Structural relationships in protokerogens and other geopolymers from oxic and anoxic sediments

Taylor, J., Young, C., Parkes, Ronald John, Eglinton, T. and Douglas, A. G. 1984. Structural relationships in protokerogens and other geopolymers from oxic and anoxic sediments. Organic Geochemistry 6 , pp. 279-286. 10.1016/0146-6380(84)90049-4

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Abstract

Fractions representing bitumens, asphaltenes, humic acids and “protokerogens” were isolated from a Scottish sea loch sediment, taken at different depths, in which aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, respectively, were active. They were degraded by saponification and provided hydrocarbon, ketone, alcohol, sterol and fatty acid fractions that were analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The humic acids and protokerogens taken together constituted the major fraction of the organic matter (60–65%) in both the surface (0–2 cm) oxic and deeper (16–21 cm) anoxic sediment. While the extractable bitumen comprised only 4–5% of the organic matter, in both sediment horizons, it contained 58–70% of the saponifiable lipids. The lipid fraction produced by saponification of the protokerogen, although small, increased significantly from 4.8 to 7.9% with increasing depth and this was most marked in the fatty acid, alcohol and sterol classes. On the basis of the distributions within the lipid classes released by saponification, the humic acids appeared to contain a relatively higher contribution for autochthonous organic matter than any other fraction isolated from these sediments. The lipid components associated with the various bound fractions, particularly the humic acids, appeared more protected from microbial alteration than those of the extractable bitumens.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Uncontrolled Keywords:	geopolymers; protokerogen; recent marine sediments; lipids
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0146-6380
Last Modified:	04 Jun 2017 02:07
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/9367

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