance of the six type III coals. The

170

7.1 Maturity and Environment

good correlation of the MPIs for the samples can be attributed to the fact, that

their organic matter predominantly originates from terrestrial sources.

According to kerogen typing the six coals are supposed to contain organic mat-

ter predominantly derived from terrestrial sources. However their ratios of pris-

tane/phytane vary significantly (Table 6.2). The highest value amongst all inves-

tigated samples is the one of the coal from South China, indicating that it has

been deposited under strongly oxidising conditions. The values for coals from

Germany and Spitsbergen are low in comparison to that of the South China coal

but nevertheless indicate a deposition of terrigenous organic matter under oxidis-

ing conditions. Additionally the two German coals, contrary to their differences

in kerogen composition, amongst all samples where steranes have been present

in quantifiable amounts, are characterised by sterane distributions indicating a

strong contribution of organic matter from terrestrial sources (Fig. 6.5). The two

coals from the Moscow Basin in contrast to the rest of the low maturity coals,

show values of pristane/phytane significantly lower than one (Table 6.2), indicat-

ing anoxic depositional environments. Composition of organic matter however

due to pristane/n−C17 values strongly differs for the two samples. The sample

characterised by a low CPIHC , higher maturity and less pronounced kerogen III

typing shows a value indicating a stronger input of organic matter from terrestrial

sources. The value may also indicate enhanced biodegradation. For the two sam-

ples it generally can be assumed, that although they have suffered little thermal

alteration, they were affected by diagenetic processes to different degrees. The less

mature coal probably contains higher amounts of organic matter originating from

non terrestrial sources, while due to its AT RHC terrestrial contribution is still

recognisable. The presence of hop-17(21)-enes may not only indicate low thermal

alteration but also different depositional conditions. The other sample in contrast

is characterised by stronger contribution of organic matter from terrestrial sources,

while either conditions of deposition have been more anoxic or the sample has been

subject to enhanced biodegradation. Due to the relative low amounts of aliphatic

hydrocarbons and elevated proportions of aromatic hydrocarbons biodegradation

is more probable.

171

7 Discussion

Alkyldibenzothiophenes were absent in this coal. Besides this sample alkyldiben-

zothiophenes were also absent in the two coals from Germany. This indicates

a strong terrigenous character of organic matter. Generally proportions of

alkyldibenzothiophenes were also low for the other samples, indicating a flu-

vio/deltaic depositional environment (Fig. 6.24,6.29).

172

7.1 Maturity and Environment

7.1.3 Samples Containing Type II-III Kerogen of Enhanced

Thermal Maturities, Group III

Seven samples have been investigated, also consisting predominantly of type II-III

kerogen (Fig. 7.7 B), but showing relative enhanced vitrinite reflectances in com-

parison to the previously discussed samples. This subset of sample consists of two

fossils from the Upper Carboniferous, four Upper Permian sediments from East

Greenland and a coal originating from a Permian deposit in Russia. In contrast

to the previously discussed samples correlation between vitrinite reflectance and

Tmax is weak (Fig. 7.1 A). The Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus in agreement with its

significantly enhanced vitrinite reflectance is characterised by a strongly elevated

Tmax. The scattering of the other samples results from depleted values of Tmax for

the more mature samples from East Greenland, the significantly enhanced value

for one from the less mature samples of this location and the weak correlation

between the Sigillaria and the Permian coal.

The significantly enhanced Tmax for one sample from East Greenland clearly can

be attributed to a mineral matrix effect resulting in a strong adsorption of lean

organic matter (Table A.1) on minerals (Langford and Blanc-Valleron,1990). De-

0.8 11.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

420

440

460

480

500

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

T [°C]

max

T [°C]

max

HI [mgHC/gTOC]

400 440 480 520

200

400

600

800 0.5% Rr

1.0% Rr

type I

type II

type III

1.3% Rr

A) B) Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus/ Namurian C

Sigillaria/ Westphalian B

East Greenland/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

Figure 7.7: Cross plots of A) Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and B) HI vs. Tmax for type II-III

kerogen samples of enhanced maturity

173

7 Discussion

viations for the rest of the samples from this subset are difficult to assign due

to their strong differences in composition (coal, fossils, sediments). However, in

comparison to the North English coals, three samples from East Greenland are

characterised by significantly depleted Tmax, while the one for the Permian coal is

also lower than would be expected due to its vitrinite reflectance (Table A.2). This

for the Russian coal corresponds to the former mentioned suggestions of Littke

et al. (1990), that lower Tmax values are characteristic for coals. The low values

for the samples from East Greenland, with one exception, indicate that despite

their low TOC, Rock Eval data is not influenced by a mineral matrix effect.

In accordance with their enhanced maturities, hopane ratios have reached equi-

librium values (Fig. 6.7), except for one sample from East Greenland. Maturity

parameters of aromatic hydrocarbons especially based on alkylphenanthrenes show

a stronger correlation to vitrinite reflectance than to Tmax. Although, indicating

that vitrinite reflectance is the better maturity parameter, this is less pronounced

than for the previously discussed subsets. However, correlation of individual iso-

mers especially for alkylnaphthalenes is better for Tmax. In accordance to the

hopane ratio, the one sample from East Greenland normally is characterised by

depleted values of maturity parameters (Fig. 7.8). This contrary to the Throckley

samples, which have also often been characterised by depleted values (Fig. 7.3)

may be due to the high contents of minerals. Regarding Salmon et al. (1997,

2000), a sorptive protection mechanism may account for the relative low matu-

rity of extractable organic matter. However, a confirmation would need further

investigations on the mineral composition of the sample.

The ratios for the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus strongly influence the correlation

due to the significantly enhanced maturity (Fig. 7.8 A). When the sample is ex-

cluded correlations of ratios to vitrinite reflectance are much more pronounced for

alkylnaphthalenes (Fig. 7.8 B and C) than for ratios based on alkylphenanthrenes

and -dibenzothiophenes. This corresponds to the findings for the Distington sam-

ples, supporting the hypothesis that composition of alkylnaphthalenes is not sig-

nificantly influenced by environmental factors. The maturity ratios for different

compound classes show a better correlation to each other than to the vitrinite re-

flectance. This has already been observed for the North English coals. van Aarssen

174

7.1 Maturity and Environment

et al. (2001) assumed, that maturity parameters may be influenced by different

reaction environments to variable magnitudes. The correlation between different

maturity parameters at enhanced maturities actually indicates, that these differ-

ent reaction environments influence the composition of different compound classes

in the mobile phase of individual samples to same extends while these influences

do not necessarily correspond to the vitrinite reflectance.

The HI vs. Tmax plot (Fig. 7.7 B) indicates, that the kerogen typing of the Permian

sample from Russia and two from East Greenland is analogue to those of the North

English coals. The two fossils however are characterised by a stronger correlation

to type III kerogen (Fig. 7.7 B). In agreement with its elevated Tmax, the sample

characterised by a mineral matrix effect does also show a depleted HI (Fig. 7.7

Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus/ Namurian C

Sigillaria/ Westphalian B

East Greenland/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 11.05 1.1

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.4

2.8

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

ENR

0.8 0.9 11.1

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

MNR

0.8 11.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.4

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

MPI-1

MPI-1= 0.96

EDR = 0.77

MNR = 0.79

Correlation:

Figure 7.8: Cross plots of A) MPI-1 vs. vitrinite reflectance, B) MNR vs. vitrinite reflectance

and C) ENR vs. vitrinite reflectance; for definition of the used maturity parameters see Tables

6.4 and 6.6

175

7 Discussion

Zone 2 Zone 3

Zone 4

Zone 1

02468

Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus/ Namurian C

Sigillaria/ Westphalian B

East Greenland/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

Zone

Depositional

Environment

Marine and Lacustrine

Lacustrine (sulphate-poor)

Marine and Lacustrine

Fluvio/Deltaic

Lithology

Carbonate and mixed

Variable

Shale

Carbonaceous

Shale and Coal

pristane

phytane

MDBT

MDBF

Figure 7.9: Cross plot of methyldibenzothiophenes/methyldibenzofurans vs. pristane/phytane

B). The sample where extractable organic matter may have been preserved via

sorptive protection mechanisms shows high amounts of type III kerogen (Fig. 7.7

B).

According to the ratios of pristane/phytane and pristane/n−C17 the samples

are characterised by significant differences. Except for the Sigillaria and the Per-

mian coal, none of them has been deposited under strongly oxidising conditions.

However in correspondence to the kerogen typing they all are characterised by

pristane/n−C17 ratios supporting a strong contribution from terrestrial sources.

While ratios of alkyldibenzothiophenes to -phenanthrenes assigns organic matter

of all seven samples to have been predominantly deposited in lacustrine or fluvio

deltaic environments (Fig. 6.24), the relative amounts of alkyldibenzofurans to

alkyldibenzothiophenes indicate that some may have been deposited in marine

environments (Fig. 7.9). Although probably not the main factor, it should be

recognised, that maturity of North English coals has a significant influence on

the proportions of alkyldibenzothiophenes. Therefore the relative high amounts

176

7.1 Maturity and Environment

especially for the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus are more significant according the

maturity than the depositional environment. In general the relative enhanced

maturity of the seven samples does not result in a more homogenous behaviour.

This correlates to the differences in kerogen typing and composition in extractable

organic matter for the two North English coals from Rowlands Gill. Whether recog-

nised differences result from specific sources, different depositional environments

or different degrees of protection however is insecure.

177

7 Discussion

7.1.4 Samples Containing Predominantly Type I Kerogen,

Group IV

Seven samples can not be assigned to type II or III kerogen. Three of them origi-

nate from the Permian in South France and although Rock-Eval pyrolysis has not

been carried out, due to their geological background (pers. com. F. K¨orner), they

are supposed to predominantly contain type I kerogen. Three samples originate

from the Upper Vis´ean of the Moscow Basin; two of them are cannel-boghead

coals. One sample originates from the Givetian or Frasnian of Spitsbergen and is

a cannel coal.

Due to Rock-Eval pyrolysis carried out for four of the samples only, correlation

between vitrinite reflectance and Tmax (Fig. 7.10 A) is of little significance. Three

of the four samples are characterised by small variations in vitrinite reflectance

and therefore also in Tmax. Considering the vitrinite reflectances, Tmax values

for the samples, in comparison to all type II-III samples are generally elevated.

Actually the values are typical for immature samples of type I kerogen (Epistali´e

and Bordenave,1992). Due to their low vitrinite reflectances, maturity parameters

based on aliphatic hydrocarbons are significant for the immature samples from

the Moscow Basin (Fig. 7.11). In contrast hopane ratios for the cannel coal from

T [°C]

max

0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

436

437

438

439

440

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

rT [°C]

max

HI [mgHC/gTOC]

400 440 480 520

200

400

600

800 0.5% Rr

1.0% Rr

type I

type II

type III

1.3% Rr

A) B)

Spitsbergen/ Givetium-Frasnium

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

Figure 7.10: Cross plots of A) Tmax vs. vitrinite reflectance and B) HI vs. Tmax for type I

kerogen samples

178

7.1 Maturity and Environment

0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

17 (H),21 (H)-hopane

17 (H),21 (H)-hopane + 17 (H),21 (H)-hopane

a b

a b b a

A) B)

Spitsbergen/ Givetium-Frasnium

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

South France/ Permian

0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

of 17 (H),21 (H)-29-dihomohopanesa b

22 + 22

S R

Figure 7.11: Cross plots of A) 22S/22S- + Rof 17α(H),21β(H)-29-dihomohopane and B)

C32-(17α(H),21β(H)-/17α(H),21β(H)- + 17β(H),21α(H))-hopane for type I kerogen samples

Spitsbergen but also the samples from South France have reached equilibrium.

This agrees to their relative enhanced maturities. Although the coals from the

Moscow Basin are characterised by low maturities, their CP IHC is low (Table 6.1).

This results from the depositional conditions strongly influencing this maturity

parameter.

Maturity parameters based on aromatic hydrocarbons normally do not depend on

the maturity of these type I samples. Most of the commonly applied ratios, in

comparison to type II-III samples are characterised by elevated values especially

for the samples from the Moscow Basin. Additionally, in contrast to all previously

discussed sample sets, maturity parameters show no strong correlation to each

other. Therefore they are not regarded here.

Considering the HI vs. Tmax plot, the three coals from the Moscow Basin and the

one from Spitsbergen contain type I organic matter (Fig. 7.10 B). The samples are

characterised by enhanced proportions of aliphatic hydrocarbons in comparison

to aromatic hydrocarbons. The kerogen typing for samples from South France

is limited due to the lack of Rock-Eval pyrolysis data. Nevertheless both the

geology of the three samples and the composition of extractable organic matter

for two of them shows relatively high amounts of aliphatic hydrocarbons (Fig

179

7 Discussion

6.1). This supports a type I composition of kerogen. The third one equally

to the type II-III coal from the Moscow Basin seems to be characterised by a

strong biodegradation, probably accounting for elevated proportions of aromatic

hydrocarbons (Fig. 6.1). However this sample is of little value due to the absence

of all compounds investigated in this study except n-alkanes, -fatty acids, pristane

and phytane.

Ratios of pristane/phytane except for the Devonian coal do not correlate to ter-

restrial derived organic matter deposited under oxic conditions but more strongly

indicate a lacustrine or marine origin. This at least for four samples is supported by

the ratio of pristane/n−C17 indicating a strong marine input of organic matter. Ac-

cording to ratios of alkyldibenzothiophenes to -phenanthrenes and -dibenzofurans

none of the samples can be attributed to an unambiguous marine origin. While

alkyldibenzothiophenes have not been quantified in the samples from South France,

they were generally minor contributors to the rest of the samples which in case

of the Moscow coals corresponds to a lacustrine sulphate-poor depositional envi-

ronment, while for the Spitsbergian coal a fluvio deltaic depositional environment

can be suggested (Fig. 6.24,6.29).

Aliphatic Hydrocarbons in Type I Kerogen Samples

It has been mentioned above, that due to their kerogen composition at least the

samples from the Moscow Basin contain enhanced proportions of aliphatic hy-

drocarbons. They, in contrast to all other samples are characterised by relative

enriched proportions of hopanes in comparison to n-alkanes. Additionally hopane

isomers show wider variations for these samples. Actually they are, besides the

less mature type III coal from the Moscow Basin, the only ones characterised by

the presence of 2-methylhopane, ββ-hopanes and a complete series of hop-17(21)-

enes and a higher variability in isomers of tetracyclic secohopanes. Especially

the relative amounts of C25-tetracyclic triterpanes to C24-tetracyclic triterpanes,

despite the kerogen typing are significantly enhanced for the immature samples

(Fig. 7.12). While individual hopenes and hopanes are relatively enriched for the

type I coals from the Moscow Basin, the fraction of aliphatic hydrocarbons of

180

7.1 Maturity and Environment

C -tetracyclic terpane

C - + C -tetracylcic terpane

24 25

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

Russia/ Lower Carboniferous

England/ Upper Carboniferous

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

Figure 7.12: Dependence of the distribution of C24- and C25-tetracyclic triterpanes on the

maturity of the sediments

the III coal from the Moscow Basin is dominated by long-chain n-alkanes. This

significant contribution from waxy compounds strongly distinguishes the type III

coal from the type I analogues. The three type I coals despite their low maturity

show no strong CPIHC and CP IF A. While for the CP IHC this can be attributed

to an enhanced contribution of reduced n-fatty acids, this does not account for the

CPIF A. Although reduction due to depositional environment probably influences

the relative amounts, the original pattern is supposed to consist. Therefore it

can be suggested, that n-fatty acids from both marine and terrestrial sources are

minor contributors to the type I coals originating from the Moscow Basin.

181

7 Discussion

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes:

Biogenic Significance and Relationship of

Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Functionalised

Analogues

7.2.1 Group I

In the North English coals, compounds based on the naphthalene skeleton were

present in the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction, the low-polarity NSO compound

fraction and the acid fraction, while compounds based on the phenanthrene skele-

ton were detected in the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction and the acid fraction, only

(Table 7.1).

The aromatic hydrocarbon fraction of all North English coals is dominated

by alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes. For the majority of the samples

summed alkylphenanthrenes are present in higher amounts than summed alkyl-

naphthalenes. A relative increase in the proportions of alkylphenanthrenes, in

contrast to observations of for example Hayatsu et al. (1978b) does not correspond

to increasing maturity. The six coals which are characterised by enhanced propor-

tions of alkylnaphthalenes show a narrow maturity range (0.8-0.9% Rr). However,

it is more likely that the composition of the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction rep-

resents contribution from a specific source, similar depositional environments or

even similar fate during sample preparation.

The low-polarity NSO compound fraction of North English coals is characterised

by the presence of alkylnaphthaldehydes and naphthylketones (Table 7.1), while

alkylphenanthraldehydes and -phenanthrylketones are absent (or present in not de-

tectable proportions). Corresponding carboxylic acids of both alkylphenanthrenes

and -naphthalenes are present in the acid fraction for the majority of these coals

(Table 7.1). However, the naphthalenecarboxylic acids are generally present in

much higher amounts than the corresponding acids based on the phenanthrene

skeleton. Considering, that alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids are also present

182

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

Table 7.1: Occurrence of alkylnaphthalenes (N), -phenanthrenes (P), alkylnaphthaldehydes and

-naphthylketones (NA/NK), alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids (NA), -naphthalenedicarboxylic

acids (NDA) and -phenanthrenecarboxylic acids (PA) in the North English coals

Sample N P NA/NK NA NDA PA

E 48388 +++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48389 +++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48390 +++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48214 +++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48216 +++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48220 ++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48403 ++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48405 ++ ++ ++ n.d. + +

E 48392 ++ ++ n.d. ++ + +

E 48393 ++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48394 ++ ++ ++ n.d. - -

E 48395 ++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48396 ++ ++ n.d. ++ + +

E 48397 ++ ++ n.d. n.d. - -

E 48398 ++ ++ ++ ++ + +

E 48400 ++ ++ ++ - + -

E 48401 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 48382 ++ ++ ++ + + +

E 48383 +++ ++ ++ + + +

E 48384 ++ ++ ++ + + +

+++:abundant,++:present, +:present to low amounts

-:absent, n.d.:not determined

in the acid fraction of most of the samples, this dominance becomes even more

pronounced.

The presence of aromatic hydrocarbons based on the naphthalene and phenan-

threne skeleton and their oxygenated analogues arises the question if there is

a genetic relationship between these compounds. Assuming that there is a ge-

netic relationship the question is, if the compounds based on the same skeleton

were formed at the same time or if one compound class is the precursor while

the other is formed by either biotic/abiotic oxidation or reduction. Additionally

this relationship at least for the alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids may be even

more difficult to assign. Alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids may be precursors

183

7 Discussion

COOH

CH2OHCHO

COOHCOOH

COOH

A) (Formation of retene after Simoneit 1986)Reduction/ Defunctionalisation et al.

B) (of 2-methylphenanthrene after Budzinski 2000)Biodegradation et al.

C) Abiotic (suggested pathway for the oxidation of 7-ethyl-1-methylphenanthrene)Oxidation

Figure 7.13: Possible genetic relationships between aromatic hydrocarbons and the correspond-

ing ketones, aldehydes and carboxylic acids

of alkylnaphthalenes, their oxidation products or they may originate from the

biodegradation of alkylphenanthrenes (Richnow et al.,2000).

It is common agreement, that the formation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocar-

bons results from the loss of functional groups in biogenic compounds with increas-

ing maturity (Fig. 7.13 A). Recent studies (Meredith et al.,2000) on the other

hand point out, that biodegradation yields in the formation of acid compounds

(Fig. 7.13 B). Another likely genetic relationship might be the abiotic oxidation

of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons under oxidising conditions. This means

a formation of functionalised compounds during deposition or thereafter for ex-

ample due to increasing maturity (Fig 7.13 C). All three pathways result in the

formation of certain compounds accompanied by the loss of others.

184

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

012345

0246810 12

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

2-ethylnaphthalene

1-ethylnaphthalene

2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

2-acetylnaphthalene

1-acetylnaphthalene

2-acetylnaphthalene

1-acetylnaphthalene

A) B)

Figure 7.14: Cross plots of the ratios A) 2-ethylnaphthalene/1-ethylnaphthalene

vs. 2-acetylnaphthalene/1-acetylnaphthalene and B) 2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid/1-

naphthalenecarboxylic acid vs. 2-acetylnaphthalene/1-acetylnaphthalene

The formation of alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes from their functionalised

analogues is known to be the result of increasing temperature and pressure (Fig.

7.13 A, Formation of retene). The loss of functional groups is attributed to the

early stages of coalification. Due to all English coals having passed this stage

it is most unlikely that aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acids should have sur-

vived to high amounts. Additionally aromatisation does not unambiguously occur

prior to defunctionalisation. The composition of the extractable organic matter of

the North English coals however would indicate that aromatisation has proceeded

completely while defunctionalisation is a still ongoing process. Another indication

that the presence of alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes does not only result

from the ongoing defunctionalisation of functionalised analogues is their composi-

tion. While aromatic hydrocarbons with up to four methyl groups are present in

high amounts, the functionalised analogues revealed the presence of C(0−1)-isomers,

only.

185

7 Discussion

The formation of ketones, aldehydes and carboxylic acids based on both the naph-

thalene and phenanthrene skeleton via biodegradation (Fig. 7.13 B) can probably

be excluded. Although carboxylic acids and aldehydes are known to be produced

during biodegradation (Zhang and Young,1997;Wantson et al.,1999;Budzinski

et al.,2000), they are supposed to be intermediates, resulting in the formation

of low molecular aromatic compounds like salicylic acid, 4- and 5-methylsalycilic

acid but also 1,2-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (Budzinski et al.,2000;Richnow

et al.,2000). Additionally the composition of n-alkanes, n-fatty acids for all

North English coals does not indicate enhanced biodegradation. Although n-

alkanes are characterised by low CPI they predominate the aliphatic fractions.

For n-fatty acids the biogenic distribution is still recognisable, indicating that

these compounds have not been subject to significant biodegradation. Within

the distribution of dimethylnaphthalenes, 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene, the one show-

ing the highest susceptibility to biodegradation (Bastow et al.,1999) often is

predominant. 2-Ethylnaphthalene is generally present in higher amounts than

1-ethylnaphthalene. The former compound is believed to be biodegraded prefer-

entially (Ahmed et al.,1999). These observations indeed support the hypothesis

that the formation of alkylnaphthalene- and -phenanthrene carboxylic acids but

also the corresponding aldehydes and ketones via biodegradation is most unlikely.

The formation of aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acids via abiotic oxidation

of the corresponding aromatic hydrocarbons during deposition or thereafter in

contrast is supported by different evidences. The oxidation of organic compounds

requires the presence of oxidants. At the early stages of diagenesis free oxygen

might be still available while it is questionable if aromatisation has proceeded

strongly. Although free oxygen might not be available at later stages of deposition

other oxidants may be frequently present. The fact that the majority of the

North English coals, according to their ratio of pristane/phytane are supposed

to have been deposited under oxic conditions, indeed reveals the possibility that

oxidising reagents have been available. The possibility of reaction mechanisms like

base catalysed auto oxidation has already been suggested by Bennett and Larter

(2000) in connexion with the formation of alkylfluoren-9-ones. By analogy the

benzylic carbon atom in ethylnaphthalenes, is also highly activated for oxidation.

Although correlation of the ratios 2-ethylnaphthalene/1-ethylnaphthalene and 2-

186

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

C -N

(0-1)

(2-5)

C -P

C -N

(0-4)

(0-5)

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

N = naphthalene

P = phenanthrene

0246810

0.4

0.8

1.2

Figure 7.15: Cross plot showing the effect of volatilisation on the relative amounts of

alkylphenanthrenes to -naphthalenes

acetylnaphthalene/1-acetylnaphthalene (Fig. 7.14 A) for North English samples is

not as strong as the one for the complete sample set (Fig. 6.38) it still reveals, that

a good relationship between the two ratios exists. Additionally ethylnaphthalenes

generally do not correlate to any other compound for North English samples except

the corresponding naphthylketones. A formation of naphthylketones via oxidation

of ethylnaphthalenes therefore is proposed here.

In general the ratio of 2-/1-acetylnaphthalene and 2-/1-ethylnaphthalene (Fig.

7.14A ) differ in magnitude indicating that 2-ethylnaphthalene might be more

susceptible to oxidation than 1-ethylnaphthalene. Sterical hinderance according

the oxidation of 1-ethylnaphthalene may result in an enhanced formation of 2-

acetylnaphthalene in comparison to 1-acetylnaphthalene. Four samples are char-

acterised by an even stronger predominance of 2-acetylnaphthalene. These sam-

ples show low pristane/phytane ratios but highest amounts of sulphur (Table A.1).

Although the pristane/phytane ratios indicate that the depositional environment

at the beginning of deposition has not been strongly oxidising, it is possible that

the availability of sulphur for example in the form of sulphate may be a strong

oxidation agent. This would necessarily mean, that not all of the sulphur has been

187

7 Discussion

00.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

B + C + D + E C -naphthalenecarboxylic acid

G + I + J + K C -naphthalenecarboxylic acid

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

0.4

0.6

0.8

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Throckley

B-C phenanthrene/anthracene carboxylic acid

B- + D-C -phenanthrene/anthracene carboxylic acid

A) B)

Figure 7.16: Cross plots displaying A) the correlation of (1-/2-)-naphthalenecarboxylic

acid to corresponding C1-naphthalenecarboxylic acids and B) the correlation of B- and D-

phenanthrene/anthracenecarboxylic acids to vitrinite reflectance

reduced at the stage where pristane and phytane are formed. Additionally, two of

the samples are characterised by enhanced maturities which therefore might also

reveal an influence.

The formation of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids in turn may result from fur-

ther oxidation of naphthylketones or naphthaldehydes due to thermal stress. This

oxidation could proceed via a kind of Baeyer-Villiger-oxidation. Reactions of

the Baeyer-Villiger type are known to occur in nature and represent oxidations

involving peroxycarboxylic acid. Normally the shift of the substituent showing

the higher ability to stabilize the carbenium-ion-intermediate is observed (Fig.

7.17). However due to sterical hinderance the migration of the other group

may also be favoured. Based on the classical Baeyer-Villiger mechanism only

the oxidation of alkylnaphthaldehydes is supposed to result in the corresponding

alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids (Fig. 7.17). However the correlation for alkyl-

naphthalenecarboxylic acids and naphthylketones is stronger than for alkylnaph-

thalenecarboxylic acid and alkylnaphthaldehydes indicating that indeed sterical

factors may strongly influence the reaction. It is assumed that the formation

of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids results from the abiotic oxidation of both

188

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

R´COOH

R´

R´COH

R = H (due to enhanced nucleophily and sterical hinderance of the naphthyl-substituent )

R = CH (despite lower nucleophily because of the sterical hinderance of the naphthyl-substituent)

Figure 7.17: Scheme showing the mechanism of the Baeyer-Villiger-oxidation; due to the

nucleophily normally hydrogen of the naphthylaldehyde or the naphthyl-substituent of naph-

thylketones are supposed to shift, while sterical hinderance may explain a preferential shift of

the methyl-group

naphthylketones and alkylnaphthaldeyhdes via a kind of Baeyer-Villiger reaction

mechanism.

It is most likely that alkylphenanthrenes follow the same oxidation path-

way. Therefore the question arises why alkylphenanthraldeyhdes and -

phenanthrylketones were at least negligible constituents of the low-polarity NSO

compound fraction and why alkylphenanthrenecarboxylic acids in comparison to

alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids are significantly depleted in the acid fraction.

While it is improbable that the different ring numbers of the aromatic hydrocar-

bons may strongly influence the affinity to oxidation the relative depletion of the

functionalised compounds revealing a phenanthrene skeleton has to result from an-

other fact. The most likely explanation is that the relative amounts of alkylnaph-

thalenes in relation to alkylphenanthrenes may be inexact due to loss of especially

C(0−1)-naphthalenes via volatilisation. Indeed samples, characterised by high pro-

portions of alkylnaphthalenes also show enhanced proportions of naphthalene and

methylnaphthalenes (Fig. 7.15). The lower homologues of alkylnaphthalenes are

characterised by relatively low boiling points and therefore may be subject to el-

evated volatilisation. Actually even the boiling points of dimethylnaphthalenes

are significantly lower than the one of phenanthrene and a relative depletion of

these compounds can not be ruled out. The observation that lower homologues

of alkylnaphthalenes may be subject to volatilisation indicates, that the relative

189

7 Discussion

00.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

04812 16 20

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

04812 16 20

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

C C

cadalene ip-iHMN

/ = 0.88

C C

retene ip-iHMN

/ = 0.85

C C

retene ethylmethylphenanthrene

/ = 0.96

Correlation:

cretene

ccadalene cretene

cethylmethylphenanthrene

cip-iHMN

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

r.t.a.q.a.h. = relative to all quantified aromatic hydrocarbons

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

A) B)

Figure 7.18: Cross plots displaying the correlation for relative amounts of A) cadalene to

ip-iHMN, B) retene to ip-iHMN and C) retene to the first eluting ethylmethylphenanthrene

amounts of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids in relation to the analogues based

on the phenanthrene skeleton represents the relative contribution of the different

compound classes to the extractable organic matter more precise. Nevertheless

it should be recognised, that in analogy to the behaviour of aromatic hydrocar-

bons the amounts of alkylphenanthrenecarboxylic acids to the corresponding acids

based on the naphthalene skeleton show no relative increase with increasing ma-

turity of the coals.

While oxidation affected both alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes, the relative

amounts of stable and instable isomers for both classes differs significantly. It is

proposed here, that the distribution of alkylphenanthrenes represents the influ-

ence of individual biogenic compounds more significantly than the distribution of

alkylnaphthalenes. This may seem contradictory to the fact, that maturity param-

eters of alkylphenanthrenes showed a stronger correlation to vitrinite reflectance

190

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

than the one of alkylnaphthalenes. However, although maturity parameters based

on alkylphenanthrenes revealed good correlation to the vitrinite reflectance of

the North English coals, negative correlations of stable to instable isomers are

weak. This indeed indicates that the composition of alkylphenanthrenes is not

influenced by isomerisation reactions to the same magnitude than the one of alkyl-

naphthalenes. For alkylnaphthalenes it should be recognised that there is no unam-

biguous evidence that they indeed are characterised by lower amounts of biogenic

precursors with respect to their original composition. It is most presumable that

isomerisation of this compound class occurs prior to the one of alkylphenanthrenes

due to an earlier formation. This is well-founded by the fact that aromatisation

due to thermal stress proceeds easier for a bicyclic compound than a tricyclic com-

pound. Although it is presumed that at the maturity level of the North English

coals the composition of alkylnaphthalenes is less affected by biogenic compounds

than the one of alkylphenanthrenes, some alkylnaphthalenes show a behaviour

indicating a strong biogenic contribution.

Although alkylnaphthalenes have been subject to volatilisation at least for the

majority of the North English coals, relative amounts of isomers probably have

retained their original proportions. This is supported by the little variations of

boiling points for example of methylnaphthalenes (1-MN: 244◦C, 2-MN: 241◦C) or

dimethylnaphthalenes (bp: 262-270◦C). Due to the fact that maturity parameters

normally compare the stability of different isomers, volatilisation can not hold for

the strong deviations for many of the maturity parameters based on alkylnaph-

thalenes. Therefore the strong differences in the correlation of alkylnaphthalenes

and -phenanthrenes must have another reason.

A strong difference between the two compound classes indeed is that none of the

alkylnaphthalenes increases, while some alkylphenanthrenes show an increase with

increasing maturity. Except for 1,2,5-, 1,3,6- and 1,3,7-trimethylnaphthalene and

the coeluting 1,2,5,6- and 1,2,3,5- tetramethylnaphthalenes all tri- and tetram-

ethylnaphthalenes show a decrease with increasing maturity. In contrast the

decrease for higher homologues of alkylphenanthrenes with increasing maturity

is less pronounced. It is assumed that destruction of tri- and tetramethylnaph-

thalenes as the main process at elevated maturities suppresses the effect of ther-

191

7 Discussion

modynamically controlled enrichment of specific isomers. While low homologues

of alkylnaphthalenes show no relative increase with increasing rank, both 2- and

3-methylphenanthrene and 2,7- and 2,6-dimethylphenanthrene show a strong in-

crease with increasing maturity. It is possible that the behaviour of low homo-

logues of alkylnaphthalenes is due to different magnitudes in volatilisation of

these homologues for individual samples. However, neither an isomer of the corre-

sponding naphthylketones and alkylnaphthaldehydes nor of the naphthalenecar-

boxylic acids show a relative increase with increasing maturity. In contrast

naphthalenecarboxylic acids show a strong correlation between the amounts of

2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid and the corresponding C1-2-naphthalenecarboxylic

acids and the analogues based on the 1-naphthalene skeleton (Fig. 7.16 A). On

the other hand two phenanthrene/anthracenecarboxylic acids at least are char-

acterised by a strong correlation to maturity (Fig. 7.16 B). These observations

are in good agreement with those on the behaviour of alkylnaphthalenes and -

phenanthrenes.

Another important difference between the two compound classes is the correlation

of individual isomers. While C(0−2)-naphthalenes are characterised by relatively

good correlation amongst each other, tri- and tetramethylnaphthalenes with few

exceptions show excellent correlation. These correlations are significantly less

pronounced for alkylphenanthrenes.

The fact that especially 1,2,5-, 1,3,6- and 1,3,7-trimethylnaphthalene, show weak-

est correlation to other trimethylnaphthalenes indicates that two different reasons

may result in these low correlations being more pronounced for alkylphenanthrenes.

First the strong correlations of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene to 1,2,5,6- and 1,2,3,5-

tetramethylnaphthalene show, that the amounts of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene are

strongly influenced by the magnitude of contribution from a specific biological

source. Therefore the weak dependence of amounts of this compound on maturity

and other trimethylnaphthalenes can be attributed to the fact, that the propor-

tions are strongly influenced by a specific contribution. The depleted correlation

of 1,3,6- and 1,3,7-trimethylnaphthalenes in contrast results from the fact, that

these two isomers are the thermodynamically most stable trimethylnaphthalenes

and are therefore formed in favour.

192

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

00.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

A) B)

1,3,6,7-TeMN

1,3,6,7-TeMN + 1,2,5,6-TeMN

1,3,7-TMN

1,3,7-TMN + 1,2,5-TMN 1,2,5-TMN

1,3,6-TMN + 1,2,5-TMN

1,2,7-TMN

1,3,7-TMN + 1,2,7-TMN

TNNr/TeMN = 0.96

1,2,5-TMN/(1,2,5- + 1,3,6-TMN)/

1,2,7-TMN/(1,2,7- + 1,3,7-TMN)

Correlation:

= 0.91

Figure 7.19: Cross plots displaying the correlation of A)TNNr vs. TeMN and B) 1,2,5-/1,2,5-

+ 1,3,6-TMN vs. 1,2,7-/1,2,7- + 1,3,7-TMN

In analogy this for the distribution of alkylphenanthrenes would mean either strong

differences in thermodynamic stability for different isomers or strong contribu-

tion of individual isomers from specific biological sources. The relative thermal

stabilities of tetramethylnaphthalenes and dimethylphenanthrenes show similar

characteristics (van Duin et al.,1997). Although dimethylphenanthrenes amongst

alkylphenanthrenes are characterised by an enhanced correlation of isomers it is

still less pronounced than for tetramethylnaphthalenes. While the two thermo-

dynamic most stable isomers 2,6- and 2,7-dimethylphenanthrene indeed show a

relative increase at elevated maturities, this does not account for the thermody-

namic most stable isomers 1,3,6,7- and 1,3,5,7-tetramethylnaphthalene. Addition-

ally the two tetramethylnaphthalenes show a good correlation to other isomers.

The latter observation may account for the fact that isomerisation of alkylnaph-

thalenes occurs prior to the one of alkylphenanthrenes. However the fact that

C2-phenanthrenes show neither strong positive nor strong negative correlation ad-

ditionally points to a contribution of specific isomers from biogenic sources, still

recognisable at the maturity range of the North English coals.

Although the low correlations of isomers do not generally point to biogenic

precursors, some biogenic significance especially for correlating compounds

193

7 Discussion

can be assumed. Retene for example does not strongly depend on 1,7-

dimethylphenanthrene but on the first eluting C3-phenanthrene, which based on its

mass spectra is supposed to be an ethylmethylphenanthrene. It is most likely that

destruction of retene results in the formation of 7-ethyl-1-methylphenanthrene

(Fig. 7.18 C), which by retention index (pers. com. H. Willsch, FZ-J¨ulich)

probably elutes early. The good correlation between the two compounds how-

ever (Fig. 7.18 C) indicates, that their thermodynamic stability does not dif-

fer strongly and that retene is transformed into 7-ethyl-1-methylphenanthrene

immediately. They then probably are preferentially converted into more stable

isomers like 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene. Although no strong negative correlation

between 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene and the other two compounds is found, this

does not generally neglect a relationship but may result from the fact, that 1,7-

dimethylphenanthrene has an additional biogenic source.

Additionally a loss of biogenic information within the maturity range of the North

English coals however has already occurred. The strong correlation of retene,

cadalene and ip-iHMN (Fig. 7.18 A and B) for example is supposed to correspond

to the depleted thermodynamic stability of these compounds. They are least

abundant for the most mature samples from Rowlands Gill (Fig. 7.18). However

strong differences in relative amounts especially for the two samples from Dearham

indicate, that within the investigated maturity range, enhanced contribution is

still recognisable.

In analogy this, to some extend does also account for correlations between bio-

genic compounds and non-biogenic compounds of similar thermodynamic sta-

bility. Although 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene does not strongly correlate to iso-

mers of similar thermodynamic stability, isomerisation reactions in the mo-

bile phase do affect these isomers to same extents (Fig. 7.19 B). This actu-

ally does explain the good correlation between 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene/1,2,7-

and 1,3,7-trimethylnaphthalene vs. 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene/1,2,5- and 1,3,6-

trimethylnaphthalene. The plot therefore at least for the North English coals does

not indicate a biogenic relationship between 1,2,7- and 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene.

To assess the importance of isomerisation reactions due to both thermal maturity

and mobile phase the behaviour of the samples from Throckley is significant (Fig.

194

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

7.19). The deviations for these samples are obvious for the majority of the matu-

rity parameters based on aromatic hydrocarbons. This may be explained by the

hypothesis that the composition of the organic matter in samples from Throckley

is characterised by an immaturity not represented by vitrinite reflectances and

Tmax. It is suggested that the mobile phase of these samples in comparison to the

rest of the North English coals is weak and that the most likely explanation is a

fast heating up period in this specific location.

195

7 Discussion

7.2.2 Group II

In analogy to the North English coals, alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes for

the six immature type II-III coals were generally abundant (Table 7.2) but show

strong differences in distribution. This results from the fact that aromatic hydro-

carbons often are formed and subject to isomerisation at elevated temperatures,

only. Correlation of different alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes for low matu-

rity samples indicates biogenic relationships more strongly.

In correspondence to the North English coals the relative amounts of alkylphenan-

threnes to alkylnaphthalenes are mainly influenced by volatilisation effects of

C(0−1)-naphthalenes (Fig. 7.20 A) and not by maturity effects. Nevertheless the

two coals from Germany are characterised by significantly enhanced proportions of

alkylnaphthalenes in comparison to alkylphenanthrenes although the two samples

show a significant depletion of C(0−1)-naphthalenes (Fig. 7.20 A).

Alkylnaphthaldehydes and alkylnaphthylketones were present in all of the six

samples (Table 7.2). However, 1-acetylnaphthalene has not been quantified in

the Spitsbergian coal due to low proportions of the generally weak low-polarity

NSO compound fraction for this sample. The analogue compounds based on the

phenanthrene skeleton, again were generally not detected.

Table 7.2: Occurrence of alkylnaphthalenes (N), -phenanthrenes (P), alkylnaphthaldehydes and

-naphthylketones (NA/NK), alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids (NA), -naphthalenedicarboxylic

acids (NDA) and -phenanthrenecarboxylic acids (PA) in immature type III organic matter

Sample N P NA/NK NA NDA PA

E 49710 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 48996 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 48988 ++ ++ ++ ++ + -

E 48989 ++ ++ ++ - + -

E 48993 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 48991 ++ ++ ++ - - -

++:present, +:present to low amounts, -:absent

This does also account for alkylphenanthrenecarboxylic acids (Table 7.2). Alkyl-

naphthalenecarboxylic acids in contrast were present in the biodegraded coal

from the Moscow Basin, while four C0−1-alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids were

196

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

C -N

(0-1)

(2-5)

C -P

C -N

(0-4)

(0-5)

012345

2-ethylnaphthalene

1-ethylnaphthalene

2-acetylnaphthalene

1-acetylnaphthalene

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

North English coals/ Upper Carboniferous

N = naphthalene

P = phenanthrene

South China/ Permian

Germany/ Westphalian D

Germany/ Upper Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Viséan

02468

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

biodegraded?

A) B)

Figure 7.20: Cross plots showing A) the effect of volatilisation on the relative amounts of

alkylphenanthrenes to -naphthalenes and B) the ratio of 2-ethylnaphthalene/1-ethylnaphthalene

vs. 2-acetylnaphthalene/1-acetylnaphthalene

present in both coals from the Moscow Basin (Table 7.2). Although the relative

amounts of 2-acetylnaphthalene and 1-acetylnaphthalene to the ratio of the cor-

responding ethylnaphthalenes show good correlation for these samples in general,

this does least account for the biodegraded sample from the Moscow Basin (Fig.

7.20 B). It is the only one of the whole set in which the relative amounts of

acetylnaphthalene and ethylnaphthalene isomers are almost identical.

The findings generally support the hypothesis that oxidation of ethylnaphthalenes

to the corresponding acetylnaphthalenes occurs easily and does not require en-

hanced thermal stress. The relative enhanced proportions of 2-acetylnaphthalene

are analogue to the ratios for the North English samples (Fig. 7.20 B). In

this context they were proposed to result from a preferential oxidation of 2-

ethylnaphthalene. The absence of alkylnaphthalene- and -phenanthrenecarboxylic

acids supports the hypothesis that these compounds are formed at elevated temper-

atures, only. However the presence of carboxylic acids based on the naphthalene

skeleton in the acid fraction for coals from the Moscow Basin indicates that oxi-

dation due to thermal stress and the presence of oxidants is not the only pathway

197

7 Discussion

resulting in the formation of these compounds. The fact that especially for the

biodegraded sample the ratio of 2-acetylnaphthalene to 1-acetylnaphthalene is al-

most identical to the relative proportions of the corresponding ethylnaphthalenes

indicates a formation pathway different to the one for the other coals. The ratio of

the corresponding alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids is also of the same magnitude.

For this specific sample biodegradation might yield in alkylnaphthaldehydes and

naphthylketones, while both 1- and 2-ethylnaphthalene then are supposed to show

no strong differences in susceptibility. This is in contrast to the findings of Ahmed

et al. (1999), who observed a preferential degradation of 2-ethylnaphthalene. Nev-

ertheless the distribution of aliphatic hydrocarbons, for example the CP IHC and

the ratio of pristane/n−C17 besides the reducing environments may also point

to a significant alteration because of biodegradation. The coal, contrary to its

low thermal maturity is characterised by significantly enhanced proportions of

aromatic hydrocarbons although it has been deposited in reducing environments.

In comparison to the second sample from the Moscow Basin, this sample exhibited

lower amounts of type III kerogen, this supporting that biodegradation has espe-

cially affected aliphatic hydrocarbons. However also for the second sample from

the Moscow Basin the presence of alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids is suggested

to point to biodegradation.

For the six samples of this group strong biogenic relationships are observed for

both the group of alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes. Indicated by the low cor-

relation of maturity parameters for aromatic hydrocarbons to vitrinite reflectances,

except for MPIs, composition of alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes is not sig-

nificantly influenced by maturity. Besides an insignificant depletion of compounds

like phenanthrene, naphthalene and methylnaphthalenes none shows an unambigu-

ous depletion for the more mature samples of this subset. In contrast some of the

tri- and tetramethylnaphthalenes but also of higher phenanthrene homologues

show an increase. This is more pronounced for alkylnaphthalenes and at least for

the tetramethylnaphthalenes shows no dependence on the relative thermodynam-

ical stability of the isomers (van Duin et al.,1997). These findings are in clear

contrast to the depletion of tri- and tetramethylnaphthalenes for the North English

samples. This may be explained by the fact that higher homologues are formed

at low maturity ranges due to reactions like aromatisation of biogenic precur-

198

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

04812 16

c1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene

ccadalene

South China/ Permian

Germany/ Westphalian D

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

Germany/ Upper Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Viséan

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

r.t.a.q.a.h. = relative to all quantified aromatic hydrocarbons

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

Figure 7.21: Cross plot showing the strong correlation of relative proportions for cadalene and

1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene also corresponding to the maturity of the samples

sors or methylation. Destruction at higher maturities, then would explain the low

variability of tetramethylnaphthalene distribution for the North English. Most sig-

nificantly, the two coals from Germany are characterised by enhanced proportions

of tri- and tetramethylnaphthalenes not resulting from an elevated volatilisation

of lower homologues (Fig. 7.20 A). The high proportions of tri- and tetramethyl-

naphthalenes may result from two factors. Methylation of C(0−2)-naphthalenes

may be strong at this maturity level. However, although an increase of higher ho-

mologues has generally been observed for the six coals it is most unlikely that the

enhanced formation should only strongly affect the two German coals. Another

factor may be the contribution of especially tri- and tetramethylnaphthalenes from

a specific biogenic source. The two samples, according to steranes and ATRHC

are characterised by high proportions of terrestrial organic matter. The distri-

bution of alkylnaphthalenes therefore may show the original contribution more

significantly than for other samples. Alkylnaphthalenes are supposed to originate

199

7 Discussion

from sesquiterpenes. These C15-compounds contribute to the C5-naphthalenes.

The relative enhanced amounts of C(2−4)-naphthalenes therefore may be due to

the fact that demethylation of biogenic compounds has not strongly proceeded

for the two German coals. This is supported by the fact that the two samples

are the only ones of the hole set where anthracene, 1- and 2-methylanthracene

were present in same amounts than the corresponding C(0−1)-phenanthrenes. The

former compounds are present in terrestrial organic matter (Streibl and Herout,

1969). Alkylanthracenes in comparison to alkylphenanthrenes are characterised

by a depleted thermal stability. Their presence in the two German samples there-

fore indeed supports the hypothesis that organic matter has not been subject to

intensive thermal alteration.

While biogenic relationships especially for alkylnaphthalenes for the North English

coals were difficult to assign this may be possible due to the composition espe-

via copalyl-pyrophosphate

isopimarane

pimarane

1,2,5,6-tetramethyl-

naphthalene

beyerane 7-ethyl-1-methylphenanthrene 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene

phyllocladane

retene 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-

1(4-methylpentyl)napthalene

labdane

via Wagner-Meerwein methylshift

Figure 7.22: Possible biogenic relationship between retene, ip-iHMN, 7-ethyl-1-

methylphenanthrene and 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene after King and de Mayo (1964); Ellis

et al. (1996); Otto and Wilde (2001)

200

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

cially of the two German coals. Correlations of isomers are still stronger for alkyl-

naphthalenes than for alkylphenanthrenes. Nevertheless they are significantly less

pronounced for trimethylnaphthalenes and therein especially for 1,2,4- and 1,2,7-

trimethylnaphthalene. These two isomers, besides 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene

probably are the least stable ones.

Amongst the biomarkers, cadalene shows a good correlation to 1,2,7-

trimethylnaphthalene (Fig. 7.21) but not to ip-iHMN and retene. The lat-

ter two compounds again are characterised by a strong correlation. In agree-

ment to the observations for the North English coals, ip-iHMN and retene

show no correlation to 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene but to the first eluting ethyl-

methylphenanthrene, probably 7-ethyl-1-methylphenanthrene. While the depen-

dence of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene on 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene in contrast

to the North English coals is weak, the latter compound shows strong correlation

to retene and ip-iHMN. 1,2,5-Trimethylnaphthalene strongly corresponds to 1,7-

dimethylphenanthrene (Fig. 7.23). The correlation of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene

and cadalene can neither be explained by the formation of both compounds via

cyclisation of farnesol nor from isomerisation reactions of cadalanes and therefore

is attributed to a slight dependence of both compounds on maturity. Indeed the

amounts of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene and cadalene are weakest for the more ma-

ture samples of South China and Spitsbergen. However due to cadalene being a

biomarker, a biogenic relationship can not be ruled out.

In contrast the correlation of retene, ip-iHMN, the first eluting ethylmethylphenan-

threne and 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene may result from a rather complex for-

mation pathway (Fig. 7.22). The formation of retene and ip-iHMN from phyllo-

cladanes at elevated temperatures with palladium on carbon as a catalyst has been

performed by Ellis et al. (1996). Phyllocladanes but also beyeranes are formed

from isopimaranes and pimaranes via cyclisation (Otto and Wilde,2001). The

formation of 7-ethyl-1-methylphenanthrene from compounds of the pimarane or

isopimarane type has also been reported by Ellis et al. (1996). Additionally it

can also derive from degradation of retene, due to the instability of the isopropyl

group. The formation of 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalenes from compounds of the

pimarane or isopimarane type on the other hand might proceed via dehydrogena-

201

7 Discussion

020 40 60

c1,7-dimethylphenanthrene

c1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene

(S)

HOOC

COOH

(E)

agathic acid

dehydrogenation

1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene

South China/ Permian

Germany/ Westphalian D

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

Germany/ Upper Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Viséan

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

r.t.a.q.a.h. = relative to all quantified aromatic hydrocarbons

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

Figure 7.23: Cross plot showing the good correlation of relative proportions for 1,7-

dimethylphenanthrene and 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene and the most likely formation of both

via dehydrogenation of agathic acid after King and de Mayo (1964)

tion of compounds like isopimara-9(11),15-diene-3β,19-diol. The loss of a methyl

group is prevented via preliminary Wagner-Meerwein shift (King and de Mayo,

1964). The reaction depends on the availability of an adjacent kationic site, which

indeed is present in the isopimarane-diol. The formation of especially retene from

phyllocladane is supported by the fact, that retene was present in the coal origi-

nating from South China while dehydroabietic acid was absent.

While 1,7-dimethylnaphthalene shows no correlation to retene it strongly corre-

sponds to 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene (Fig. 7.23). Good correlation between these

two compounds strongly indicates that they are formed via dehydrogenation of

agathic acid (King and de Mayo,1964). A formation of the two compounds via

dehydrogenation of manool in contrast would additionally lead to enhanced pro-

portions of 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene. This however is not observed.

202

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

7.2.3 Group III

In analogy the previously discussed subsets, alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes

dominate the fraction of aromatic hydrocarbons for the mature type II-III sam-

ples (Table 7.3). The predominance of alkylphenanthrenes in comparison to the

previously discussed coals is more pronounced for these relatively mature sam-

ples. It does not correspond to volatilisation effects (Fig. 7.24 A) and is most

significant for the mature fossil (Table 7.3), which therefore is not shown in the

plot. These findings indicate, that at elevated thermal maturities, the amounts of

alkylphenanthrenes regarding Hayatsu et al. (1978b) show a relative increase.

Naphthylketones and alkylnaphthaldehydes were abundant in all seven samples ex-

cept for the Russian one (Table 7.3). Their absence in this sample probably results

from the weakness of its low-polarity NSO compound fraction. While the presence

of alkylnaphthaldehydes and naphthylketones in the less mature coals indicated,

that they are formed easily, their presence in the more mature samples shows,

that they persist elevated thermal stress due to an enhanced thermodynamic sta-

bility. The relative amounts of 2-/1-naphthylketone to 2-/1-ethylnaphthalene for

the seven samples are in good agreement with those of previously discussed coals

(Fig. 7.24 B). They show no dependence on the redox conditions of deposition.

Due to the absence of ethylnaphthalenes for one sample from East Greenland and

the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus, the correlation was only established for four of

the seven samples. The two samples, according to the vitrinite reflectance are

supposed to be the most mature ones of this subset. It is presumable that the

absence of ethylnaphthalenes results from the destruction of this compounds via ei-

ther demethylation/deethylation or oxidation. The sediment from East Greenland

is one of those where the relative amounts of C(0−1)-naphthalenes have not been

depleted significantly (Fig. 7.24 A). Therefore volatilisation of ethylnaphthalenes

can not hold for their absence.

Although it has been presumed for the North English coals, that the presence

of carboxylic acids based on the phenanthrene and naphthalene skeleton results

from oxidation reactions of corresponding aldehydes and ketones due to thermal

203

7 Discussion

Table 7.3: Occurrence of alkylnaphthalenes (N), -phenanthrenes (P), alkylnaphthaldehydes and

-naphthylketones (NA/NK), alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids (NA), -naphthalenedicarboxylic

acids (NDA) and -phenanthrenecarboxylic acids (PA) in mature type II-III organic matter

Sample N P NA/NK NA NDA PA

E 49748 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 49749 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 49750 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 49751 ++ ++ ++ + + -

E 48990 ++ ++ - - - -

E 48430 ++ ++ ++ + + +

E 48425 ++ +++ ++ - + +

++:present, +:present to low amounts, -:absent

maturation under oxic conditions, these compounds were generally absent in four

of the seven samples (Table 7.3). This for three samples from East Greenland

may result from the generally depleted proportions of organic matter, while it cor-

responds to the absence of alkylnaphthaldehydes and naphthylketones in the Rus-

sian coal. For the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus the presence of alkylphenanthrene/-

anthracenecarboxylic acids, and absence of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids corre-

sponds to the distribution of alkylphenanthrenes to -naphthalenes. The Sigillaria

is the only sample of the subset characterised by the presence of alkylnaphthalene,

-phenanthrene/-anthracene and -naphthalenedicarboxylic acids (Table 7.3). The

findings indicate that although the formation of carboxylic acids based on the

naphthalene and phenanthrene skeleton may require elevated thermal stress this

at a certain magnitude may again result in the destruction of these compounds.

In agreement with the relative amounts for 2-/1-naphthylketones, the ratio

of 2-/1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid, for the two most mature samples are rela-

tively depleted (Fig. 7.24 C), this being more pronounced for the sample from

East Greenland. The relatively enhanced proportions of compounds of the 1-

naphthalenecarboxylic acid skeleton, therefore contradict the thermodynamic sta-

bility of compounds based on the two isomers. 1-Naphthalenecarboxylic acid is

supposed to be less stable than 2-naphthalene carboxylic acid.

In accordance with its strong influence on maturity parameters (Fig. 7.8 A)

the distribution of individual alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes for the Meso-

204

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

calamites cf. Taitianus significantly influences many correlations. Therefore the

data of this sample have been excluded from further discussion on alkylnaph-

thalenes and -phenanthrenes. While at least maturity ratios of alkylnaphthalenes

showed a correspondence to vitrinite reflectance this does not account for individ-

ual alkylnaphthalenes or -phenanthrenes. Some of the more stable trimethylnaph-

thalenes, however, are characterised by an increase of amounts in relation to Tmax

(the value for the sample showing mineral matrix effect has not been considered),

while most of the 1,2-substituted tetramethylnaphthalenes decrease with increas-

ing Tmax. In contrast correlation of alkylphenanthrenes to Tmax normally is weak.

In general the weak correlations are in strong analogy to the behaviour of ma-

turity parameters based on aromatic hydrocarbons. These findings indicate that

the composition of alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes for the subset of mature

type II-III is rather complex and does not depend on their thermal maturity only.

Nevertheless correlation amongst different isomers of alkylnaphthalenes and -

phenanthrenes are still more pronounced for these samples than for the subsets

that have been discussed previously. This for the alkylnaphthalenes strongly corre-

sponds to the findings for the North English coals and the fact that isomerisation

reactions for this compound class had already proceed at lower thermal maturi-

ties. The only isomers characterised by weak correlation are the most stable ones

i.e. 1,3,7- and 2,3,6-trimethylnaphthalene but also 1,3,6,7-, 2,3,6,7- and sometimes

1,3,5,7-tetramethylnaphthalene (van Duin et al.,1997). While for the previously

discussed subsets a specific contribution of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene to the ex-

tractable organic matter was often recognisable this does not account for these

more mature samples anymore.

Due to the higher thermal maturity alkylphenanthrenes show a better correla-

tion than for the previously discussed coals. However correlation between C(0−2)-

phenanthrenes and higher homologues is weak. This may account for the dif-

ferences in thermodynamic stability due to the magnitude of methylation. It is

not presumable that it results from strong contributions of specific isomers to

the extractable organic matter as none of the isomers is characterised by a weak

correlation to other homologues.

205

7 Discussion

C -N

(0-1)

(2-5)

C -P

C -N

(0-4)

(0-5)

Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus/ Namurian C

Sigillaria/ Westphalian B

East Greenland/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

2-ethylnaphthalene

1-ethylnaphthalene

2-naphthalinecarboxylic acid

1-naphthalinecarboxylic acid

2-acetylnaphthalene

1-acetylnaphthalene

2-acetylnaphthalene

1-acetylnaphthalene

N = naphthalene

P = phenanthrene

0510 15 20 25

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

012345

0246810 12

Figure 7.24: A) Influence of volatilisation on the distribution of alkylnaphthalenes and

-phenanthrenes, B) the relative amounts of 2-ethylnaphthalene/1-ethylnaphthalene vs. 2-

acetylnaphthalene/1-acetylnaphthalene and C) the relative amounts of 2-acetylnaphthalene/1-

acetylnaphthalene vs. 2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid/1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid

According biomarkers, correlation between cadalene, ip-iHMN, retene, 1,2,5-

trimethylnaphthalene, pimanthrene and the first eluting ethylmethylphenanthrene

are difficult to assign. Retene, pimanthrene but also 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene

were generally abundant, while ip-iHMN and the ethylmethylphenanthrene could

only be quantified in one sample; cadalene in two. In contrast to the North English

coals, 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene and 1,2,5,6-tetramethylnaphthalene show weak

correlation. While ip-iHMN often may be absent due to its low thermal stability,

the presence of retene accompanied by the absence of the first eluting ethylmethyl-

naphthalene is difficult to explain. For the immature coals it has been proposed

that the two compounds in comparison to pimanthrene may be characterised by

a similar thermodynamic stability. For the subset of mature samples, piman-

threne and retene are characterised by a better correlation than for the previously

206

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

discussed samples. This may indicate, that 7-ethyl-1-methylnaphthalene as an

instable intermediate is rapidly converted into 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene, while

retene is still formed at these elevated maturities. However, correlation of 1,7-

dimethylnaphthalene and retene is not too strong, corresponding to either the dif-

ferences in thermodynamic stability or the magnitude of contribution from differ-

ent sources, i.e. agathic acid, dehydrabietic acid and phyllocladane. While retene

is a transformation product of the two latter precursors, 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene

is formed due to destruction of all three natural compounds.

Retene shows a strong positive correlation to Tmax. For the mature samples Tmax

sometimes showed to be the better maturity parameter. The observations for

retene therefore support the hypothesis, that it indeed is released at elevated

thermal maturities. Due to its isopropyl group the compound is supposed to show

a depleted thermal stability. An enhanced formation of retene from phyllocladane

at elevated temperatures, however is improbable. Phyllocladane has not been a

major compound of the aliphatic fraction for either of the investigated samples.

The formation of retene via cyclisation of ip-iHMN at elevated temperatures in

contrast may influence the relative amounts of retene. Nevertheless ip-iHMN may

also be transformed into 1,2,6-trimethylnaphthalene or intermediates for example

1,2-dimethyl-6-isopropylnaphthalene.

207

7 Discussion

7.2.4 Group IV

For the immature type I samples alkylphenanthrenes are normally present in

higher amounts than the corresponding alkylnaphthalenes. This again results

from the volatilisation of especially C(0−1)-naphthalenes (Fig. 7.25 A). However,

the coal from the Moscow Basin that has not been assigned as cannel-boghead,

shows elevated proportions of alkylphenanthrenes in contrast to its relative low

magnitude of volatilisation (Fig. 7.25 A). Therefore it can be assumed, that natu-

ral precursors showing a phenanthrene skeleton maybe major contributors to the

organic matter of this sample.

The presence of alkylnaphthaldehydes and alkylnaphthylketones in the low-

polarity NSO compound fraction of all samples, except one from the Moscow

Basin and the biodegraded sample from South France (Table 7.4) supports the

hypothesis that these compounds are easily formed in sediments. This has been

suggested based on the observations made for the previous discussed subsets of

samples. Additionally their formation is not restricted to strongly oxic deposi-

tional environments. Again in analogy to the previously discussed samples, ratios

of naphthylketones strongly correlate to ratios of ethylnaphthalenes (Fig. 7.25 B).

The absence of alkylnaphthalene- and -phenanthrenecarboxylic acids for all sam-

ples, but the cannel coal from Spitsbergen (Table 7.4), refers to the hypothesis that

these compounds are formed at elevated temperatures. Naphthalenedicarboxylic

acids are abundant in coals from the Moscow Basin and Spitsbergen (Table 7.4).

Although only few isomers were detected this indicates, that they are formed

via another pathway than alkylnaphthalene- and -phenanthrenecarboxylic acids.

Biodegradation indeed might result in their formation while the fact, that naph-

thalenedicarboxylic acids have not been found in the biodegraded sample from

South France slightly contradicts this hypothesis. Again it can not be ruled out

that their absence in this sample has to be attributed to its generally low amounts

of extractable organic matter.

In analogy to previously discussed samples, correlations amongst alkylnaph-

thalenes generally are more pronounced than for alkylphenanthrenes. However

in contrast to the immature type II-III coals, the amounts of especially C(0−2)-

208

7.2 Alkylnaphthalenes and -Phenanthrenes

Table 7.4: Occurrence of alkylnaphthalenes (N), -phenanthrenes (P), alkylnaphthaldehydes and

-naphthylketones (NA/NK), alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids (NA), -naphthalenedicarboxylic

acids (NDA) and -phenanthrenecarboxylic acids (PA) in immature type I organic matter

Sample N P NA/NK NA NDA PA

E 48478 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 48479 ++ ++ ++ - - -

E 48480 ++ ++ - - - -

E 48985 ++ ++ - - +/- +

E 48986 ++ ++ ++ - +/- +

E 48987 ++ ++ ++ - +/- +

E 48992 ++ ++ ++ + +/- +

++:present, +:present to low amounts, -:absent

+/-:few isomers present

naphthalenes generally increase with increasing maturity, despite the fact that

these compounds are affected by volatilisation. Although in analogy to the im-

mature type II-III samples C3-naphthalenes normally show an increase due to

elevated thermal maturities, this does not account for the relatively stable iso-

mers, i.e. 1,3,7-, 1,3,6- and 2,3,6-trimethylnaphthalene. The findings support the

hypothesis based on the previous discussed subsets, that isomerisation reactions

for alkylnaphthalenes occur prior to the ones for alkylphenanthrenes. However at

the maturity level of both the immature type II-III coals and the immature type

I samples the formation of C3−4-naphthalenes and therefore their contribution to

the mobile phase is the predominant factor affecting their composition.

While the amounts of C(0−2)-phenanthrenes normally are characterised by

a relative decrease with increasing maturity, this does not account for 9-

methylphenanthrene, which increases with increasing maturity. These findings

correlate to a marine origin of organic matter (Budzinski et al.,1995). The relative

amounts of this compound actually may strongly influence the MPIs accounting

for the weak correlation.

For the biomarkers, in correspondence to type II-III samples, cadalene, 1,2,7-,

and 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene show weak correlation to alkylnaphthalenes. The

strong correlation between 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene and cadalene, accords to

their behaviour for the low maturity type II-III coals. This strongly indicates,

209

7 Discussion

012345

C -N

(0-1)

(2-5)

C -P

C -N

(0-4)

(0-5)

Spitsbergen/ Givetium-Frasnium

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

South France/ Permian

A) B)

2-ethylnaphthalene

1-ethylnaphthalene

2-acetylnaphthalene

1-acetylnaphthalene

04812 16

0.1

0.2

0.3

N = naphthalene

P = phenanthrene

Figure 7.25: A) Influence of volatilisation on the distribution of alkylnaphthalenes and

-phenanthrenes and B) relative amounts of 2-ethylnaphthalene/1-ethylnaphthalene vs. 2-

acetylnaphthalene/1-acetylnaphthalene

that this is not due to their low thermal stability only, but indeed to a biogenic

relationship. However the precursors of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene are unknown.

In contrast to the low maturity type II-III coals, 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene and

1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene show a weak correlation. Agathic acid, the suggested

precursor of the two compounds therefore may be a minor contributor to the

organic matter of the type I samples.

While ip-iHMN was not generally detected, retene was. It is characterised by a

good correlation to 1-methylphenanthrene. However this is of little significance

because a correlation to 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene and the suggested 7-ethyl-1-

methylphenanthrene is not observed. Although correlations for these compounds

are weak, the presence of cadalene and retene indicates, that organic matter from

terrestrial sources did also contribute to the organic matter of the type I samples.

Additionally it may be suggested that due to the elevated input of marine organic

matter the terrestrial biogenic relationships are less recognisable.

210

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

7.3 Significance of Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls,

-Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

7.3.1 Group I

While natural precursors for many alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes are

known, alkylfluorenes, -biphenyls and -phenylnaphthalenes lack direct potential

biogenic precursors. The three compound classes often have been supposed to be

formed via unspecific radical coupling (Fig. 7.26 A+B)(Alexander et al.,1988;

Kagi et al.,1990;Alexander et al.,1994;Marynowski et al.,2001). Although it

has been suggested that carbohydrates are precursors of alkylphenylnaphthalenes

and phenolic lignin derivatives of alkylbiphenyls (Takatsu and Yamamoto,1993;

Alexander et al.,1994), the geosynthetic processes i.e. radical phenylation result

in the loss of the biogenic information (Fig. 7.26 A).

The radical coupling of alkylfluorenes is due to the cyclisation of ortho-substituted

alkylbiphenyls (Fig. 7.26 B). However, a corresponding depletion of alkylbiphenyls

has not been observed (Alexander et al.,1988;Willsch and Radke,1995). The

formation of free radicals normally is induced photochemically or thermally and

suppressed by polar liquid phases. An increase of temperatures prior to or dur-

ing deposition of organic matter therefore is supposed to enhance proportions of

radically formed compounds. In correspondence to Alexander et al. (1994) and

Marynowski et al. (2001), oxygen strongly favours the formation of phenyl groups.

The generation of alkylfluoren-9-ones on the other hand, is supposed to proceed via

two pathways. Oxidation of alkylfluorenes is induced thermally or photochemically

and does not depend on the presence of catalysts. Intramolecular Friedel-Crafts

acylation of carboxybiphenyls on the other hand does not require oxic conditions

but the presence of catalysts (Fig. 7.26 C).

In contrast to alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes, alkylfluorenes, -biphenyls

and -phenylnaphthalenes are minor contributors to the fraction of aromatic hy-

drocarbons of all North English coals (Table 7.5). The oxygenated analogues of

211

7 Discussion

A) Formation of alkylbiphenyls and -phenylnaphthalenes via radical copling of phenyl radicals and naphthyl radicals

respectively (Modified after Meyer zu Reckendorf, 1997)

cyclisation oxidation

HOO

Internal

Friedel-Crafts

acylation oxidation

B) Formation of 1-methylfluorene via cyclisation of 2,3,-dimethylbiphenyl (after Alexander et al. 1988) and of 1-

methylfluoren-9-one via oxidation of 1-methylfluorene

C) Formation of fluoren-9-ones via Friedel-Crafts acylation of 2-biphenylcarboxylic acid or oxidation of fluoren-9-one

Figure 7.26: Possible formation pathways for alkylbiphenyls, -phenylnaphthalenes, -fluorenes

and -fluoren-9-ones and relationships amongst these individual compound classes

alkylfluorenes, the alkylfluoren-9-ones on the other hand strongly predominate the

fraction of low-polarity NSO compounds (Table 7.5).

Although they do not show the same magnitude in either the fraction of aromatic

hydrocarbons and low polarity NSO compounds, the relative amounts of individual

methylfluorenes and their oxygenated analogues show a strong interdependency

(Fig. 7.27 A + B). This strong correlation may result from a common source for

the two compound classes. However, it is more likely that the relationship results

from the strong oxidation of methylfluorenes. In analogy to ethylnaphthalenes

the benzylic carbon of alkylfluorenes is highly activated for oxidation. The strong

correlation of naphthylketones and ethylnaphthalenes already indicated, that ox-

idation affected the organic matter of the North English coals. The oxidation of

alkylfluoren-9-ones to carboxylic acids is not observed. In contrast to the forma-

212

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

Table 7.5: Occurrence of alkylfluorenes (Fl), alkylbiphenyls (BP), alkylphenylnaphthalenes

(PN) and alkylfluoren-9-ones (Flo) in North English coals

Sample Fl BP PN Flo

E 48388 + + + +++

E 48389 + + + +++

E 48390 + + + +++

E 48214 + + + +++

E 48216 + + + +++

E 48220 + + + +++

E 48403 + + + +++

E 48405 + + + +++

E 48392 + + + +++

E 48393 + + + +++

E 48394 + + + +++

E 48395 + + + +++

E 48396 + + + +++

E 48397 + + + +++

E 48398 + + + +++

E 48400 + + + +++

E 48401 + + + +++

E 48382 + + + +++

E 48383 + + + +++

E 48384 + + + +++

+++:abundant, ++:present

+:present to low amounts

tion of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids from naphthylketones or alkylnaphthalde-

hydes, the analogue reaction for alkylfluoren-9-ones would result in the breakdown

of the tricyclic ring system.

The distribution of methylfluorenes and -fluoren-9-ones for individual samples of

the North English coals does not differ significantly and shows no dependence

on maturity. Especially the strong correlation for 1-methylfluorene/-fluoren-9-one

(Fig. 7.27 A) results from the fact, that these two compounds have generally

been the most abundant isomers of methylfluorenes and -fluoren-9-ones, respec-

tively. Although no maturity dependence for individual isomers is found, the

compounds generally show a strong correlation to 2- and 3-methylphenanthrene

but also 2,6- and 2,7-dimethylphenanthrene. The two compound classes therefore

reveal an enhanced thermal stability. The good correlation to thermodynamically

213

7 Discussion

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

C) pristane

phytane

0246

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

1-methylfluoren-9-one

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluoren-9-one

1-methylfluorene

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluorene

0246

pristane

phytane

fluoren-9-one

fluoren-9-one + 1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluoren-9-one

fluorene

fluorene + 1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluorene

0246

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

pristane

phytane

2- + 3-methylfluoren-9-one

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluoren-9-one

2- + 3-methylfluorene

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluorene

A) B)

Figure 7.27: Cross plots A) and B) showing the strong correlation of methylfluorenes and

-fluoren-9-ones in relation to summed isomers vs. the ratio of pristane/phytane and C) the high

amounts of fluoren-9-one in comparison to fluorene based on summed C0−1-fluoren-9-ones and

fluorenes respectively vs. the ratio of pristane/phytane

stable alkylphenanthrenes, and the fact that the composition of methylfluorenes

and -fluoren-9-ones show no significant variations indicate, that alkylfluorenes and

-fluoren-9-ones lack a significant biological precursor. However this may also be

due to the fact that for the maturity level of the North English coals, both forma-

tion and isomerisation of alkylfluorenes and -fluoren-9-ones are insignificant. The

relative amounts of the compounds do not depend on the redox potential of the

depositional environment. This indeed may be explained by a random formation

at very early stages of sedimentation.

Although the amounts of fluorene in relation to fluoren-9-one do not correlate to

the amounts of the corresponding methylated analogues (Fig. 7.27 C), this proba-

bly is not due to biodegradation (Fig. 6.34). Biodegradation is supposed to play a

minor role for the North English coals. It has been discussed previously, that the

214

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

composition of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons for this subset does not indi-

cate intensive biodegradation. While fluoren-9-ol was generally abundant in the

medium-polarity NSO compound fraction, the corresponding methylfluoren-9-ols

were absent. Actually it is unlikely that fluorene has been strongly biodegraded

while this should not have been the case for methylfluorenes or other compounds.

A preferential oxidation of the unsubstituted compound is not likely. The fact, that

the relative amounts of fluoren-9-one in comparison to fluorene do not depend on

the ratio of pristane/phytane and scatter around eight (Fig. 7.27 C) for all North

English coals indicates, that either fluorene and its oxygenated analogue originate

from different sources or are formed via a pathway deviating from that of the cor-

responding methylated homologues. Neither volatilisation (bp of fluorene: 295◦C)

nor an enhanced susceptibility to oxidation may account for the strongly different

behaviour of the unsubstituted compounds. The elevated amounts of fluoren-9-

one might be due to an elevated formation via cyclisation of 2-biphenylcarboxylic

acid. This however is improbable. Although 2-biphenylcarboxylic acid in contrast

to 3- and 4-biphenylcarboxylic acid was absent in either of the North English

coals, the latter two carboxylic acids have only been trace compounds in the acid

fraction of some samples. Although these findings, strongly indicate a loss of 2-

biphenylcarboxylic acid due to intramolecular Friedel-Crafts acylation, this is sup-

posed to play a minor role, due to the low amounts of 3- and 4-biphenylcarboxylic

acids and the absence of methylated homologues in general. The findings may

be explained by two other hypotheses. Fluoren-9-one, contrary to methylfluoren-

9-ones may have an additional, yet unknown source. However it may also be

possible that high amounts of fluorene have been present in the sediments much

earlier than the corresponding methylfluorenes. These amounts of fluorene then

could have been oxygenated prior to the formation of methylfluorenes. Both hy-

potheses explain the high amounts of fluoren-9-one in comparison to fluorene.

Although it has been suggested, that alkylbiphenyls and -phenylnaphthalenes are

formed via radical coupling, their amounts show no correlation (Fig. 7.28). This

indicates, that the two compound classes are either formed via different pathways

or that they do have a more specific precursor strongly influencing their relative

amounts. A similar formation pathway is expected to result in correlation between

the two groups. Alkylbiphenyls generally are minor contributors to the fraction of

215

7 Discussion

0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

3- + 4-methylbiphenyl

methylphenylnaphthalenes

Figure 7.28: Plot indicating that neither the relative amounts of alkylbiphenyls to alkylphenyl-

naphthalenes increase with increasing maturity nor that they stay constant

aromatic hydrocarbons and normally show no dependency on other compounds.

It therefore is suggested, that they are formed randomly and do not possess a

specific precursor.

In contrast amounts of alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes correspond to 2- and 3-

methylphenanthrene, 2,6- and 2,7-dimethylphenanthrene and to alkylfluorenes.

This however does not indicate a biogenic precursor but points to an enhanced

thermal stability of C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes. Additionally neither for the

specific alkylphenanthrenes nor for alkylfluorenes in general a specific precur-

sor was indicated. The correlation due to thermal stability in contrast is well-

founded by the fact that especially alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes in comparison to

1-phenylnaphthalenes are characterised by an enhanced thermal stability.

216

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

7.3.2 Group II

While alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes were abundant in the six immature

coals, this does not account for alkylfluorenes, -biphenyls and -phenylnaphthalenes

in general (Table 7.6). Alkylfluoren-9-ones in contrast were highly abundant in all

six samples (Table 7.6). For the biodegraded coal from the Moscow Basin, none

of the three compound classes of aromatic hydrocarbons was detected, this again

may be due to biodegradation. The two German coals only lack the presence of

alkylbiphenyls (Table 7.6). The compounds were generally not abundant in the

Upper Vis´ean coal, while few isomers were detected in the Westphalian D coal.

Table 7.6: Occurrence of alkylfluorenes (Fl), alkylbiphenyls (BP), alkylphenylnaphthalenes

(PN) and alkylfluoren-9-ones (Flo) in immature type III samples

Sample Fl BP PN Flo

E 49710 + + + +++

E 48996 + +/- + +++

E 48988 - - - +++

E 48989 + + + +++

E 48993 + - + +++

E 48991 + + + +++

+++:abundant, +:present

to low amounts, -:absent,

+/-: few isomers present

Methylfluorenes and fluoren-9-ones in contrast to the North English coals show

weak correlation for the five coals of low maturity where both compounds have

been present (Fig. 7.29 A-C). This is most pronounced for the Upper Vis´ean

coal from Germany, where composition of methylfluoren-9-ones, instead of 1-

methylfluoren-9-one is strongly dominated by 2- and 3-methylfluoren-9-one. Ad-

ditionally this sample shows a significantly depleted proportion of fluoren-9-one

(Fig. 7.29 C).

It is improbable that the oxidation of methylfluorenes is controlled kinetically.

The Upper Vis´ean coal from Germany would be the only sample affected by a

kinetically control (Fig. 7.29 A-B). The suggestion that methylfluorenes and -

fluoren-9-ones do not completely originate from the same source, and that the

217

7 Discussion

pristane

phytane

1-methylfluoren-9-one

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluoren-9-one

1-methylfluorene

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluorene

fluoren-9-one

fluoren-9-one + 1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluoren-9-one

fluorene

fluorene + 1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluorene

pristane

phytane

2- + 3-methylfluoren-9-one

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluoren-9-one

2- + 3-methylfluorene

1- + 2- + 3- + 4-methylfluorene

0246

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

A) B)

pristane

phytane

South China/Permian

Germany/ Westphalian D

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

Germany/ Upper Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Viséan

0246

Figure 7.29: Cross plots A) and B) showing the weaker correlation of methylfluorenes and

-fluoren-9-ones in relation to summed isomers vs. the ratio of pristane/phytane and C) the

normally high amounts of fluoren-9-one in comparison to fluorene based on summed C0−1-fluoren-

9-ones and fluorenes respectively vs. the ratio of pristane/phytane

deviations especially for methylfluoren-9-ones in the Upper Vis´ean coal represent a

more natural distribution therefore is more likely. 1-Methylfluoren-9-one probably

is the most stable isomer of methylfluoren-9-ones and therefore normally is the

most abundant isomer for the majority of the investigated samples. In analogy

to the North English coals, an enhanced formation of individual methylfluoren-9-

ones from 2-biphenyl carboxylic acids however can be ruled out, due to none of

the six samples showing the presence of carboxylic acids based on the biphenyl

skeleton.

The absence of biphenylcarboxylic acids in the immature samples may additionally

support the hypothesis that carboxylic acids, besides biodegradation are formed

via abiotic oxidation at elevated temperatures, only.

218

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

The strong differences for the relative amounts of fluorene and fluoren-9-one

in the immature samples are in analogy to the findings for the North English

coals. However, the six immature samples show stronger variations (Fig. 7.29

C). This again supports the hypothesis, that fluorene and fluoren-9-one are partly

formed via other pathways than the corresponding methylfluorenens and -fluoren-

9-ones. The strong correlation of fluorene to compounds like naphthalene, 1-

and 2-methylnaphthalene, 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene, cadalene, or phenanthrene

points to its weak thermal stability. This corresponds to the hypothesis that low

substituted compounds are subject to methylation at low maturity ranges, while

demethylation may result from enhanced thermal stress at elevated maturities.

The relatively low amounts of fluorene in comparison to fluoren-9-one for the

immature samples therefore may be due to methylation reactions preferentially

affecting the aromatic hydrocarbon.

Methylfluorenes for the immature samples show a slight correlation to diphenyl-

methane. This may indicate, that they are formed from diphenylmethane deriva-

tives via radically induced cyclisation. However, besides the fact that the corre-

lation is not to strong, the low maturities of the samples contradict an advanced

formation of radically formed compounds.

According biogenic relationships, especially 4-methylfluorene is characterised by a

strong correlation to ip-iHMN and retene. This in correspondence to the observed

biogenic relationships for alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes may indicate a

common origin of these compounds. Although a formation of 4-methylfluorene

from precursors of ip-iHMN and retene is improbable, the compound might origi-

nate from another biogenic precursor strongly corresponding to phyllocladane and

similar diterpenes. Based on the observations for the North English coals, where

alkylfluorenes showed strong correlations to stable isomers of alkylphenanthrenes,

it was proposed that the compounds are characterised by an enhanced thermal

stability. Correlations between alkylfluorenes and stable isomers of alkylphenan-

threnes are not observed for the immature coals. However it should be recognised,

that these individual alkylphenanthrenes for the six immature coals showed no de-

pendence on maturity. In contrast for the six immature samples alkylfluorenes are

characterised by a good correlation to tetramethylnaphthalenes. For the six coals,

219

7 Discussion

(S)

(R)

(S)

(R)

H3CO

COOH

2,3-Dicarboxy-6,7-dihydroxy-

1-(3´,4´-dihydroxyphenyl)-

1,2-dihydronaphthalene

3-Carboxy-6,7-dihydroxy-1-(3´,4´-

dihydroxyphenyl)-naphthalene-

9,5´´- -shikimic acid esterO

3-Carboxy-6,7-dihydroxy-1-(3´,4´-

dihydroxyphenyl)-naphthalene-7-

- -L-rhamnopyranosideOa

COOH

(E)

Figure 7.30: Possible biogenic precursors of alkylphenylnaphthalenes present in liverworts

(Cullmann et al.,1999)

a relative increase of these compounds with maturity has been observed. There-

fore the findings support the hypothesis, that relative amounts of alkylfluorenes

increase with increasing maturity.

The absence of almost all alkylbiphenyl isomers in the two German coals is

striking, as these are the two samples showing the strongest terrigenous con-

tribution and the weakest alteration of organic matter. This indeed indicates,

that alkylbiphenyls are formed randomly and have no direct biogenic precursors.

Due to the absence of alkylbiphenyls accompanied by the presence of alkyl-2-

phenylnaphthalenes it is improbable that the two compound classes are formed

via similar pathways or share a precursor. It can be assumed, that alkylbiphenyls

do not originate from the coupling of lignin derived compounds but at least at

low maturities lack a direct potential natural precursor. Additionally their ab-

sence accompanied by the presence of alkylfluorenes in the two German coals,

indicates that cyclisation reactions of ortho-substituted alkylbiphenyls are not the

220

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

only possible precursors of alkylfluorenes. Besides these facts, in analogy to the

observations for the North English coals, distributions of alkylbiphenyl reveal little

information.

This does not account for the 2-phenylnaphthalenes. In agreement to the distri-

bution in North English coals, alkylfluorenes and alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes are

characterised by a weaker but still good correlation. This may point to the hy-

pothesis, that the respective precursors of these compounds are related or trans-

formed at the same level of thermal stress or that the compounds themselves

show a comparable thermal stability. Alkylphenylnaphthalenes, in contrast to

alkylbiphenyls but also alkylfluorenes indeed may have direct natural precursors.

Several lignans (Cullmann et al.,1999;Davin and Lewis,2000) possess a struc-

ture based on the 1-phenylnaphthalene skeleton (Fig. 7.30). These lignans are

present in liverworts (Cullmann et al.,1999), which have been suggested to be

precursors of early land plants (Qiu et al.,1998). 2-Phenylnaphthalenes may be

formed from 1-phenylnaphthalenes via isomerisation reactions at low maturities.

2-Phenylnaphthalenes due to the depleted sterical hinderance probably are char-

acterised by an elevated thermal stability. This may hold for the good correlation

of these compounds to alkylfluorenes.

221

7 Discussion

7.3.3 Group III

For the mature type II-III sediments, alkylfluorenes are not generally abundant

(Table 7.7). Their absence in two of the samples from East Greenland may be due

to their weak proportions of TOC. Alkylbiphenyls in contrast were only present

in the Russian sample in general (Table 7.7). While they have been absent in the

two fossils, the samples from East Greenland are characterised by the presence of

few isomers, only. Alkylfluoren-9-ones, in analogy to previously discussed samples,

were generally highly abundant (Table 7.7).

Table 7.7: Occurrence of alkylfluorenes (Fl), alkylbiphenyls (BP), alkylphenylnaphthalenes

(PN) and alkylfluoren-9-ones (Flo) in mature type II-III samples

Sample Fl BP PN Flo

E 49748 + -/+ + +++

E 49749 - -/+ + +++

E 49750 - -/+ + +++

E 49751 + -/+ + +++

E 48990 + + + +++

E 48430 + - + +++

E 48425 + - + +++

+++:abundant, +:present to low

amounts, -/+:few isomers present,

-:absent

The distribution of methylfluorenes to -fluoren-9-ones for the mature samples sup-

port the hypothesis, that the latter compounds are formed from the former com-

pounds via abiotic oxidation. These hypothesis is based on the observations for

the North English coals and the immature coals. The good correlations are least

pronounced for the most mature sample, the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus, which

for this subset of samples has been the one characterised by the lowest ratio of

pristane/phytane. However for other samples no dependence on the redox poten-

tial of the sediments has been observed. In agreement to former observations the

relative amounts of individual isomers are influenced by their thermal stabilities

while influences of biogenic precursors are not recognisable. The relative amounts

of fluorene in relation to methylfluorenes corresponds to the findings for the North

English coals. Due to the strong differences between the relative amounts of flu-

222

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

420 440 460 480 500

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus/ Namurian C

Sigillaria/ Westphalian B

East Greenland/ Permian

T [°C]

max

1-phenylnapthalene

1- + 2-phenylnapthtalene

Figure 7.31: Cross plot displaying the ratio of 1-phenylnaphthalene/1- and 2-

phenylnaphthalene vs. Tmax

orene and fluoren-9-one it has been suggested previously in this thesis that the

formation of fluoren-9-one differs to the one of methylfluoren-9-ones.

Based on the observations for the North English coals and the immature coals

it has previously been suggested that at least the relative amounts of C(0−1)-2-

phenylnaphthalenes and -fluorenes increase with increasing thermal maturity. In

analogy to the former discussed subsets, alkylfluorenes and -2-phenylnaphthalenes

are characterised by a good correlation. However, this correlation is less pro-

nounced than for the North English coals. Additionally neither C(0−1)-fluorenes

nor C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes show a strong correlation to the stable isomers

of methylphenanthrenes and dimethylphenanthrenes. This corresponds to the

observations made for the immature coals. In analogy alkylphenanthrenes for

the mature samples showed weak correlation to vitrinite reflectance. Individual

alkylfluorenes and -2-phenylnaphthalenes in contrast are characterised by a pos-

223

7 Discussion

itive correlation to Tmax. This to some extend points to an enhanced thermal

stability of the compounds. It should be recognised that for this subset of sam-

ples Tmax sometimes proofed to be a better maturity parameter than vitrinite

reflectance.

Due to the aromatic hydrocarbon standard not being added to six of the seven

samples a direct comparison between the relative amounts of 1-phenylnaphthalene

and 2-phenylnaphthalene was carried out. While correlation to vitrinite reflectance

was less pronounced, 1-phenylnaphthalene shows a relative decrease with increas-

ing Tmax (Fig. 7.31). Marynowski et al. (2001) found a relative decrease of 1-

phenylnaphthalene with increasing vitrinite reflectance. The correlation for the

six samples to Tmax refers to this observation. It has been stated previously, that

correlation to both vitrinite reflectance and Tmax has not been very strong, while

for example correlation of individual alkylnaphthalenes to Tmax has been relatively

enhanced.

The relative depletion of 1-phenylnaphthalene may account for the natural pre-

cursor of this compound. Due to thermal maturation, alkyl-1-phenylnaphthalenes

are easily converted into the more stable alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalene.

The absence of several alkylbiphenyls in many of the samples in contrast may

account for a depleted thermal stability of these compounds.

224

7.3 Alkylfluorenes, -Biphenyls, -Phenylnaphthalenes and -Fluoren-9-ones

7.3.4 Group IV

While C(0−1)-fluorenes and C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes normally were abundant

in the type I samples, this again does not account for alkylbiphenyls (Table 7.8).

This again supports the hypothesis that the formation of alkylphenylnaphthalenes

and -biphenyls does not depend.

Table 7.8: Occurrence of alkylfluorenes (Fl), alkylbiphenyls (BP), alkylphenylnaphthalenes

(PN) and alkylfluoren-9-ones (Flo) in immature type I organic matter

Sample Fl BP PN Flo

E 48478 + - + +++

E 48479 + - + +++

E 48480 - + - +++

E 48985 + + + +++

E 48986 + + + +++

E 48987 + + + +++

E 48992 + + + -

+++:abundant, +:present to low

amounts, -:absent

Alkylfluoren-9-ones were detected in all of the samples except for the Devonian

sample from Spitsbergen (Table 7.8). This sample is not characterised by a weak

low-polarity NSO compound fraction. However, it is unlikely that the absence of

alkylfluoren-9-ones but presence of alkylfluorenes indicates an age specific charac-

teristic. This is well-founded by the fact, that relative amounts of methylfluorenes

and -fluoren-9-ones for the majority of the investigated samples were characterised

by strong correlations. It is most likely that the absence of alkylfluoren-9-ones in

the sample from Spitsbergen is due to a depositional environment preventing the

oxidation of alkylfluorenes. Nevertheless the absence of alkylfluoren-9-ones is sig-

nificant due to the presence of both, alkylnaphthaldehydes and -naphthylketones

in this sample. It has been suggested in this thesis that the oxidation of alkyl-

naphthalenes and -fluorenes proceeds easily. The fluorene skeleton is characterised

by an even more activated benzylic carbon and the absence of alkylfluoren-9-ones

therefore is remarkable.

225

7 Discussion

For the other type I samples the 1-methyl isomer of both compound classes gen-

erally is the most abundant and the 4-methyl isomer the least abundant. These

findings indicate, that the distribution for the type I samples as for the type II-

III organic matter is not significantly influenced by a contribution from specific

sources. In contrast to the low maturity type II-III samples, fluorene in compari-

son to methylfluorenes is present in constant amounts.

The strong correlation between alkylfluorenes and 2- and 3-methylphenanthrenes

and 2,6- and 2,7-dimethylphenanthrenes observed for the North English coals is

also found for the type I samples. Although alkylphenanthrenes for these latter

samples showed no dependence on maturity, the analogies indicate, that the ther-

mal stability of alkylfluorenes and more stable alkylphenanthrenes correlate. This

refers to the hypothesis of van Aarssen et al. (2001), that liquid phase reactions

affect mobile compounds to same amounts. A contribution of the compounds

at the maturity level of the immature type I samples therefore is excluded as it

would affect the composition of the mobile phase like has been observed for the

immature type II-III samples.

In contrast to previously discussed samples, alkylfluorenes and -2-

phenylnaphthalenes except for one C1-2-phenylnaphthalene show weak cor-

relation. Additionally C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes show a weak dependence

on vitrinite reflectance. The weak correlation does also account for individual

isomers of C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes. However 2-phenylnaphthalene and the

last two eluting C1-2-phenylnaphthalenes often are characterised by a strong

correlation to alkylphenanthrenes. These findings indicate that for type I organic

matter different sources of alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes are recognisable while

for terrigenous organic matter the contribution from a general precursor are

predominant.

Again, like for all previously discussed samples, alkylbiphenyls reveal negligible

information.

226

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds: Formation Via

Unspecific Pathways or from Biogenic

Precursors?

7.4.1 Group I

Alkyldibenzothiophenes, -carbazoles, -dibenzofurans, benzo[b]naphthofurans and

alkylxanthones share in common, that they incorporate a hetero-atom in the ring

system. For their detection in the North English coals see Table 7.9. While

alkyldibenzothiophenes have been subject to intensive studies in the past, inves-

tigations about the origin and formation pathway of the other compound classes

have only started lately. Although an unambiguous source for neither of the com-

pound classes is known, their formation pathways are supposed to differ. They

may have either direct natural precursors or may be formed randomly in sedi-

ments. The latter origin at least for alkyldibenzothiophenes, the compounds that

attracted most interest, is generally accepted.

The amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes are suggested to depend on the thermal

maturity and the availability of reduced sulphur i.e. the origin and depositional en-

vironment of organic matter. Although it has been mentioned previously, that the

two most mature samples of the North English coals indeed are characterised by

elevated amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes, this does also account for an imma-

ture sample from Distington (Fig. 7.32 B). For these three samples high amounts

of alkyldibenzothiophenes additionally correlate to their enhanced proportions of

total sulphur (Fig. 7.32 A). The availability of reduced sulphur in early stages

of diagenesis should correspond to low ratios of pristane/phytane. Many of the

North English coals characterised by high proportions of total sulphur addition-

ally show low ratios of pristane/phytane (Fig. 7.32 B). It is presumable that the

precursors of alkyldibenzothiophenes are formed during early stages of diagene-

sis in a reducing environment. The formation of alkyldibenzothiophenes however

probably occurs later at elevated maturity levels. This at least may hold for the

strong variations for the relative amounts of methyldibenzothiophenes in compar-

227

7 Discussion

Table 7.9: Occurrence of alkyldibenzothiophenes (DBT), -carbazoles (C), -dibenzofurans

(DBF), benzo[b]naphthofurans (BNF) and -xanthones (X) in North English coals

Sample DBT C DBF BNF X

E 48388 + + ++ + +

E 48389 + + ++ + +

E 48390 + + ++ + +

E 48214 + + ++ + +

E 48216 + + ++ + -

E 48220 + + ++ + +

E 48403 + + ++ + -

E 48405 + + ++ + -

E 48392 + + ++ + -

E 48393 + + ++ + +

E 48394 + + ++ + +

E 48395 + + ++ + -

E 48396 + n.d. ++ + -

E 48397 + + ++ + -

E 48398 + + ++ + +

E 48400 + + ++ + +

E 48401 + + ++ + +

E 48382 + + ++ + -

E 48383 + + ++ + -

E 48384 + + ++ + -

++:present, +:present to low amounts,

-:absent, n.d.:not determined

ison to the depositional environments reflected by the amounts of total sulphur

and the ratio of pristane/phytane (Fig. 7.32). However it does not explain the

high amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes for the relatively immature sample from

Distington.

None of the individual methyldibenzothiophenes and none of the maturity param-

eters based on alkyldibenzothiophenes (Fig. 7.3 C) is characterised by a strong

correlation to maturity. Nevertheless summed methyldibenzothiophenes for North

English coals are characterised by a strong correlation to summed methylfluorenes

and -2-phenylnaphthalenes. This is most pronounced for the two coals charac-

terised by elevated maturities. In these two samples amounts of alkylfluorenes,

-2-phenylnaphthalenes and -dibenzothiophenes in comparison to alkyldibenzofu-

rans (Fig. 7.33 A and B) are significantly enhanced. Amounts of methyldiben-

228

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

0246810

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

total sulphur [%]

MDBT

0246810

total sulphur [%]

vitrinite reflectance [% R ]

pristane

phytane

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

0.6 0.8 11.2 1.4

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

A) B)

MDBT= methyldibenzothiophenes

MP = methylphenanthrenes

Figure 7.32: Cross plots indicating that the relative amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes do A)

slightly depend on the amounts of total sulphur, that B) the redox potential and the amounts of

total sulphur to some extent correlate and C) that the relative amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes

do not exclusively depend on the maturity of the sediments

zothiophenes do also correlate to methylfluoren-9-ones. While the correlation

between alkylfluorenes and alkyldibenzothiophenes can be attributed to a ther-

mally induced formation unambiguously, the correlation to alkylfluoren-9-ones is

more contradictory. Although it is most likely that the formation of alkylflu-

orenes and -phenylnaphthalenes is favoured in oxidising environments, the for-

mation of alkylfluoren-9-ones in the North English coals is supposed to require

oxic conditions. This is well-founded by the fact, that Friedel-Crafts acylation

of alkyl-2-biphenylcarboxylic acids is a minor source of alkylfluoren-9-ones. It

therefore is assumable, that the presence of reduced sulphur may be an impor-

tant factor at early stages of deposition only, when precursors of alkyldibenzothio-

phenes are formed. In contrast maturity is more important according the summed

amounts of alkyldibenzothiophenes and to some degree perhaps also the relative

229

7 Discussion

0123

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

MDBF = 2- + 3- + 4-methyldibenzofurans

MF = 1- + 2- + 3- 4-methylfluorenes

2-PhN = 2-phenylnaphthalenes

MDBT = 2- + 3- + 4-methyldibenzothiophenes

MDBF

MDBT

MDBF

MDBT

MDBF

0123

C -2-PhN

MDBF

(0-1)

A) B)

Figure 7.33: Cross plots indicating a strong correlation between the amounts of A)

methylfluorene/methyldibenzofurans and B) C(0−1)-phenylnaphthalenes/methyldibenzofurans

vs. methyldibenzothiophenes/methyldibenzofurans

amounts of individual isomers. This indeed explains the good correlation between

alkyldibenzothiophenes and -2-phenylnaphthalenes. It was suggested in this the-

sis that the precursors of alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes i.e. defunctionalised alkyl-1-

phenylnaphthalenes are released at early stages and that transphenylation occurs

due to the raise of thermal maturity.

Although it has been suggested earlier in this thesis, that alkylcarbazoles, by

analogy to alkyldibenzothiophenes, are formed due to the presence of reduced

nitrogen, the two compound classes do not correlate. The high proportions of

alkylcarbazoles in samples showing elevated ratios of pristane/phytane indicates

that their formation does not strongly depend on the availability of reduced nitro-

gen at early stages of diagenesis. Additionally relative amounts of summed alkyl-

carbazoles, contrary to the amounts of summed alkyldibenzothiophenes, show no

dependence on maturity. The only exception is that higher homologues deplete at

enhanced maturities. This has already been observed for alkylnaphthalenes and is

controlled thermally. For North English coals, except for the mature type III coal,

variations in the relative amounts of methylcarbazoles are weak. This indicates

230

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

0.55

Potato Pot

Keekle

Rowlands Gill

Distington I

Dearham

Throckley

4-methyldibenzothiophene

1- + 4-methyldibenzothiophene

1-methyldibenzofuran

1- + 4-methyldibenzofuran

Figure 7.34: Cross plot indicat-

ing that the ratios of 1-methyldi-

benzofuran/1- + 4-methyldibenzofuran

vs. 4-methyldibenzothiophene/1- +

4-methyldibenzothiophene show a

strongly positive correlation while due

to the thermodynamic stability of the

isomers the correlation is supposed to

be negative

that within the maturity range of the North English coals, isomerisation reactions

of alkylcarbazoles are negligible. Additionally it can be presumed that in analogy

to many of the previously discussed compound classes, contribution of individual

isomers from a specific source does not influence the composition of this compound

class at the present maturity level. Although it is supposed above that the forma-

tion of alkylcarbazoles does not strongly correlate to the availability of reduced

nitrogen at early stages of diagenesis, an early formation may explain the strong

homogeneity in distribution of individual isomers for alkylcarbazoles. The distri-

bution of individual isomers for alkylfluorenes, -fluoren-9-ones and -carbazoles is

similar, with the 1-methyl isomer being predominant and 4-methyl isomer being

the leanest. Nevertheless correlation between the three compound classes for the

North English coals is weak. This strongly indicates, that although alkylcarbazoles

have no specific source, the relative thermal stabilities of individual isomers do not

strongly correspond to the analogue compounds based on the fluorene or fluoren-

9-one skeleton.

For alkyldibenzofurans an origin from terrestrial sources has been suggested

(Radke et al.,2000). The high amounts of these compounds in the North En-

glish coals support this hypothesis. In contrast to for example alkylcarbazoles,

individual isomers of alkyldibenzofurans show strong variations for the North En-

231

7 Discussion

glish coals. Correlations between alkyldibenzofurans are less pronounced than

for alkyldibenzothiophenes and -naphthalenes. The sixth eluting C2-dibenzofuran

for example is the only one showing a relative increase with increasing vitrinite

reflectance. In contrast 3-methyldibenzofuran, the two ethyldibenzofurans and

the last eluting dimethyldibenzofuran show a relative decrease with increasing vit-

rinite reflectance and a strong correlation to each other. The weak correlation

for individual isomers of alkyldibenzofurans in correspondence to the hypothesis

made for alkylphenanthrenes and -naphthalenes indicates, that the distribution

of this compound class for the North English coals is strongly influenced by the

contribution from specific sources for distinct isomers.

Especially 1-methyldibenzofuran is the compound showing weakest correlation at

all. This supports the hypothesis, that it originates from a specific source, i.e. con-

stituents of lichens (Radke et al.,2000). Although 1-methyldibenzofuran shows no

unambiguous increase with increasing vitrinite reflectance for North English coals,

its relative amounts in comparison to 4-methyldibenzofuran strongly differ to the

corresponding isomers of methyldibenzothiophenes (Fig. 7.34). This is in clear

contrast to the similarity in thermodynamic stability for methyldibenzofurans and

-thiophenes.

Although benzo[b]naphthofurans and alkyldibenzofurans are related in magnitude

of amounts, individual isomers of the two compound classes show no enhanced cor-

relation. Variations for the four benzo[b]naphthofurans are weak, and do not de-

pend on vitrinite reflectance, except for the fact that benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]furan

and benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]furan are significantly depleted in the two mature sam-

ples from Rowlands Gill. The good correlation between the four isomers indicates,

that they originate from the same source. A strong correlation for all four com-

pounds is found to the first eluting C1-2-phenylnaphthalene. This may indicate a

biogenic relationship while precursors are unknown.

The distribution of xanthone and methylxanthones is of little significance. For

North English coals, they are present in samples within the maturity range of 0.67-

0.88% Rr, which are characterised by enhanced proportions of pristane, generally

indicating a terrestrial origin of organic matter and oxic depositional conditions.

232

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

The compounds are characterised by an elevated correlation, indicating that their

formation pathway corresponds. A potential source is not indicated.

233

7 Discussion

7.4.2 Group II

While alkyldibenzothiophenes, -carbazoles, -dibenzofurans, benzo[b]naphtho-

furans and alkylxanthones were abundant in the extractable organic matter of

North English coals, this does not account for the low maturity type II-III coals

in general. Alkyldibenzofurans and benzo[b]naphthofurans, except for the two

ethyldibenzofurans were generally detected in all six samples (Table 7.10). In con-

trast alkyldibenzothiophenes were absent in the two German coals and the more

mature sample from the Moscow Basin (Table 7.10). Alkylcarbazoles were not

detected in the Upper Vis´ean coal from Germany and in the low maturity sample

from the Moscow Basin (Table 7.10). Alkylxanthones were not abundant in both

samples from the Moscow Basin (Table 7.10).

The most pronounced difference for alkyldibenzothiophenes in comparison to the

North English coals is, that for the immature type II-III samples, they strongly

correlate to alkylbiphenyls. This results from the fact, that the compound classes

were absent in the same samples i.e. the two German coals. For the North En-

glish coals the formation of alkyldibenzothiophenes was supposed to be controlled

by the earlier formation of precursors under reducing conditions at early stages

of diagenesis. The absence of alkyldibenzothiophenes for the two samples corre-

lates to their low amounts of total sulphur (Table A.1) and may indicate, that

the precursors of alkyldibenzothiophenes have not been formed. The absence of

almost all alkylbiphenyls in both samples would mean that their formation de-

pends on certain precursors or environmental conditions not generally present in

terrestrial organic matter. The observations are significant due to the fact that

the two German coals were characterised by a strongly biogenic terrestrial compo-

sition of organic matter. The absence of both alkyldibenzothiophenes and most

of the alkylbiphenyls indicate that the formation pathway of the compounds may

interdepend (Fig. 7.35).

Although the biodegraded coal from the Moscow Basin shows enhanced propor-

tions of total sulphur it lacks the presence of alkyldibenzothiophenes. The sample,

according to its ratios of pristane/phytane and CP IHC has been deposited un-

der reducing conditions, where reduced sulphur should be available. In contrast

234

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

Table 7.10: Occurrence of alkyldibenzothiophenes (DBT), -carbazoles (C), -dibenzofurans

(DBF), benzo[b]naphthofurans (BNF) and -xanthones (X) in immature type III organic mat-

ter

Sample DBT C DBF BNF X

E 48988 - + ++ ++ -

E 48989 + - ++ ++ -

E 48991 + + ++ ++ +

E 48993 - - ++ ++ +

E 48996 - + ++ ++ +

E 49710 + + ++ ++ +

++:present, +:present to low amounts,

-:absent

Incorporation of

Inorganic sulphur

species

Aromatization

Figure 7.35: Possible diagenetic formation of alkyldibenzothiophenes from alkylbiphenyls in

analogy to Sinninghe Damst´e and de Leeuw (1990)

alkyldibenzothiophenes are present in the less mature sample from the Moscow

Basin. This is in analogy to the observations made for the sample from Distington

and shows, that maturity is not the only factor accounting for the formation of

alkyldibenzothiophenes.

In contrast to the North English samples, alkyldibenzothiophenes show a weak cor-

relation to alkylfluorenes, -fluoren-9-ones and -2-phenylnaphthalenes. This at least

for alkylfluorenes and -fluoren-9-ones points to the fact that the two compound

classes normally are formed at earlier stages of sedimentation than alkyldiben-

zothiophenes. However it may also be due to the fact that all of these compound

classes are still affected by isomerisation reactions at the maturity level of the

immature type II-III coals.

It has been mentioned above, that alkylcarbazoles were not detected in the im-

mature coal from the Moscow Basin and in the Upper Vis´ean coal from Germany.

235

7 Discussion

While their absence in the immature sample corresponds to the absence of xan-

thones, the German sample lacks the presence of alkyldibenzothiophenes. This

does not indicate an unambiguous relationship between the compound classes. In

contrast to North English coals, distributions of methylcarbazoles differ signifi-

cantly. This however is in analogy to the different behaviour for alkylfluorenes

and -fluoren-9-ones in the immature type II-III coals. The two least mature coals,

where alkylcarbazoles were detected, in contrast to other samples show an en-

hanced proportion of 4-methylcarbazole. Whether this can be attributed to a

specific source or to a preferential formation in sediments, which due to thermal

instability is subject to kinetically induced isomerisation at low maturity levels

however is unclear. Nevertheless isomers of alkylcarbazoles are characterised by

a strong correlation, supporting an unspecific source of the compounds. The

absence of alkylcarbazoles in two of the relative immature coals may indicate a de-

pendence on maturity. The two samples where alkylcarbazoles were not abundant

are characterised by enhanced CPIHC , which indeed might indicate a dependence

on maturity levels. Clegg et al. (1998b) found that the relative proportions of

alkylcarbazoles depend on thermal maturity. The two coals show lowest pris-

tane/phytane ratios of the subset. The hypothesis based on the observations for

the North English samples, that the amounts of alkylcarbazoles do not strongly de-

pend on the availability of reduced nitrogen at early stages of diagenesis therefore

again are supported.

Although alkyldibenzofurans normally were abundant in the low maturity type II-

III coals, this does not account for the two ethyldibenzofurans. They were absent

in the samples of maturities below 0.6% Rr. This however is in contrast to the fact

that the two compounds are of depleted thermodynamic stability and should be

relatively enriched in samples of low maturities. It therefore can be suggested,

that they must be formed or released from kerogen at elevated temperatures

only. Contrary to its behaviour in North English coals, 1-methyldibenzofuran,

is characterised by a relative increase with increasing vitrinite reflectance. For the

North English coals 1-methyldibenzofuran showed no unambiguous dependence

on maturity. This in correspondence to the hypothesis that 1-methyldibenzofuran

originates from a specific contribution of lichens, indicates that progressive defunc-

236

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

46810 12 14

South China/Permian

Germany/ Westphalian D

Moscow Basin/ Upper Viséan

Germany/ Upper Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Viséan

1-methyldibenzofuran

last eluting dimethyldibenzofuran [ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

[ ]

0/00 r.t.a.q.a.h.

r.t.a.q.a.h. = relative to all quantified aromatic hydrocarbons

Figure 7.36: Cross plot showing the good correlation of the relative proportions of 1-

methyldibenzofuran to the last eluting dimethyldibenzofuran

tionalisation of precursors at low maturities may account for the relative increase

of this compound at low maturities.

At higher levels of thermal maturity the relative amounts of 1-methyldibenzofuran

then should depend on the amounts of precursor released from kerogen and the

magnitude of isomerisation reactions in the mobile phase. While for North English

coals, especially 1-methyldibenzofuran was characterised by a weak correlation to

other isomers, this for the low maturity samples does account for all methyldiben-

zofurans. In contrast C2-dibenzofurans show an enhanced correlation. This does

not account for the last eluting dimethyldibenzofuran, which due to its good cor-

relation to 1-methyldibenzofuran may be characterised by a biogenic relationship

(Fig. 7.36). It should additionally be recognised that this does also account for

the first eluting C1-2-phenylnaphthalene, which for North English coals showed a

strong correlation to benzo[b]naphthofurans.

In analogy to the North English coals, benzo[b]naphthofurans show a strong corre-

lation among each other. Especially for this subset of samples, where relationships

237

7 Discussion

could be easily assigned this supports the hypothesis, that the compounds orig-

inate from a common source. However their general presence in all six samples

strongly indicates, that their formation does not require enhanced thermal stress.

This indicates a biological source, which easily condensates.

Xanthone and methylxanthones were absent in the two immature samples origi-

nating from the Moscow Basin. A formation at elevated thermal maturities may

account for this. Additionally the two samples are characterised by depleted

amounts of pristane corresponding to depositional environments that have not

been strongly oxic. Although the compounds are characterised by a strong cor-

relation, their relative abundances in comparison to the North English samples,

varies more significantly. The two German coals show enhanced proportions of

3-methylxanthone. This may either result from the relatively low thermal matu-

rity of the samples or from their strongly terrigenous composition. The latter fact

would indicate a specific biogenic precursor of alkylxanthones.

238

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

7.4.3 Group III

For the more mature type II-III samples, alkyldibenzothiophenes and -

dibenzofurans are the only low-polarity NSO compounds being generally abundant

(Table 7.11). However, for the two fossils, 1-ethyldibenzothiophene, probably due

to its weak thermal stability was not detected. In analogy the two ethyldibenzofu-

rans were also absent in these samples. Benzo[b]naphthofurans were not abundant

in the mature Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus (Table 7.11). While the Sigillaria and

the East Greenland sample of lowest maturity lack the presence of alkylxanthones

and -carbazoles, the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus and the Russian coal are charac-

terised by the absence of alkylxanthones, only (Table 7.11).

The presence of alkyldibenzothiophenes in all of the samples can be attributed to

the fact that these compounds are preferentially formed at elevated maturities. In

accordance with the previously discussed compound classes, the composition of

alkyldibenzothiophenes of the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus significantly influences

the correlation of the more mature type II-III samples. Due to its enhanced matu-

rity, but in contrast to its lean content on total sulphur, the sample is characterised

by significantly enhanced proportions of alkyldibenzothiophenes. In agreement

with the elevated amounts of alkylphenanthrenes of the sample, alkyldibenzoth-

iophenes show a strong correlation to 2- and 3-methylphenanthrene and 2,6- and

2,7-dimethylphenanthrene, which are the most stable isomers of this compound

class. Including the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus alkyldibenzothiophenes, except

for 1-methyl- and 1-ethyldibenzothiophene also strongly correlate to alkylfluorenes

and some of the C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes. However, these good correlations

with the findings for the North English coals, result from the strong influence of

the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus. When excluded, correlations of alkyldibenzoth-

iophenes to other compounds classes are weak. These findings are in agreement

with the behaviour for the other compound classes of this sample group. The low

correlations result from the fact, that the different origins and composition of the

organic matter for the more mature type II-III samples are recognisable.

The absence of alkylcarbazoles for the mature type II-III samples is accompanied

by the lack of alkylxanthones. It has been stated previously for the immature

239

7 Discussion

Table 7.11: Occurrence of alkyldibenzothiophenes (DBT), -carbazoles (C), -dibenzofurans

(DBF), benzo[b]naphthofurans (BNF) and -xanthones (X) in mature type II-III organic mat-

ter

Sample DBT C DBF BNF X

E 49748 + + ++ ++ +

E 49749 + + ++ ++ +

E 49750 + + ++ ++ +

E 49751 + - ++ ++ -

E 48990 + + ++ ++ -

E 48425 + + ++ - -

E 48430 + - ++ ++ -

++:present, +:present to low amounts,

-:absent

samples that this does not indicate an unambiguous relationship concerning the

origin of the two compound classes. It may also indicate a similar thermal sta-

bility of the alkylcarbazoles and -xanthones. In contrast to the North English

samples, but in analogy to the less mature coals, distribution of methylcarbazoles

varies more significantly. Actually the predominance of 1-methylcarbazole, the

most abundant isomer for North English coals, is relatively depleted for the more

mature samples. Whether this can be attributed to thermal stability however is in-

secure. Shielded alkylcarbazoles i.e. with methyl groups adjacent to the nitrogen

in common are known to be predominant (Frolov et al.,1989). Due to the relative

enhanced maturity of the samples the recognition of a specific contribution is im-

probable. However the set of mature sediments often was characterised by strong

variations not correlating to their elevated maturity level. In accordance with the

suggestions for 1-methyldibenzofuran an enhanced releasement of bonded natural

compounds at elevated maturities is suggestible. However, variations of different

isomers for alkylcarbazoles though stronger than for the North English coals still

are relatively weak. This supports the hypothesis based on the observations for

all previously discussed samples, that they do not originate from a specific source.

Correlation of individual alkyldibenzofurans, in accordance to the general be-

haviour of this subset of samples, is weak. According alkyldibenzofurans Tmax

again seems to be a better indicator of thermal maturity than vitrinite reflectance

for the more mature type II-III samples. Again, due to its strongly different

240

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

composition, values for the Mesocalamites cf. Taitianus have been excluded. Nev-

ertheless a relative increase of 1-methyldibenzofuran with neither an increase of

vitrinite reflectance and of Tmax is observed. Contrary to previously discussed

subsets of samples, correlation of individual isomers for alkyldibenzofurans is en-

hanced. This may account for an enhanced progression of isomerisation reactions.

Methyldibenzofurans in general show a strong correlation to the first eluting C1-

2-phenylnaphthalene. This was already observed for alkyldibenzofurans of the

immature type II-III coals.

A strong correlation is also observed for the first eluting C1-2-phenylnaphthalene

and benzo[b]naphthofurans. A biogenic relationship has already been suggested

based on the observations for the North English coals. A correlation because

of the enhanced thermal stability is improbable, due to benzo[b]naphthofurans

being absent in the mature fossil. In contrast, correlations for the last eluting

benzo[b]naphthofuran to the other isomers are weak. Actually this may account for

a depleted thermal stability of this compound. Nevertheless it does not contradict

the hypothesis that all four compounds originate from a similar biogenic source.

For the more mature samples, xanthone and methylxanthones were only detected

in three samples from East Greenland. These samples contrary to previously dis-

cussed ones are not characterised by elevated proportions of pristane. Additionally

the presence of alkylxanthones in these samples expands the maturity range of the

North English coals.

241

7 Discussion

7.4.4 Group IV

In contrast to all previously discussed samples, the type I samples are rare

in heterocyclic compounds. The biodegraded sample from South France lacks

the presence of all compound classes (Table 7.12). Alkyldibenzofurans and

benzo[b]naphthofurans (Table 7.12), except for the two ethyldibenzofurans were

generally abundant. The two ethyldibenzofurans were present in the two

non biodegraded samples from South France, only. Alkyldibenzothiophenes in

contrast were generally not detected in the samples from South France (Ta-

ble 7.12), while the Spitsbergen coal lacks 4-ethyldibenzothiophene and 4,6-

dimethyldibenzothiophene. The absence of alkyldibenzothiophenes in the samples

from South France probably can not be attributed to their weakness in organic

matter, due to the fact that they are the only type I samples where ethyldibenzo-

furans were present in quantifiable amounts. However, contents of total sulphur

are low for these samples. Alkylxanthones were generally not detected, while

alkylcarbazoles were only present in the Spitsbergian coal (Table 7.12).

The distribution of alkyldibenzothiophenes in analogy to the distribution of aro-

matic hydrocarbons in these samples, shows no correlation to maturity. However,

in correspondence to the North English coals and the more mature type III samples,

alkyldibenzothiophenes show a good correlation to 2- and 3-methylphenanthrene

and 2,6- and 2,7-dimethylphenanthrene. This indicates, that although distribution

of different compound classes for the type I samples is not significantly influenced

by the maturity of the samples, the factors influencing the amounts of thermo-

dynamically more stable isomers are related (van Aarssen et al.,2001). Besides

this, alkyldibenzothiophenes show good correlation to alkylfluorenes, -fluoren-9-

ones, many alkylbiphenyls but only to 2-phenylnaphthalene and the third eluting

C1-2-phenylnaphthalene. The hypothesis based on the observations for the North

English coals, that alkyldibenzothiophenes, -fluorenes and -fluoren-9-ones corre-

late due to their thermal stabilities therefore is supported.

The type I samples except for the Devonian one, lack the presence of alkylcar-

bazoles. The sample is characterised by enhanced proportions of pristane indi-

cating an oxic environment at least at early stages of deposition. The findings

242

7.4 Heterocyclic Compounds

Table 7.12: Occurrence of alkyldibenzothiophenes (DBT), -carbazoles (C), -dibenzofurans

(DBF), benzo[b]naphthofurans (BNF) and -xanthones (X) in immature type I organic matter

Sample DBT C DBF BNF X

E 48478 - - ++ ++ -

E 48479 - - ++ ++ -

E 48480 - - - - -

E 48985 + - ++ ++ -

E 48986 + - ++ ++ -

E 48987 + - ++ ++ -

E 48992 + + ++ ++ -

++:present, +:present to low amounts,

-:absent

again contradict the hypothesis that alkylcarbazoles are formed in the presence

of reduced nitrogen at early stages of diagenesis. Actually the absence of alkyl-

carbazoles in most of the type I samples may indicate that the compounds are

specific contributors to type II-III kerogen. However the detection of these com-

pounds in organic matter originating from marine sources (Li et al.,1995,1997;

Horsfield et al.,1998;Clegg et al.,1997;Bakr and Wilkes,2002) contradicts this

hypothesis. Another likely explanation is that alkylcarbazoles are formed at ele-

vated maturity ranges. This indeed correlates to the fact, that in comparison to

the majority of the type I samples, the maturity of the Devonian sample is rela-

tively enhanced. In the most immature type II-III samples alkylcarbazoles were

also absent and Clegg et al. (1998b) additionally found a dependence of relative

amounts of alkylcarbazoles on the thermal maturity of the sediments. The distri-

bution of methylcarbazoles for this sample corresponds to the distribution of these

compounds in the low and high maturity type II-III samples. In agreement with

the observations for the low maturity type II-III coals, this indeed might indicate

that the distribution of alkylcarbazoles in the North English coals is controlled

thermally while this is not true for the rest of the sample sets. This for immature

samples generally points to a strong contribution of specific isomers which are not

necessarily the most stable ones. For the mature samples this should be ruled out,

while the set investigated in this thesis often was characterised by composition of

compounds not strongly corresponding to thermal maturity.

243

7 Discussion

The relative amounts of individual alkyldibenzofurans for the type I samples ac-

cording to vitrinite reflectance are characterised by a relative decrease. This

was observed for many aromatic hydrocarbons in this subset. The absence of

ethyldibenzofurans in many of the samples is in analogy to the type II-III coals

of low maturity. This strongly supports the suggestion that the formation of

ethyldibenzofurans is controlled kinetically. This may indicate, that the com-

pounds have specific precursors and are released at certain temperatures only,

while they are destroyed at higher levels of thermal maturity. For type I samples

individual alkyldibenzofurans show strong correlation. This is contrary to observa-

tions made for the former discussed subsets of samples. It supports the hypothesis,

that these compounds, at least for organic matter not predominantly originating

from terrestrial sources are not characterised by strong contribution of specific

isomers. Actually it has been mentioned previously, that alkyldibenzofurans are

supposed to originate from terrestrial sources.

For type I samples, in contrast to all previously discussed samples, corre-

lation for benzo[b]naphthofurans and the forth compound is weak. While

benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]furan correlates to all isomers, this is slightly the case for

benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]furan and the forth compound. A very strong correlation

between benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]furan and benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]furan indicates a

common source of the two compounds. They, additionally are characterised by a

strong correlation to retene and 1-methylphenanthrene, supporting the hypothesis

that they are terrigenous markers.

The general absence of alkylxanthones in the type I samples may indicate, that

these compounds originate from terrestrial sources. This indeed is supported by

the fact, that at least the sample from Spitsbergen is characterised by a vitrinite

reflectance where alkylxanthones normally were abundant in other samples. How-

ever, the general presence of alkylxanthones within a certain maturity range was

not observed previously. Therefore the absence in the type I samples may indeed

have occurred accidental.

244

7.5 Resum´ee

The subdivision of the investigated samples into four subsets proofed to be conve-

nient. While the set of North English coals (Group I) correlates to organic mat-

ter, where catagenetical processes proceed but contribution from specific sources

are still recognisable, the composition for the more immature subset (Group II)

strongly points to contribution from specific sources. The more mature samples

(Group III) however, do not correspond to an enhanced catagenesis of type II-III

kerogen organic matter, only. Effects of deposition, origin of organic matter but

probably also mineral matrix effects are recognisable. The subset of type I kero-

gen samples (Group IV) helps to assess which observations indeed are typical for

terrigenous organic matter, and which are a general characteristic of organic mat-

ter, that has not been subject to strong catagenetical processes. Type I kerogen

organic matter for many parameters indeed shows significant deviations from the

type II-III kerogen samples. With two exceptions, biodegradation is supposed to

play a minor role according the composition of extractable organic matter for the

investigated samples.

For the three subsets of samples containing predominantly terrigenous organic

matter exceptions have to be considered. The North English coals except for the

samples from Throckley form a relative homogenous subset. The depleted values

for many maturity parameters for the Throckley samples are presumed not to

originate from sorptive protection mechanisms. A weak mobile phase not corre-

sponding to the thermal maturity was assumed and that maturation effects only

affected macromolecular organic matter, while low molecular weight organic mat-

ter to some extent preserved a more biogenic composition. A sorptive protection

mechanism in contrast has been attributed to influence the composition of ma-

ture samples from East Greenland. In general the samples of the most mature

subset are characterised by strong variabilities in composition, indicating, that

environmental factors are still recognisable at elevated vitrinite reflectances.

The composition of alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes and their correspond-

ing functionalised analogues is strongly interrelated for all investigated samples.

Especially the oxidation of ethylnaphthalenes to the analogue naphthylketones

245

7 Discussion

COOH

2-Ethylnaphthalene

1-Ethylphenanthrene 1-Acetylphenanthrene 1-Phenanthrenecarboxylic acid

2-Acetylnaphthalene 2-Naphthalenecarboxylic acid

A) Suggested scheme for the abiotic oxidation of alkylnaphthalenes

B) Analogue scheme for the abiotic oxidation of alkylphenanthrenes

DD?

Figure 7.37: Suggested scheme for the oxidation of A) alkylnaphthalenes and B) alkylphenan-

threnes occurring in sedimentary organic matter, while the oxidation to ketones and aldehydes

is supposed to occur easily the formation of carboxylic acids is suggested to require elevated

temperatures and probably also oxic conditions

occurs easily in sediments and does require neither elevated thermal stress nor

strongly oxic conditions (Fig 7.37). Additionally the corresponding ketones and

aldehydes are of enhanced thermal stability, due to their presence over the entire

maturity range investigated in this thesis. It is suggested that 2-ethylnaphthalene

is oxidated in favour due to the ratio of 2-naphthylketone/1-naphthylketone in

comparison to the ratio of 2-ethylnaphthalene/1-ethylnaphthalene normally being

elevated. This in the context of this thesis was explained by a sterical hinder-

ance for the oxidation of 1-substituted naphthalenes. Oxidation of aldehydes and

ketones to the corresponding carboxylic acids in contrast is supposed to depend

on thermal maturation (Fig. 7.37). Alkylnaphthalene- and alkylphenanthrenecar-

boxylic acids with one exception are only present in samples of elevated maturity.

This clearly shows, that the compounds are not formed artificial during sample

preparation but prior in the sedimentary record. Their absence in the most ma-

ture samples points to a destruction. It is suggested in this thesis that carboxylic

acids based on the naphthalene and phenanthrene skeleton are formed within an

elevated maturity range, while they due to defunctionalisation processes again are

246

7.5 Resum´ee

destroyed at higher maturity levels. The abiotic formation of carboxylic acids

requires the presence of oxidants. These may be inorganic compounds that have

been subject to oxidation at early stages of sedimentation and which in turn serve

as oxidants at later stages. Besides these abiotic formations, the compounds and

especially alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic acids may also be formed as intermediates

during biodegradation.

Based on the observations for the four subsets, the original amounts of alkylnaph-

thalenes in relation to alkylphenanthrenes were suggested to be represented by

the relative proportions of the corresponding acids more exactly. Figures 7.15,

7.20,7.24,7.25 show, that C(0−1)-naphthalenes are subject to enhanced volatili-

sation and that this strongly influences the relative amounts of this compound

class. However, except for few of the more mature samples showing an enhanced

proportion of alkylphenanthrenes and -phenanthrenecarboxylic acids, respectively,

a relative increase of tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with increasing maturity is

neither observed for aromatic hydrocarbons nor for the corresponding carboxylic

acids.

It should be recognised that the depletion of C(0−1)-naphthalenes due to volatilisa-

tion for some samples does not influence the significance of biogenic information

that would be gained by an unchanged composition. Nevertheless especially for

the maturity levels of the North English coals, individual alkylphenanthrenes are

characterised by an enhanced contribution from specific sources, while distribu-

tions of alkylnaphthalenes are supposed to be less specific. This is well-founded

by the fact, that the former compounds are characterised by weak correlations in

comparison to alkylnaphthalenes. However, at higher maturity ranges composition

of alkylphenanthrenes also becomes more homogenous, supporting this hypothe-

sis. It is presumed that alkylnaphthalenes are formed or released at lower thermal

maturities and that isomerisation of these compounds occurs prior to the one of

alkylphenanthrenes. This is strongly supported by the fact that C3−4-naphthalenes

show an increase of relative amounts with increasing maturity for low maturity

samples, while they show a decrease with increasing maturity for the North En-

glish coals. This in contrast is not observed for alkylphenanthrenes. Besides this

biogenic relationships of alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes are rather complex

247

7 Discussion

Table 7.13: Compound classes formed randomly in sediments listed in order of formation

based on their presence in the samples in general and the variability in amounts of isomers (It

should be noticed that alkylfluoren-9-ones are suggested to originate from alkylfluorenes and

that for alkylxanthones neither a random formation nor a formation from specific precursors

was indicated)

Compound Class variability in isomers

C0−2-biphenyls weak

C0−2-fluorenes weak

C0−1-fluoren-9-ones weak

C0−2-carbazoles weak

C0−1-dibenzothiophenes strong

Table 7.14: Compound classes where a specific terrestrial precursor is suggested

Compound Class suggested precursor reaction

C0−1-phenyl-2-naphthalenes lignans defunctionalisation

C0−2-dibenzofurans lichens defunctionalisation

Benzo[b]naphthofurans terrigenous condensation

and will partly be discussed in the following chapter dealing with the chemotaxo-

nomic significance of individual compounds. In general it is assumed that retene

is released during the entire maturity range investigated in this study. The com-

pound is easily transformed into 7-ethyl-1-methylphenanthrene, while correlation

to 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene is weak probably due to the different origins of 1,7-

dimethylphenanthrene. Besides retene agathic acid is another potential source

of 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene. This is indicated by the strong correlation of this

compound to 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene for the immature type II-III kerogen sam-

ples. Additionally a biogenic relationship between 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene and

cadalene is indicated while the specific precursor of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene is

unknown.

In analogy to the observations made for alkylnaphthalenes and their correspond-

ing ketones, methylfluorenes and -fluoren-9-ones normally are characterised by a

strong interdependence in relative amounts. However, while 2-ethylnaphthalene

appeared to be more susceptible to oxidation than 1-ethylnaphthalene, different

isomers of methylfluorenes show no preference for oxidation. Relative amounts

248

7.5 Resum´ee

of fluorene and fluoren-9-one in contrast do not correlate, indicating that the

compounds i.e. especially some amounts of fluoren-9-one are formed via another

pathway than the methylated analogues. Cyclisation of biphenylcarboxylic acids

is supposed to play a minor role in the formation of alkylfluoren-9-ones.

In contrast to alkylfluorenes being minor contributors to the fraction of aro-

matic hydrocarbons, alkylfluoren-9-ones normally are highly abundant in the low-

polarity NSO compound fraction. This, in agreement with the hypothesis made

for ethylnaphthalenes and naphthylketones shows, that oxidation of the aromatic

compounds occurs easily in sediments. The redox potential of the sediments but

also the thermal stress are negligible factors according the oxidation of the acti-

vated, benzylic position of the fluorene skeleton. If a specific source would have

account for the amounts of individual isomers, isomerisation reactions were sup-

posed to occur at low thermal maturities. The composition of methylfluorenes

and -fluoren-9-ones respectively is almost identical for the investigated samples

except for one. The absence of alkylfluoren-9-ones in the Devonian sample on

the other hand is striking. However it is not supposed to indicate an age specific

characteristic.

For alkylbiphenyls neither a strong correlation to alkylfluorenes nor to alkylphenyl-

naphthalenes is observed. The absence of alkylbiphenyls in some immature sam-

ples, where alkylfluorenes were present, strongly indicates that alkylbiphenyls are

not the only potential precursors of alkylfluorenes. The weak correlation between

alkylbiphenyls and -phenylnaphthalenes refers to the fact that the compounds are

not formed via an equal pathway, i.e. a radical induced phenylation. While the

composition of alkylbiphenyls is of little significance, their predominant formation

from lignin derived precursors is ruled out due to their absence in the two German

coals. For these two samples contribution of terrestrial derived organic matter nor-

mally is strongly recognisable. Alkylbiphenyls probably are formed randomly and

are not characterised by elevated thermal stabilities. They were present in low

amounts in the subset of mature sediments.

For alkylphenylnaphthalenes a natural precursor is proposed. Many constituents

of lignans base on the 1-phenylnaphthalene skeleton. Although only C(0−1)-2-

phenylnaphthalenes were investigated, these compounds, in analogy to alkylflu-

249

7 Discussion

orenes show a relative increase with increasing maturity. It is presumed that

isomerisation results in the formation of alkyl-2-phenylnaphthalenes accompanied

by the depletion of the corresponding alkyl-1-phenylnaphthalenes. The isomerisa-

tion is presumed to depend on the maturity of organic matter and probably occurs

during almost the entire maturity range investigated in this study. Although cor-

relation between C(0−1)-2-phenylnaphthalenes and -fluorenes have normally been

strong, this does not account for the type I samples, indicating, that C(0−1)-2-

phenylnaphthalenes indeed may have a terrigenous contributor.

While for all other compound classes a suggestion existed whether they have recog-

nisable biogenic precursors or are formed randomly in sediments, this does not ac-

count for the compounds incorporating a hetero cycle. For alkyldibenzothiophenes

the findings in this study support the hypothesis that they have no specific source

but are formed randomly in sediments (Arpino et al.,1987;Sinninghe Damst´e and

de Leeuw,1990). However the redox potential of sediments based on the ratio of

pristane/phytane shows that reducing conditions at early stages of deposition are

not the only factor influencing the relative amounts of this compound class. The

relative amounts of total sulphur show an influence. These amounts accord to

the amounts of reduced sulphur that may be available under optimal conditions.

The predominant factor however seems to be the magnitude of maturity. A strong

correlation of alkyldibenzothiophenes to alkylfluorenes and -2-phenylnaphthalenes,

observed for the North English coals and the more mature samples supports the

hypothesis that thermal maturity is the most important factor. For samples of

low maturity correlation between alkylfluorenes and -dibenzothiophenes are weak.

This indicates that alkyldibenzothiophenes are formed later than alkylfluorenes

in sediments. Their formation requires thermal maturity while their precursors

are formed randomly earlier. Contrary to alkylfluorenes isomerisation reactions

are of enhanced importance for alkyldibenzothiophenes within the maturity range

investigated in this thesis. This fact indicates that the formation of alkyldiben-

zothiophenes by coincidence produces certain isomers in preference. Actually this

accords to the hypothesis of Sinninghe Damst´e and de Leeuw (1990) (Fig. 6.21).

In correlation to alkyldibenzothiophenes, alkylcarbazoles also show no indication

for a contribution from a specific source. In this thesis it therefore was suggested

250

7.5 Resum´ee

that they are also formed randomly in sediments. In analogy to alkyldibenzoth-

iophenes a strong correlation between reducing conditions at early stages of sed-

imentation and relative amounts of alkylcarbazoles is not observed. In contrast

many of the low maturity samples where alkyldibenzothiophenes were abundant

lack the presence of alkylcarbazoles. Additionally the composition of individual

isomers does not vary significantly for most of the samples, indicating that isomeri-

sation reactions are of depleted importance. The last mentioned findings indicate

that either alkylcarbazoles are formed earlier than alkyldibenzothiophenes or that

they are formed via another pathway not resulting in the formation of specific iso-

mers. The absence of alkylcarbazoles in many of the immature samples actually

indicates that a different formation pathway is more likely. It is improbable that

isomerisation reactions occur significantly more easily for alkylcarbazoles than for

alkyldibenzothiophenes.

Alkyldibenzofurans and benzo[b]naphthofurans correspond to organic matter orig-

inating from terrestrial sources. This in contrast to the findings for alkyldiben-

zothiophenes and -carbazoles indicates that the two compound classes are not

formed randomly in sediments. In correspondence to alkylphenanthrenes espe-

cially alkyldibenzofurans often are characterised by weak correlations. Contribu-

tion from a specific source is especially assumed for 1-methyldibenzofuran. The

compound often is characterised by weakest correlation to other methyldibenzofu-

rans and may, according to the suggestions of Radke et al. (2000) originate from

constituents of lichens. The absence of ethyldibenzofurans for both, samples of low

maturities and elevated maturities indicates that their formation is controlled ki-

netically. Otherwise due to their depleted thermal stability, they were supposed to

be present in low maturity samples. Their absence in samples of elevated maturity

corresponds to their low thermal stability.

Benzo[b]naphthofurans show strong correlation among all three isomers and the

forth compound. They however are present in all samples with no respect to

maturity. This strongly indicates, that they are formed easily in sediments and do

not require enhanced thermal stress. Condensation of an ubiquitous precursor may

result in their formation. Benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]furan shows a slight depletion of

relative amounts in comparison to the two other isomers at elevated maturity levels.

251

7 Discussion

This does indicate that the compound is the least stable isomer. Correlation of

the four compounds are more pronounced for terrestrial organic matter indicating

a specific contribution.

Speculations on the origin of alkylxanthones due to their absence in many of the

investigated samples are vague. Their presence might be restricted to samples

of elevated maturities that have been deposited under oxic conditions. However

the presence of these compounds in some of the samples from East Greenland

contradicts this hypothesis. Their absence in type I kerogen samples may indicate

that they originate from terrigenous precursors but may also be due to low thermal

maturities.

252

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significance of Compound

Classes and Individual Compounds

7.6.1 Compounds and Compound Classes of Little

Chemotaxonomic Value

Organic residues often are of low selectivity i.e. they are present in many living

organisms and their abundance in fossil organic matter does not indicate the pres-

ence of a specific organism. Compounds like n-fatty acids, sterols and regarding

plants chlorophyll, are widely distributed in living organisms, and therefore are

of little value for determining an unambiguous chemotaxonomic relationship for

these compounds. Another characteristic of organic residues is, that their signifi-

cance often is limited as the specific molecular composition is lost due to alteration

processes because of biodegradation or isomerisation due to low thermodynamic

stabilities. Some compounds preserve their original constitution at enhanced ther-

mal maturation and are resistant against biodegradation while others are broken

down into constituent parts and therefore retain little or no chemotaxonomic sig-

nificance.

Changes in the composition of extractable organic matter, that can be directly

related to evolutionary trends are rare. A significant change in the composition

of extractable organic matter probably is the presence of long-chain n-fatty acids

and -alkanes, attributed to higher plants. The absence of these compounds is

related to the Ordovician or to organic matter that does not predominantly origi-

nate from terrestrial sources. The samples investigated in this study are younger

than the Ordovician and contain organic matter that predominantly is derived

from terrestrial sources. However long-chain n-fatty acids and -alkanes are rare

in the majority of the investigated samples. For n-alkanes these findings correlate

to the enhanced maturity for most of the samples, resulting in an unimodal dis-

tribution. For n-fatty acids however, the CP ISF A in comparison to the CPILF A

(Table 6.9) strongly indicates, that long-chain n-fatty acids have not been sig-

nificant contributors to the organic matter of the samples. Actually the rapid

253

7 Discussion

irregular decrease towards higher molecular weights correlates to the findings of

Disnar and Harouna (1994) for n-alkanes. The authors suggested that the absence

of long-chain n-alkanes is a characteristic of non-flowering strata. Due to their ge-

netic relationship this should also account for long-chain n-fatty acids. However,

the strong predominance of these compounds in few of the immature type II-III

samples shows, that even non-flowering plants possess the ability to produce long

chain n-fatty acids. Their strong predominance in the two German coals and one

sample from the Moscow Basin indicates, that a contribution of a specific Car-

boniferous flora may account for this. A possible explanation might be that the

majority of the locations where the samples are from were swamps. In swamps hu-

mic conditions probably have been present. These environmental conditions may

have limited the necessity to produce protective coatings for many plants. This

however would indicate, that the characteristic of producing these kinds of protec-

tive coatings due to protection from evaporation have not been a solely important

characteristic for the inhabitance of terrestrial environments by plants.

Although alkylphenanthrenes and -dibenzofurans have been assigned to be terres-

trial markers, their significance is limited by the fact that they are the result of

defunctionalisation processes, molecular breakdown and aromatisation. Budzin-

ski et al. (1995) attributed a terrestrial but also marine character to many in-

dividual alkylphenanthrenes. However, specific and therefore unambiguous pre-

cursors are seldomly known. 1-Methylphenanthrene as a terrestrial marker for

example is supposed to originate from retene and pimanthrene, which do not

necessarily originate from the same biological precursor (Ellis et al.,1996). 1,2,8-

Trimethylphenanthrene has recently been discussed as a biomarker. The com-

pound has been highly abundant in samples of the Lower Cretaceous and younger

(Budzinski et al.,1995). The authors suggested that it may derive from the degra-

dation of triterpenoids or hopanoids that show an ubiquitous presence. Addition-

ally high proportions of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene according to Budzinski et al.

(1995) indicate a low maturity of organic matter. Kruge (2000) investigated sam-

ples extending the Devonian to Upper Carboniferous period. The author focussed

on the distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and did not investigate

the distribution of alkylphenanthrenes in particular. Although he could not as-

sign individual trimethylphenanthrenes unambiguously, he according to retention

254

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

0.2

0.4

0.6

1,2,8-TMP

C -phenanthrenesS3

Permian

Upper Carboniferous

Lower

Carboniferous

East

Green-

land

Moscow

Basin

Spits-

bergen

North England and Fossils

Devonian

Fossil

R = Russia

SC= South China

SF= South France

G = Germany

Figure 7.38: Bar diagram showing the relative amounts of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene (1,2,8-

TMP) to the sum of C3-phenanthrenes, except the ones that have often been rarely abundant

255

7 Discussion

lanosterol 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene

Figure 7.39: Formation of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene via dehydrogenation of lanosterol after

King and de Mayo (1964)

indices, suggested the last eluting one to be 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene. Relying

on the three chromatograms given by the author, the relative amounts of 1,2,8-

trimethylphenanthrene besides the maturity of the samples may also depend on

the type of organic matter.

In the present study, 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene has been identified by coelution

with an authentic standard. Its concentration, in comparison to the amounts of

summed C3-phenanthrenes, shows a significant increase for the majority of the

Permian samples (Fig. 7.38). In correspondence to the studies of Budzinski et al.

(1995) a dependence of relative amounts on the thermal maturity can not be

excluded. Samples characterised by enhanced maturities are characterised by a

relative depletion of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene in comparison to other isomers.

Although, regarding Tmax, the vitrinite reflectances and therefore the maturity

of the samples from East Greenland may be overestimated, the relative amounts

of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene are significantly enhanced. Additionally the com-

pound is also relatively enriched in most of the low maturity samples of the Lower

Carboniferous. Besides the possible dependence on thermal maturity, the high

proportions of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene for most of the Permian samples may

indicate an age specific trend. Respecting the low maturities of the Lower Car-

boniferous samples the high proportions of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene for the

Permian samples are significant. However the high amounts that have been pro-

posed for Devonian samples within the studies of Kruge (2000) correlate to the

256

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

high proportions of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene for the Devonian sample of the

present study. This indicates that the potential organism that produces the pre-

cursors of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene may have existed in the Devonian while it

was less dominant in the Carboniferous. It is also possible that for both the Devo-

nian and the Permian different organisms are responsible for the high proportions

of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene.

Due to the fact, that the relative amounts of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene do not

exclusively depend on maturity and can not be attributed to an age specific be-

haviour unambiguously, environmental factors may also account for the propor-

tions of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene. Amounts of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene

are more enhanced for the two samples from East Greenland that showed higher

amounts in liptinites. Besides their low thermal maturity most of the Lower Car-

boniferous samples are also characterised by enhanced proportions of liptinites.

The two samples from South France are supposed to contain high amounts of

marine derived material. It therefore is presumable, that 1,2,8-trimethylphenan-

threne does not originate from a terrestrial source. Steranes and their biologi-

cal precursor are potential precursors of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene (Fig. 7.39).

The dehydrogenation of lanosterol led to the formation of 1,2,8-trimethylphenan-

threne (King and de Mayo,1964). The two methyl groups at position 13 and

14 of the steroid skeleton are transformed into the methyl groups of 1,2,8-tri-

methylphenanthrenes (Fig. 7.39). It therefore is presumable, that steroids shar-

ing a methyl group at position 4-, 13-, 14- of the steroid skeleton do also form

1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene. However steroids originate from the enzymatic ox-

idation and cyclisation of squalene and are ubiquitous. While lanosterol is a

precursor of animal steroids, cycloartenol, which might also yield in the forma-

tion of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene is a precursor of plant steroids (Killops and

Killops,1993). Both compounds are intermediates within the biosynthesis of

steroids and are supposed to be of depleted thermal stability. The occurrence of

compounds showing a lanostane skeleton has rarely been recorded. The samples

where compounds of the lanostane type have been present were characterised by

either high contents of sulphur (Peng et al.,1998) or low pristane/phytane ratios

accompanied by high proportions of gammacerane (Chen and Summons,2001).

These characteristics are typical for marine or hypersaline environments. In gen-

257

7 Discussion

eral steranes, the likely degradation products of naturally occurring sterols are

supposed to be highly abundant in organic matter predominantly deriving from

marine sources (Peters and Moldowan,1993). Therefore the findings of high pro-

portions of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene in liptinite-rich samples indeed indicate

an enhanced contribution of marine derived organic matter being responsible for

elevated amounts of the compound. However it can not be excluded, that re-

specting the suggestions of Budzinski et al. (1995) other compounds may also be

important precursors of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene. Indeed the samples show-

ing elevated amounts of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene are not always characterised

by high proportions of sulphur or low ratios of pristane/phytane. Additionally

the high amounts of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene for the Sigillaria (Fig. 7.38) are

significant. The sample is characterised by the absence of marine derived organic

matter and shows a relatively elevated thermal maturity. Therefore tetracyclic

triterpenoids for example of the dammarane type may also be potential precur-

sors of 1,2,8-trimethylphenanthrene (Masuda et al.,1983).

The unambiguous origin of alkyldibenzofurans, although they may derive from

terrestrial sources, is also insecure. However, it has been suggested that some of

these compounds may be derived from constituents of lichens. Whether this is

the only possible source, yet however is unknown. This is due to the fact that

systematic investigations on alkyldibenzofurans have become of interest in recent

years only. The distribution of 1-methyldibenzofuran for samples of this study

actually supports the hypothesis, that the compound might originate from con-

stituents of lichens. Due to the fact, that constituents of lichens possessing a

dibenzofuran skeleton often also are 1,9-alkylsubstituted the structure assignment

of C2-dibenzofurans would be of high value. Due to the oxic depositional envi-

ronments for many samples, however, the loss of functionalised groups adjacent

to the aromatic skeleton of alkyldibenzofurans may not proceed easily. Therefore

it might be important to prove defunctionalisation in laboratory experiments. It

might be also presumable that the loss of these groups occurs at elevated thermal

maturation, and that functionalised alkyldibenzofurans are present in the high-

polarity NSO compound fraction that has not been investigated. Respecting that

defunctionalisation normally is due to increasing thermal stress this might be of

specific relevance for samples of low maturities.

258

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

cadalene

cadinene cadinol

trans-farnesol heptacyclic tricadinane

(polycadinanes)

Figure 7.40: Biological precursors of cadalene after Douglas and Mair (1965); Simoneit (1986);

van Aarssen et al. (1992)

259

7 Discussion

This may also account for lignan derived alkylphenylnaphthalenes. The func-

tionalised analogues of these compounds might be present in the high-polarity

NSO compound fraction of the low maturity samples, and loss of the groups may

account for the enhanced presence of alkylphenylnaphthalenes at elevated matu-

rities. However, the isomerisation then is supposed to proceed quickly, due to

2-phenylnaphthalenes often being predominant. Lignans as possible precursors of

alkylphenylnaphthalenes in analogy to n-fatty acids are of little chemotaxonomic

significance. Lignans are constituents of many higher plants but also of liver-

worts. Therefore their presence is of little chemotaxonomic value. This to some

extend does also account for the potential relationship between high amounts

of 1-methyldibenzofuran and the presence of lichens. Although the presence of

lichens can be dated back to the Early Devonian (Taylor et al.,1995), they have

not been an important subject to investigations with respect to the evolution of

higher plants. They probably due to their symbiosis of fungi and algae evolved

separately.

Another unspecific biomarker is cadalene. It commonly is accepted as a marker

for higher plants (Simoneit,1986;Peters and Moldowan,1993). However, its

precursors are ubiquitous in resins and essential oils of these plants. Aromatisation

of cadinenes and cadinols, the cyclisation and aromatisation of farnesol, but also

the breakdown and aromatisation of polycadinenes is supposed to result in the

formation of cadalene (Fig. 7.40). The presence of this sesquiterpene in most of

the samples extending the Lower Carboniferous to Upper Permian period therefore

is of little chemotaxonomic value.

The chemotaxonomic significance of vanillin due to its presence in bryophytes

(Thomas,1986) may be of little value, as it is no exclusive oxidation product of

lignin or lignin-like constituents. The finding of vanillin in organic matter from

the Silurian by Niklas and Pratt (1980) therefore does not unambiguously indicate

the capacity to produce lignin-like constituents prior to the evolution of vascular

plants. However vanillin is the major and sometimes only oxidation product of

lignins derived from gymnosperms (Hegnauer,1962-1992). The typical byprod-

ucts of vanillin often are alkylbenzaldehydes, which have not been investigated

in this study due to their low abundances attributed to an enhanced volatility.

260

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

Nevertheless the boiling points of alkylbenzaldehydes are not supposed to differ

significantly from the one of vanillin. The high proportions of vanillin in many

samples therefore may indicate a contribution of gymnospermous-like lignin to

their organic matter.

7.6.2 Individual Compounds of Enhanced Chemotaxonomic

Significance

Compounds that can be attributed to the presence of gymnosperms in general are

of little value, due to most of the organic matter normally investigated postdates

their evolutionary appearance. However, for the investigated samples markers

that can be unambiguously attributed to specific gymnosperms are of significance.

Although it is presumable that gymnosperms have evolved somewhen in the Car-

boniferous, it is common agreement that at least conifers have evolved in the Late

Carboniferous (Hart,1987;Kerp,1996).

Although the presence of lignin is no exclusive characteristic of gymnosperms,

the relative amounts of the three basic constituents of lignin, coumaryl alcohol,

coniferyl alcohol and sinapyl alcohol are supposed to differ for gymnosperms in

comparison to their precursors (Hegnauer,1962-1992). The three constituents

differ in relative contents of oxygen. A relative increase of oxygen in lignin of

gymnosperms is attributed to coniferyl alcohol being the predominant constituent,

whereas for angiosperms the contents of oxygen are often more elevated due to

the high proportions of sinapyl alcohol (Hegnauer,1962-1992;Gottlieb,1989).

Besides monohydroxy- and monomethoxy-benzoic acids, which were only present

in samples of the Carboniferous, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy- and 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic

acid were present in samples extending the time range from Late Devonian to Per-

mian and the maturity range from 0.32 to 1.26% Rr. The two acids normally result

from the CuO oxidation of gymnospermous lignin. They are also supposed to be

products within the biodegradation of this lignin. However the organic matter of

the investigated samples has neither been subject to strong biodegradation nor has

it been oxidised during sample preparation. In correspondence to the findings of

261

7 Discussion

Stefanova and Disnar (2000) and Mejanelle et al. (1997) the compounds, however,

may also be present as free constituents in organic matter and especially resinous

secretions. Their relative proportions correlate to the amounts of hydroxy- and

methoxybenzoic acids and may therefore indicate a contribution from gymnosper-

mous lignin. Although both compounds are strongly related to coniferyl alcohol,

3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid normally is present in higher amounts than 4-hydroxy-

3-methoxybenzoic acid. This however may result from the enhanced thermal

stability of the second methoxy group in comparison to the hydroxy group. The

proportions of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy- to 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid show no de-

pendence on the maturity. Nevertheless the relative concentration of the two com-

pounds compared to the amounts of dehydroabietic acid is relatively enhanced

for samples from Westphalian C and for few of the Lower Carboniferous samples

(Fig. 7.41). While this for the Lower Carboniferous samples may be due to their

thermodynamic stabilities, for coals from the Westphalian C this in correspon-

dence to the findings of Gottlieb (1989), may indicate the relative enhancement

of coniferyl alcohols in lignin in this period. The low amounts for samples of the

Permian may account to the depleted proportions of terrigenous organic matter

for these samples or their enhanced thermal maturity.

The presence of dehydroabietic acid normally is attributed to resins derived from

gymnosperms. However the detection of this compound in most of the samples

extending from Devonian to Permian contradicts this unambiguous origin. Due

to the evolution of gymnosperms attributed to the Carboniferous, the presence of

dehydroabietic acid in samples predating this event, indicates, that the precursors

of gymnosperms have been capable to synthesize this compound. Therefore its

presence actually may be of little significance. Nevertheless the absence of dehy-

droabietic acid in organic matter from South China may indicate the separate

evolution for its flora. The presence of dehydroabietic acid in the Sigillaria is

unexpected and it is insecure, whether the presence results from contamination,

i.e. impregnation, or if this plant has been capable to synthesize the compound.

The abundance of gymnosperm markers in samples that predate their evolu-

tion has already been found for tetracyclic diterpanes of the phyllocladane type.

While these compounds were only present in the aliphatic hydrocarbon fraction

262

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

Permian

Lower Carboniferous

Upper Carboniferous

Late Devonian

3,4-dimethoxy- + 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid

dehydroabietic acid

Figure 7.41: Bar diagram showing the ratio of 3,4-dimethoxy- and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-

benzoic acid to dehydroabietic acid

of the low maturity samples from the Moscow Basin, 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1(4-

methylpentyl)naphthalene is supposed to be an aromatic degradation product of

phyllocladane. Due to the carboxylic acid group in abietic acid, a breakdown of

the A-ring does not occur in the latter compound and in corresponding resinous

acids. This therefore supports the tentative attribution of 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-

1(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene to phyllocladanes (Ellis et al.,1996). Compounds

of the phyllocladane, ent-beyerane and kaurane type are normally attributed to

gymnosperms. Nevertheless, Disnar and Harouna (1994) found these compounds

in organic matter predating the evolution of gymnosperms. The authors suggested,

that they therefore have been constituents of the ancestors of gymnosperms. How-

ever, compounds of the phyllocladane type are not present in Pinaceae. This in-

deed would indicate that the evolution of conifers of the Pinaceae type and other

conifers separated early. This has been suggested by many authors (Hart,1987;

Bowe et al.,2000;Chaw et al.,2000;Schmidt and Schneider-Poetsch,2002) and

the observations made here would indicate that this separation at least occurred in

the Early Carboniferous. Besides the presence of phyllocladane derived ip-iHMN,

263

7 Discussion

the presence of retene and enhanced proportions of 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene do

indicate an enhanced contribution of gymnosperm derived organic matter. The

strong correlation of 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene and 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene

for immature samples indicates, that agathic acid is a potential precursor. The

correlation is not that strong for samples of enhanced maturity. This however can

be attributed to the fact, that especially 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene may also be

derived from the degradation of retene. While normally correlation between retene

and the tentative 7-ethyl-1-methyl-phenanthrene has been strong, this does not

account for more mature samples. The strong correlation between retene and 1,7-

dimethylphenanthrene for these samples indicates that the corresponding 7-ethyl-

1-methylphenanthrene may be subject to fast breakdown at elevated temperatures

while retene may be still released at the same time. Although the correlation and

relationship of the compounds is rather complex, they are all suggested to origi-

nate from constituents of resins attributed to gymnosperms.

Another indication for gymnosperms throughout the whole Carboniferous is the

presence of the monoterpenes thymol and carvacrol in many of the samples. Al-

though the quantitative significance of this compounds due to their enhanced

volatility is limited, they are known to be important constituents of gymnosperm

derived resins. High amounts of the two compounds have been preferentially

attributed to Cupressaceae (Frohne,1992). Besides these two monoterpenes,

strained compounds like borneol, isoborneol and fenchyl alcohol in fossil resins

are often linked to resin acids via esterification. The preservation of these com-

pounds in many of the samples may therefore result from their protection due to

the bonding into a macromolecular matrix. In ambers, abietic acid and fenchyl

alcohol, borneol etc. are linked via esterification and therefore may retain their

original configuration (Tauber,2000). The occurrence of intact monoterpene alco-

hols and ketones in samples of the Paleozoic, except for thymol and carvacrol is

reported for the first time in this study. Although their quantitative behaviour is

of little value, their presence indicates, that plants have already been capable to

synthesize functionalised monoterpenes. Monoterpenes present in algae normally

are aliphatic hydrocarbons and possess no functionalised groups.

264

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

A generally accepted age-specific marker is 18α-oleanane. 18α-Oleanane is a con-

version product of β-amyrin, present in angiosperms. Although oleananes have

been found in samples that predate the Cretaceous, concentrations have been re-

ported to increase significantly when angiosperms evolved (Moldowan et al.,1994).

The presence of oleananes in samples that predate the evolution of angiosperms

has been attributed to a possible separate lineage leading to the angiosperms or to

a related plant type, that possessed the availability to synthesize oleanane precur-

sors (Moldowan et al.,1994). Indeed Tori et al. (1995) found a 18δ-oleanane-type

triterpene ester in an unidentified liverwort of the Frullania species. Although

compounds of the oleanane-type normally are not found in liverworts, the pres-

ence of this compound in a liverwort from South America shows that these plants

may have the capacity to synthetisize these so-called biomarkers of angiosperms.

Compounds of the oleanane type were not present in any of the investigated sam-

ples in this study. Although oleanane has been detected in samples of the Jurassic

(Matsumoto et al.,1987) and even the Pennsylvanian (Moldowan et al.,1994), its

absence in the investigated samples corresponds well to the fact, that angiosperms

had not yet evolved in the Upper Paleozoic.

In contrast 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene, also attributed to precursors of the

oleanane type (P¨uttmann and Villar,1987;Strachan et al.,1988;Forster et al.,

1989) was generally present. For none of the samples 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene

showed an extraordinary low or high proportion but normally strongly cor-

related to most of the other trimethylnaphthalenes. The formation of 1,2,7-

trimethylnaphthalene may therefore have proceeded via isomerisation reactions

(van Aarssen et al.,1999). In contrast an elevated importance of isomerisa-

tion reactions does not correspond to the observations in the studies of Strachan

et al. (1988), where high amounts of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene compared to 1,3,7-

trimethylnaphthalene distinguished samples of the Cretaceous and younger from

those, where oleanane and its precursors were generally absent. Another specific

precursor of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene, besides triterpenes of the oleanane type,

however yet is unknown.

The plot proposed by Strachan et al. (1988) for the samples investigated in this

study shows, that 1,2,5- and 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene are present in relatively

265

7 Discussion

East Greenland/ Upper Permian

South France/ Permian

Russia/ Permian

Fossil/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Upper Carboniferous

South China/ Permian

England/ Upper Carboniferous

East Germany/ Viséan

Russia/ Viséan

Spitsbergen/ Upper Devonian

Spitsbergen/ Lower Carboniferous

-0.8 -0.4 00.4

LOG(1,2,7-TMN/1,3,7-TMN)

-1

-0.5

0.5

LOG(1,2,5-TMN/1,3,6-TMN)

Figure 7.42: Cross plot of the logarithms of the ratios 1,2,7-TMN/1,3,7-TMN to 1,2,5-

TMN/1,3,6-TMN and benchmark values for the ratios according to Strachan et al. (1988)

high proportions in many samples (Fig. 7.42). Outliers are the Upper Carbonifer-

ous samples from England and the Permian samples from South France only (Fig.

7.42). These samples are characterised by relatively high concentrations of 1,2,5-

trimethylnaphthalene only, or low proportions of both compounds, respectively

(Fig. 7.42). The relative enhanced proportions of both isomers in accordance

with the most stable isomerisation products, for many samples strongly contra-

dict the hypothesis that 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene is a marker for angiosperms.

Either the significance of the ratio (1,2,7-/ 1,3,7-trimethylnaphthalene) is ques-

tionable, or 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene may originate from another natural source,

yet unknown. However, a strong correspondence between the relative amounts of

cadalene and 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene indeed may indicate a specific source.

Both plots, the one of Strachan et al. (1988) and the one of this study (Fig.

7.42) are characterised by a comparable distribution of samples. However, in con-

trast to the samples of Strachan et al. (1988) none of the samples investigated in

this study has been deposited in times where angiosperms had already evolved.

Whereas the authors distinguished samples originating from the Cretaceous and

younger from those that originate from earlier times by enhanced proportions of

266

7.6 Chemotaxonomic Significances

1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene, the samples investigated in this study do not corre-

spond to this characteristic. Additionally 1,2,5- and 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene

have not been characterised by a strong correlation for the majority of the samples.

Although this may result from the magnitude of contribution from different pre-

cursors for 1,2,5-trimethylnapthalene (agathic acid, manool, C29-monoaromatic-

8,14-secohopanoids), the significance of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene as a potential

age specific biomarker is questionable. It should be recognised that due to the

studies of Tori et al. (1995) a strong correlation might also point to a contribu-

tion of organic matter from liverworts. Some of the Cretaceous samples exam-

ined by Strachan et al. (1988) showed no significantly enhanced proportions of

1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene in comparison to other isomers. In this study 1,2,7-

trimethylnaphthalene in contrast to 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene never is predom-

inant, but often is present in similar amounts like other isomers. This indicates,

that concentrations of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene are significantly more influenced

by maturity than has been suggested by Strachan et al. (1988). The significance

of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene as a marker for angiosperms therefore is insecure.

The relative amounts of the compound depend on thermal maturities. If concen-

trations are not significantly enhanced compared to other trimethylnaphthalenes

it probably can not be regarded as a biomarker of angiosperms.

267

8 Summary and Conclusions

The present investigations on the occurrence and relative amounts of low molec-

ular weight compounds provide important information on both the evolution of

land plants and on abiotic chemical reactions occurring in sediments. The obser-

vations base on the composition of aromatic hydrocarbons and functionalised low

molecular weight compounds. Bulk results and the composition of aliphatic hy-

drocarbons in contrast served to estimate the influences of environmental factors,

i.e. origin of the organic matter, thermal history and early sedimentary redox

conditions on the composition of low molecular weight compounds in the samples.

The hypothesis that alkyldibenzofurans are terrestrial biomarkers (Radke et al.,

2000) is supported in this thesis. The compounds show low correlations indicating

contribution from specific sources. This is more apparent for terrigenous samples

than for samples consisting predominantly of type I kerogen. Most significantly 1-

methyldibenzofuran often is characterised by weakest correlation. The compound

therefore may indeed be a specific marker of lichens.

Both phenylnaphthalenes and benzo[b]naphthofurans in this thesis were assigned

to be terrestrial markers. For 1-phenylnaphthalenes it is suggested that they orig-

inate from lignans and are easily transformed into 2-phenylnaphthalenes due to

thermal stress. The origin of benzo[b]naphthofurans is more insecure, it is pro-

posed that they are condensation products of compounds showing an ubiquitous

terrestrial origin.

Specific alkylnaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes are generally accepted to be

terrestrial markers of higher plants. This for example does account for retene,

its degradation products 7-ethyl-1-phenanthrene and 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene,

269

8 Summary and Conclusions

cadalene, 1,2,5- and 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene and 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1-(4-

methylpentyl)naphthalene. All of these compounds were present in the investi-

gated samples. However it is presumed in this thesis that the original constitution

is more apparent for alkylphenanthrenes due to a later releasement from kerogen

and therefore the later proceeding of isomerisation reactions. While the signif-

icance of 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene as a marker of angiosperms based on the

observations made in this thesis is limited, the presence of 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1-

(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene may indicate that Pinaceae became a separated line

of conifers early in the Late Paleozoic.

The occurrence of monoterpene alcohols (borneol, fenchyl alcohol) and ketones

(camphor, verbenone) in many of the investigated samples of the Paleozoic is

reported for the first time. Although no systematics on their appearance in in-

dividual samples could be assigned, their presence in general shows that already

Devonian plants were capable to synthesize these compounds.

4-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid and 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid are degradation

products of lignin originating from gymnosperms. The high amounts of these com-

pounds in samples of the Westphalian C may point to an emerge of gymnosperms

at this time. Long chain n-fatty acids were only present in three immature sam-

ples. It therefore is presumed that higher plants of the Late Paleozoic were not

generally capable to produce these compounds.

It is proposed in this thesis that 1,2,8-trimethylnaphthalene is a biomarker. The

compound is highly abundant in samples which often show low amounts of terres-

trial organic matter but also in the Sigillaria. 1,2,8-Trimethylnaphthalene may

originate from tetracyclic triterpenoids of the dammarane type or from plant

steroids.

With regard to abiotic chemical reactions occurring in the sediments, it is sug-

gested in this thesis, that alkylfluorenes are easily oxidised to alkylfluoren-9-

ones and alkylnaphthalenes and -phenanthrenes to the corresponding ketones and

aldehydes. The formation of alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic acids and alkylphenan-

threnecarboxylic acids in contrast requires thermal stress, while at a certain mag-

nitude of thermal stress destruction of these carboxylic acids again proceeds.

270

Further it is proposed, that alkylbiphenyls, alkylfluorenes, alkylcarbazoles and

alkylbenzothiophenes are formed randomly in sediments. Alkylbiphenyls are in-

stable due to their low proportions in general and their absence in more mature

samples. Alkylfluorenes and alkylcarbazoles are formed early in the sedimentary

record and isomerisation of individual isomers seems to occur immediately after

formation. This hypothesis base on the little variations in the composition of

isomers for individual samples. For alkyldibenzothiophenes in contrast the for-

mation of precursors probably occurs early while their formation and especially

isomerisation reactions proceed due to thermal stress at higher thermal maturities.

Alkylxanthones have only been present in few samples. Based on these fact it was

not possible to estimate whether these compounds were formed randomly due to

elevated maturities or whether they may have a specific terrestrial origin.

271

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295

Appendix

A Data Compilation

A.1 Bulk Results

A Data Compilation

Table A.1: Maceral Group Distribution and Data of Elemental Analysis

Sample Vitrinite Inertinite Liptinite Minerals TC TOC TS

% % % % % % %

E 49710 94.0 2 4 - 76.8 76.1 1.50

E 49748 1.5 1 1.0 82.0 6.7 4.4 2.05

E 49749 - - 2.5 97.5 2.7 0.2 1.00

E 49750 0.5 0.5 9.0 86.5 5.3 1.0 1.09

E 49751 0.5 0.5 8.0 89.5 2.5 1.4 1.00

E 48990 83.5 - 16.5 - 80.0 79.4 0.46

E 48478 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 7.1 3.0 0.18

E 48479 0.5 4.0 16.0 79.5 11.5 6.2 0.10

E 48480 32.0 2.0 - 55.1 17.7 16.5 0.16

E 48996 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 68.1 68.2 0.86

E 48388 60.5 13.5 21.5 4.5 71.2 69.1 2.30

E 48389 67.5 5.5 23.0 4.0 78.4 76.1 1.54

E 48390 73.0 10.5 15.5 1.0 78.7 78.7 0.73

E 48214 25.0 57.0 11.0 7.0 75.9 74.5 1.39

E 48216 76.5 10.0 11.0 2.5 75.4 71.2 1.06

E 48403 18.5 2.5 - 79.0 63.7 62.2 7.76

E 48220 73.5 10.5 14.0 1.5 77.5 77.9 0.84

E 48430 76.8 2.8 0.4 20.0 66.3 61.1 1.08

E 48392 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 71.2 70.2 3.70

E 48393 55.0 21.5 21.0 2.5 76.7 75.1 0.96

E 48394 51.0 25.5 14.5 9.0 74.5 73.0 2.40

E 48395 56.0 - - 44.0 68.5 62.8 7.64

E 48396 49.0 30.0 16.5 4.5 68.7 66.8 1.79

E 48397 53.5 28.5 13.5 4.5 77.7 75.9 3.38

E 48398 63.0 18.0 13.0 6.0 64.4 64.1 9.70

E 48400 64.0 13.5 12.5 10.0 72.5 71.3 2.35

E 48401 39.0 2.5 15.0 43.5 72.9 71.8 1.19

E 48405 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 58.3 25.2 8.75

E 48425 91.2 - - 8.8 80.7 77.9 0.94

E 48382 19.5 8.5 29.5 42.5 12.4 12.0 4.56

E 48383 61.0 2.0 26.0 11.0 70.6 66.9 2.26

E 48384 16.5 23.5 23.5 20.5 26.3 29.4 0.59

E 48985 - 2.5 61.5 36.0 66.2 66.2 4.50

E 48986 2.0 5.0 60.5 22.5 69.8 68.4 3.86

E 48987 1.5 2.5 61.5 34.5 70.6 69.7 3.71

E 48988 28.0 17.5 29.5 25.0 51.4 50.8 3.51

E 48989 66.5 10.0 14.0 9.5 55.5 54.6 2.65

E 48993 65.5 19.0 13.0 2.5 61.5 58.1 0.81

E 48991 37.0 28.0 31.0 4.0 81.7 81.5 0.47

E 48992 22.0 - 77.0 1.0 66.5 67.2 0.40

n.d.:not determined

A.1 Bulk Results

Table A.2: Data of Rock-Eval Pyrolysis

Sample S1 S2 S3 Tmax PI HI OI

◦C % mgHC

gT OC

mgCO2

gT OC

E 49710 6.84 237.37 6.29 440 0.03 312 8

E 49748 0.28 12.11 2.36 422 0.02 273 53

E 49749 0.01 0.07 0.24 481 0.12 32 109

E 49750 0.12 1.64 0.37 424 0.70 160 36

E 49751 0.73 4.34 0.21 431 0.14 301 14

E 48990 16.53 208.82 5.40 438 0.07 256 7

E 48478 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48479 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48480 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48996 2.67 184.65 7.84 421 0.20 271 12

E 48388 6.10 177.43 5.44 435 0.03 257 8

E 48389 4.32 156.41 5.54 437 0.03 206 7

E 48390 7.76 201.12 6.07 435 0.04 256 8

E 48214 6.18 189.77 5.93 432 0.03 255 8

E 48216 6.71 200.01 5.28 431 0.03 281 7

E 48403 1.47 71.25 5.06 456 0.02 115 8

E 48220 7.17 190.64 4.98 393 0.04 260 7

E 48430 2.43 58.06 6.17 443 0.04 71 23

E 48392 6.21 180.05 5.47 432 0.03 257 8

E 48393 5.58 227.6 5.44 433 0.02 303 7

E 48394 8.27 203.86 5.58 434 0.04 279 8

E 48395 10.56 158.72 5.20 435 0.06 253 8

E 48396 10.66 222.81 4.05 433 0.05 334 6

E 48397 12.49 271.61 4.35 435 0.04 358 6

E 48398 4.56 179.79 3.94 434 0.02 280 6

E 48400 5.72 205.87 5.26 438 0.03 289 7

E 48401 12.83 172.47 5.66 438 0.07 240 8

E 48405 5.40 122.25 3.05 457 0.04 213 5

E 48425 6.32 40.22 4.03 494 0.14 52 5

E 48382 0.81 10.49 0.49 436 0.07 87 4

E 48383 9.54 154.83 5.10 436 0.06 231 8

E 48384 3.63 52.25 2.24 437 0.06 178 8

E 48985 7.72 457.07 12.88 437 0.02 690 19

E 48986 9.74 392.95 12.46 436 0.03 574 18

E 48987 5.23 489.78 12.62 437 0.01 703 18

E 48988 6.17 131.16 18.95 416 0.05 258 37

E 48989 4.74 81.98 24.14 412 0.06 150 44

E 48993 0.57 88.78 10.27 430 0.01 153 18

E 48991 16.53 208.82 5.40 438 0.07 256 7

E 48992 19.80 333.25 3.41 440 0.06 496 5

n.d.:not determined

A Data Compilation

Table A.3: Compound Class Distribution of Extractable Organic Matter

Sample Aliphatic Aromatic NSO-

hydrocarbons hydrocarbons compounds

% % %

E 48478 37.0 10.0 53.1

E 48479 20.8 11.1 68.1

E 48480 7.3 21.3 71.4

E 48388 2.7 29.3 68.0

E 48389 2.3 27.0 70.7

E 48390 2.4 24.3 73.4

E 48214 1.7 29.5 68.8

E 48216 1.9 23.2 74.8

E 48430 5.0 0.5 90.0

E 48403 10.8 41.4 47.9

E 48220 3.4 34.7 61.9

E 48392 2.0 23.5 74.6

E 48393 2.3 20.7 77.0

E 48394 1.9 21.3 76.8

E 48395 4.7 19.4 75.9

E 48396 5.7 24.2 70.1

E 48397 10.9 15.8 73.3

E 48398 4.1 22.1 73.8

E 48400 4.1 27.2 68.7

E 48401 2.3 14.7 83.0

E 48405 0.9 34.2 64.9

E 48382 2.5 33.5 64.0

E 48383 3.8 33.1 63.1

E 48384 9.9 28.3 61.8

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

For samples where no standard was added, the concentrations of all compounds

are normalised to the compound showing highest amounts (100%)

A Data Compilation

Table A.4: Nomenclature of n-Alkanes

Compound Abbreviation

Dodecane n-C12

Tridecane n-C13

Tetradecane n-C14

Pentadecane n-C15

Hexadecane n-C16

Heptadecane n-C17

Octadecane n-C18

Nonadecane n-C19

Eicosane n-C20

Heneicosane n-C21

Docosane n-C22

Tricosane n-C23

Tetracosane n-C24

Pentacosane n-C25

Hexacosane n-C26

Heptacosane n-C27

Octacosane n-C28

Nonacosane n-C29

Triacontane n-C30

Hentricontane n-C31

Dotricontane n-C32

Tritricontane n-C33

Tetratricontane n-C34

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.5: Concentrations of n-Alkanes

Sample n-C12 n-C13 n-C14 n-C15 n-C16 n-C17

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 0.89 6.25 9.67 15.31 16.61 19.34

E 48990 0.01 0.08 0.34 0.72 1.11 1.24

E 48996 0.18 0.53 0.29 1.50 3.22 5.87

E 48388 0.03 0.62 0.13 0.92 4.64 11.56

E 48389 4.35 8.66 12.25 13.94 14.18 16.30

E 48390 9.24 15.58 20.02 23.01 23.91 27.06

E 48214 17.33 24.43 30.19 30.50 30.73 31.85

E 48216 8.87 14.65 23.31 23.26 23.66 24.82

E 48403 0.06 0.63 2.90 8.12 15.21 21.38

E 48220 1.62 5.92 12.90 17.09 20.19 24.49

E 48392 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d n.d.

E 48393 1.29 3.26 5.10 6.03 6.08 7.04

E 48394 2.97 5.25 6.70 7.65 7.93 9.46

E 48395 3.46 0.42 0.78 1.28 6.10 41.81

E 48396 1.45 4.47 8.31 11.45 12.68 14.40

E 48397 1.00 4.33 10.31 17.74 24.31 31.66

E 48398 0.47 1.56 3.12 4.69 6.14 7.46

E 48400 0.57 1.77 3.56 5.97 7.59 9.51

E 48401 1.00 3.49 6.59 9.17 11.41 13.46

E 48405 0.84 4.80 10.67 14.75 16.42 16.81

E 48382 0.13 0.60 3.16 7.14 9.65 12.25

E 48383 1.69 6.40 11.50 17.29 19.85 30.33

E 48384 5.54 15.18 24.83 33.61 39.42 47.39

E 48985 0.10 0.79 6.01 3.02 17.81 64.28

E 48986 0.04 0.18 0.81 3.24 9.11 18.94

E 48987 0.03 0.22 0.53 1.93 3.80 8.45

E 48988 0.25 1.22 2.44 2.73 5.73 33.52

E 48989 0.15 0.98 1.65 5.97 11.07 16.17

E 48993 0.02 0.63 0.50 2.02 3.05 5.43

E 48991 0.02 0.06 0.34 1.81 4.97 8.47

E 48992 0.02 0.37 4.77 18.55 36.70 51.52

n.d.:not detected

A Data Compilation

Table A.5:(continued)

Sample n-C18 n-C19 n-C20 n-C21 n-C22 n-C23

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 14.87 18.54 15.36 18.10 21.12 28.41

E 48990 1.20 1.05 2.81 0.82 0.78 0.74

E 48996 5.00 6.93 7.34 10.03 14.54 35.46

E 48388 19.74 28.13 28.93 32.08 29.79 31.34

E 48389 16.83 19.66 18.99 21.11 19.42 20.18

E 48390 27.01 30.26 29.85 31.05 27.92 28.33

E 48214 32.94 36.21 31.09 34.13 28.33 28.72

E 48216 27.06 30.67 27.54 32.61 26.43 27.95

E 48403 28.06 31.27 34.59 36.66 37.12 36.28

E 48220 23.85 27.54 23.22 26.52 21.33 21.33

E 48392 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d n.d.

E 48393 6.97 7.02 6.27 6.61 6.52 7.11

E 48394 9.48 11.00 10.91 11.99 12.36 13.01

E 48395 71.43 144.73 59.52 32.89 13.44 8.22

E 48396 14.18 16.29 16.51 18.37 17.11 18.20

E 48397 34.74 40.67 41.77 45.40 44.99 47.28

E 48398 8.37 9.06 8.89 9.91 9.59 10.36

E 48400 10.87 13.52 13.90 16.52 15.89 17.49

E 48401 14.08 16.24 14.81 16.91 15.29 16.30

E 48405 15.82 12.82 10.18 7.70 6.26 4.58

E 48382 13.21 15.63 16.60 18.65 20.21 21.89

E 48383 27.89 32.61 33.99 37.60 37.68 40.50

E 48384 48.77 56.28 57.55 60.16 51.09 47.70

E 48985 77.45 85.07 88.53 276.20 335.93 446.25

E 48986 20.35 18.99 20.01 18.56 18.74 26.67

E 48987 10.95 16.36 28.13 49.10 53.06 40.60

E 48988 49.44 49.74 40.73 26.11 22.22 19.19

E 48989 17.02 7.34 12.75 17.11 19.84 28.52

E 48993 8.08 18.83 29.40 57.10 116.60 274.47

E 48991 10.25 12.38 17.33 21.00 29.49 40.91

E 48992 56.95 62.35 71.55 89.89 93.03 108.57

n.d.:not detected

A10

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.5:(continued)

Sample n-C24 n-C25 n-C26 n-C27 n-C28 n-C29

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 32.38 38.37 36.30 40.17 30.92 31.80

E 48990 0.83 0.96 1.02 1.15 1.07 1.01

E 48996 57.45 100.83 98.34 174.61 110.55 167.27

E 48388 29.71 30.71 29.97 29.91 26.50 28.08

E 48389 19.10 19.08 17.51 16.50 13.80 13.44

E 48390 26.61 25.18 21.73 19.58 15.33 15.11

E 48214 27.16 26.13 25.94 24.74 21.95 21.57

E 48216 26.93 27.81 27.26 26.83 22.75 23.84

E 48401 33.19 30.63 25.79 22.34 15.64 12.96

E 48220 20.70 20.37 18.94 17.40 15.85 13.63

E 48392 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d n.d.

E 48393 6.75 7.02 6.94 6.81 5.80 5.54

E 48394 11.36 11.78 10.01 10.40 7.46 7.18

E 48395 4.83 2.97 1.87 1.51 1.30 1.14

E 48396 16.34 17.24 14.59 15.65 12.37 12.62

E 48397 41.80 40.84 33.09 31.58 24.14 22.49

E 48398 9.73 10.20 9.62 9.99 7.84 8.07

E 48400 15.43 17.11 13.35 14.65 10.01 9.77

E 48401 15.28 15.43 14.07 13.85 10.25 10.22

E 48405 3.63 3.05 2.27 1.90 1.58 2.10

E 48382 21.18 21.31 19.92 20.26 17.51 18.62

E 48383 39.09 39.57 37.34 36.42 26.25 26.82

E 48384 39.78 37.18 30.50 27.28 21.47 18.72

E 48985 450.53 591.65 424.52 609.79 296.54 428.60

E 48986 26.52 38.83 34.32 50.44 31.21 38.64

E 48987 25.65 23.54 18.21 28.49 18.39 24.66

E 48988 18.99 16.39 15.23 12.48 12.78 10.18

E 48989 20.34 81.75 40.25 451.02 76.42 1330.81

E 48993 401.33 1156.57 528.01 1419.46 72.46 108.89

E 48991 40.15 37.64 30.33 26.39 14.66 12.93

E 48992 107.31 109.25 99.04 87.93 61.67 46.13

n.d.:not detected

A11

A Data Compilation

Table A.5:(continued)

Sample n-C30 n-C31 n-C32 n-C33 n-C34 n-C12-n-C34

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 19.25 16.42 7.30 14.10 6.66 458.13

E 48990 0.89 0.81 0.79 2.07 1.02 22.50

E 48996 72.82 93.82 37.63 42.54 22.40 1069.14

E 48388 18.09 16.73 7.93 11.09 4.82 421.46

E 48389 9.23 9.15 4.34 7.86 4.56 320.43

E 48390 9.46 8.39 5.01 5.75 2.52 447.92

E 48214 13.98 13.10 6.54 7.83 3.91 549.31

E 48216 15.60 16.18 6.60 10.99 3.75 499.37

E 48403 8.67 6.05 3.96 5.68 2.37 419.58

E 48220 9.28 7.69 4.21 6.33 2.59 363.00

E 48392 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d n.d.

E 48393 3.84 3.17 1.86 2.60 1.20 120.83

E 48394 4.29 4.19 2.12 4.81 4.22 186.53

E 48395 0.57 1.61 0.69 2.11 2.69 405.35

E 48396 9.08 7.51 5.19 7.24 3.54 274.83

E 48397 16.25 12.03 8.07 8.35 5.09 587.93

E 48398 5.23 3.70 2.26 3.66 1.64 151.54

E 48400 6.50 5.33 3.14 6.04 3.15 221.65

E 48401 5.58 4.23 2.11 4.45 4.54 238.74

E 48405 0.89 1.08 0.44 0.62 0.25 139.43

E 48382 13.62 11.11 6.81 6.56 3.47 299.53

E 48383 16.30 14.91 7.60 9.41 3.77 554.80

E 48384 14.00 10.33 7.55 7.07 4.47 705.89

E 48985 209.76 381.06 145.47 164.95 99.69 5203.98

E 48986 25.76 38.59 26.67 86.96 42.53 596.10

E 48987 14.93 33.79 23.59 81.43 37.45 543.28

E 48988 10.59 8.06 7.59 4.35 4.48 374.45

E 48989 81.21 865.32 34.92 111.66 7.27 3239.55

E 48993 19.33 15.65 14.26 32.04 7.40 4291.55

E 48991 7.43 6.26 4.15 5.48 4.58 337.01

E 48992 30.48 22.31 18.67 22.36 12.99 1212.42

n.d.:not detected

A12

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.6: Distribution of n-Alkanes (samples without standard)

Sample n-C12 n-C13 n-C14 n-C15 n-C16 n-C17

% % % % % %

E 48478 0.0 0.1 2.0 7.1 15.1 25.9

E 48479 0.3 1.8 14.2 38.2 58.0 77.7

E 48480 n.d. n.d. 17.7 61.2 100.0 87.0

E 49748 5.2 13.8 20.6 28.7 34.1 39.7

E 49749 3.7 7.4 7.0 10.4 13.1 14.9

E 49750 2.9 58.1 70.5 63.9 92.5 100.0

E 49751 0.7 4.9 13.5 23.4 33.1 40.0

E 48430 0.7 5.0 15.1 28.6 35.2 44.3

E 48425 0.3 0.9 3.6 9.7 76.5 27.9

n.d.:not detected

Table A.6:(continued)

Sample n-C18 n-C19 n-C20 n-C21 n-C22 n-C23

% % % % % %

E 48478 39.1 56.8 70.3 100.0 80.4 80.5

E 48479 80.9 92.7 100.0 96.1 90.8 89.8

E 48480 61 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 49748 33.2 33.7 31.1 29.2 30.7 32.2

E 49749 17.0 21.6 26.1 26.8 31.9 40.7

E 49750 91.2 90.0 80.8 67.2 62.9 57.7

E 49751 41.1 45.3 49.4 43.7 46.3 44.2

E 48430 47.5 64.5 60.8 63.2 53.9 57.6

E 48425 21.5 25.1 32.7 45.3 55.1 73.2

n.d.:not detected

A13

A Data Compilation

Table A.6:(continued)

Sample n-C24 n-C25 n-C26 n-C27 n-C28 n-C29

% % % % % %

E 48478 78.1 76.8 71.4 65.6 59.8 51.4

E 48479 73.4 68.4 52.9 48.1 38.8 38.1

E 48480 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 49748 32.1 32.3 30.1 34.5 29.9 36.5

E 49749 50.5 63.4 63.9 84.7 65.6 100.0

E 49750 48.5 43.0 34.6 34.6 29.0 30.8

E 49751 42.9 40.9 39.0 43.8 44.7 48.6

E 48430 53.7 60.5 47.4 53.2 31.0 29.2

E 48425 73.9 97.0 69.6 100.0 48.6 70.3

n.d.:not detected

Table A.6:(continued)

Sample n-C30 n-C31 n-C32 n-C33 n-C34

% % % % %

E 48478 35.0 29.0 15.9 23.9 9.8

E 48479 27.5 25.6 17.7 14.6 10.1

E 48480 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 49748 25.6 29.1 18.4 30.7 20.5

E 49749 54.9 69.0 36.8 64.4 30.8

E 49750 26.2 28.5 20.4 24.6 16.1

E 49751 42.8 40.5 30.5 43.3 38.7

E 48430 14.7 16.3 6.5 13.6 3.3

E 48425 34.4 62.5 23.9 27.1 16.4

n.d.:not detected

A14

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.7: Concentrations of Pristane and Phytane

Sample Pristane Phytane

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 65.85 9.67

E 48990 1.38 0.47

E 48996 32.63 9.8

E 48388 42.73 12.25

E 48389 46.98 10.17

E 48390 71.72 13.27

E 48214 68.65 13.54

E 48216 117.34 22.05

E 48403 29.19 8.49

E 48220 67.94 13.37

E 48392 n.d. n.d.

E 48393 21.03 4.73

E 48394 41.97 8.57

E 48395 9.97 7.88

E 48396 46.95 10.76

E 48397 20.92 7.24

E 48398 18.36 4.99

E 48400 26.28 6.08

E 48401 30.74 6.37

E 48405 7.69 3.28

E 48382 44.72 7.98

E 48383 171.70 31.75

E 48384 8.03 3.54

E 48985 47.51 96.98

E 48986 7.04 7.22

E 48987 1.38 1.68

E 48988 28.12 47.27

E 48989 7.24 8.95

E 48993 7.01 2.29

E 48991 5.31 1.57

E 48992 40.96 8.62

n.d.:not detected

A15

A Data Compilation

Table A.8: Distribution of Pristane and Phytane (samples without standard)

Sample Pristane Phytane

% %

E 48478 17.3 14.2

E 48479 39.2 22.5

E 48480 n.d. n.d.

E 49748 100.0 77.6

E 49749 21.8 18.8

E 49750 89.2 49.9

E 49751 100.0 59.8

E 48430 100.0 15.9

E 48425 22.6 19.9

n.d.:not detected

A16

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.9: Nomenclature of Steranes and Diasteranes

Abbreviation Name

SβαDC (20S)-13β(H),17α(H)-Diacholestane

RβαDC (20R)-13β(H),17α(H)-Diacholestane

RαβDC (20R)-13α(H),17β(H)-Diacholestane

SαβDC (20S)-13α(H),17β(H)-Diacholestane

SαααC (20S)-5α(H),14α(H),17α(H)-Cholestane

RαββC (20R)-5α(H),14β(H),17β(H)-Cholestane

SαββC (20S)-5α(H),14β(H),17β(H)-Cholestane

RαααC (20R)-5α(H),14α(H),17α(H)-Cholestane

SβαMDC (20S)-24-Methyl-13β(H),17α(H)-diacholestane

RβαMDC (20R)-24-Methyl-13β(H),17α(H)-diacholestane

RαβMDC (20R)-24-Methyl-13α(H),17β(H)-diacholestane

SαβMDC (20S)-24-Methyl-13α(H),17β(H)-diacholestane

SαααMC (20S)-24-Methyl-5α(H),14α(H),17α(H)-cholestane

RαββMC (20R)-24-Methyl-5α(H),14β(H),17β(H)-cholestane

SαββMC (20S)-24-Methyl-5α(H),14β(H),17β(H)-cholestane

RαααMC (20R)-24-Methyl-5α(H),14α(H),17α(H)-cholestane

SβαEDC (20S)-24-Ethyl-13β(H),17α(H)-diacholestane

RβαEDC (20R)-24-Ethyl-13β(H),17α(H)-diacholestane

RαβEDC (20R)-24-Ethyl-13α(H),17β(H)-diacholestane

SαβEDC (20S)-24-Ethyl-13α(H),17β(H)-diacholestane

SαααEC (20S)-24-Ethyl-5α(H),14α(H),17α(H)-cholestane

RαββEC (20R)-24-Ethyl-5α(H),14β(H),17β(H)-cholestane

SαββEC (20S)-24-Ethyl-5α(H),14β(H),17β(H)-cholestane

RαααEC (20R)-24-Ethyl-5α(H),14α(H),17α(H)-cholestane

A17

A Data Compilation

Table A.10: Distribution of Steranes and Diasteranes

Sample SβαDC 20RβαDC RαβDC SαβDC SαααCRαββC

% % % % % %

E 48478 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48479 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48480 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48990 5.3 6.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48996 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48216 7.2 7.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48220 41.2 25.7 0.0 19.6 0.0 0.0

E 48430 39.7 31.9 10.2 11.5 17.6 17.3

E 48398 6.6 9.2 2.0 6.2 0.0 0.0

E 48400 14.4 16.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48401 2.8 4.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 35.6 24.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48384 32.4 32.0 11.9 12.6 0.0 0.0

E 48986 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48987 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48989 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48993 3.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48992 38.2 13.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

A18

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.10:(continued)

Sample SαββCRαααCSβαMDC RβαMDC RαβMDC SαβMDC

% % % % % %

E 48478 0.0 37.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48479 0.0 6.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48480 0.0 98.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48990 0.0 15.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48996 0.0 45.3 100.0 54.0 0.0 0.0

E 48216 0.0 7.5 18.6 30.0 10.8 0.0

E 48220 0.0 13.2 100.0 72.2 52.8 28.3

E 48430 12.7 1.6 100.0 76.4 28.4 33.6

E 48398 0.0 0.0 81.7 71.5 0.2 1.9

E 48400 0.0 0.0 100.0 69.2 16.4 10.4

E 48401 0.0 0.0 45.6 16.2 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0 82.6 61.1 41.7 0.0

E 48383 0.0 42.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48384 0.0 50.0 47.5 42.2 24.9 0.0

E 48986 0.0 73.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48987 0.0 74.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 73.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48989 0.0 21.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48993 0.0 6.6 8.6 7.1 8.2 8.4

E 48992 0.0 53.4 100.0 76.9 17.8 0.0

A19

A Data Compilation

Table A.10:(continued)

Sample SαααMC RαββMC SαββMC RαααMC SβαEDC RβαEDC

% % % % % %

E 48478 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0

E 48479 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0

E 48480 0.0 0.0 0.0 95.02 0.0 0.0

E 48990 0.0 0.0 0.0 13.9 19.4 45.3

E 48996 0.0 0.0 12.6 95.4 3.3 52.1

E 48216 0.0 0.0 0.0 24.5 100.0 28.7

E 48220 40.3 37.4 32.9 38.2 83.4 78.6

E 48430 8.5 24.7 17.5 2.0 64.2 35.6

E 48398 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.9 100.0

E 48400 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 48.6 54.3

E 48401 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0 0.0 32.8 100.0 63.3

E 48383 0.0 0.0 0.0 45.3 0.0 0.0

E 48384 0.0 0.0 0.0 21.0 16.5 34.1

E 48986 0.0 0.0 0.0 87.4 0.0 0.0

E 48987 0.0 0.0 0.0 71.1 0.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0

E 48989 0.0 0.0 0.0 28.3 0.0 0.0

E 48993 0.0 0.0 10.9 25.1 12.0 12.7

E 48992 0.0 0.0 46.8 86.8 29.9 0.0

A20

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.10:(continued)

Sample RαβEDC SαβEDC SαααEC RαββEC Sαββ ECRαααEC

% % % % % %

E 48478 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 68.5

E 48479 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12.7

E 48480 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

E 48990 14.4 11.8 25.8 86.6 86.2 100.0

E 48996 44.3 0.0 20.9 55.0 0.0 54.3

E 48216 22.1 13.6 86.8 65.4 43.7 52.3

E 48220 72.0 64.4 99.1 85.8 67.1 67.0

E 48430 17.7 19.2 48.9 18.8 34.6 46.2

E 48398 54.0 43.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48400 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48401 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

E 48384 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

E 48986 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

E 48987 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

E 48988 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 98.8

E 48989 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

E 48993 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 42.1 100.0

E 48992 25.7 27.4 8.7 28.1 27.7 64.6

A21

A Data Compilation

Table A.11: Definition of Sterane- and Diasterane-Ratios

20S

20S+20R=20R

20S+20Rof 5α(H),14α(H),17α-C29-Steranes

ββ

αα+ββ =2 (14β(H),17β(H),20R+S)

2 (14β(H),17β(H),20R+S)+(14α(H),17α(H),20R+S)of C29-steranes

C29−Diasteranes

C29−Steranes =13β,17α(H),20R+S)−C29−Diasteranes

5α,14α,17α(H),20R+S)−+(5α,14β,17β(H)20R+S)−C29−Steranes

Table A.12: Ratios of Steranes and Diasteranes

Sample 20S

20S+20R

ββ

αα+ββ

C29−Diasteranes

C29−Steranes

E 48216 0.57 0.61 0.40

E 48220 0.54 0.65 0.26

E 48430 0.72 0.53 0.01

E 48990 0.24 0.73 0.05

E 48992 0.24 0.60 0.67

A22

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.13: Nomenclature of Hopanes

Abbreviation Compound

αTNH 17α(H)-22,29,30-Trinorhopane

βTNH 17β(H)-22,29,30-Trinorhopane

αDNH 17α(H)-28,30-Dinorhopane

αβNH 17α(H),21β(H)-30-Norhopane

βαNM 17β(H),21α(H)-30-Normoretane

2MH 2-Methylhopane?

αβH 17α(H),21β(H)-Hopane

ββNH 17β(H)21β(H)-30-Norhopane

βαM 17β(H),21α(H)-Moretane

SαβHH (22S)-17α(H),21β(H)-29-Homohopane

RαβHH (22R)-17α(H),21β(H)-29-Homohopane

S+RβαHM (22S)- + (22R)- 17β(H),21α(H)-29-Homomoretane

ββH 17β(H),21β(H)-Hopane

SαβDHH (22S)-17α(H),21β(H)-29-Dihomohopane

RαβDHH (22R)-17α(H),21β(H)-29-Dihomohopane

S+ 22RβαDHM (22S)- + (22R)- 17β(H),21α(H)-29-Dihomomoretane

THH Trihomohopane

A23

A Data Compilation

Table A.14: Concentrations of Hopanes

Sample αTNH βTNH αDNH α-βNH βαNM 2MH

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 38.90 0.00 3.77 0.00 49.67 9.10

E 48990 0.48 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.36 0.07

E 48996 59.45 0.00 25.71 0.00 33.55 32.22

E 48388 56.77 0.00 0.00 0.00 99.81 8.51

E 48389 28.86 0.00 0.85 0.00 48.87 5.43

E 48390 15.44 0.00 0.34 0.00 16.11 1.44

E 48214 33.68 0.00 0.79 0.00 44.52 5.02

E 48220 35.21 0.00 1.31 0.00 55.31 5.87

E 48393 13.79 0.00 0.43 0.00 21.42 2.08

E 48394 14.28 0.00 0.39 0.00 29.65 2.17

E 48396 13.17 0.00 0.00 0.00 18.22 1.64

E 48397 16.60 0.00 0.26 0.00 6.12 0.74

E 48398 4.70 0.00 0.17 0.00 2.95 0.34

E 48400 10.51 0.00 0.60 0.00 13.99 1.16

E 48401 1.55 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.13 0.11

E 48382 3.85 0.00 0.12 0.00 1.88 0.19

E 48383 39.26 0.00 1.09 0.00 57.54 4.61

E 48384 3.61 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.49 0.00

E 48985 144.42 2.99 405.50 9.16 380.35 203.01

E 48986 4.55 0.18 13.55 0.69 13.53 8.05

E 48987 3.79 0.08 8.42 0.32 8.05 4.76

E 48988 1.85 0.00 0.19 0.00 1.17 0.20

E 48989 2.39 0.00 1.27 0.42 0.55 0.56

E 48993 9.66 0.01 3.54 0.00 9.43 5.35

E 48991 1.87 0.00 0.12 0.00 0.65 0.08

E 48992 26.22 0.22 0.93 0.39 19.64 2.68

A24

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.14:(continued)

Sample αβHββNH βαMSαβHH RαβHH S+RβαHM

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 0.00 58.23 3.15 10.71 39.40 27.47

E 48990 0.00 1.30 0.05 0.00 0.44 0.26

E 48996 11.54 99.77 55.56 13.59 30.71 29.42

E 48388 0.00 56.14 3.46 11.81 27.86 17.30

E 48389 0.00 28.96 2.57 6.14 14.43 10.24

E 48390 0.00 13.49 0.99 2.90 8.38 5.80

E 48214 0.00 21.14 1.95 5.42 12.05 7.50

E 48220 0.00 41.87 4.87 8.50 27.88 17.74

E 48393 0.00 14.17 2.29 2.70 9.24 6.23

E 48394 0.00 18.13 1.99 2.73 13.69 8.16

E 48396 0.00 14.93 1.61 2.87 8.78 5.73

E 48397 0.00 6.76 0.46 1.29 2.82 2.27

E 48398 0.00 2.50 0.53 0.51 1.54 1.19

E 48400 0.00 11.13 0.97 2.15 8.49 5.71

E 48401 0.00 0.86 0.21 0.18 0.41 0.26

E 48382 0.00 1.80 0.20 0.37 0.84 0.63

E 48383 0.00 55.42 1.78 6.89 16.64 11.67

E 48384 0.00 0.47 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

E 48985 29.06 295.08 89.10 392.20 30.80 409.50

E 48986 1.45 9.58 2.90 14.20 1.39 12.69

E 48987 0.80 5.76 4.03 9.67 0.41 8.42

E 48988 0.00 1.88 0.59 0.00 0.00 0.00

E 48989 0.00 0.57 0.14 1.58 0.00 0.11

E 48993 0.00 9.45 6.77 1.95 7.03 15.42

E 48991 0.00 1.25 0.00 0.00 0.44 0.22

E 48992 0.00 17.14 11.29 5.32 9.90 6.16

A25

A Data Compilation

Table A.14:(continued)

Sample ββHSαβDHH RαβDHH S+ 22RβαDHM THH THH

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 9.10 0.00 42.12 29.70 0.00 1.16

E 48990 0.00 0.00 0.18 0.10 0.00 0.07

E 48996 26.00 0.00 14.09 18.40 4.88 4.23

E 48388 8.03 0.00 11.53 6.50 0.00 1.89

E 48389 5.09 0.00 5.74 3.51 0.00 0.82

E 48390 2.78 0.00 4.80 2.54 0.00 0.00

E 48214 4.13 0.00 5.93 3.15 0.00 0.74

E 48220 8.09 0.00 12.68 7.06 0.00 1.77

E 48393 2.85 0.00 4.56 2.47 0.00 0.62

E 48394 3.53 0.00 6.18 3.63 0.00 0.84

E 48396 3.90 0.00 5.05 2.49 0.00 0.75

E 48397 1.04 0.00 1.58 0.79 0.00 0.41

E 48398 1.01 0.00 0.96 0.44 0.00 0.20

E 48400 1.62 0.00 4.26 2.33 0.00 0.54

E 48401 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.12 0.00 0.00

E 48382 0.00 0.00 0.57 0.21 0.00 0.00

E 48383 5.95 0.00 6.30 3.73 0.00 1.32

E 48384 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

E 48985 137.51 41.53 1.71 77.78 0.00 4.98

E 48986 5.47 1.91 0.50 3.54 0.00 0.50

E 48987 3.12 1.17 0.21 1.95 0.00 19.80

E 48988 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

E 48989 0.17 0.34 0.00 0.25 0.00 0.03

E 48993 6.18 0.00 1.89 2.86 0.42 0.56

E 48991 0.00 0.00 0.24 0.13 0.00 0.07

E 48992 3.72 0.00 6.21 3.64 0.00 0.93

A26

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.14:(continued)

Sample Sum

µg

gT OC

E 49710 322.48

E 48990 3.47

E 48996 394.15

E 48388 309.61

E 48389 161.52

E 48390 75.00

E 48214 146.00

E 48220 226.85

E 48393 82.83

E 48394 105.36

E 48396 79.15

E 48397 39.58

E 48398 17.05

E 48400 63.47

E 48401 5.08

E 48382 10.65

E 48383 212.20

E 48384 4.58

E 48985 2613.16

E 48986 92.09

E 48987 79.57

E 48988 5.89

E 48989 8.06

E 48993 80.50

E 48991 5.30

E 48992 118.15

A27

A Data Compilation

Table A.15: Distribution of Hopanes

Sample αTNH βTNH αDNH α-βNH βαNM 2MH

% % % % % %

E 49748 35.1 0.0 26.4 0.0 69.2 32.1

E 49750 56.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 66.2 19.6

E 49751 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0

E 48478 70.8 0.0 1.8 0.0 74.2 9.6

E 48479 100.0 0.0 4.7 0.0 62.0 10.6

E 48430 100.0 0.0 27.4 0.0 15.5 25.9

E 48425 69.5 0.0 18.8 0.0 41.2 21.9

Table A.15:(continued)

Sample αβHββNH βαMSαβHH RαβHH S+RβαHM

% % % % % %

E 49748 0.0 100.0 15.8 15.5 14.8 0.0

E 49750 0.0 100.0 24.7 0.0 68.9 43.5

E 49751 0.0 100.0 8.6 0.0 82.5 36.6

E 48478 0.0 100.0 0.0 16.0 29.7 17.9

E 48479 0.0 74.3 0.0 8.6 24.6 18.4

E 48430 0.0 99.0 46.3 0.0 47.3 24.9

E 48425 0.0 100.0 19.9 4.4 22.1 22.1

A28

A.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.15:(continued)

Sample ββHSαβDHH RαβDHH S+ 22RβαDHM THH THH

% % % % % %

E 49748 0.0 0 55.9 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49750 0.0 25.6 29.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49751 0.0 17.9 55.1 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48478 0.0 13.9 6.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48479 0.0 16.8 7.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48430 0.0 20.8 10.2 0.0 4.1 0.0

E 48425 0.0 8.0 9.3 0.0 2.2 0.0

Table A.16: Concentrations of Alkylhopenes

Sample E 48985 E 48986 E 48987 E 48989

Compound µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

hop-17(21)-ene 50.1 2.1 1.3 0.1

neohop-13(18)-ene 3.5 0.2 0.1 0.3

methylhopene 17.0 0.1 0.1 <0.1

22S-homohop-17(21)-ene 52.9 2.2 1.3 0.1

22R-homohop-17(21)-ene 125.9 4.4 2.8 0.5

22S-dihomohop-17(21)-ene 18.2 0.9 0.5 0.1

22R-dihomohop-17(21)-ene 19.9 1.0 0.6 0.1

22S-trihomohop-17(21)-ene 15.6 0.7 0.4 0.1

22R-trihomohop-17(21)-ene 4.9 0.3 0.2 <0.1

22S-tetrahomohop-17(21)-ene 20.9 0.6 0.3 0.1

22R-tetrahomohop-17(21)-ene 9.3 0.6 0.3 0.1

22S-pentahomohop-17(21)-ene 8.8 0.5 0.3 0.1

22R-pentahomohop-17(21)-ene 4.4 0.3 0.2 0.1

Sum 415.1 16.8 10.0 1.6

HomoHopeneIndex 0.05 0.07 0.06 0.10

A29

A Data Compilation

Table A.17: Concentrations of Tetracyclic Secohopanes

Mass 330 330 344 358 358

Sample µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

49710 1.25 0.0 0.34 0.0 0.0

48990 0.12 0.03 0.06 0.02 0.0

48996 0.28 0.87 0.60 3.08 1.34

48389 0.02 0.0 0.06 0.10 0.15

48214 0.33 0.0 0.13 0.0 0.0

48220 0.62 0.0 0.27 0.0 0.0

48394 0.26 0.0 0.14 0.0 0.0

48396 0.31 0.0 0.04 0.0 0.0

48400 0.15 0.0 0.05 0.0 0.0

48401 0.04 0.0 0.01 0.0 0.0

48382 0.15 0.0 0.02 0.0 0.0

48985 10.11 3.73 19.29 18.94 47.45

48986 1.10 0.36 1.74 1.58 3.64

48987 0.86 0.30 1.56 1.56 3.59

48989 0.02 0.0 0.06 0.10 0.15

48991 0.15 0.30 0.03 0.30 0.04

48992 3.66 2.33 1.78 6.37 1.31

A30

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

A31

A Data Compilation

Table A.18: Concentrations of Alkylnaphthalenes

Sample N 2-MN 1-MN 2-EN 1-EN 2.6-DMN

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 4.13 55.6 39.5 18.8 10.8 19.6

E 49890 0.01 0.10 0.37 0.03 0.08 0.16

E 49896 0.11 0.57 0.85 0.46 1.57 1.03

E 48388 46.74 419.51 338.44 20.88 18.41 68.00

E 48389 56.58 285.06 193.92 9.76 7.66 34.50

E 48390 76.58 439.75 262.54 15.57 11.51 46.45

E 48214 31.21 360.69 257.03 18.96 14.54 55.30

E 48216 54.96 433.19 314.37 16.10 13.84 68.18

E 48403 0.05 0.29 0.64 0.23 0.27 1.78

E 48220 0.11 8.18 13.58 3.13 1.93 17.86

E 48392 2.29 30.31 26.00 6.55 4.31 15.85

E 48393 0.35 11.14 18.83 4.25 4.27 11.11

E 48394 0.32 2.61 9.18 2.92 3.40 12.77

E 48395 0.40 5.49 10.99 5.99 1.36 8.09

E 48396 0.22 0.65 8.49 5.71 1.99 5.72

E 48397 0.00 0.12 0.00 0.10 0.21 0.82

E 48398 0.10 1.40 4.41 1.47 1.19 2.19

E 48400 0.80 20.49 34.95 4.14 3.82 9.27

E 48401 0.00 2.03 5.19 1.05 1.87 3.32

E 48405 6.75 103.74 45.91 5.01 2.26 16.19

E 48382 6.8 93.12 78.79 7.51 7.15 6.09

E 48383 7.79 133.37 170.09 12.23 10.59 31.84

E 48384 5.38 34.73 23.72 1.5 1.26 2.46

E 498985 0.00 0.00 0.00 19.12 17.95 61.98

E 48986 0.10 1.04 0.78 0.09 0.06 0.26

E 48987 0.04 0.27 0.21 0.04 0.02 0.09

E 48988 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.48 0.26 1.35

E 48989 6.64 36.07 18.66 1.67 0.64 3.50

E 48993 0.02 2.88 4.51 1.67 1.51 1.38

E 48991 0.67 148.71 137.45 25.53 19.66 73.18

E 48992 0.00 123.89 132.1 12.33 14.18 16.65

N:naphthalene, MN:methylnaphthalene

EN:ethylnaphthalene, DMN: dimethylnaphthalene

A32

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.18:(continued)

Sample 2,7- 1,3 + 1,7- 1,3- 1,7- 1,6- 1,4 +

DMN DMN DMN DMN DMN 2,3-DMN

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 18.06 22.82 0.00 33.69 60.19 45.41

E 48990 0.25 1.03 0.00 1.96 1.39 1.27

E 48996 0.28 0.60 0.00 1.60 1.18 5.95

E 48388 81.92 205.60 0.00 0.00 143.53 114.96

E 48389 50.39 102.44 0.00 0.00 69.28 52.39

E 48390 59.45 123.31 0.00 0.00 79.55 61.33

E 48214 66.18 155.22 0.00 0.00 110.67 83.71

E 48216 63.66 174.91 0.00 0.00 116.59 91.22

E 48403 1.99 3.20 0.00 0.00 1.05 3.47

E 48220 13.62 32.50 0.00 0.00 19.59 30.33

E 48392 15.49 30.38 0.00 0.00 20.75 30.66

E 48393 11.61 26.59 0.00 0.00 20.09 28.70

E 48394 14.81 16.17 0.00 0.00 9.22 38.77

E 48395 8.84 15.10 0.00 0.00 9.53 15.04

E 48396 3.77 14.46 0.00 0.00 4.77 19.84

E 48397 0.68 1.07 0.00 0.00 0.61 2.34

E 48398 1.99 6.10 0.00 0.00 3.34 5.95

E 48400 10.91 34.67 0.00 0.00 22.11 21.67

E 48401 5.94 19.48 0.00 0.00 14.23 12.61

E 48405 28.75 36.53 0.00 0.00 23.56 13.04

E 48382 9.37 31.71 0.00 0.00 22.41 24.65

E 48383 32.75 102.00 0.00 0.00 84.34 62.19

E 48384 4.17 9.47 0.00 0.00 8.12 4.93

E 48985 72.63 168.81 0.00 0.00 167.32 105.65

E 48986 0.39 0.32 0.00 0.43 0.93 0.36

E 48987 0.16 0.10 0.00 0.18 0.33 0.15

E 48988 3.63 2.39 0.00 4.30 11.36 3.47

E 48989 4.28 3.95 0.00 4.35 7.68 3.59

E 48993 1.55 2.76 0.00 5.94 4.36 8.51

E 48991 79.74 88.00 0.00 119.24 174.10 143.47

E 48992 19.99 22.82 0.00 46.92 77.23 39.67

DMN:dimethylnaphthalene

A33

A Data Compilation

Table A.18:(continued)

Sample 1,5- 1,2- A-C3- B-C3- C-C3- D-C3-

DMN DMN N N N N

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 14.31 25.44 5.85 9.77 5.92 3.76

E 48990 0.74 0.58 0.07 0.10 0.23 0.24

E 48996 0.65 1.78 0.78 0.88 2.52 2.59

E 48388 35.56 35.43 6.86 12.79 9.85 7.75

E 48389 15.60 14.58 3.32 5.75 3.64 3.51

E 48390 19.13 19.44 4.14 7.59 4.10 3.53

E 48214 26.85 27.61 6.63 10.62 7.31 5.53

E 48216 29.36 31.05 5.75 8.75 7.63 6.03

E 48403 0.90 1.17 0.58 2.25 0.91 0.64

E 48220 7.50 6.76 2.53 4.80 5.70 3.56

E 48392 9.30 7.93 2.03 4.27 2.78 1.80

E 48393 7.49 6.48 2.11 3.76 2.89 1.80

E 48394 6.74 4.22 3.02 4.25 4.39 2.73

E 48395 4.50 4.94 2.40 5.79 2.72 1.94

E 48396 6.83 7.43 2.84 4.83 3.90 2.16

E 48397 0.65 0.72 0.70 0.46 1.57 0.79

E 48398 2.15 2.00 1.07 2.86 1.49 1.08

E 48400 7.50 7.47 1.96 3.98 3.04 2.33

E 48401 5.76 5.81 1.07 3.82 2.49 2.16

E 48405 5.03 2.40 0.87 4.71 1.35 1.06

E 48382 7.57 11.63 2.13 5.46 2.22 1.75

E 48383 26.52 32.61 4.42 8.95 6.62 4.40

E 48384 2.42 2.89 0.44 1.72 0.61 0.37

E 48985 58.33 64.74 0.00 26.30 14.69 12.67

E 48986 0.25 0.37 0.02 0.10 0.06 0.04

E 48987 0.09 0.13 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.01

E 48988 1.86 1.18 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

E 48989 1.88 3.36 0.25 0.59 0.36 0.23

E 48993 3.30 4.05 0.76 1.03 1.24 1.18

E 48991 61.55 85.99 9.13 19.04 16.90 12.89

E 48992 27.26 39.90 2.73 7.16 4.16 2.48

DMN:dimethylnaphthalene, N:naphthalene

A34

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.18:(continued)

Sample E-C3- F-C3- G-C3- 1,3,7- 1,3,6- 1,3,5 +

N N N TMN TMN 1,4,6-TMN

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 21.89 13.80 8.71 23.13 31.74 35.61

E 48990 0.33 0.47 0.28 3.12 3.37 4.06

E 48996 5.61 2.30 2.83 5.25 3.53 12.88

E 48388 28.74 20.55 3.26 97.24 106.67 81.88

E 48389 14.83 6.95 1.41 42.47 52.11 31.07

E 48390 17.13 9.34 1.04 47.58 50.72 34.92

E 48214 12.56 13.27 2.55 67.92 77.78 53.69

E 48216 26.23 13.71 2.56 87.22 94.75 72.13

E 48403 3.32 1.91 0.11 10.91 12.73 8.96

E 48220 16.75 8.33 1.34 40.64 43.00 34.92

E 48392 8.64 5.43 2.96 16.26 14.67 13.45

E 48393 8.82 5.91 1.11 17.09 16.35 15.03

E 48394 11.44 8.21 1.33 22.49 19.88 21.73

E 48395 8.76 3.8.0 0.76 13.50 12.58 8.65

E 48396 8.85 5.17 0.93 15.93 11.69 15.24

E 48397 2.92 2.49 0.13 4.76 3.69 6.34

E 48398 3.54 2.15 0.33 6.33 4.71 5.78

E 48400 9.78 5.07 0.83 22.30 24.49 19.78

E 48401 6.85 5.89 0.88 22.14 24.00 22.48

E 48405 6.36 3.43 0.23 13.33 15.29 6.74

E 48382 5.35 4.02 0.88 8.43 8.04 6.85

E 48383 21.48 9.11 1.77 39.37 48.69 40.59

E 48384 1.34 0.91 0.08 2.68 3.36 2.46

E 48985 96.27 59.6 26.12 199.93 279.74 220.99

E 48986 0.14 0.11 0.06 0.57 0.78 0.68

E 48987 0.08 0.06 0.03 0.24 0.29 0.23

E 48988 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.52 6.75 10.18

E 48989 0.80 0.73 0.43 2.91 3.52 3.08

E 48993 1.96 1.55 2.44 3.46 4.75 8.87

E 48991 56.09 33.13 20.02 109.54 148.18 158.26

E 48992 9.21 10.59 4.41 13.18 20.80 35.40

N:naphthalene, TMN:trimethylnaphthalene

A35

A Data Compilation

Table A.18:(continued)

Sample 2,3,6- 1,2,7- 1,6,7- 1,2,6- 1,2,4- 1,2,5-

TMN TMN TMN TMN TMN TMN

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 32.37 14.29 36.99 35.36 13.91 162.94

E 48990 2.15 1.57 2.63 1.24 0.66 3.38

E 48996 4.18 2.99 23.71 1.91 3.01 5.96

E 48388 102.75 17.31 71.08 45.24 9.92 42.60

E 48389 49.63 7.51 29.9 14.6 3.91 11.46

E 48390 50.17 8.34 29.41 16.65 4.55 12.85

E 48214 74.57 14.33 49.84 31.67 7.73 26.95

E 48216 89.51 15.43 59.54 34.31 10.73 31.39

E 48403 9.25 1.21 6.32 2.92 0.60 2.75

E 48220 55.20 9.53 36.20 15.34 5.48 17.48

E 48392 20.36 6.33 17.38 8.93 2.06 11.56

E 48393 20.97 4.97 18.09 8.97 2.42 13.00

E 48394 31.71 8.43 28.53 10.49 3.05 21.27

E 48395 15.11 2.43 10.67 8.16 1.44 6.77

E 48396 16.06 5.23 17.74 10.34 3.11 15.49

E 48397 8.11 3.02 7.97 6.30 1.16 13.46

E 48398 5.96 1.98 5.81 3.38 1.33 4.98

E 48400 23.37 4.76 18.79 10.33 3.05 12.85

E 48401 25.36 5.54 20.39 15.96 4.24 16.68

E 48405 13.77 1.22 5.64 2.27 0.59 1.11

E 48382 8.40 2.89 10.06 6.23 2.02 9.99

E 48383 45.87 15.85 41.72 49.58 9.24 127.81

E 48384 2.60 0.84 2.65 3.09 0.55 5.04

E 48985 242.58 188.53 182.98 191.69 45.52 528.50

E 48986 0.54 1.46 0.42 0.64 0.08 2.03

E 48987 0.24 0.23 0.20 0.24 0.04 0.76

E 48988 5.28 3.54 16.37 3.18 0.00 38.83

E 48989 2.95 6.59 2.24 2.91 0.52 6.81

E 48993 4.30 4.36 7.69 5.05 4.66 10.15

E 48991 163.47 62.29 138.31 153.23 36.90 211.53

E 48992 17.02 22.19 24.12 42.58 9.30 237.11

TMN:trimethylnaphthalene

A36

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.18:(continued)

Sample H-C4- I-C4- J-C4- 1,3,5,7- 1,3,6,7- K-

N N N TeMN TeMN TeMN

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 11.45 0.00 0.00 1.64 4.71 22.64

E 48990 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.58 2.01 1.87

E 48996 4.08 1.34 7.68 7.75 10.83 13.59

E 48388 9.00 2.49 16.10 19.43 44.99 25.62

E 48389 4.16 1.49 8.12 8.43 18.92 8.98

E 48390 3.99 1.02 5.20 8.65 17.15 9.38

E 48214 6.94 2.78 13.69 15.92 30.04 16.72

E 48216 8.32 4.09 15.53 17.44 42.26 26.01

E 48403 1.18 0.41 1.38 2.13 4.36 1.94

E 48220 6.40 2.95 12.05 14.06 29.97 18.32

E 48392 1.87 1.07 3.74 5.36 7.86 4.66

E 48393 1.98 1.51 4.04 5.85 9.39 6.14

E 48394 3.71 2.36 7.10 9.39 16.28 10.56

E 48395 1.87 0.69 3.56 3.79 5.33 2.75

E 48396 2.38 4.03 4.61 6.17 8.20 6.14

E 48397 1.38 2.61 2.79 1.48 6.07 5.45

E 48398 1.11 2.07 2.31 3.08 4.08 3.10

E 48400 2.87 1.32 5.05 6.99 13.04 7.74

E 48401 4.40 2.16 7.75 10.20 19.90 13.64

E 48405 1.00 0.26 1.05 1.60 2.46 0.96

E 48382 0.88 0.47 2.13 3.16 3.22 2.30

E 48383 4.72 2.40 9.79 13.33 19.41 17.28

E 48384 0.23 0.12 0.50 0.77 1.06 1.00

E 48985 0.00 0.00 0.00 104.18 217.41 188.09

E 48986 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.23 0.18 0.45

E 48987 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00

E 48988 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.80 8.80 9.97

E 48989 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.82 0.00 1.10

E 48993 4.61 0.00 1.17 3.96 6.26 7.27

E 48991 0.00 0.00 9.44 39.54 98.63 89.58

E 48992 2.76 1.23 2.40 4.90 12.51 13.47

N:naphthalene, TeMN:tetramethylnaphthalene

K-TeMN = 1,2,4,6- + 1,2,4,7- + 1,4,6,7-TeMN

A37

A Data Compilation

Table A.18:(continued)

Sample 1,2,5,7- 2,3,6,7- ,1,2,6,7- 1,2,3,7- 1,2,3,6- L-

TeMN TeMN TeMN TeMN TeMN TeMN

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 19.59 4.19 13.64 6.54 18.33 99.25

E 48990 1.28 0.47 0.94 0.55 0.97 1.33

E 48996 5.15 3.28 5.69 3.00 5.21 22.50

E 48388 13.81 11.77 18.09 6.66 16.72 25.00

E 48389 4.68 6.22 6.20 3.12 6.63 7.32

E 48390 4.01 5.24 5.59 2.62 4.88 7.78

E 48214 8.87 9.61 11.63 5.66 12.70 16.52

E 48216 12.21 13.53 14.83 6.65 16.51 20.30

E 48403 0.75 1.45 0.86 0.47 1.08 0.93

E 48220 9.38 9.90 11.83 5.68 13.14 16.46

E 48392 3.19 1.70 3.75 1.72 3.29 4.90

E 48393 3.55 2.40 4.15 2.19 4.58 7.70

E 48394 6.62 4.35 6.99 3.44 7.02 13.05

E 48395 2.05 1.89 2.86 1.24 3.15 4.59

E 48396 4.59 2.48 5.40 2.37 5.43 10.38

E 48397 4.99 1.50 4.83 1.92 4.11 15.34

E 48398 2.40 1.50 2.88 1.32 2.70 4.97

E 48400 4.60 3.58 6.36 2.30 5.60 9.88

E 48401 8.63 6.76 11.29 4.73 10.82 19.25

E 48405 0.32 1.07 0.79 0.55 0.59 0.27

E 48382 1.82 0.82 2.73 0.90 2.55 6.05

E 48383 15.62 5.96 16.21 6.09 17.25 60.09

E 48384 1.08 0.33 1.06 0.34 0.95 4.10

E 48985 130.83 49.75 124.38 115.10 184.22 354.39

E 48986 0.43 0.19 0.38 0.32 0.39 1.46

E 48987 0.13 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.14 0.41

E 48988 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

E 48989 0.96 0.47 0.96 0.64 0.88 3.32

E 48993 5.28 1.35 4.40 2.60 5.00 32.72

E 48991 76.53 33.58 79.37 32.73 80.76 166.36

E 48992 28.23 13.20 4.09 3.89 10.95 103.91

TeMN:tetramethylnaphthalene

L-TeMN = 1,2,5,6- + 1,2,3,5-TeMN

A38

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.18:(continued)

Sample Cadalene SUM

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 19.27 1045.66

E 48990 0.27 42.12

E 48996 6.82 194.47

E 48388 4.55 2407.72

E 48389 1.99 1260.50

E 48390 1.78 1593.93

E 48214 3.28 1825.30

E 48216 4.05 2174.85

E 48403 0.34 97.68

E 48220 3.17 609.21

E 48392 0.83 382.66

E 48393 1.87 349.57

E 48394 2.32 417.27

E 48395 1.06 230.58

E 48396 0.90 282.46

E 48397 0.43 124.10

E 48398 0.71 117.30

E 48400 1.50 415.34

E 48401 2.24 379.00

E 48405 0.23 378.25

E 48382 0.54 419.12

E 48383 2.37 1372.32

E 48384 0.11 141.42

E 48985 237.24 4758.26

E 48986 3.50 20.62

E 48987 0.47 5.67

E 48988 0.00 143.50

E 48989 9.62 149.98

E 48993 8.51 189.01

E 48991 15.29 3228.00

E 48992 0.00 1236.93

A39

A Data Compilation

Table A.19: Distribution of Alkylnaphthalenes (samples without standard)

Sample N 2-MN 1-MN 2-EN 1-EN 2,6-DMN

% % % % % %

E 48478 0.6 11.8 15.3 2.9 4.0 8.9

E 48479 2.2 35.4 40.1 3.7 4.3 15.3

E 49749 100.0 90.0 44.9 0.0 0.0 3.8

E 49748 52.6 81.0 56.8 7.1 7.1 8.5

E 49750 100.0 72.5 40.4 2.5 0.0 1.6

E 49751 6.8 70.6 75.0 11.7 17.8 31.6

E 48430 3.5 100.0 91.4 14.0 11.2 33.5

E 48425 0.0 0.0 12.7 0.0 0.0 12.2

N:naphthalene, MN:methylnaphthalene

EN:ethylnaphthalene, DMN:dimethylnaphthalene

Table A.19:(continued)

Sample 2,7- 1,3- 1,7- 1,6- 1,4 + 1,5-

DMN DMN DMN DMN 2,3-DMN DMN

% % % % % %

E 48478 16.5 28.4 0.0 36.3 21.0 16.6

E 48479 16.9 43.7 0.0 82.1 18.7 22.7

E 49749 3.7 3.9 6.4 15.5 7.5 0.8

E 49748 9.6 9.4 15.1 23.1 16.4 7.6

E 49750 1.6 0.0 0.0 6.8 2.6 0.3

E 49751 40.3 42.9 68.7 97.8 56.1 28.6

E 48430 28.3 54.1 56.1 77.3 82.6 26.8

E 48425 30.3 12.4 19.6 33.0 21.0 7.0

DMN:dimethylnaphthalene

A40

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.19:(continued)

Sample 1,2- A-C3- B-C3- C-C3- D-C3- E-C3-

DMN N N N N N

% % % % % %

E 48478 8.0 1.7 4.3 3.5 2.6 7.3

E 48479 15.9 1.5 4.3 3.7 3.1 7.4

E 49749 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49748 10.3 1.9 0.0 2.3 1.9 2.1

E 49750 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49751 35.5 5.0 16.0 7.2 6.6 5.2

E 48430 32.0 7.2 9.6 9.5 6.6 12.2

E 48425 4.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13.1

N:naphthalene, DMN:dimethylnaphthalene

Table A.19:(continued)

Sample F-C3- G-C3- 1,3,7- 1,3,6- 1,3,5 + 2,3,6

N N TMN TMN 1,4,6-TMN TMN

% % % % % %

E 48478 9.3 4.1 23.6 43.6 31.9 33.5

E 48479 7.4 0.0 38.8 78.8 58.3 36.0

E 49748 2.5 2.3 3.9 7.2 10.6 8.0

E 49749 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.4 0.6 0.0

E 49750 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.6 0.9

E 49751 7.6 4.8 9.1 27.1 45.9 35.8

E 48430 10.0 9.8 21.5 15.0 36.7 59.2

E 48425 14.6 2.8 32.9 54.4 18.8 72.3

N:naphthalene, TMN:trimethylnaphthalene

A41

A Data Compilation

Table A.19:(continued)

Sample 1,2,7- 1,6,7- 1,2,6- 1,2,4- 1,2,5- H-C4-

TMN TMN TMN TMN TMN N

% % % % % %

E 48478 7.5 27.0 31.5 5.9 51.4 6.0

E 48479 13.9 30.8 58.2 9.7 98.9 9.4

E 49748 4.5 6.8 8.4 3.5 22.1 1.4

E 49749 0.0 1.9 3.7 0.0 18.1 0.0

E 49750 0.0 0.6 1.3 0.0 8.1 0.0

E 49751 17.5 32.3 29.3 9.7 54.8 6.9

E 48430 22.6 63.8 27.3 2.6 87.6 0.0

E 48425 0.0 25.1 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0

TMN:trimethylnaphthalene, N:naphthalene

Table A.19:(continued)

Sample I-C4- J-C4- 1,3,5,7- 1,3,6,7- K- 1,2,5,7-

N N TeMN TeMN TeMN TeMN

% % % % % %

E 48478 0.0 9.4 11.0 29.6 31.7 34.1

E 48479 0.0 13.3 35.4 37.8 50.4 46.6

E 49748 0.0 4.1 1.4 0.0 7.5 5.9

E 49749 0.0 0.0 1.2 0.0 12.0 7.7

E 49750 0.0 0.0 2.3 0.0 9.6 7.2

E 49751 0.0 0.0 3.0 18.4 16.8 15.5

E 48430 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48425 0.0 0.0 0.0 21.0 0.0 0.0

N:naphthalene, TeMN:tetramethylnaphthalene

K-TeMN = 1,2,4,6- + 1,2,4,7- + 1,4,6,7-TeMN

A42

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.19:(continued)

Sample 2,3,6,7- ,1,2,6,7- 1,2,3,7- 1,2,3,6- L- Cadalene

TeMN TeMN TeMN TeMN TeMN

% % % % % %

E 48425 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48430 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49751 5.1 11.8 4.6 18.6 36.6 10.9

E 49750 1.8 8.1 2.9 25.8 58.4 0.0

E 49749 0.0 9.3 2.4 24.7 70.7 0.0

E 49748 0.0 4.4 1.6 10.3 18.5 9.2

E 48478 11.7 25.1 17.6 49.5 100.0 2.9

E 48479 12.5 31.5 21.8 49.0 100.0 0.0

TeMN:tetramethylnaphthalene

L-TeMN = 1,2,5,6- + 1,2,3,5-TeMN

A43

A Data Compilation

Table A.20: Ratios of Alkylnaphthalenes

Sample TNR1 TNR2 TNNr TeMN TrMN

E 49710 0.91 0.82 0.12 0.05 0.23

E 49748 0.76 0.67 0.15 0.00 0.25

E 49749 - - - - -

E 49750 - - - - -

E 49751 0.78 0.61 0.14 0.33 0.28

E 48990 0.53 0.71 0.48 0.60 0.39

E 48478 1.05 0.76 0.31 0.23 0.39

E 48479 0.62 0.55 0.28 0.27 0.36

E 48480 - - - - -

E 48996 0.32 0.57 0.47 0.32 0.20

E 48388 1.25 1.06 0.70 0.64 0.53

E 48389 1.60 1.11 0.79 0.72 0.59

E 48390 1.44 1.14 0.79 0.69 0.58

E 48214 1.39 1.08 0.72 0.65 0.54

E 48216 1.24 1.06 0.74 0.68 0.55

E 48430 1.61 1.56 0.20 ?? 0.28

E 48403 1.03 0.93 0.80 0.82 0.59

E 48392 1.51 1.30 0.58 0.62 0.46

E 48393 1.40 1.21 0.57 0.55 0.47

E 48394 1.46 1.30 0.51 0.56 0.44

E 48395 1.75 1.35 0.67 0.54 0.52

E 48396 1.05 1.19 0.51 0.44 0.39

E 48397 1.28 1.28 0.26 0.28 0.30

E 48398 1.03 1.17 0.56 0.45 0.42

E 48400 1.18 1.03 0.63 0.57 0.50

E 48401 1.13 1.02 0.57 0.51 0.46

E 48405 2.04 1.23 0.92 0.90 0.71

E 48425 - - - - -

E 48382 1.23 1.13 0.46 0.35 0.40

E 48383 1.13 0.95 0.24 0.24 0.32

E 48384 1.06 0.91 0.35 0.21 0.37

E 48985 1.10 0.88 0.27 0.38 0.35

E 48986 0.78 0.76 0.22 0.11 0.26

E 48987 1.04 0.92 0.24 - 0.31

E 48988 0.52 0.70 0.14 1.00 0.20

E 48989 0.96 0.89 0.30 - 0.30

E 48993 0.49 0.57 0.25 0.16 0.23

E 48991 1.03 0.89 0.34 0.37 0.36

E 48992 0.48 0.54 0.05 0.11 0.12

for abbreviation of ratios see Table 6.4

A44

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.21: Concentrations of Alkylphenanthrenes

Sample P 3-MP 2-MP 9-MP 1-MP 3-EP 2-EP

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 36.4 37.6 54.6 46.9 2.7 5.2 3.5

E 48990 13.3 12.2 16.9 15.4 24.4 1.1 1.0

E 48996 40.4 18.8 20.7 28.7 20.5 7.5 3.7

E 48388 174.8 96.7 116.7 116.8 98.6 11.3 7.2

E 48389 101.9 61.9 73.5 70.3 49.4 5.5 3.3

E 48390 127.7 52.9 68.2 61.6 44.6 5.3 3.5

E 48214 195.9 71.0 86.9 85.2 65.3 7.9 4.4

E 48216 155.0 89.3 106.1 111.7 79.9 9.7 6.1

E 48403 53.9 98.6 86.1 74.1 45.4 5.3 1.2

E 48220 101.9 87.1 88.5 111.9 72.7 10.1 6.9

E 48392 105.5 26.6 31.5 45.4 30.3 3.4 2.2

E 48393 84.8 24.5 28.8 44.2 27.6 3.4 2.4

E 48394 141.9 41.0 46.0 76.6 45.8 6.0 3.9

E 48395 94.3 29.8 33.4 45.5 26.1 3.5 2.5

E 48396 91.4 30.3 33.4 49.8 34.5 4.5 3.0

E 48397 51.6 30.2 24.8 40.7 31.3 4.5 4.4

E 48398 60.5 25.1 24.3 35.1 21.2 3.7 2.5

E 48400 68.1 41.2 46.8 58.4 40.3 5.9 3.4

E 48401 184.7 87.1 101.6 153.7 97.0 13.3 9.1

E 48405 265.8 113.5 141.6 70.7 49.9 5.1 0.9

E 48382 202.3 45.7 62.5 94.1 51.3 4.7 4.2

E 48383 138.3 88.1 111.3 128.1 101.4 8.8 4.3

E 48384 39.5 10.2 12.1 18.8 11.4 0.9 0.9

E 48985 10550 5636 7586 2238 1895 317 175

E 48986 45.5 3.9 4.8 3.0 3.9 0.2 0.1

E 48987 38.4 3.9 5.4 2.7 4.3 0.2 0.1

E 48988 90.8 39.4 46.9 83.3 51.7 8.1 0.8

E 48989 105.1 7.4 8.8 5.2 6.4 0.4 0.2

E 48993 22.0 10.9 10.8 11.4 11.0 2.8 1.8

E 48991 866.7 424.2 480.9 537.6 501.0 52.2 53.8

E 48992 227.3 77.5 84.4 142.9 117.2 9.7 12.1

P:phenanthrene, MP:methylphenanthrene

EP:ethylphenanthrene

A45

A Data Compilation

Table A.21:(continued)

Sample 3,6- 9- 2,6- 2,7- 1,3- + 1,6-

DMP EP DMP DMP 2,10- + 3,9- 2,9-

3,10-DMP DMP

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 2.8 6.2 4.5 39.9 10.1 9.5

E 48990 4.4 2.7 3.9 3.2 16.8 5.7

E 48996 6.9 2.2 2.2 2.3 19.9 7.7

E 48388 27.7 9.1 22.5 14.7 110.9 56.4

E 48389 15.8 3.7 14.0 9.8 67.0 31.3

E 48390 14.2 3.7 11.2 8.5 59.0 32.5

E 48214 17.9 6.4 13.7 9.0 68.9 36.1

E 48216 25.9 6.1 22.5 15.2 124.6 59.1

E 48403 18.3 0.7 24.6 21.7 86.8 39.1

E 48220 24.4 6.9 18.7 13.2 113.4 53.5

E 48392 6.5 3.3 3.7 2.6 21.5 12.6

E 48393 6.7 2.7 4.2 3.0 24.4 14.3

E 48394 12.3 4.3 6.8 5.1 43.0 21.8

E 48395 7.7 3.3 4.0 2.3 23.2 11.5

E 48396 8.9 3.9 4.2 3.2 26.6 13.6

E 48397 7.7 5.2 4.0 2.5 27.9 13.3

E 48398 8.3 2.9 3.7 2.2 22.0 11.3

E 48400 13.4 4.0 8.0 5.6 50.1 26.0

E 48401 30.7 12.9 19.9 11.8 114.5 57.0

E 48405 17.4 n.d. 19.8 15.4 53.2 26.1

E 48382 10.7 3.8 4.3 3.1 27.6 12.6

E 48383 21.6 6.9 14.8 10.9 76.8 40.8

E 48384 2.1 1.0 1.3 0.9 9.4 4.5

E 48985 352 818 1492 1032 2002 1288

E 48986 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.3 1.4 0.9

E 48987 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.5 1.9 1.3

E 48988 8.9 9.6 11.0 10.7 89.0 98.0

E 48989 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.5 2.4 1.7

E 48993 3.5 1.9 1.0 0.8 11.9 12.7

E 48991 39.4 44.2 84.9 64.3 466.0 147.1

E 48992 11.1 12.4 6.8 4.3 62.0 32.7

n.d.:not detected

DMP:dimethylphenanthrene, EP:ethylphenanthrene

A46

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.21:(continued)

Sample 1,7- 2,3- 1,9- + 1,8- A-C3- B-C3- C-C3-

DMP DMP 4,6-DMP DMP P P P

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 62.9 29.4 n.d. 19.4 n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48990 19.7 3.4 7.0 4.2 n.d. n.d. 2.3

E 48996 4.2 6.6 8.3 n.d. n.d n.d. 3.4

E 48388 36.7 34.1 27.4 19.3 6.1 2.1 8.8

E 48389 20.6 21.1 13.0 8.7 2.6 0.8 4.5

E 48390 13.4 17.3 11.8 7.5 2.3 0.9 3.8

E 48214 20.5 20.2 16.8 11.1 3.6 1.3 4.8

E 48216 31.7 35.4 26.6 16.2 4.6 2.2 8.2

E 48403 28.9 16.9 14.1 3.7 1.2 0.2 3.1

E 48220 23.3 28.9 25.1 14.5 3.6 2.4 7.2

E 48392 6.6 6.1 6.7 4.1 1.6 0.5 1.7

E 48393 8.7 6.4 6.6 4.3 4.2 0.6 1.9

E 48394 12.7 11.1 14.4 6.4 4.8 0.9 3.8

E 48395 4.7 5.8 6.4 3.2 0.8 0.6 1.9

E 48396 7.7 7.2 8.3 4.8 1.3 1.0 2.6

E 48397 8.3 6.1 9.7 5.0 1.0 1.5 2.1

E 48398 5.0 4.2 6.9 3.6 1.0 0.6 1.9

E 48400 11.7 12.4 11.8 7.6 1.8 1.0 4.1

E 48401 27.2 27.1 34.2 16.6 5.9 2.8 9.2

E 48405 14.1 14.7 5.8 2.7 0.9 0.1 2.1

E 48382 6.7 7.9 9.0 5.3 1.5 1.1 2.4

E 48383 26.1 20.7 22.9 13.2 3.3 1.6 5.8

E 48384 3.4 1.8 3.5 1.4 0.2 0.4 0.5

E 48985 845 429 363 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48986 1.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48987 1.9 0.4 0.4 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48988 36.9 19.3 37.4 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 1.9 0.4 0.7 0.5 n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48993 4.9 3.9 2.7 4.5 4.6 n.d. n.d.

E 48991 192.9 137.4 150.7 125.6 22.6 n.d. 37.7

E 48992 33.8 14.5 26.1 21.2 n.d. n.d. 4.3

n.d.:not detected

DMP:dimethylphenanthrene, P:phenanthrene

A47

A Data Compilation

Table A.21:(continued)

Sample D-C3- E-C3- F-C3- G-C3- H-C3- I-C3- J-C3-

P P P P P P P

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 7.1 21.5 20.5 2.3 10.6 15.4 n.d.

E 48990 1.1 5.0 0.6 n.d. 3.6 n.d. 46.5

E 48996 2.3 7.2 13.0 n.d. n.d. n.d 9.0

E 48388 6.3 20.2 8.9 2.1 23.7 14.4 50.3

E 48389 3.6 11.8 6.1 1.2 12.1 10.2 30.1

E 48390 3.0 9.4 2.7 0.8 10.0 5.9 20.8

E 48214 3.8 11.4 4.7 1.5 11.1 8.3 26.8

E 48216 6.7 18.4 6.8 2.6 27.2 13.9 54.6

E 48403 2.9 10.2 0.9 0.1 13.1 5.5 29.6

E 48220 6.5 18.1 3.3 2.7 20.5 11.0 43.7

E 48392 1.4 4.2 1.1 0.4 2.1 2.2 7.2

E 48393 1.7 5.6 2.0 1.2 3.5 2.6 10.1

E 48394 3.2 9.0 1.9 1.3 5.2 4.2 18.2

E 48395 1.2 4.5 0.9 0.2 2.5 2.7 5.8

E 48396 2.1 6.0 1.2 0.5 3.3 3.2 8.6

E 48397 1.4 6.4 1.7 0.2 3.9 3.5 9.1

E 48398 1.3 5.1 0.8 0.3 3.3 2.6 7.0

E 48400 2.8 9.9 2.5 1.0 8.2 4.9 17.9

E 48401 6.6 25.1 6.6 1.8 20.4 14.8 45.8

E 48405 2.0 6.0 0.6 n.d. 7.1 4.2 13.5

E 48382 1.5 6.0 1.6 0.3 2.0 3.1 8.0

E 48383 5.1 15.5 2.8 1.5 10.4 9.2 30.9

E 48384 0.3 1.7 0.4 n.d. 1.4 1.0 3.4

E 48985 141 340 50 n.d. 563 n.d. 958

E 48986 0.1 0.2 n.d. n.d. 0.2 n.d. 0.7

E 48987 0.1 0.2 0.1 n.d. 0.4 0.1 1.2

E 48988 6.0 21.5 20.3 n.d. 35.9 18.4 57.3

E 48989 n.d. 0.3 0.1 n.d. 0.4 0.2 1.3

E 48993 2.0 2.9 n.d. n.d. n.d. 1.9 15.8

E 48991 32.5 103.8 29.1 n.d. 121.4 n.d. 241.3

E 48992 2.6 14.4 2.6 n.d. 7.4 n.d. 15.6

n.d.:not detected

P:phenanthrene

A48

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.21:(continued)

Sample K-C3- L-C3- M-C3- N-C3- O-C3- P-C3- Q-C3-

P P P P P P P

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 n.d. 6.3 33.8 12.0 8.5 n.d. n.d.

E 48990 n.d. 0.9 7.1 1.5 1.2 1.3 1.1

E 48996 n.d. 0.5 7.4 4.2 1.5 0.8 n.d.

E 48388 10.4 7.2 36.8 12.7 9.6 9.1 8.3

E 48389 6.9 3.5 20.3 8.3 6.7 5.1 5.3

E 48390 6.4 2.8 14.3 6.1 3.6 4.0 3.7

E 48214 6.1 3.2 18.4 6.9 4.9 4.8 4.3

E 48216 20.0 7.4 40.1 16.1 9.8 10.7 9.3

E 48403 n.d. 2.6 14.0 6.3 2.8 4.2 4.9

E 48220 17.3 6.1 31.7 12.6 7.2 8.3 8.5

E 48392 2.2 0.8 4.8 1.9 1.6 1.1 1.1

E 48393 3.3 1.2 7.1 2.7 2.5 1.4 1.2

E 48394 5.4 2.2 12.5 4.6 3.8 2.9 2.9

E 48395 1.2 0.9 3.6 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.2

E 48396 2.7 1.2 6.8 2.3 1.7 1.6 1.7

E 48397 1.6 1.8 6.2 1.3 1.8 1.4 1.9

E 48398 1.3 1.0 4.5 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.5

E 48400 5.3 2.6 13.0 4.4 3.0 3.4 3.3

E 48401 8.8 6.5 29.9 8.6 8.1 7.6 7.6

E 48405 n.d. 0.9 3.1 3.5 1.3 1.3 n.d.

E 48382 1.6 1.5 4.4 1.2 1.3 1.3 2.6

E 48383 6.4 3.3 19.0 6.7 5.8 5.3 5.8

E 48384 0.3 0.6 2.3 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6

E 48985 n.d. 59.6 450.2 129.0 72.1 107.7 n.d.

E 48986 n.d. n.d. 0.3 n.d. 0.1 n.d. n.d.

E 48987 n.d n.d. 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 n.d.

E 48988 n.d. 6.9 43.6 11.3 6.6 11.6 8.1

E 48989 n.d. 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.1 n.d.

E 48993 n.d. n.d. 4.9 n.d. 1.8 0.8 n.d.

E 48991 n.d. 31.3 201.9 58.6 43.8 50.9 37.4

E 48992 n.d. n.d. 15.5 n.d. 4.8 3.4 3.6

n.d.:not detected

P:phenanthrene

A49

A Data Compilation

Table A.21:(continued)

Sample R-C3- S-C3- T-C3- 1,2,8- Ret- U-C4- V-C4-

P P P TMP ene P P

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 n.d. n.d. 25.4 28.9 21.1 8.6 4.2

E 48990 n.d. 2.6 8.0 1.7 32.9 0.8 0.4

E 48996 n.d. 8.2 3.3 n.d. 6.1 n.d. 1.8

E 48388 18.0 6.1 21.6 16.0 17.0 5.5 2.4

E 48389 11.3 3.4 10.7 8.3 5.5 4.1 1.2

E 48390 7.6 2.0 7.6 4.8 4.8 2.1 0.9

E 48214 9.8 3.2 10.4 7.8 9.7 2.7 1.8

E 48216 21.7 5.4 20.1 16.0 13.8 6.2 3.0

E 48403 6.3 1.0 3.2 1.4 n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48220 14.2 5.8 17.5 15.1 12.3 3.9 2.5

E 48392 2.6 0.8 4.0 2.6 7.6 0.7 0.3

E 48393 3.2 1.2 6.7 3.3 18.2 1.1 0.5

E 48394 6.0 2.6 11.0 5.9 27.2 1.8 0.9

E 48395 1.6 0.7 2.1 1.9 2.3 0.5 0.3

E 48396 3.3 1.0 3.9 4.1 2.3 1.0 0.5

E 48397 3.0 1.1 3.6 7.2 2.8 0.8 0.5

E 48398 2.1 0.8 2.5 2.6 1.9 0.6 0.4

E 48400 6.2 2.1 8.4 6.7 7.5 1.8 1.1

E 48401 15.2 4.9 18.4 15.4 27.8 5.4 2.1

E 48405 n.d. n.d. 1.0 0.4 n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48382 2.2 0.9 2.9 3.6 3.9 0.5 0.3

E 48383 9.6 3.6 12.5 22.1 9.5 2.3 1.1

E 48384 0.9 0.3 1.1 2.9 0.4 0.2 0.1

E 48985 n.d. n.d. 171.6 532.4 570.9 30.2 12.2

E 48986 n.d. 0.1 n.d. 0.3 2.1 n.d. n.d.

E 48987 n.d. 0.1 n.d. 0.4 7.2 n.d. n.d.

E 48988 n.d. n.d. 6.6 n.d. 13.0 3.4 2.5

E 48989 n.d. n.d. n.d. 0.5 4.2 n.d. n.d.

E 48993 n.d. n.d. n.d. 6.0 71.3 0.6 n.d.

E 48991 n.d. 107.5 142.6 110.5 71.9 22.5 15.2

E 48992 n.d. n.d. 12.5 47.9 14.3 1.9 0.7

n.d.:not detected

P:phenanthrene, TMP:trimethylphenanthrene

A50

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.21:(continued)

Sample W-C4- X-C4- Y-C4- Z-C4- AA-C4- AB-C4- AC-C4-

P P P P P P P

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 13.2 n.d. 2.7 19.2 n.d. 7.0 2.9

E 48990 0.7 n.d. 1.0 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48996 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48388 2.4 2.8 7.4 6.8 1.8 16.8 6.1

E 48389 1.1 0.8 4.1 9.3 1.2 10.3 3.3

E 48390 0.9 0.5 2.5 1.7 0.7 6.6 1.2

E 48214 1.0 1.1 2.9 5.9 1.1 7.4 2.6

E 48216 2.5 2.7 8.4 10.2 2.2 20.6 6.2

E 48403 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48220 2.5 2.3 6.8 2.2 2.7 15.7 4.4

E 48392 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.6 0.3 1.7 0.3

E 48393 0.4 0.6 1.3 1.0 0.4 2.1 1.7

E 48394 0.8 1.1 2.2 1.5 0.9 3.9 2.0

E 48395 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.2 1.3 0.3

E 48396 0.5 0.8 1.1 0.4 0.6 1.8 0.5

E 48397 0.4 0.9 1.3 0.3 0.3 2.2 0.8

E 48398 0.3 0.2 0.8 0.3 0.3 1.6 0.3

E 48400 1.1 0.4 2.2 n.d. n.d. 5.3 1.1

E 48401 0.7 1.4 5.6 5.3 0.7 12.3 2.9

E 48405 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48382 0.2 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.2 1.6 0.7

E 48383 2.0 1.2 2.8 0.9 1.4 9.1 1.5

E 48384 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.1 n.d. 0.6 0.3

E 48985 n.d 91.0 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 70.6

E 48986 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48987 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48988 n.d. n.d. 6.6 n.d. n.d. n.d. 5.2

E 48989 n.d. n.d. 0.1 n.d. n.d. n.d. 0.1

E 48993 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 1.8

E 48991 17.7 n.d. 36.1 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48992 0.5 n.d. 1.8 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

n.d.:not detected

P:phenanthrene

A51

A Data Compilation

Table A.21:(continued)

Sample AD-C4- AE-C4- SUM

P P

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 5.3 7.8 1118.0

E 48990 n.d. 0.9 282.8

E 48996 n.d. n.d. 268.8

E 48388 4.2 7.9 1360.5

E 48389 2.2 3.8 790.0

E 48390 1.3 2.5 691.1

E 48214 2.0 3.1 935.8

E 48216 4.5 8.1 1331.5

E 48403 n.d. n.d. 732.9

E 48220 3.2 6.5 1129.3

E 48392 0.5 0.8 378.1

E 48393 0.6 1.4 393.7

E 48394 1.5 2.5 658.0

E 48395 0.3 0.6 351.7

E 48396 0.6 1.4 406.7

E 48397 0.5 1.3 351.2

E 48398 0.3 1.1 294.5

E 48400 1.2 2.9 551.7

E 48401 2.3 6.4 1341.3

E 48405 n.d. n.d. 864.7

E 48382 0.3 1.1 617.9

E 48383 1.7 4.1 1058.9

E 48384 0.1 0.3 145.8

E 48985 n.d. 53.7 41418.2

E 48986 n.d. n.d. 71.1

E 48987 n.d. n.d. 73.3

E 48988 n.d. 3.7 930.3

E 48989 n.d. 0.1 151.8

E 48993 n.d. 0.2 233.2

E 48991 n.d. 66.4 6160.2

E 48992 n.d. 3.9 1053.7

n.d.:not detected

P:phenanthrene

A52

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.22: Distribution of Alkylphenanthrenes (samples without standard)

Sample P 3-MP 2-MP 9-MP 1-MP 3-EP 2-EP

% % % % % % %

E 48478 60.1 22.0 29.5 36.1 25.4 2.1 2.5

E 48479 100.0 25.4 32.3 51.9 34.6 2.5 4.9

E 49748 100.0 41.5 47.4 60.2 54.8 9.1 13.1

E 49749 38.3 22.2 30.9 37.3 34.5 4.3 4.9

E 49750 35.0 21.6 30.5 36.7 33.0 4.5 5.7

E 49751 100.0 39.2 40.5 58.8 50.5 2.9 5.6

E 48430 68.4 35.5 48.0 43.7 46.7 4.8 32.5

E 48425 100.0 76.2 110.6 13.8 12.2 2.6 12.2

P:phenanthrene, MP:methylphenanthrene

EP:ethylphenanthrene

Table A.22:(continued)

Sample 3,6- 9- 2,6- 2,7- 1,3- + 1,6-

DMP EP DMP DMP 2,10- + 3,9- 2,9-

3,10-DMP DMP

% % % % % %

E 48478 7.6 1.9 7.3 5.7 39.0 20.5

E 48479 8.8 2.9 8.2 6.2 62.5 29.6

E 49748 15.1 12.3 7.4 6.1 39.9 11.1

E 49749 7.7 0.0 5.7 5.4 37.3 8.0

E 49750 6.7 0.0 6.0 5.7 37.0 7.5

E 49751 3.8 3.0 6.7 4.8 43.0 10.8

E 48430 3.4 4.0 4.1 9.1 8.0 11.4

E 48425 0.9 3.2 8.7 24.2 17.9 3.3

DMP:dimethylphenanthrene

A53

A Data Compilation

Table A.22:(continued)

Sample 1,7- 2,3- 1,9- + 1,8- A-C3- B-C3- C-C3-

DMP DMP 4,6-DMP DMP P P P

% % % % % % %

E 48478 28.7 7.3 9.4 7.9 1.4 2.2 2.1

E 48479 32.5 8.2 16.2 10.1 1.0 3.8 3.1

E 49748 24.8 10.6 16.2 13.8 0.0 0.0 9.2

E 49749 27.4 8.9 12.4 10.3 0.0 3.1 7.0

E 49750 28.1 9.5 11.7 10.4 0.0 3.3 6.8

E 49751 20.6 7.3 0.0 9.5 0.0 0.0 3.6

E 48430 28.4 13.4 15.0 10.6 0.0 0.0 4.2

E 48425 4.6 6.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2

DMP:dimethylphenanthrene, P:phenanthrene

Table A.22:(continued)

Sample D-C3- E-C3- F-C3- G-C3- H-C3- I-C3- J-C3-

P P P P P P P

% % % % % % %

E 48478 1.1 5.2 1.7 0.7 55.7 0.0 42.6

E 48479 1.8 9.3 3.1 0.0 52.7 0.0 61.3

E 49748 2.2 11.0 6.3 4.2 11.0 8.3 21.7

E 49749 1.9 7.9 4.4 1.3 10.3 6.2 26.6

E 49750 1.5 8.5 4.0 1.4 9.9 7.1 25.0

E 49751 0.8 6.5 1.9 0.0 9.5 0.0 19.3

E 48430 2.6 9.9 3.2 0.0 8.7 0.0 34.7

E 48425 1.2 2.3 0.5 0.0 3.7 0.0 0.0

P:phenanthrene

A54

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.22:(continued)

Sample K-C3- L-C3- M-C3- N-C3- O-C3- P-C3- Q-C3-

P P P P P P P

% % % % % % %

E 48478 0.0 3.0 24.6 2.8 6.4 3.6 4.3

E 48479 0.0 6.2 37.9 4.4 9.5 6.4 7.1

E 49748 0.0 0.0 11.3 3.4 3.3 3.4 0.0

E 49749 0.0 2.2 13.7 3.2 3.0 3.5 0.0

E 49750 0.0 2.1 13.6 2.9 3.7 3.1 0.4

E 49751 0.0 2.6 12.4 1.7 2.6 2.9 0.0

E 48430 0.0 0.5 8.6 3.9 3.7 2.3 2.1

E 48425 0.0 1.6 0.0 2.6 0.2 0.0 0.0

P:phenanthrene

Table A.22:(continued)

Sample R-C3- S-C3- T-C3- 1,2,8- Ret- U-C4- V-C4-

P P P TMP ene P P

% % % % % % %

E 48478 7.3 2.9 9.2 100.0 6.0 1.1 0.0

E 48479 11.0 3.4 12.4 67.3 3.9 0.0 6.1

E 49748 0.0 2.6 9.8 22.3 16.9 2.2 0.0

E 49749 0.0 2.3 9.6 100.0 9.8 1.5 0.4

E 49750 0.0 2.4 9.3 100.0 10.2 2.1 8.0

E 49751 0.0 1.7 6.3 44.8 4.4 0.8 0.5

E 48430 0.0 6.4 21.3 23.4 100.0 1.8 0.0

E 48425 0.0 0.9 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.0 0.0

P:phenanthrene, TMP: trimethylphenanthrene

A55

A Data Compilation

Table A.22:(continued)

Sample W-C4- X-C4- Y-C4- Z-C4- AA-C4- AB-C4- AC-C4-

P P P P P P P

% % % % % % %

E 48478 6.2 3.5 13.1 0.0 0.2 18.5 4.0

E 48479 0.0 0.0 21.2 0.0 0.0 25.4 8.4

E 49748 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.2 0.0

E 49749 0.0 0.0 2.8 2.9 0.0 7.1 0.9

E 49750 0.0 0.0 2.6 2.9 0.0 7.1 1.5

E 49751 1.2 0.0 2.4 0.0 0.0 4.3 1.7

E 48430 2.3 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48425 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

P:phenanthrene

Table A.22:(continued)

Sample AC-C4- AD-C4-

P P

% %

E 49748 0.0 4.4

E 49749 1.6 3.6

E 49750 1.4 3.7

E 49751 0.7 2.6

E 48478 0.0 11.6

E 48479 0.0 0.0

E 48425 0.0 0.0

E 48430 0.0 1.0

P:phenanthrene

A56

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.23: Concentrations of Alkylbiphenyls

Sample BP 2-MBP DPM 3-MBP 4-MBP 1,1DPE

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48990 0.1 >0.1 0.1 16.5 0.2 >0.1

E 48996 >0.1 >0.1 2.6 >0.1 1.0 >0.1

E 48388 12.5 1.2 6.8 9.7 0.5 6.0

E 48389 11.8 0.5 2.9 35.1 8.0 0.3

E 48390 12.5 0.5 2.6 41.3 8.1 0.3

E 48214 13.2 0.8 3.8 42.2 11.1 0.5

E 48216 11.6 0.8 2.7 39.1 8.6 0.4

E 48403 >0.1 0.2 0.5 18.7 0.4 >0.1

E 48220 1.1 0.8 2.7 39.1 8.6 0.4

E 48392 2.8 0.4 1.7 22.5 3.6 0.2

E 48393 1.7 0.3 1.3 26.2 3.0 0.2

E 48394 0.7 0.5 1.6 25.1 2.9 0.3

E 48395 7.3 0.5 1.6 41.6 5.5 0.4

E 48396 0.3 0.3 1.6 21.8 1.6 0.3

E 48397 >0.1 0.2 0.3 17.7 0.6 0.2

E 48398 0.9 0.4 1.7 24.1 2.0 0.2

E 48400 2.1 0.2 0.9 34.8 3.6 0.4

E 48401 0.5 >0.1 0.5 28.1 2.2 0.2

E 48405 47.5 0.5 1.5 110.5 23.0 0.1

E 48382 37.1 1.7 3.7 60.0 11.0 0.6

E 48383 10.6 1.0 7.2 41.6 9.0 0.8

E 48384 4.2 0.1 0.4 22.7 1.7 0.1

E 48985 53.4 n.d. n.d. 449.5 219.8 n.d.

E 48986 0.8 >0.1 0.1 1.0 0.3 0.1

E 48987 0.3 >0.1 >0.1 0.5 0.2 >0.1

E 48988 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 10.4 >0.1 0.6 6.2 2.8 0.4

E 48993 0.2 >0.1 0.9 >0.1 >0.1 >0.1

E 48991 26.9 >0.1 13.6 66.8 28.3 1.2

E 48992 11.7 >0.1 >0.1 8.9 2.3 >0.1

n.d.:not detected

BP:biphenyl, MBP:methylbiphenyl

DPM:diphenylmethane, DPE:diphenylethane

A57

A Data Compilation

Table A.23:(continued)

Sample A-C2B-C2C-C2D-C2E-C2F-C2SUM

-BP -BP -BP -BP -BP -BP

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48990 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 1.1 0.6 19.4

E 48996 >0.1 >0.1 1.4 0.2 1.5 >0.1 6.7

E 48388 6.0 1.9 2.2 3.3 6.7 13.2 105.8

E 48389 2.0 0.9 1.2 1.8 3.7 8.1 76.3

E 48390 1.7 0.6 1.4 1.8 5.2 8.1 85.0

E 48214 3.5 1.1 2.0 2.3 6.8 13.3 100.7

E 48216 3.8 1.1 1.8 3.3 >0.1 10.3 83.6

E 48403 1.0 0.5 1.5 3.5 14.6 10.4 51.3

E 48220 1.8 0.6 1.7 2.4 6.2 11.3 55.9

E 48392 1.3 0.4 1.2 0.8 2.1 3.0 40.8

E 48393 1.2 0.3 1.1 0.8 2.1 3.0 41.0

E 48394 1.6 0.4 1.7 1.3 3.1 5.6 76.8

E 48395 1.8 0.9 2.6 1.3 3.1 5.0 39.1

E 48396 1.1 0.4 2.6 0.9 3.1 5.0 39.1

E 48397 1.1 0.4 0.8 1.7 4.4 4.1 31.5

E 48398 1.0 0.5 1.1 1.7 3.4 4.3 41.3

E 48400 0.9 0.3 3.1 1.2 4.4 4.9 56.8

E 48401 1.0 0.3 1.7 1.2 4.7 >0.1 40.3

E 48405 1.3 0.4 2.8 5.5 13.1 14.8 220.8

E 48382 2.8 1.1 3.0 1.8 3.9 3.5 130.2

E 48383 3.8 1.6 2.0 2.8 7.1 8.4 95.7

E 48384 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.9 1.1 32.2

E 48985 n.d. n.d. 37.3 218.1 379.0 326.5 1683.6

E 48986 0.1 >0.1 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.4 3.4

E 48987 >0.1 >0.1 >0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 1.5

E 48988 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 0.3 0.3 0.7 0.7 1.9 1.8 26.1

E 48993 0.2 >0.1 >0.1 >0.1 >0.1 >0.1 1.1

E 48991 9.7 6.5 6.9 9.2 23.9 18.2 211.3

E 48992 >0.1 >0.1 1.0 0.3 1.2 >0.1 25.4

n.d.:not detected

BP:biphenyl

A58

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.24: Concentrations of Alkylfluorenes

Sample Fluorene 3-MF 2-MF 1-MF 4-MF SUM

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 1.5 6.0 4.6 16.2 4.8 33.1

E 48990 0.1 0.6 0.8 1.8 0.3 3.6

E 48996 0.7 2.9 3.0 6.2 1.9 14.7

E 48388 1.8 5.2 6.2 13.1 2.5 28.8

E 48389 1.2 2.9 4.6 8.1 1.2 18.0

E 48390 1.3 2.9 4.8 8.8 1.2 19.0

E 48214 2.1 4.5 6.8 12.4 2.0 27.8

E 48216 2.0 5.2 7.3 14.8 2.6 31.8

E 48403 2.1 5.7 7.5 20.3 1.9 37.5

E 48220 1.9 4.8 6.5 15.3 2.4 30.8

E 48392 1.0 1.8 2.4 7.4 0.8 13.5

E 48393 0.8 1.9 2.4 7.4 0.8 12.4

E 48394 1.2 2.6 3.1 11.2 1.3 19.4

E 48395 1.0 2.7 3.7 7.8 1.1 16.3

E 48396 1.4 2.3 2.5 8.2 1.1 15.4

E 48397 1.1 2.6 3.0 9.0 1.2 16.9

E 48398 1.9 2.4 2.9 9.0 0.9 17.1

E 48400 1.2 2.5 3.2 8.0 1.0 15.8

E 48401 1.9 3.7 5.3 18.4 1.7 31.0

E 48405 5.1 8.5 10.3 22.9 2.4 49.3

E 48382 2.7 3.7 3.6 11.7 1.5 23.1

E 48383 4.3 7.4 8.8 17.7 3.1 41.4

E 48384 0.3 0.5 0.5 1.7 0.2 3.1

E 48985 25.9 138.1 120.1 300.6 44.4 729.1

E 48986 >0.1 0.1 >0.1 0.1 >0.1 0.3

E 48987 >0.1 >0.1 >0.1 0.1 >0.1 0.1

E 48988 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.1 1.6

E 48993 0.8 2.9 3.0 6.2 1.9 14.7

E 48991 6.1 18.8 19.5 52.6 10.5 107.4

E 48992 0.4 1.4 0.9 6.7 1.3 10.7

n.d.:not detected

MF:methylfluorene

A59

A Data Compilation

Table A.25: Concentration of Phenylnaphthalenes

Sample 2- A-C1B−C1C−C1D-C1E-C1SUM

PHN -PHN -PHN -PHN -PHN -PHN

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48990 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 1.1 0.6 19.4

E 48996 >0.1 >0.1 1.4 0.2 1.5 >0.1 6.7

E 48388 19.8 2.8 8.3 8.7 2.3 2.4 44.3

E 48389 14.7 1.9 5.4 6.8 1.6 1.6 32.0

E 48390 16.1 2.0 6.0 7.0 1.5 1.7 34.3

E 48214 15.4 2.7 6.1 5.6 1.5 1.4 32.8

E 48216 18.0 3.6 8.7 8.3 2.1 2.4 43.2

E 48403 35.6 1.6 19.9 26.5 3.8 5.6 93.0

E 48220 22.9 7.1 11.5 14.4 2.7 4.1 62.7

E 48392 18.0 2.6 3.9 9.2 0.8 1.7 36.3

E 48393 16.1 2.4 3.4 8.3 0.8 1.7 32.7

E 48394 26.7 3.9 6.6 12.6 1.5 3.1 54.3

E 48395 16.4 2.0 4.6 6.7 1.1 1.8 32.5

E 48396 11.8 0.9 4.0 4.9 0.8 1.6 23.9

E 48397 9.6 0.8 4.0 4.4 0.9 1.4 21.0

E 48398 15.1 0.5 4.5 5.5 1.1 1.6 28.4

E 48400 21.6 1.8 8.4 14.0 1.5 3.1 50.4

E 48401 36.5 5.4 17.2 20.0 3.4 6.3 88.8

E 48405 56.5 1.2 17.2 24.3 3.0 4.5 106.6

E 48382 44.1 4.7 7.7 11.2 1.9 3.6 73.2

E 48383 24.3 3.2 8.9 7.8 2.0 2.5 48.6

E 48384 3.7 0.2 1.3 1.1 0.3 0.4 7.1

E 48985 1490.7 47.3 557.8 411.0 40.3 62.2 2609.3

E 48986 1.7 >0.1 10.1 0.1 >0.1 >0.1 12.0

E 48987 2.2 >0.1 0.2 0.2 >0.1 0.1 2.8

E 48988 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 3.2 >0.1 12.9 0.2 0.1 0.1 16.5

E 48993 3.0 0.4 15.9 0.7 0.3 0.3 20.7

E 48991 140.8 10.2 54.3 46.2 17.9 21.0 290.4

E 48992 23.9 1.1 6.2 4.5 2.6 2.6 40.9

n.d.:not detected

PHN:phenylnaphthalene

A60

A.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Table A.26: Distribution of Alkylbiphenyls (samples without standard)

Compound BP 2-MBP DPM 3-MBP 4-MBP 1,1DPE

% % % % % %

E 48478 10.7 1.6 9.7 100.0 17.5 0.0

E 49748 98.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 27.2 8.6

E 49751 44.5 9.1 0.0 100.0 19.9 0.0

BP:biphenyl, DPM:diphenylmethane

MBP:methylbiphenyl, MF:Diphenylethane

Table A.26:(continued)

Compound A−C2B-C2C-C2D-C2E-C2F-C2

-BP -BP -BP -BP -BP -BP

% % % % % %

E 48478 7.0 0.0 7.2 14.8 26.9 22.8

E 49748 20.8 0.0 21.2 10.6 23.5 24.4

E 49751 0.0 0.0 8.4 13.2 20.8 0.0

BP:biphenyl

A61

A Data Compilation

Table A.27: Distribution of Alkylfluorenes (samples without standard)

Compound Fluorene 3-MF 2-MF 1-MF 4-MF

% % % % %

E 48478 12.1 22.5 19.3 100.0 12.6

E 48479 17.4 20.4 41.4 100.0 17.8

E 49751 7.7 30.1 34.0 100.0 43.1

E 48430 8.8 27.9 42.7 100.0 19.7

E 48425 4.2 28.0 23.9 100.0 5.6

MF:methylfluorene

Table A.28: Distribution of Phenylnaphthalenes (samples without standard)

Compound 1- 2- A-C1- B-C1- C-C1- D-C1- E-C1-

PHN PHN PHN PHN PHN PHN PHN

E 49748 100.0 32.5 2.9 8.6 6.0 4.1 1.1

E 49749 100.0 24.8 1.6 9.4 6.6 3.1 3.5

E 49750 100.0 26.4 1.8 9.8 7.8 3.5 3.6

E 49751 100.0 110.9 2.6 34.9 31.7 15.3 17.7

E 48478 100.0 21.1 2.9 9.0 8.8 2.7 3.0

E 48479 100.0 22.5 3.6 11.0 11.0 3.7 4.5

E 48430 43.4 100.0 15.9 38.0 33.9 12.5 12.3

E 48425 18.5 100.0 1.2 41.4 45.7 2.3 3.2

PHN:phenylnaphthalene

A62

A.4 NSO-Compounds

A63

A Data Compilation

Table A.29: Concentrations of Alkyldibenzothiophenes

Sample 4-M 2-M 3-M 1-M 4-E 4,6-DM SUM

DBT DBT DBT DBT DBT DBT DBT

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 14.3 16.6 7.3 7.3 17.9 1.1 1.5 66.1

E 48990 0.7 3.1 1.0 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.3 6.2

E 48996 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48388 11.2 11.7 6.4 5.8 6.6 0.8 2.7 45.2

E 48389 5.8 5.3 3.3 2.7 1.7 0.3 0.9 20.0

E 48390 5.4 4.7 2.3 2.6 1.8 0.3 0.7 17.9

E 48214 9.6 8.1 4.3 4.9 2.7 0.5 1.3 31.3

E 48216 7.9 8.9 5.5 4.1 8.4 0.6 2.0 32.4

E 48403 6.8 19.8 5.6 5.3 1.0 0.6 5.1 44.2

E 48220 4.9 7.7 4.1 3.4 2.7 0.5 1.6 25.0

E 48392 3.6 2.8 1.3 1.4 1.7 0.2 0.4 11.4

E 48393 3.1 2.5 1.3 1.1 1.3 0.1 0.5 9.9

E 48394 4.5 4.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 0.3 0.7 15.6

E 48395 3.4 3.0 1.6 1.5 1.5 0.2 0.4 11.6

E 48396 2.9 2.6 1.4 1.3 1.8 0.2 0.4 10.7

E 48397 3.7 3.5 1.8 1.8 2.0 0.3 0.6 13.7

E 48398 10.8 5.3 2.8 1.8 2.1 0.3 0.6 23.7

E 48400 2.6 2.7 1.7 1.6 1.8 0.2 0.5 11.2

E 48401 6.4 10.4 4.4 4.6 4.0 0.6 3.0 33.4

E 48405 11.7 19.5 3.8 6.1 0.9 0.5 3.7 46.3

E 48382 7.2 4.0 3.5 1.9 1.9 0.3 0.8 19.7

E 48383 10.6 8.5 6.9 4.2 8.0 0.5 1.2 35.0

E 48384 1.2 1.3 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.3 4.4

E 48985 1110 2244 641 986 206 75 768 6033

E 48986 1.6 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 2.3

E 48987 0.8 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.2 1.8

E 48988 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 4.0 1.3 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.4 6.6

E 48993 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48991 27.1 26.2 15.7 17.0 6.0 2.7 5.2 100.0

E 48992 5.8 4.4 1.5 2.6 4.9 0.0 0.0 19.2

n.d.: not detected

DBT:dibenzothiophene

A64

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.30: Distribution of Alkyldibenzothiophenes (samples without standard)

Sample 4-M 2-M 3-M 1-M 4-E 4,6-DM

-DBT -DBT -DBT -DBT -DBT -DBT -DBT

%%%%%% %

E 49748 100.0 88.9 38.8 33.3 26.5 10.7 34.0

E 49749 23.5 49.0 16.0 18.5 100.0 5.1 28.7

E 49750 22.1 51.7 17.1 18.9 100.0 6.1 31.7

E 49751 76.9 80.9 19.6 25.9 100.0 5.5 23.9

E 48430 72.5 100.0 46.3 59.3 0.0 12.6 43.5

E 48425 49.4 100.0 29.0 35.5 0.0 1.7 26.9

MDBT:methyldibenzothiophene

DMDBT:dimethyldibenzothiophene

A65

A Data Compilation

Table A.31: Concentrations of Alkyldibenzofurans

Sample DBF 4-MDBF 2-MDBF 3-MDBF 1-MDBF

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 41.78 44.24 54.37 25.31 27.87

E 48990 0.29 2.66 1.71 0.50 1.95

E 48996 3.88 41.91 12.92 5.47 7.92

E 48388 91.74 67.11 133.75 51.18 44.50

E 48389 55.81 42.10 59.54 25.13 23.26

E 48390 47.52 35.59 50.30 29.25 23.02

E 48214 57.25 53.44 77.61 33.06 31.28

E 48216 50.49 50.15 70.67 36.21 29.59

E 48403 1.17 11.69 5.02 11.83 7.07

E 48220 14.54 32.96 43.43 24.53 21.47

E 48392 26.75 25.94 25.23 12.88 10.65

E 48393 20.50 23.87 21.49 11.27 9.31

E 48394 28.85 36.82 33.31 15.46 14.77

E 48395 14.10 18.38 13.97 9.43 10.41

E 48396 5.78 17.43 6.18 8.88 6.48

E 48397 0.29 6.83 3.17 5.53 2.90

E 48398 3.17 13.74 8.95 7.80 8.72

E 48400 8.32 21.83 19.89 8.69 10.39

E 48401 6.97 29.73 21.40 14.65 17.93

E 48405 5.05 16.81 4.68 5.49 12.41

E 48382 48.99 37.51 23.26 16.13 16.65

E 48383 36.91 60.01 49.06 37.55 32.74

E 48384 4.72 5.48 2.99 2.65 2.62

E 48985 415.02 353.83 238.28 133.33 155.67

E 48986 5.75 2.31 2.28 1.27 0.71

E 48987 4.12 1.20 1.24 0.69 0.36

E 48988 4.81 27.26 7.14 1.66 3.46

E 48989 35.95 8.57 8.23 5.09 2.49

E 48993 5.31 6.03 11.38 3.32 8.07

E 48991 203.45 216.75 260.84 121.08 111.85

E 48992 20.89 24.39 22.87 10.63 11.70

DBF:dibenzofuran, MDBF:methyldibenzofuran

A66

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.31:(continued)

Sample DMDBF1 EDBF2 DMDBF3 DMDBF4 DMDBF5

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 35.19 28.65 23.45 26.73 11.06

E 48990 4.84 0.00 3.98 2.00 2.16

E 48996 30.79 0.00 15.91 9.60 8.04

E 48388 31.90 35.28 32.88 8.77 17.67

E 48389 16.04 13.55 14.72 4.64 11.58

E 48390 13.19 12.71 15.70 5.47 8.59

E 48214 22.12 22.85 21.56 6.51 12.15

E 48216 29.36 21.49 24.33 7.15 16.17

E 48403 7.07 1.25 12.68 5.76 8.16

E 48220 22.03 19.43 18.95 7.15 12.23

E 48392 7.38 13.79 7.83 1.85 3.37

E 48393 6.88 12.01 8.21 2.33 3.83

E 48394 13.26 20.94 12.46 2.49 6.46

E 48395 4.83 8.30 3.92 1.76 3.75

E 48396 6.23 8.79 7.91 1.46 3.52

E 48397 5.23 4.68 7.27 1.89 3.26

E 48398 4.57 7.27 6.17 1.24 4.04

E 48400 8.96 11.98 11.08 3.15 5.87

E 48401 16.89 16.54 21.81 4.84 11.19

E 48405 3.77 1.03 6.94 2.05 5.21

E 48382 5.58 10.47 7.36 2.26 2.74

E 48383 24.11 17.57 24.63 9.29 8.81

E 48384 1.22 1.16 1.64 0.44 0.59

E 48985 288.11 0.00 293.62 191.62 179.98

E 48986 1.26 0.00 1.14 0.76 0.38

E 48987 0.57 0.00 0.57 0.37 0.17

E 48988 19.09 0.00 10.69 4.69 3.64

E 48989 3.37 0.00 2.98 2.00 0.95

E 48993 13.67 0.00 8.64 4.51 4.55

E 48991 196.19 0.00 95.51 83.25 62.73

E 48992 14.48 16.50 10.62 5.59 4.18

DMDBF:dimethyldibenzofuran, EDBF:ethyldibenzofuran

A67

A Data Compilation

Table A.31:(continued)

Sample DMDBF6 EDBF7 DMDBF8 DMDBF9 DMDBF10

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 9.53 10.28 71.10 11.44 0.14

E 48990 1.95 0.00 7.97 1.25 33.71

E 48996 14.26 0.00 26.90 9.63 0.01

E 48388 8.98 6.93 91.06 10.97 12.29

E 48389 4.97 3.14 41.93 6.74 1.65

E 48390 5.93 2.65 42.43 6.30 5.84

E 48214 6.35 4.81 40.47 8.32 15.21

E 48216 7.88 6.41 40.66 9.52 11.05

E 48403 11.17 1.35 19.12 4.65 0.98

E 48220 9.39 5.16 32.28 8.22 1.58

E 48392 2.69 1.65 16.29 2.31 3.80

E 48393 2.27 2.01 9.02 1.15 1.80

E 48394 4.04 4.00 23.81 3.71 0.80

E 48395 2.33 1.23 6.24 1.84 7.64

E 48396 2.19 3.02 13.36 2.46 2.07

E 48397 2.17 2.33 10.38 1.76 1.67

E 48398 2.08 1.56 8.59 2.12 11.34

E 48400 3.14 3.18 15.74 3.66 0.42

E 48401 6.49 5.89 38.09 6.67 18.58

E 48405 7.37 0.00 13.52 3.21 6.11

E 48382 2.83 1.05 5.53 2.85 8.38

E 48383 9.68 6.47 51.69 8.90 0.68

E 48384 0.75 0.22 2.50 0.47 9.05

E 48985 245.52 0.00 633.81 1141.15 322.65

E 48986 0.46 0.00 1.95 0.35 0.08

E 48987 0.21 0.00 1.05 0.14 0.00

E 48988 8.74 0.00 24.30 6.75 362.62

E 48989 1.05 0.00 4.76 0.77 6.46

E 48993 7.39 0.00 19.49 2.38 0.01

E 48991 66.71 0.00 247.5 49.80 1.18

E 48992 7.99 0.00 27.11 3.55 1745.79

DMDBF:dimethyldibenzofuran, EDBF:ethyldibenzofuran

A68

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.31:(continued)

Sample DMDBF11 SUM

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 16.89 435.57

E 48990 1.00 65.98

E 48996 3.83 191.09

E 48388 13.46 658.49

E 48389 6.84 331.63

E 48390 7.36 311.82

E 48214 11.44 424.43

E 48216 13.53 424.65

E 48403 2.02 108.98

E 48220 11.04 284.39

E 48392 3.61 166.00

E 48393 4.36 140.30

E 48394 6.96 228.14

E 48395 2.54 110.68

E 48396 4.58 100.34

E 48397 3.05 62.38

E 48398 3.17 94.51

E 48400 5.67 141.98

E 48401 7.18 244.85

E 48405 1.41 95.06

E 48382 3.07 194.67

E 48383 13.32 391.42

E 48384 0.45 36.95

E 48985 164.18 4756.78

E 48986 0.19 18.89

E 48987 0.10 10.77

E 48988 0.00 484.84

E 48989 0.56 83.19

E 48993 4.55 99.30

E 48991 43.14 1759.99

E 48992 3.52 1929.81

DMDBF:dimethyldibenzofuran

A69

A Data Compilation

Table A.32: Concentrations of Benzo[b]naphthofurans

Sample 2,1-BNF 1,2-BNF 2,3-BNF BNF SUM

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

µg

gT OC

E 49710 33.38 28.18 18.33 11.10 91.00

E 48990 0.99 5.90 0.33 2.68 9.91

E 48996 8.25 13.40 7.09 8.61 37.36

E 48388 19.21 25.59 5.43 6.19 56.43

E 48389 13.07 17.41 3.74 4.94 39.16

E 48390 8.91 12.89 2.17 3.22 27.19

E 48214 12.74 15.63 4.77 3.90 37.04

E 48216 18.88 18.62 3.80 5.56 46.86

E 48403 0.72 2.56 0.79 2.06 6.13

E 48220 17.17 21.96 3.65 5.09 47.88

E 48392 5.48 6.51 1.57 2.22 15.79

E 48393 4.56 6.66 2.01 2.03 15.26

E 48394 9.10 11.97 3.23 3.62 27.92

E 48395 4.78 6.66 0.92 2.25 14.62

E 48396 4.53 5.82 1.37 2.51 14.22

E 48397 3.45 6.20 0.31 1.62 11.57

E 48398 3.36 5.98 0.54 1.94 11.81

E 48400 6.29 11.21 0.80 2.82 21.12

E 48401 13.58 22.36 2.69 7.10 45.73

E 48405 0.43 2.56 0.57 1.46 5.02

E 48382 15.52 16.78 4.16 9.48 45.94

E 48383 19.86 20.79 4.60 7.95 53.21

E 48384 0.87 1.87 0.18 0.61 3.53

E 48985 240.73 208.63 110.16 199.49 759.01

E 48986 1.03 0.38 0.27 0.24 1.92

E 48987 1.84 0.70 0.49 0.29 3.32

E 48988 12.70 24.81 6.52 11.47 55.50

E 48989 1.57 0.66 0.46 0.32 3.02

E 48993 12.37 15.98 11.78 5.69 45.82

E 48991 141.22 154.71 36.50 41.35 373.78

E 48992 18.26 21.29 1.44 4.19 45.18

BNF:benzo[b]naphthofuran

A70

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.33: Distribution of Alkyldibenzofurans (samples without standard)

Sample DBF 4-MDBF 2-MDBF 3-MDBF 1-MDBF

%%%%%

E 48478 59.0 89.9 61.8 46.4 43.2

E 48479 100.0 62.7 45.6 29.8 32.6

E 49748 37.1 34.9 43.5 18.5 48.6

E 49749 0.6 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.2

E 49750 4.3 2.0 3.6 1.7 2.1

E 49751 39.0 53.4 72.0 17.2 43.4

E 48430 55.8 85.7 100.0 30.2 47.6

E 48425 0.4 2.9 0.8 0.7 2.1

DBF:dibenzofuran, MDBF:methyldibenzofuran

Table A.33:(continued)

Sample DMDBF1 EDBF2 DMDBF3 DMDBF4 DMDBF5

% % % % %

E 48478 38.3 33.7 56.3 19.5 23.6

E 48479 21.4 11.7 42.8 7.8 17.9

E 49748 30.8 26.9 3.1 14.6 13.6

E 49749 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.2

E 49750 10.7 7.0 10.3 6.3 4.3

E 49751 35.0 11.0 38.2 13.4 9.6

E 48430 86.5 0.0 39.1 33.4 15.9

E 48425 1.6 0.0 2.4 1.6 2.0

DMDBF:dimethyldibenzofuran, EDBF:ethyldibenzofuran

A71

A Data Compilation

Table A.33:(continued)

Sample DMDBF6 EDBF7 DMDBF8 DMDBF9 DMDBF10

% % % % %

E 48478 26.1 12.4 100.0 13.1 40.3

E 48479 16.3 15.6 66.8 6.6 0.0

E 49748 16.8 10.3 100.0 13.9 7.6

E 49749 0.2 0.1 2.3 0.4 100.0

E 49750 5.0 2.5 100.0 7.5 4.8

E 49751 16.4 1.7 100.0 9.1 0.4

E 48430 19.6 0.0 94.1 16.0 1.6

E 48425 2.9 0.0 3.5 1.5 100.0

DMDBF:dimethyldibenzofuran, EDBF:ethyldibenzofuran

Table A.33:(continued)

Sample DMDBF11

E 48478 16.5

E 48479 25.0

E 49748 12.4

E 49749 0.3

E 49750 5.8

E 49751 6.6

E 48430 13.5

E 48425 0.3

DMDBF:dimethyldibenzofuran

A72

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.34: Distribution of Benzo[b]naphthofurans(samples without standard)

Sample 2,1-BNF 1,2-BNF 2,3-BNF BNF

% % % %

E 48478 40.3 82.7 9.7 16.7

E 48479 17.0 41.9 21.9 9.8

E 49748 40.1 37.9 19.4 25.8

E 49749 4.6 5.7 2.1 1.8

E 49750 78.9 100.0 35.6 28.6

E 49751 9.8 17.7 5.1 8.0

E 48430 37.9 35.5 24.0 0.0

E 48425 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

BNF:benzo[b]naphthofuran

A73

A Data Compilation

Table A.35: Distribution of Alkylcarbazoles

Sample C 1-MC 3-MC 2-MC 4-MC

%%%%%

E 49710 90.6 100.0 73.2 51.7 42.3

E 49748 84.7 100.0 8.9 69.5 131.2

E 49749 103.1 100.0 59.3 73.0 75.3

E 49450 159.2 100.0 78.7 110.7 116.6

E 48990 10.3 87.9 26.3 24.8 31.2

E 48996 30.8 38.6 18.4 24.2 41.8

E 48388 16.1 98.2 9.3 26.3 45.7

E 48389 22.8 100.0 17.7 20.6 28.9

E 48390 19.6 100.0 17.5 18.4 24.8

E 48214 16.9 100.0 14.3 16.9 21.0

E 48216 23.7 100.0 31.7 38.4 50.3

E 48403 9.5 100.0 66.2 45.2 90.9

E 48220 27.3 100.0 28.4 36.5 39.0

E 48392 27.3 100.0 11.3 13.8 19.3

E 48393 27.1 100.0 27.2 30.8 25.8

E 48394 31.3 100.0 25.0 28.8 28.8

E 48395 40.4 100.0 20.9 26.2 31.8

E 48397 25.1 100.0 18.3 23.5 24.0

E 48398 15.3 100.0 7.2 11.8 18.0

E 48400 34.9 100.0 15.3 19.4 35.0

E 48401 51.0 100.0 24.5 28.1 46.4

E 48405 70.1 100.0 37.7 28.1 43.0

E 48425 39.1 90.8 20.8 72.3 97.6

E 48382 81.4 100.0 35.7 26.9 41.7

E 48383 19.6 100.0 14.5 22.7 20.5

E 48384 49.8 100.0 34.7 29.5 38.2

E 48988 61.2 72.3 7.8 66.6 100.0

E 48991 21.4 65.6 19.0 29.6 44.2

E 48992 45.7 100.0 44.6 55.5 57.7

C:carbazole, MC:methylcarbazole

A74

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.35:(continued)

Sample 1,8DMC 1,3-DMC 1,6-DMC 1,7-DMC 1,4-DMC

%%%%%

E 49710 30.0 62.2 60.7 40.3 46.3

E 49748 38.2 46.5 43.7 37.8 63.6

E 49749 30.6 42.7 39.6 43.5 53.1

E 49450 32.8 61.6 57.1 55.0 96.2

E 48990 71.9 73.9 70.9 54.6 53.6

E 48996 29.8 42.7 46.0 72.9 55.9

E 48388 50.4 44.3 51.7 56.0 57.9

E 48389 34.3 34.9 39.4 57.2 47.4

E 48390 41.6 35.9 33.5 49.3 41.8

E 48214 49.9 34.3 35.3 47.4 43.0

E 48216 45.6 39.6 36.1 52.3 47.3

E 48403 62.1 83.2 46.5 69.9 70.6

E 48220 52.8 61.7 54.3 73.4 56.7

E 48392 44.4 31.9 31.6 46.0 26.5

E 48393 50.0 42.8 43.1 54.7 37.2

E 48394 46.6 47.3 46.2 57.1 42.4

E 48395 26.5 26.0 18.9 29.3 23.1

E 48397 48.8 48.5 45.0 60.5 42.3

E 48398 40.0 54.3 40.2 35.9 41.5

E 48400 39.4 42.9 34.5 40.8 41.3

E 48401 38.6 38.2 34.0 51.0 41.4

E 48405 22.4 22.8 16.8 20.0 24.5

E 48425 4.6 12.8 16.8 46.4 42.7

E 48382 13.0 21.7 17.7 13.9 18.5

E 48383 31.6 26.9 32.2 30.2 24.6

E 48384 23.7 24.4 20.6 27.5 28.6

E 48988 0 34.2 32.0 32.6 50.7

E 48991 31.4 40.8 35.0 61.1 48.0

E 48992 38.7 66.7 55.5 71.2 55.1

DMC:dimethylcarbazole

A75

A Data Compilation

Table A.35:(continued)

Sample 1,5-DMC 2,6-DMC 2,7-DMC 1,2-DMC 2,4-DMC

%%%%%

E 49710 32.6 28.1 39.7 22.3 25.1

E 49748 52.7 10.7 65.5 54.0 5.6

E 49749 38.3 30.8 44.8 32.2 42.0

E 49450 47.9 6.4 65.5 78.9 83.2

E 48990 69.8 13.5 38.7 12.0 18.1

E 48996 62.3 4.0 25.8 18.3 36.3

E 48388 52.5 2.3 22.9 6.3 8.6

E 48389 84.1 3.5 28.6 6.3 28.9

E 48390 59.1 2.9 19.1 3.7 10.8

E 48214 59.7 2.9 19.3 3.7 13.1

E 48216 63.7 5.4 31.3 9.8 26.4

E 48403 72.5 7.0 34.9 17.2 14.3

E 48220 73.0 8.6 37.6 10.0 27.1

E 48392 41.3 3.1 18.4 2.7 10.9

E 48393 52.8 6.0 28.2 7.0 18.4

E 48394 55.1 4.5 25.2 7.6 19.3

E 48395 30.9 2.5 14.5 4.6 7.7

E 48397 49.6 4.3 25.3 4.5 11.8

E 48398 33.7 10.3 20.4 9.6 11.2

E 48400 65.0 1.9 15.8 8.0 15.2

E 48401 53.1 2.7 27.2 7.5 14.5

E 48405 23.6 2.7 11.4 7.5 6.7

E 48425 100.0 6.9 61.1 19.1 67.8

E 48382 21.9 2.3 6.9 10.7 0.6

E 48383 27.9 1.7 11.5 2.8 6.3

E 48384 23.5 2.4 18.8 4.7 7.6

E 48988 38.8 7.1 43.6 41.3 53.6

E 48991 52.5 5.7 27.1 7.3 15.3

E 48992 44.3 9.7 47.4 12.4 38.0

DMC:dimethylcarbazole

A76

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.35:(continued)

Sample 2,5-DMC C3-C C3-C C3-C C3-C

% % % % %

E 49710 16.8 33.7 41.3 19.9 27.5

E 49748 71.1 40.0 94.9 25.9 58.5

E 49749 37.6 24.7 72.3 1.4 18.9

E 49450 75.1 23.7 161.1 16.9 0.0

E 48990 27.9 116.7 92.6 28.2 44.8

E 48996 21.9 50.5 100.0 17.5 21.3

E 48388 20.2 66.7 100.0 24.9 16.8

E 48389 30.5 40.4 73.9 17.9 86.8

E 48390 15.4 32.0 49.9 11.3 16.6

E 48214 12.8 35.5 54.6 11.7 29.7

E 48216 36.4 59.6 66.9 15.2 32.1

E 48403 30.6 63.7 68.0 15.9 29.8

E 48220 32.3 65.8 82.6 21.7 44.4

E 48392 11.5 33.9 39.8 10.1 17.5

E 48393 17.2 54.1 58.9 17.0 29.5

E 48394 19.2 51.7 58.7 16.2 32.2

E 48395 9.5 13.1 16.5 4.1 6.7

E 48397 10.6 61.1 59.1 18.8 23.4

E 48398 6.7 37.1 38.0 18.6 14.5

E 48400 14.2 33.7 43.8 9.3 17.4

E 48401 15.7 37.4 47.4 12.4 15.5

E 48405 7.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48425 65.9 0.0 0.0 7.6 4.8

E 48382 7.4 4.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 3.7 18.6 19.5 6.3 7.4

E 48384 6.8 14.6 18.9 4.6 6.4

E 48988 26.9 32.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48991 26.6 56.3 100.0 23.8 18.6

E 48992 20.8 83.2 81.9 35.1 40.6

DMC:dimethylcarbazole, C:carbazole

A77

A Data Compilation

Table A.35:(continued)

Sample C3-C C3-C C3-C C3-C C3-C

%%%%%

E 49710 23.9 36.7 23.1 28.9 34.1

E 49748 185.0 198.3 56.4 93.1 56.3

E 49749 26.9 60.4 37.3 54.5 43.2

E 49450 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48990 44.2 72.2 38.5 49.4 49.9

E 48996 41.6 5.3 46.5 67.1 47.9

E 48388 30.7 44.2 37.5 43.5 22.2

E 48389 31.1 45.9 51.8 50.2 35.9

E 48390 20.2 26.6 25.8 29.5 14.8

E 48214 19.0 27.9 27.7 32.7 11.2

E 48216 27.7 43.8 44.1 50.0 33.4

E 48403 30.8 48.2 24.3 38.9 27.0

E 48220 45.0 52.4 53.5 54.2 40.7

E 48392 17.8 23.0 20.8 20.4 16.8

E 48393 33.8 39.9 38.5 38.5 33.5

E 48394 31.8 36.2 34.4 36.6 29.4

E 48395 7.1 7.1 6.4 7.2 6.3

E 48397 32.1 41.3 29.1 38.9 24.5

E 48398 19.1 26.9 18.8 24.0 14.8

E 48400 15.1 40.7 26.4 41.3 13.9

E 48401 22.3 29.1 27.4 32.9 18.2

E 48405 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48425 12.8 16.9 28.9 21.5 15.6

E 48382 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 9.0 14.3 9.4 11.5 6.1

E 48384 10.0 15.7 7.9 10.7 7.7

E 48988 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48991 30.7 37.5 29.0 54.5 33.2

E 48992 59.0 56.5 39.0 78.1 27.5

C:carbazole

A78

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.35:(continued)

Sample C3-C C3-C C3-C C3-C

%%%%

E 49710 4.8 9.6 9.5 5.6

E 49748 8.3 6.9 81.7 61.4

E 49749 11.1 14.2 27.7 12.1

E 49450 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48990 7.9 33.8 16.9 11.0

E 48996 14.7 32.8 15.7 5.2

E 48388 11.7 13.5 14.7 11.9

E 48389 11.3 21.9 9.4 14.1

E 48390 5.7 9.3 3.6 7.6

E 48214 4.6 7.8 12.8 12.8

E 48216 9.3 19.9 20.4 13.9

E 48403 18.8 19.4 17.2 17.1

E 48220 14.4 19.6 17.6 16.6

E 48392 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48393 11.5 14.9 11.8 12.7

E 48394 8.4 12.2 12.4 11.6

E 48395 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48397 10.2 15.6 7.5 12.3

E 48398 7.8 8.4 5.1 8.4

E 48400 5.6 11.9 28.2 24.7

E 48401 6.8 10.5 17.3 17.3

E 48405 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48425 6.2 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 3.2 4.7 3.7 0.0

E 48384 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48991 11.4 10.5 12.4 12.0

E 48992 33.2 23.1 26.4 29.6

C:carbazole

A79

A Data Compilation

Table A.36: Distribution of Alkylfluoren-9-ones

Sample F 1-MF 2-MF 3-MF 4-MF 1-EF

% % % % % %

E 49710 51.6 15.5 5.1 6.8 4.2 14.4

E 49748 24.5 21.6 29.9 2.8 6.6 4.8

E 49749 36.7 28.8 29.3 5.7 9.2 10.1

E 49750 66.2 32.0 5.2 6.8 6.0 9.5

E 49751 53.2 41.7 6.3 8.6 7.9 5.8

E 48990 15.9 12.7 3.5 2.1 0.4 n.d.

E 48478 55.3 21.8 12.9 10.4 11.3 7.9

E 47479 40.6 10.5 8.5 5.7 6.8 n.d.

E 48996 28.1 15.2 7.7 9.2 3.2 7.9

E 48388 62.8 32.6 14.8 12.9 5.7 12.4

E 48389 100.0 26.7 10.2 6.8 3.2 1.0

E 48390 100.0 31.1 12.4 7.3 4.5 6.6

E 48214 100.0 30.1 15.9 8.6 5.1 8.3

E 48216 100.0 43.6 27.8 14.1 7.4 12.3

E 48403 96.7 43.1 20.3 22.0 11.3 11.5

E 48220 71.6 34.1 9.7 12.7 6.5 10.4

E 48430 60.1 36.3 9.8 8.4 5.3 8.3

E 48392 100.0 55.3 16.3 2.7 4.8 10.9

E 48393 99.7 59.1 14.4 9.1 5.7 10.8

E 48394 68.6 38.2 17.6 7.6 5.6 10.3

E 48395 100.0 33.1 10.5 9.6 8.6 12.8

E 48396 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48397 100.0 33.1 10.5 9.6 8.6 12.8

E 48398 77.5 27.7 12.2 10.4 5.3 10.6

E 48400 100.0 37.0 11.4 9.8 6.8 15.4

E 48401 100.0 40.4 10.5 7.2 4.7 9.1

E 48405 100.0 18.0 7.3 6.8 2.9 3.9

E 48425 100.0 29.3 16.4 17.7 2.2 n.d.

E 48382 100.0 34.1 9.7 12.7 6.5 10.4

E 48383 100.0 19.3 6.4 5.0 2.7 4.3

E 48384 100.0 23.9 5.6 4.0 2.5 4.2

E 48985 78.0 10.3 2.4 10.7 2.7 n.d.

E 48986 100.0 6.4 3.4 3.6 2.8 1.5

E 48987 100.0 6.2 3.6 2.7 1.8 1.3

E 48988 19.8 21.6 27.0 4.9 4.8 6.5

E 48989 100.0 2.8 1.9 1.6 1.4 1.1

E 48993 39.0 5.3 100.0 95.9 4.3 8.4

E 48991 82.5 23.9 6.5 4.4 2.9 2.9

E 48992 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

n.d.:not detected

F:fluoren-9-one, MF:methylfluoren-9-one

EF:ethylfluoren-9-one

A80

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.36:(continued)

Sample 1,8-DMF A-C2-F B-C2-F C-C2-F D−C2-F E-C2-F

% % % % % %

E 49710 18.4 16.5 98.8 49.8 100.0 32.8

E 49748 37.9 23.7 30.2 53.2 100.0 71.8

E 49749 63.6 32.1 72.0 68.8 100.0 85.2

E 49750 52.2 29.7 60.3 60.2 100.0 64.8

E 49751 46.1 27.2 58.0 63.6 100.0 51.1

E 48990 20.6 31.3 69.1 38.3 100.0 61.6

E 48478 93.4 50.7 60.8 97.1 100.0 n.d.

E 47479 46.7 18.8 32.9 39.2 91.0 38.8

E 48996 75.5 63.8 35.7 70.9 100.0 57.8

E 48388 38.6 48.5 77.7 62.3 100.0 64.7

E 48389 20.5 25.1 37.5 22.2 39.8 26.7

E 48390 20.6 37.1 47.1 28.3 56.8 34.1

E 48214 24.9 30.1 43.5 28.4 56.4 35.3

E 48216 30.2 57.5 71.9 28.6 93.2 54.5

E 48430 44.2 45.4 52.1 49.1 89.7 63.2

E 48403 43.2 53.6 82.5 60.6 100.0 46.6

E 48220 47.3 65.5 81.2 56.0 100.0 59.3

E 48392 49.6 40.4 58.9 45.2 86.6 45.2

E 48393 56.4 78.8 79.0 37.2 100.0 56.2

E 48394 77.3 44.1 64.2 25.8 100.0 45.6

E 48395 26.7 29.5 45.5 27.9 64.2 26.4

E 48396 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48397 21.0 22.7 44.9 32.1 60.9 26.3

E 48398 49.4 48.4 100.0 34.3 64.3 84.5

E 48400 36.4 30.1 51.1 31.3 76.0 28.5

E 48401 52.5 46.6 52.3 33.0 70.3 44.1

E 48405 10.0 11.7 18.0 13.2 21.5 9.4

E 48425 12.6 29.3 50.4 43.1 41.7 16.1

E 48382 9.8 6.6 18.4 8.9 28.2 10.9

E 48383 7.7 6.4 13.6 8.1 20.6 10.1

E 48384 8.1 6.0 13.7 10.3 19.1 9.3

E 48985 73.9 35.4 43.9 45.2 100.0 23.1

E 48986 10.6 6.8 15.8 23.7 10.1 26.8

E 48987 11.0 10.1 12.3 13.9 23.5 12.5

E 48988 36.2 25.6 28.7 51.5 100.0 70.8

E 48989 4.3 77.5 4.5 7.7 9.7 4.6

E 48993 4.8 3.3 3.9 9.5 98.8 3.7

E 48991 31.3 36.5 52.9 40.5 100.0 62.0

E 48992 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

n.d.:not detected

DMF:dimethylfluoren-9-one, F:fluoren-9-one

A81

A Data Compilation

Table A.36:(continued)

Sample F-C2-F G-C2-F H-C2-F I-C2-F J-C2-F

% % % % %

E 49710 37.6 9.3 22.0 4.5 77.4

E 49748 43.3 20.0 11.1 24.6 7.6

E 49749 78.5 24.0 17.3 34.5 21.5

E 49750 n.d. 20.8 15.9 34.5 n.d.

E 49751 n.d. 21.1 14.3 37.5 15.8

E 48990 56.1 15.7 13.5 18.4 76.8

E 48478 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 47479 22.5 12.4 40.5 100.0 12.7

E 48996 28.7 50.7 45.9 38.4 100.0

E 48388 68.0 27.2 29.7 44.6 26.6

E 48389 40.1 10.9 8.9 23.4 25.3

E 48390 15.9 11.5 14.1 23.3 28.1

E 48214 29.3 12.0 8.3 25.3 25.4

E 48216 33.9 15.4 18.2 17.1 16.0

E 48430 22.5 23.8 100.0 81.2 21.2

E 48403 n.d. 30.0 25.9 59.0 28.8

E 48220 33.5 25.1 28.9 64.8 50.6

E 48392 60.5 n.d. n.d. n.d. 4.1

E 48393 50.0 12.5 15.8 59.8 65.7

E 48394 56.1 15.0 2.7 58.9 52.7

E 48395 5.7 10.7 12.9 24.0 19.8

E 48396 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48397 9.7 9.4 16.6 36.7 35.1

E 48398 34.2 15.3 20.9 32.4 22.3

E 48400 9.3 10.8 16.2 50.9 31.3

E 48401 8.7 11.8 12.5 28.4 29.4

E 48405 n.d. 4.9 3.8 9.3 5.5

E 48425 n.d. 20.1 6.5 24.6 3.2

E 48382 4.9 4.1 4.0 11.1 8.2

E 48383 1.7 3.0 2.9 11.6 9.1

E 48384 n.d. 1.7 2.5 5.7 4.5

E 48985 44.3 23.1 27.2 40.6 11.8

E 48986 12.3 3.8 11.6 2.4 n.d.

E 48987 25.3 8.5 3.9 10.4 n.d.

E 48988 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 8.9 3.4 2.2 4.8 3.0

E 48993 38.0 12.2 46.4 76.2 7.8

E 48991 11.5 20.1 20.5 27.9 13.4

E 48992 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

n.d.:not detected

F:fluoren-9-one

A82

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.37: Distribution of Alkylxanthones

Sample X 1-MX 4-MX 2-MX 3-MX

%%%% %

E 49710 39.2 19.3 100.0 50.7 25.8

E 49748 38.4 4.4 38.6 100.0 15.4

E 49749 67.8 26.3 92.7 100.0 26.2

E 49750 62.8 23.0 73.4 100.0 23.4

E 49751 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48990 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48478 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 47479 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48996 40.6 16.9 54.6 100.0 54.0

E 48388 65.6 31.9 75.7 100.0 28.4

E 48389 74.2 21.9 52.7 100.0 22.0

E 48390 81.1 22.9 59.9 100.0 35.2

E 48214 75.4 29.3 70.9 100.0 28.6

E 48216 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48430 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48403 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48220 58.7 29.5 88.5 100.0 51.9

E 48392 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48393 47.6 48.7 57.3 100.0 37.3

E 48394 61.4 26.9 69.6 100.0 41.4

E 48395 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48396 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48397 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48398 64.6 29.5 100.0 68.6 18.8

E 48400 77.6 41.7 100.0 87.5 36.1

E 48401 29.5 14.2 100.0 55.0 19.0

E 48405 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48425 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48382 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48383 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48384 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48985 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48986 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48987 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48988 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48989 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

E 48993 64.0 4.2 31.1 100.0 53.8

E 48991 41.9 31.9 100.0 76.1 27.2

E 48992 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.

n.d.: not detected; X:xanthone, MX:methylxanthone

A83

A Data Compilation

Table A.38: Distribution of Alkylnaphthaledhydes and -naphthylketones

Sample 1-NA 2-NA A-C1-NA B-C1-NA C-C1-NA D-C1-NA

% % % % % %

E 49710 69.5 100.0 17.9 19.8 79.7 79.0

E 49748 45.1 52.0 46.0 10.4 100.0 50.5

E 49749 44.6 76.6 36.3 11.2 100.0 843.8

E 49750 42.6 66.3 24.5 9.1 100.0 32.5

E 49751 16.8 25.9 34.2 11.5 100.0 28.6

E 48478 34.7 50.5 48.5 18.4 46.0 91.4

E 47479 30.3 37.9 36.6 14.7 73.3 43.5

E 48996 37.0 100.0 31.7 7.5 20.5 38.1

E 48388 67.2 100.0 5.6 22.0 28.0 64.4

E 48389 63.4 100.0 2.5 12.1 14.0 44.1

E 48390 70.2 100.0 4.9 14.1 25.2 43.3

E 48214 74.2 100.0 5.0 18.7 25.9 59.1

E 48216 71.3 100.0 3.4 13.6 14.4 42.2

E 48430 55.6 97.6 10.1 29.8 46.0 91.4

E 48403 16.0 100.0 1.1 9.4 19.7 46.9

E 48220 33.3 55.1 7.2 21.9 46.7 94.5

E 48393 30.0 34.1 6.2 13.1 31.5 100.0

E 48394 14.3 29.9 8.4 7.9 46.2 100.0

E 48395 29.7 51.5 6.7 11.2 100.0 74.7

E 48398 24.6 60.9 6.8 14.5 100.0 57.4

E 48400 67.2 70.1 10.5 27.0 42.8 87.5

E 48401 80.0 68.4 9.6 27.3 30.7 82.3

E 48405 27.8 100.0 0.8 4.8 11.0 14.4

E 48425 9.7 100.0 n.d. n.d. 26.8 12.8

E 48382 62.2 100.0 4.6 5.3 28.8 25.1

E 48383 90.5 100.0 6.5 22.3 44.0 87.6

E 48384 48.2 100.0 4.5 6.9 26.0 28.7

E 48986 54.4 100.0 7.5 12.3 58.3 28.0

E 48987 36.7 100.0 5.1 7.8 56.9 27.4

E 48988 44.4 49.2 43.2 9.3 100.0 53.2

E 48989 35.8 100.0 2.3 7.3 30.7 18.5

E 48993 32.4 82.0 18.7 20.9 100.0 50.5

E 48991 50.2 100.0 n.d. 6.2 26.5 30.3

E 48992 57.2 100.0 9.4 6.3 68.8 23.9

n.d.:not detected

NA:naphthaldehyde

A84

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.38:(continued)

Sample E-C1-NA F-C1-NA G-C1-NA H-C1-NA I-C1-NA J-C1-NA

% % % % % %

E 49710 43.0 24.6 n.d. 48.9 10.0 60.1

E 49748 25.9 23.7 n.d. 38.2 9.1 70.4

E 49749 28.1 28.9 n.d 48.5 5.2 68.2

E 49750 17.6 19.2 n.d. 36.8 6.8 45.5

E 49751 20.4 27.0 n.d. 51.0 2.5 57.4

E 48478 58.9 28.7 20.3 63.6 11.9 100.0

E 47479 27.8 28.9 n.d. 53.8 5.1 100.0

E 48996 9.9 22.9 23.8 35.9 12.9 64.6

E 48388 41.2 35.4 n.d. 86.3 5.8 68.9

E 48389 28.2 22.6 21.2 37.3 2.8 37.4

E 48390 31.6 19.5 32.7 33.1 3.1 39.1

E 48214 18.0 25.9 20.2 28.2 4.8 58.8

E 48216 29.4 23.8 26.8 34.8 4.5 47.6

E 48430 55.7 50.6 41.8 53.3 10.3 100.0

E 48403 9.6 56.1 31.1 76.2 29.8 73.0

E 48220 38.2 55.3 42.7 100.0 6.8 85.9

E 48393 35.0 32.2 26.7 52.5 9.2 63.2

E 48394 15.4 33.8 19.0 53.9 6.5 43.0

E 48395 20.6 23.0 34.9 86.5 22.5 68.3

E 48398 30.7 30.1 n.d. 73.4 5.2 60.4

E 48400 53.3 30.1 50.1 61.5 11.0 100.0

E 48401 51.9 80.6 83.4 52.1 9.9 100.0

E 48405 10.4 13.5 13.6 22.0 n.d. 19.8

E 48382 12.4 8.3 9.0 11.1 3.4 17.5

E 48383 66.6 35.8 47.1 65.6 15.0 99.7

E 48384 21.4 12.0 16.3 18.9 4.8 35.9

E 48986 28.6 29.0 15.0 34.1 13.1 60.2

E 48987 20.8 20.2 8.2 37.6 8.2 51.2

E 48988 27.0 23.0 14.6 23.5 1.7 84.2

E 48989 10.2 12.3 n.d. 25.1 2.0 32.6

E 48993 26.1 30.0 14.0 42.4 14.2 63.4

E 48991 22.2 15.9 20.4 27.1 4.7 47.8

E 48992 27.5 11.8 15.4 23.3 7.9 37.4

n.d.:not detected

NA:naphthaldehyde

A85

A Data Compilation

Table A.38:(continued)

Sample K-C1-NA L-C1-NA M-C1-NA

% % %

E 49710 10.9 25.2 9.8

E 49748 13.1 41.3 15.4

E 49749 13.8 15.5 10.1

E 49750 6.3 13.9 5.8

E 49751 6.3 13.9 5.8

E 48478 19.3 26.3 15.3

E 47479 18.2 15.6 13.6

E 48996 5.8 27.1 40.0

E 48388 9.8 19.1 6.6

E 48389 6.0 7.6 2.0

E 48390 7.7 10.8 3.0

E 48214 6.3 14.6 4.3

E 48216 6.8 13.6 4.0

E 48430 19.3 26.3 15.3

E 48403 10.7 10.0 4.4

E 48220 13.0 28.4 9.3

E 48393 12.4 13.1 7.4

E 48394 8.8 16.6 8.1

E 48395 10.8 20.2 9.3

E 48398 8.3 16.6 18.6

E 48400 19.1 26.8 11.7

E 48401 19.4 29.3 13.6

E 48405 3.0 1.6 n.d.

E 48382 3.6 4.3 3.8

E 48383 20.1 21.6 14.1

E 48384 6.2 5.3 3.4

E 48986 11.3 17.1 21.8

E 48987 9.0 13.5 15.3

E 48988 14.7 44.5 15.1

E 48989 3.6 4.3 15.7

E 48993 10.4 46.5 41.1

E 48991 6.5 8.9 n.d.

E 48992 8.2 10.5 10.9

n.d.:not detected

NA:naphthaldehyde

A86

A.4 NSO-Compounds

Table A.39: Distribution of Thymol, Carvacrol and 2-Isopropyl-4-Methylphenol (2-ip-4M-

Phenol)

Sample Thymol Carvacrol 2ip-4M-Phenol

% % %

E 48388 70.4 47.3 100.0

E 48389 60.6 22.5 100.0

E 48390 62.0 13.4 100.0

E 48214 53.4 11.8 100.0

E 48216 100.0 29.0 73.5

E 48220 81.7 7.8 100.0

E 48392 100.0 31.6 80.5

E 48393 3.8 0.0 100.0

E 48394 100.0 36.9 79.2

E 48395 79.2 14.1 100.0

E 48397 85.3 0.0 100.0

E 48398 100.0 39.2 80.6

E 48400 57.8 9.0 100.0

E 48401 53.2 20.4 100.0

E 48383 56.9 25.4 100.0

E 48384 100.0 27.7 48.2

E 48986 100.0 92.3 0.0

E 48988 27.6 100.0 0.0

E 48989 20.4 100.0 9.9

E 48993 43.3 10.2 100.0

E 48991 100.0 24.0 57.2

E 48992 57.5 33.1 100.0

A87

A Data Compilation

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

A88

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.40: Nomenclature of n-Fatty Acids

Compound Abbreviation

Heptanoic acid (7:0)

Octanoic acid (8:0)

Nonanoic acid (9:0)

Decanoic acid (10:0)

Undecanoic acid (11:0)

Dodecanoic acid (12:0)

Tridecanoic acid (13:0)

Tetradecanoic acid (14:0)

Pentadecanoic acid (15:0)

Hexadecanoic acid (16:0)

Heptadecanoic acid (17:0)

Octadecanoic acid (18:0)

Nonadecanoic acid (19:0)

Eicosanoic acid (20:0)

Heneicosanoic acid (21:0)

Docosanoic acid (22:0)

Tricosanoic acid (23:0)

Tetracosanoic acid (24:0)

Pentacosanoic acid (25:0)

Hexacosanoic acid (26:0)

Heptacosanoic acid (27:0)

Octacosanoic acid (28:0)

Nonacosanoic acid (29:0)

Triacontanoic acid (30:0)

Hentricontanoic acid (31:0)

Dotricontanoic acid (32:0)

A89

A Data Compilation

Table A.41: Distribution of n-Fatty Acids

Sample (7:0) (8:0) (9:0) (10:0) (11:0) (12:0)

% % % % % %

E 49710 1.2 3 3.5 0.5 0.0 4.1

E 49748 0.1 0.7 1.0 0.5 0.3 5.4

E 49749 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.8

E 49750 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.7 1.3 15.0

E 49751 17.7 48.4 81.4 21.4 12.6 30.6

E 48478 0.0 0.3 4.0 5.8 18.6 42.3

E 48479 3.0 7.9 21.0 17.2 35.0 57.4

E 48480 3.0 6.9 24.1 9.1 4.2 19.4

E 48990 0.0 0.8 1.1 1.9 0.9 8.6

E 48996 0.0 0.0 6.3 2.0 0.5 4.8

E 48388 61.3 30.3 43.6 35.9 17.9 28.8

E 48389 100.0 14.0 24.0 27.7 14.3 24.3

E 48390 100.0 10.7 17.0 8.0 8.1 17.3

E 48214 64.3 14.3 27.4 19.3 15.6 23.7

E 48216 100.0 18.7 36.2 56.1 21.8 32.9

E 48403 4.4 9.2 18.2 6.5 2.5 9.9

E 48220 100.0 12.2 19.6 33.6 12.7 21.2

E 48430 0.0 0.0 20.5 14.7 5.2 23.3

E 48392 100.0 10.2 18.0 24.1 8.5 17.2

E 48393 87.2 8.4 20.2 12.3 6.3 18.0

E 48394 100.0 18.2 44.3 11.9 3.8 9.8

E 48395 57.1 5.4 12.0 7.3 5.0 13.1

E 48396 100.0 10.1 22.9 10.0 8.8 15.6

E 48397 11.7 10.7 14.6 6.1 3.6 10.9

E 48398 24.1 4.0 9.1 4.3 2.4 10.6

E 48400 9.5 21.2 3 6.7 1.5 9.6

E 48401 6.1 12.9 23.0 4.2 1.1 7.3

E 48405 50.4 6.5 13.1 3.8 1.6 10.4

E 48425 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.6

E 48382 2.6 1.9 5.6 2.9 1.7 6.1

E 48383 60.5 33.7 55.6 33.1 24.2 35.4

E 48384 5.7 5.7 14.2 4.9 3.6 9.6

E 48985 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.6 4.6 10.0

E 48986 0.0 0.0 27.2 19.8 30.5 46.7

E 48987 0.0 0.0 8.3 5.6 9.4 17.5

E 48988 0.0 0.0 54.8 11.8 16.3 28.9

E 48989 0.0 0.0 26.3 3.1 1.7 3.7

E 48993 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48991 0.0 0.3 1.0 1.2 0.7 8.1

E 48992 11.5 9.8 12.7 6.9 4.4 14.2

A90

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.41:(continued)

Sample (13:0) (14:0) (15:0) (16:0) (17:0) (18:0)

% % % % % %

E 49710 0.0 33.3 8.4 100.0 1.3 62.5

E 49748 0.9 66.7 22.0 100.0 8.8 24.6

E 49749 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 25.6

E 49750 2.7 32.1 10.2 100.0 6.6 19.6

E 49751 11.9 49.0 32.9 100.0 21.2 36.1

E 48478 37.5 69.9 70.3 100.0 87.0 98.9

E 48479 47.7 83.2 87.9 100.0 27.1 78.1

E 48480 5.7 38.7 18.2 100.0 5.2 34.6

E 48990 1.3 21.5 9.9 100.0 5.4 66.1

E 48996 0.5 9.0 4.5 54.1 5.1 37.7

E 48388 15.7 44.6 25.3 100.0 15.6 58.5

E 48389 10.8 30.8 20.6 94.2 12.4 46.9

E 48390 7.8 25.0 14.8 89.6 10.5 49.1

E 48214 12.4 31.8 23.0 100.0 18.1 54.0

E 48216 23.0 61.4 46.2 96.6 21.7 55.6

E 48403 1.8 21.1 7.6 100.0 3.1 32.4

E 48220 10.8 26.1 19.6 88.5 17.4 62.4

E 48430 3.7 25.4 9.1 100.0 3.4 19.8

E 48392 6.4 29.9 14.4 96.7 12.7 47.6

E 48393 4.7 29.9 13.8 100.0 7.0 72.3

E 48394 1.1 10.8 3.9 42.6 6.2 19.8

E 48395 3.2 21.3 13.5 100.0 6.3 42.7

E 48396 6.4 28.1 16.2 97.9 10.9 78.5

E 48397 3.0 20.8 10.3 100.0 9.0 69.6

E 48398 2.1 18.9 10.4 100.0 7.9 50.9

E 48400 1.2 24.0 5.6 100.0 2.6 43.1

E 48401 0.6 15.7 5.0 100.0 1.8 36.5

E 48405 1.3 20.2 7.4 100.0 2.4 37.9

E 48425 0.5 16.0 6.5 100.0 4.0 83.2

E 48382 1.7 17.7 10.8 100.0 5.3 35.7

E 48383 21.2 53.5 35.9 100.0 23.4 56.5

E 48384 2.7 25.3 9.3 100.0 4.5 38.1

E 48985 7.8 19.5 20.5 60.4 38.2 69.8

E 48986 33.1 56.6 56.3 100.0 70.2 93.4

E 48987 11.4 28.1 30.0 88.0 52.8 86.8

E 48988 11.3 38.2 23.9 100.0 15.1 49.6

E 48989 1.4 4.9 3.3 20.2 2.3 7.8

E 48993 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.5

E 48991 1.2 16.5 7.7 100.0 5.9 81.4

E 48992 3.8 26.3 12.7 100.0 6.8 61.3

A91

A Data Compilation

Table A.41:(continued)

Sample (19:0) (20:0) (21:0) (22:0) (23:0) (24:0)

% % % % % %

E 49710 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49748 9.7 12.2 11.6 13.3 12.6 14.6

E 49749 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49750 2.4 2.5 1.3 1.6 0.8 1.6

E 49751 13.0 13.8 10.9 10.6 9.1 12.2

E 48478 84.5 74.7 59.7 49.5 35.4 28.3

E 48479 71.7 61.6 53.8 68.4 60.0 54.0

E 48480 1.7 1.9 1.4 1.9 1.2 2.0

E 48990 0.9 2.1 0.4 1.9 0.6 0.0

E 48996 8.2 16.6 11.7 27.5 21.1 49.7

E 48388 10.7 11.1 9.1 9.8 7.1 9.2

E 48389 8.5 9.1 7.0 8.4 6.4 8.6

E 48390 8.4 9.1 6.2 6.8 4.9 6.3

E 48214 12.7 13.5 10.2 10.4 9.2 10.8

E 48216 15.1 16.5 14.2 14.4 11.1 11.6

E 48403 1.1 1.5 0.7 1 0.0 1.0

E 48220 13.0 12.6 10.2 11.5 8.8 11.0

E 48430 4.4 2.0 1.1 1.4 0.0 1.2

E 48392 4.3 4.9 3.3 4.2 3.0 4.6

E 48393 2.6 4.5 2.1 3.6 2.3 3.3

E 48394 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48395 1.1 1.7 0.3 1.2 0.3 2.3

E 48396 4.5 6.1 4.4 5.5 3.9 4.6

E 48397 7.6 9.8 7.6 10.6 8.1 11.2

E 48398 1.6 2.3 1.0 1.8 1.1 2.5

E 48400 1.7 3.0 1.2 3.8 1.5 4.2

E 48401 0.4 0.8 0.2 0.6 0.6 1.5

E 48405 0.3 1.0 0.1 0.6 0.2 0.9

E 48425 0.7 3.4 0.6 6.9 0.9 0.0

E 48382 1.8 4.6 1.3 3.5 1.7 5.1

E 48383 18.8 20.7 19.5 20.7 16.0 17.1

E 48384 1.8 2.4 1.2 1.8 1.2 2.0

E 48985 48.8 66.5 63.8 87.5 70.9 100.0

E 48986 52.5 55.3 38.0 41.9 25.3 31.6

E 48987 61.2 81.6 74.3 97.7 72.9 100.0

E 48988 11.0 14.3 14.9 19.7 17.3 24.6

E 48989 1.7 2.3 2.6 5.6 4.0 16.7

E 48993 0.6 1.8 3.2 9.9 11.0 31.4

E 48991 1.1 2.3 0.5 2.6 0.7 0.0

E 48992 2.4 3.3 1.9 3.0 2.0 3.9

A92

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.41:(continued)

Sample (25:0) (26:0) (27:0) (28:0) (29:0) (30:0)

% % % % % %

E 49710 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49748 10.3 11.2 8.2 9.8 7.3 7.6

E 49749 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 49750 0.5 1.0 0.2 1.1 0.0 0.0

E 49751 6.7 10.1 4.7 10.6 4.0 10.5

E 48478 20.4 14.7 11.2 8.2 5.8 4.1

E 48479 43.1 34.5 23.2 14.1 7.5 4.9

E 48480 0.8 0.9 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.3

E 48990 0.6 1.5 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48996 32.5 70.6 31.6 100.0 29.0 64.5

E 48388 6.6 9.5 5.0 6.8 3.8 3.5

E 48389 5.6 6.8 4.0 4.3 2.7 1.8

E 48390 4.3 4.8 2.9 2.6 1.6 1.0

E 48214 9.2 9.8 6.9 6.6 5.0 3.5

E 48216 9.8 10.4 7.7 7.3 5.4 3.9

E 48403 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48220 7.9 10.6 6.1 6.5 3.9 2.3

E 48430 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48392 2.6 3.0 1.3 1.4 0.7 0.6

E 48393 1.7 2.1 1.1 1.3 0.7 0.6

E 48394 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48395 0.4 0.9 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1

E 48396 2.5 2.9 1.5 1.4 0.8 0.6

E 48397 5.9 7.3 3.6 3.4 1.6 1.0

E 48398 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2

E 48400 1.2 6.6 1.1 3.2 0.8 0.9

E 48401 0.4 0.9 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0

E 48405 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0

E 48425 1.0 2.1 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 2.2 4.7 1.4 2.4 0.9 0.9

E 48383 13.6 14.7 9.6 8.9 5.3 3.8

E 48384 1.0 1.2 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3

E 48985 62.1 78.4 39.3 68.5 22.9 21.8

E 48986 14.7 17.0 7.8 13.6 5.0 7.1

E 48987 56.1 69.0 32.3 57.1 17.6 19.0

E 48988 16.5 26.9 17.7 56.7 13.3 31.6

E 48989 6.1 34.2 9.7 100.0 12.6 82.3

E 48993 17.7 93.4 18.5 100.0 1.0 1.5

E 48991 0.6 1.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48992 1.9 2.9 1.4 3.2 0.9 1.2

A93

A Data Compilation

Table A.41:(continued)

Sample (31:0) (32:0)

% %

E 49710 0.0 0.0

E 49748 0.0 5.5

E 49749 0.0 0.0

E 49750 0.0 1.0

E 49751 2.4 7.2

E 48478 2.4 1.5

E 48479 2.0 2.2

E 48480 0.0 0.0

E 48990 0.0 0.0

E 48996 16.0 16.3

E 48388 1.8 1.7

E 48389 1.3 0.7

E 48390 0.6 0.3

E 48214 2.3 1.2

E 48216 2.7 1.3

E 48403 0.0 0.0

E 48220 1.4 0.7

E 48430 0.0 0.0

E 48392 0.3 0.3

E 48393 0.3 0.2

E 48394 0.0 0.0

E 48395 0.0 0.0

E 48396 0.3 0.2

E 48397 0.6 0.4

E 48398 0.1 0.1

E 48400 0.2 0.5

E 48401 0.0 0.0

E 48405 0.0 0.0

E 48425 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.5 0.4

E 48383 2.2 1.3

E 48384 0.1 0.1

E 48985 7.6 8.6

E 48986 2.0 2.8

E 48987 6.0 6.9

E 48988 8.3 17.7

E 48989 5.2 20.2

E 48993 0.0 0.0

E 48991 0.0 0.0

E 48992 0.4 0.5

A94

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.42: Distribution of Alkylbenzoic Acids

Sample BA PAA 2-MBA 3-MBA 4-MBA

% % % % %

E 49751 100.0 1.3 19.6 28.9 10.1

E 48478 100.0 6.8 10.7 27.4 19.9

E 48479 82.4 12.2 10.1 41.4 22.2

E 48480 100.0 2.2 5.3 14.7 13.1

E 48990 100.0 20.4 7.6 73.6 55.8

E 48388 100.0 3.3 7.3 48.3 24.1

E 48389 100.0 2.8 5.4 41.8 18.0

E 48390 100.0 11.0 9.2 47.5 21.5

E 48214 100.0 1.7 8 75.0 27.7

E 48216 100.0 9.0 10.0 64.3 28.4

E 48403 100.0 0.5 7.4 85.6 39.4

E 48220 90.0 4.3 4.5 45.5 35.4

E 48430 100.0 1.2 8.6 56.5 24.6

E 48392 100.0 3.0 9.9 23.9 12.3

E 48393 100.0 2.0 9.5 16.1 7.6

E 48395 100.0 3.5 2.3 23.7 23.6

E 48396 100.0 2.8 10.7 19.0 13.4

E 48398 100.0 1.2 1.4 12.1 6.5

E 48405 100.0 0.7 4.7 27.8 8.9

E 48382 100.0 1.1 2.5 8.1 7.4

E 48383 100.0 2.9 6.1 56.5 25.9

E 48986 23.0 23.2 35.9 100.0 73.2

E 48988 0.0 13.0 20.1 66.1 100.0

E 48989 0.8 16.4 16.6 71.1 100.0

E 48991 100.0 3.0 10.8 39.0 24.5

E 48992 0.0 3.7 66.3 100.0 35.9

BA:benzoic acid, PAA:phenylacetic acid

MBA:methylbenzoic acid

A95

A Data Compilation

Table A.42:(continued)

Sample PAA PPA PAA 2,6-DMBA

% % % %

E 49751 1.5 0.3 1.2 0.3

E 48990 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48478 0.0 0.0 3.0 3.5

E 48479 7.5 1.3 1.3 1.2

E 48480 0.0 1.0 2.6 0.8

E 48388 1.2 9.8 1.7 1.1

E 48389 0.6 1.9 1.9 0.7

E 48390 0.4 1.9 2.1 0.9

E 48214 0.6 2.8 2.4 0.6

E 48216 2.1 4.0 4.0 1.4

E 48403 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.2

E 48220 0.3 4.9 2.0 3.9

E 48430 0.8 0.0 0.3 2.4

E 48392 0.5 5.7 2.0 1.2

E 48393 0.5 7.0 1.3 1.2

E 48395 0.2 6.5 1.3 1.5

E 48396 0.2 3.7 1.1 0.5

E 48398 0.2 5.0 0.4 0.7

E 48405 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.1

E 48382 0.0 0.9 1.6 0.0

E 48383 1.7 2.1 1.6 1.3

E 48986 19.1 26.2 32.8 0.0

E 48988 6.9 13.5 13.5 0.1

E 48989 13.2 41.0 7.8 1.1

E 48991 5.2 0.0 2.6 0.0

E 48992 12.3 2.8 5.8 0.0

PPA:phenylpropanbenzoic acid

DMBA:dimethylbenzoic acid

A96

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.42:(continued)

Sample 2,5-DMBA 4-EBA 3,4-DMBA 3,5-DMBA

% % % %

E 49751 9.4 2.5 15.9 16.1

E 48990 0.0 31.9 76.6 71.2

E 48478 13.7 5.1 36.5 24.7

E 48479 15.7 4.5 100.0 35.0

E 48480 1.8 2.0 6.8 4.6

E 48388 3.0 3.2 25.6 23.1

E 48389 2.7 2.0 21.4 8.9

E 48390 3.5 2.8 14.9 11.0

E 48214 6.1 4.9 55.9 25.9

E 48216 5.5 3.7 77.2 37.8

E 48403 3.3 10.3 44.8 30.2

E 48220 3.0 3.7 53.2 100.0

E 48430 4.8 3.2 19.5 16.6

E 48392 2.1 3.1 17.2 31.5

E 48393 1.5 1.6 6.8 16.4

E 48395 0.8 1.6 15.0 32.2

E 48396 1.3 2.3 7.5 12.6

E 48398 1.0 0.9 5.2 3.9

E 48405 1.4 0.9 7.2 3.8

E 48382 2.9 0.9 9.3 9.5

E 48383 2.3 3.5 20.8 14.1

E 48986 10.5 5.5 27.9 19.8

E 48988 4.7 3.8 0.0 10.5

E 48989 6.0 2.7 0.0 14.6

E 48991 17.9 2.5 21.8 50.9

E 48992 12.4 4.4 6.2 25.6

EBA:ethylbenzoic acid

DMBA:dimethylbenzoic acid

A97

A Data Compilation

Table A.43: Distribution of Alkylhydroxy-/Alkylmethoxybenzoic Acids

Sample 2-HBA 4-HBA 3-HBA A-C1B-C1

% % % % %

E 48388 100.0 26.3 26.0 68.9 56.2

E 48389 100.0 51.1 35.2 71.6 66.5

E 48390 12.8 0.0 47.1 100.0 26.6

E 48214 17.8 6.6 0.0 95.7 0.0

E 48216 17.3 23.4 12.0 27.9 56.8

E 48403 2.3 5.2 2.3 48.5 6.3

E 48220 27.8 23.8 13.7 70.1 24.3

E 48392 59.2 26.1 13.2 70.6 100.0

E 48393 20.7 30.9 33.5 73.0 0.0

E 48395 13.8 32.9 12.7 17.8 21.8

E 48396 21.1 8.8 13.3 89.2 59.3

E 48397 26.1 0.0 10.4 3.4 21.0

E 48398 31.3 38.2 16.2 11.5 14.8

E 48400 100.0 0.0 31.5 34.8 35.8

E 48401 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 24.8

E 48382 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 51.4 39.6 94.2 48.1 46.4

E 48985 0.0 13.1 56.8 0.0 0.0

E 48986 13.2 0.0 6.2 1.8 3.5

E 48987 0.0 10.4 100.0 0.2 0.0

E 48988 17.4 38.1 100.0 2.0 3.1

E 48989 14.6 44.5 100.0 0.8 3.4

HBA:hydroxybenzoic acid

A98

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.43:(continued)

Sample C-C1D-C1E-C1A-C2B-C2

% % % % %

E 48388 64.0 0.7 4.6 37.8 16.9

E 48389 68.0 15.6 47.3 39.5 11.0

E 48390 0.0 4.4 83.7 11.9 0.0

E 48214 100.0 0.0 5.6 53.4 11.0

E 48216 61.7 5.3 16.3 100.0 12.7

E 48403 100.0 3.0 14.7 0.0 0.0

E 48220 100.0 4.4 13.9 74.1 9.9

E 48392 74.0 10.4 31.0 73.9 32.6

E 48393 0.0 22.5 100.0 0.0 0.0

E 48395 100.0 27.4 55.6 27.4 10.1

E 48396 72.3 13.5 38.3 100.0 20.0

E 48397 16.9 6.4 36.1 12.1 0.0

E 48398 48.5 3.1 13.1 36.4 5.1

E 48400 66.8 18.0 59.0 0.0 0.0

E 48401 81.5 0.0 46.1 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 100.0 3.6 25.8 20.3 6.8

E 48985 3.3 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48986 17.4 100.0 0.0 4.2 0.0

E 48987 0.7 34.7 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48988 1.3 19.8 0.0 3.7 0.0

E 48989 2.4 25.1 0.0 2.1 0.0

A99

A Data Compilation

Table A.43:(continued)

Sample C-C2D-C2E-C2F-C2

% % % %

E 48388 1.1 21.1 0.6 9.4

E 48389 3.0 49.1 6.4 11.8

E 48390 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48214 0.0 13.4 0.0 10.0

E 48216 1.5 32.7 19.0 20.7

E 48403 1.0 2.8 0.0 0.0

E 48220 2.3 33.4 2.9 24.3

E 48392 2.7 33.8 7.2 20.5

E 48393 5.7 50.2 22.9 0.0

E 48395 2.6 51.5 7.7 9.1

E 48396 2.3 24.4 5.0 32.1

E 48397 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0

E 48398 1.7 100.0 5.2 32.1

E 48400 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48401 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 3.4 36.2 3.0 14.4

E 48985 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48986 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48987 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48989 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

A100

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.43:(continued)

Sample 4H3MBA 3,4-DHBA

% %

E 48388 28.7 8.5

E 48389 3.8 8.1

E 48390 22.2 78.7

E 48214 1.2 2.6

E 48216 0.0 0.6

E 48403 0.6 3.0

E 48220 3.7 8.2

E 48392 0.4 2.9

E 48393 2.2 16.0

E 48395 0.3 3.3

E 48396 0.0 3.7

E 48397 0.0 0.0

E 48398 1.4 1.7

E 48400 0.0 0.0

E 48401 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0

E 48383 4.4 2.2

E 48985 0.0 1.9

E 48986 0.0 3.4

E 48987 1.1 1.8

E 48988 10.8 6.3

E 48989 6.5 4.9

4H3MBA:4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid

3,4-DHBA:3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid

A101

A Data Compilation

Table A.44: Distribution of Alkylnaphthalenecarboxylic Acids

Sample 1-NCA 2-NCA A-C1-NCA B-C1-NCA C-C1-NCA

% % % % %

E 49751 43.6 42.6 12.1 37.6 48.6

E 48388 48.4 100.0 11.5 16.9 13.5

E 48389 40.5 100.0 7.7 13.7 11.2

E 48390 50.0 100.0 3.3 18.0 13.2

E 48214 31.7 88.6 0 17.6 13.9

E 48216 60.8 88.9 9.9 18.8 13.3

E 48403 5.6 58.0 0.7 2.1 2.9

E 48220 16.9 100.0 4.4 12.5 12.5

E 48430 57.3 97.1 21.1 23.7 29.8

E 48392 7.1 31.1 2.1 4.2 5.8

E 48393 6.9 20.1 1.2 3.5 4.7

E 48395 9.9 100.0 1.9 3.5 4.0

E 48396 8.0 48.1 3.0 4.5 10.6

E 48398 10.3 62.0 2.7 5.1 7.0

E 48405 37.3 100.0 1.0 7.1 5.3

E 48383 54.3 100.0 17.1 20.1 19.6

E 48988 55.3 100.0 0.0 18.8 8.1

E 48992 99.7 100.0 14.3 11.0 7.9

NCA:naphthalenecarboxylic acid

A102

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.44:(continued)

Sample D-C1-NCA E-C1-NCA F-C1-NCA G-C1-NCA H-C1-NCA

% % % % %

E 49751 36.7 50.9 9.0 26.7 12.6

E 48388 14.5 22.1 7.3 25.1 6.4

E 48389 11.2 15.6 3.9 22.3 4.2

E 48390 22.3 22.1 2.8 23.1 5.2

E 48214 0.0 28.0 4.1 27.6 4.4

E 48216 25.6 24.8 6.8 28.0 5.7

E 48403 3.0 2.5 0.8 18.4 0.9

E 48220 18.3 15.2 4.0 26.5 3.3

E 48430 30.0 39.2 10.0 28.1 15.0

E 48392 6.5 4.7 1.8 17.7 1.4

E 48393 5.4 3.7 1.1 11.4 1.5

E 48395 4.7 2.7 1.1 18.7 2.0

E 48396 8.5 5.0 2.8 35.3 2.5

E 48398 5.8 2.8 1.7 19.6 1.6

E 48405 7.5 9.8 0.7 10.5 1.3

E 48383 20.0 30.9 11.2 29.5 8.2

E 48988 10.0 17.4 5.3 10.0 8.6

E 48992 15.5 28.0 7.7 9.6 0.9

NCA:naphthalenecarboxylic acid

A103

A Data Compilation

Table A.44:(continued)

Sample I-C1-NCA J-C1-NCA K-C1-NCA

% % %

E 49751 100.0 31.7 23.9

E 48388 80.5 15.9 23.5

E 48389 78.1 14.4 21.9

E 48390 87.5 14.5 20.5

E 48214 100.0 16.0 26.5

E 48216 100.0 16.4 25.9

E 48403 100.0 13.1 26.4

E 48220 94.5 21.1 22.0

E 48430 100.0 18.0 30.1

E 48392 100.0 21.1 15.2

E 48393 100.0 14.8 13.2

E 48395 69.3 19.7 19.2

E 48396 100.0 90.9 23.3

E 48398 100.0 23.7 15.4

E 48405 52.49 9.0 9.6

E 48383 86.5 17.3 29.7

E 48988 52.5 13.1 14.5

E 48992 34.3 8.3 15.7

NCA:naphthalenecarboxylic acid

A104

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.45: Distribution of Alkylanthracene/Phenanthrenecarboxylic Acids

Sample A-C09-PCA B-C0C-C0D-C0

% % % % %

E 49751 79.6 41.2 100.0 66.3 0.0

E 48388 57.0 42.3 96.7 100.0 38.8

E 48389 45.9 35.1 100.0 93.8 47.2

E 48390 50.1 39.5 100.0 98.7 46.4

E 48214 47.8 39.2 98.1 100.0 44.1

E 48216 64.6 47.7 100.0 97.9 54.8

E 48403 28.0 17.1 100.0 81.4 3.7

E 48220 29.9 25.7 48.4 100.0 24.7

E 48430 86.7 63.7 68.2 100.0 62.3

E 48392 60.8 47.9 87.6 100.0 43.5

E 48393 62.7 53.8 77.2 100.0 34.0

E 48395 31.9 22.2 85.0 100.0 15.6

E 48396 29.2 22.0 42.6 100.0 55.2

E 48398 36.4 8.4 45.5 100.0 18.9

E 48405 47.55 27.26 100.0 82.45 2.1

E 48425 15.5 7.2 91.6 100.0 2.8

E 48383 64.2 53.7 91.4 100.0 31.4

E 48992 100.0 77.6 90.4 71.6 8.6

PCA:phenanthrenecarboxylic acid

A105

A Data Compilation

Table A.45:(continued)

Sample A-C1B-C1C-C1D-C1E-C1

% % % % %

E 49751 19.3 50.6 86.9 21.0 61.9

E 48388 9.2 12.4 41.0 16.0 44.3

E 48389 8.8 9.1 32.2 13.0 36.3

E 48390 12.7 12.9 35.0 15.9 41.6

E 48214 12.4 10.2 41.0 21.6 44.0

E 48216 17.3 12.9 48.9 46.3 53.0

E 48403 4.8 3.8 13.2 5.2 22.4

E 48220 6.5 5.0 19.6 35.8 23.2

E 48430 0.0 0.0 7.5 79.3 38.9

E 48392 9.9 5.0 28.4 61.1 29.7

E 48393 12.1 8.1 32.9 76.6 29.2

E 48395 7.4 2.8 14.1 10.4 20.4

E 48396 5.1 3.3 13.4 27.2 13.4

E 48398 2.6 1.0 7.3 21.1 8.5

E 48405 4.6 4.4 13.1 4.9 17.7

E 48425 1.9 1.9 4.1 2.0 17.0

E 48383 10.2 9.0 30.0 30.5 35.8

E 48992 0.0 0.0 23.5 0.0 24.0

A106

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.45:(continued)

Sample F-C1G-C1H-C1I-C1J-C1

% % % % %

E 49751 13.9 15.5 13.3 35.4 30.9

E 48388 20.3 28.3 15.2 50.9 18.1

E 48389 16.5 24.2 17.1 40.1 9.4

E 48390 22.3 22.4 16.4 33.8 8.6

E 48214 18.3 23.4 16.4 38.1 11.4

E 48216 32.4 28.5 18.3 47.7 15.7

E 48403 5.7 12.6 7.5 20.1 5.9

E 48220 12.1 11.1 8.2 19.1 4.9

E 48430 24.4 26.8 17.6 35.6 40.7

E 48392 16.2 12.9 15.3 27.8 9.1

E 48393 18.0 16.3 12.4 25.6 10.8

E 48395 5.4 8.5 10.7 21.8 6.5

E 48396 8.2 6.5 9.4 13.2 4.4

E 48398 4.5 3.6 7.7 13.2 5.9

E 48405 3.8 8.0 3.6 12.8 3.7

E 48425 1.8 13.6 0.0 8.6 2.3

E 48383 19.5 20.0 16.6 33.3 10.5

E 48992 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

A107

A Data Compilation

Table A.45:(continued)

Sample K-C1L-C1

% %

E 49751 51.2 34.9

E 48388 58.5 42.8

E 48389 52.2 28.8

E 48390 51.0 24.6

E 48214 53.5 32.6

E 48216 65.1 38.9

E 48403 38.8 31.6

E 48220 24.9 16.1

E 48430 47.1 40.8

E 48392 37.9 22.1

E 48393 35.9 24.9

E 48395 29.7 16.2

E 48396 19.0 23.0

E 48398 13.3 11.2

E 48405 17.2 8.9

E 48425 16.9 4.0

E 48383 47.9 33.2

E 48992 19.6 22.0

A108

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.46: Distribution of Alkylnaphthalenedicarboxylic Acids

Sample A-C0B-C0C-C0A-C1B-C1

% % % % %

E 48388 100.0 0.0 13.7 8.9 23.8

E 48389 100.0 11.8 11.9 29.3 24.5

E 48390 10.9 0.0 0.0 100.0 30.8

E 48214 22.9 79.7 4.5 100.0 15.3

E 48216 56.3 100.0 25.6 86.5 23.9

E 48403 100.0 0.0 30.7 20.0 19.1

E 48220 31.6 95.7 19.6 100.0 11.9

E 48430 100.0 0.0 34.7 0.0 26.9

E 48392 84.0 100.0 45.4 42.2 19.7

E 48393 29.3 100.0 13.5 84.9 13.6

E 48395 100.0 0.0 20.1 48.7 20.4

E 48396 41.5 0.0 21.4 100.0 16.1

E 48398 100.0 10.1 27.3 25.4 30.7

E 48400 2.1 19.1 0.0 100.0 10.8

E 48405 100.0 0.0 11.1 59.3 23.7

E 48425 94.0 100.0 28.2 83.8 47.2

E 48382 4.0 13.7 1.3 100.0 0.0

E 48383 100.0 0.0 19.0 49.0 27.2

E 48384 2.1 24.9 1.0 100.0 0.0

E 48985 0.0 100.0 0.0 63.8 0.0

E 48986 0.0 100.0 0.0 9.2 0.0

E 48987 0.0 100.0 0.0 78.4 0.0

E 48988 32.9 100.0 21.4 47.7 0.0

E 48989 40.7 100.0 37.4 43.6 0.0

E 48992 12.3 100.0 6.5 37.0 0.0

A109

A Data Compilation

Table A.46:(continued)

Sample C-C1D-C1E-C1F-C1G-C1

% % % % %

E 48388 21.7 19.4 20.7 5.1 1.3

E 48389 25.6 21.0 31.4 6.0 0.6

E 48390 5.0 13.6 53.1 0.0 0.0

E 48214 6.8 5.7 28.0 0.0 0.0

E 48216 20.3 15.7 65.9 12.7 4.9

E 48403 23.7 20.7 23.0 21.3 6.8

E 48220 13.3 24.2 39.0 10.6 9.3

E 48430 28.1 25.0 31.5 15.3 18.7

E 48392 16.7 13.1 13.5 11.0 2.5

E 48393 65.3 9.9 31.9 4.8 0.0

E 48395 13.3 12.9 7.3 6.0 3.6

E 48396 15.8 7.8 41.2 0.0 3.8

E 48398 20.2 19.9 44.6 12.8 0.0

E 48400 0.8 0.0 27.5 0.0 0.0

E 48405 20.2 31.5 32.2 16.1 0.0

E 48425 38.3 0.0 43.0 8.4 0.0

E 48382 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48383 26.8 20.0 31.6 11.6 2.5

E 48384 0.0 35.7 36.3 0.0 1.4

E 48985 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48986 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48987 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48989 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48992 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

A110

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.46:(continued)

Sample A-C2B-C2C-C2D-C2

% % % %

E 48388 3.1 3.3 2.5 13.6

E 48389 3.4 10.6 10.5 26.5

E 48390 2.9 36.4 37.3 86.1

E 48214 0.0 32.0 33.1 57.3

E 48216 5.6 34.5 36.9 77.9

E 48403 0.0 3.7 4.2 7.2

E 48220 6.4 20.0 24.3 46.5

E 48430 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48392 3.4 11.5 12.9 26.0

E 48393 3.2 14.3 16.1 29.3

E 48395 0.0 7.9 9.6 17.3

E 48396 7.7 17.5 21.9 37.0

E 48398 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48400 0.0 14.1 18.5 33.8

E 48405 0.0 12.3 17.6 15.4

E 48425 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 0.0 10.2 10.2 14.3

E 48383 3.6 9.5 9.1 22.3

E 48384 0.0 12.8 14.4 23.4

E 48985 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48986 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48987 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48989 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

E 48992 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

A111

A Data Compilation

Table A.47: Distribution of Hopanoic Acids

Sample αβ-C31 αβ-C31 βα-C31 βα-C31 αβ-C32 αβ-C32

%%%%%%

E 48478 100.0 51.1 16.1 18.1 34.7 23.1

E 48479 100.0 79.0 29.1 33.0 55.6 30.0

E 48388 100.0 87.3 36.0 44.7 11.5 8.4

E 48389 100.0 87.7 36.6 47.0 18.6 14.2

E 48390 100.0 85.5 31.2 39.1 18.1 13.3

E 48214 100.0 90.2 37.2 47.4 21.4 17.2

E 48216 100.0 91.8 36.8 45.5 13.2 10.8

E 48220 100.0 84.7 31.3 36.2 17.3 13.2

E 48392 100.0 86.1 32.8 37.1 44.1 30.9

E 48393 100.0 86.6 28.2 34.3 21.8 15.2

E 48395 66.8 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48396 100.0 82.1 29.1 37.3 23.9 9.7

E 48397 100.0 48.7 23.2 10.1 0.0 0.0

E 48398 100.0 83.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48400 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

E 48382 100.0 80.6 33.4 35.0 12.2 10.8

E 48383 100.0 84.7 34.4 41.1 14.0 10.1

E 48985 0 37.8 19.1 66.5 100.0 0.0

E 48986 5.0 40.0 20.5 72.3 100.0 0.0

E 48987 0.0 37.6 18.5 74.1 100.0 0.0

E 48988 0.0 18.4 13.8 100.0 66.2 0.0

E 48989 0.0 0.0 0.0 98.8 100.0 0.0

E 48992 100.0 87.6 30.0 4 7.5 13.8

A112

A.5 Carboxylic Acids

Table A.48: Distribution of additional Hopanoic Acids present in Immature Coals

Sample αβ-C30 αβ-C30 βα-C30 βα-C30

% % % %

E 48985 0.0 0.0 42.3 29.2

E 48986 7.5 6.1 51.9 31.5

E 48987 8.2 7.0 52.7 33.8

E 48988 0.0 0.0 14.2 22.1

E 48989 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Table A.48:(continued)

Sample βα-C32 βββ-C32 αβ-C32

% % %

E 48985 25.0 94.8 13.6

E 48986 25.3 101.2 13.6

E 48987 26.8 93.9 0.0

E 48988 16.7 271.4 6.8

E 48989 0.0 338.5 0.0

A113