The second edition of The Biomarker Guide is a fully updated and expanded version of this essential reference. Now in two volumes, it provides a comprehensive account of the role that biomarker technology plays both in petroleum exploration and in understanding Earth history and processes. Biomarkers and Isotopes in the Environment and Human History details the origins of biomarkers and introduces basic chemical principles relevant to their study. It discusses analytical techniques, and applications of biomarkers to environmental and archaeological problems. The Biomarker Guide is an invaluable resource for geologists, petroleum geochemists, biogeochemists, environmental scientists and archaeologists.

The Biomarker Guide

Gas- and particle-phase organic compounds present in the tailpipe emissions from an in-use fleet of gasoline-powered automobiles and light-duty trucks were quantified using a two-stage dilution source sampling system. The vehicles were driven through the cold-start Federal Test Procedure (FTP) urban driving cycle on a transient dynamometer. Emission rates of 66 volatile hydrocarbons, 96 semi-volatile and particle-phase organic compounds, 27 carbonyls, and fine particle mass and chemical composition were quantified. Six isoprenoids and two tricyclic terpanes, which are quantified using new source sampling techniques for semi-volatile organic compounds, have been identified as potential tracers for gasoline-powered motor vehicle emissions. A composite of the commercially distributed California Phase II Reformulated Gasoline used in these tests was analyzed by several analytical methods to quantify the gasoline composition, including some organic compounds that are found in the atmosphere as semi-volatile and particle-phase organic compounds. These results allow a direct comparison of the semi-volatile and particle-phase organic compound emissions from gasoline-powered motor vehicles to the gasoline burned by these vehicles. The distribution of n-alkanes and isoprenoids emitted from the catalyst-equipped gasoline-powered vehicles is the same as the distribution of these compounds found in the gasoline used, whereas the distribution of these compounds in the emissions from the noncatalyst vehicles is very different from the distribution in the fuel. In contrast, the distribution of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their methylated homologues in the gasoline is significantly different from the distribution of the PAH in the tailpipe emissions from both types of vehicles.

Measurement of Emissions from Air Pollution Sources. 5. C1−C32 Organic Compounds from Gasoline-Powered Motor Vehicles

Kerogen origin, evolution and structure

Preface 1 Carbon, the Earth and life: 11 Carbon and the basic requirements of life12 Chemical elements, simple compounds and their origins13 The origin of life14 Evolution of life and the atmosphere15 Major contributors to sedimentary organic matter 2 Chemical composition of biogenic matter: 21 Structure of natural products22 Carbohydrates23 Amino acids and proteins24 Lipids25 Lignins, tannins and related compounds26 Nucleotides and nucleic acids27 Geochemical implicatiions of compositional variation 3 Production, preservation and degradation of organic matter: 31 How and why organic-rich deposits form32 Controls on primary production33 Preservation and degradation of organic matter34 Depositional environments associated with accumulation of organic matter 4 Long-term fate of organic matter in the geosphere: 41 Diagenesis42 Humic material43 Coal44 Kerogen45 Catagenesis and metagenesis46 Temporal and geographical distribution of fossil organic carbon 5 Chemical stratigraphy 51 Biologically mediated transformations52 Examples of source indicators in recent sediments53 Diagenesis at the molecular level54 Source and environment indicators in ancient sediments and oil55 Thermal maturity and molecular transformations56 Palaeotemperature and age measurement57 Maturity of ancient sedimentary organic matter58 Isotopic palaeontology 6 The carbon cycle and climate 61 Global carbon cycle62 Changes in carbon reservoirs over geological time63 Palaeoclimatic variations64 Isotopic excursions at period boundaries65 Human influence on the carbon cycle 7 Anthropogenic carbon and the environment 71 Introduction72 Halocarbons73 Hydrocarbon pollution in aquatic environments74 Endocrine disrupting chemicals75 Environmental behaviour of selected xenobiotic compounds76 Factors affecting the rate of anthropogenic components Appendix 1: SI units usedAppendix 2: SI unit prefixesAppendix 3: Geological timescaleReferencesIndex

An introduction to organic geochemistry

The latitudinal gradient of increasing biodiversity from poles to equator is one of the most prominent but least understood features of life on Earth. Here we show that species diversity can be predicted from the biochemical kinetics of metabolism. We first demonstrate that the average energy flux of populations is temperature invariant. We then derive a model that quantitatively predicts how species diversity increases with environmental temperature. Predictions are supported by data for terrestrial, freshwater, and marine taxa along latitudinal and elevational gradients. These results establish a thermodynamic basis for the regulation of species diversity and the organization of ecological communities.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/297/5586/1545.full.pdf

Global Biodiversity, Biochemical Kinetics, and the Energetic-Equivalence Rule

This indispensable reference provides the only comprehensive discussion of biomarkers and how they are used with other geochemical methods to reduce the risk associated with exploration for petroleum. The guide brings together information on biomarkers and related technology that is now disseminated in hundreds of research papers, and creates general guidelines for the use of selected parameters. For a broad audience including company exploration geologies, geochemists, geochemical coordinators, and managers.

The Biomarker Guide: Interpreting Molecular Fossils in Petroleum and Ancient Sediments

Effects of source, thermal maturity, and biodegradation on the distribution and isomerization of homohopanes in petroleum

Effects of hydrous pyrolysis on biomarker thermal maturity parameters: Monterey Phosphatic and Siliceous members

Petroleum isotopic and biomarker composition related to source rock organic matter and depositional environment

Commercial hydrocarbons in the Moray Firth area of the North Sea occur in reservoirs ranging in age from Devonian to Tertiary, with the bulk of the reserves located in Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous clastic rocks. Most hydrocarbon discoveries in this area have been made in the Outer Moray Firth, primarily in the Witch Ground graben. A single oil field, Beatrice, has been developed in the Inner Moray Firth area. The unusual location and chemical composition of Beatrice, compared to Piper and other North Sea oils generated from the Kimmeridge Clay, have contributed to the longstanding controversy on its origin. Oil source potential in the Inner Moray Firth has been recognized in lacustrine Devonian dolomitic siltstones, Middle Jurassic paralic coals, Upper Jurassic marine shales, and other rocks. However, prior to this study, only the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay was recognized as a significant effective source rock in the main graben area of the North Sea. Biomarker and stable carbon isotope analyses conclusively show that Beatrice oil could not have been generated from the classic Kimmeridge Clay source rock, but is a mixture of products derived from effective Devonian and Middle Jurassic source rocks. This work demonstrates the power of a multiparameter geochemical approach in solving this difficult oil to source rock correlation problem. Use of this approach can lead to the recognition of new exploration plays in previously well-explored basins.

J.M. Moldowan

Papers

The Biomarker Guide: Interpreting Molecular Fossils in Petroleum and Ancient Sediments

Effects of source, thermal maturity, and biodegradation on the distribution and isomerization of homohopanes in petroleum

Effects of hydrous pyrolysis on biomarker thermal maturity parameters: Monterey Phosphatic and Siliceous members

Petroleum isotopic and biomarker composition related to source rock organic matter and depositional environment

Origin of Beatrice Oil by Co-Sourcing from Devonian and Middle Jurassic Source Rocks, Inner Moray Firth, United Kingdom