Organic geochemistry is the study of the origins and fates of organic matter in the geosphere, and it encompasses studies of coals, oils, sediments and natural waters. It is a relatively new field of endeavor which traces its origins to the identification by Trieibs in 1934 of alkyl metalloporphyrins related to chlorophyll in crude oils. This landmark research provided the first convincing evidence for the biological origin of some of the constituents of petroleum. Since then the field has expanded greatly and has become considerably more interdisciplinary as it seeks answers to how organic matter is produced, transported, recycled, transformed and preserved in modern and ancient environments.
Much of organic geochemistry can be classified into general themes such as production and fate of organic matter in aquatic ecosystems; chemical composition of biologically produced organic matter; the effect of environmental conditions on the preservation and degradation of organic matter in...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Brooks, J. and Fleet, A.J. (eds) (1987) Marine Petroleum Source Rocks. London: Blackwell Scientific, 435 pp.
Clemett, S.J., Maechling, C.R., Zare, R.N., Swan, P.D. and Walker, R.M. (1993) Identification of complex aromatic molecules in individual interplanetary dust particles. Science, 262, 721–5.
Engel, M.H. and Macko S.A. (eds) (1993) Organic Geochemistry: Principles and Applications. New York: Plenum Press, 861 pp.
Fleet, A.J., Kelts, K. and Talbot, M.R. (eds) (1988) Lacustrine Petroleum Source Rocks. Oxford: Blackwell, 391 pp.
Hunt, J.M. (1979) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, 617 pp.
Jasper, J.P., Hayes, J.M., Mix, A.C. and Prahl, F.G. (1994) Photosynthetic fractionation of 13C and concentrations of dissolved CO2 in the central Equatorial Pacific during the last 255,000 years. Paleoceanography, 9, 781–98.
Johns, R.B. (ed.) (1986) Biological Markers in the Sedimentary Record. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 364 pp.
Killops, S.D. and Killiops, V.J. (1993) An Introduction to Organic Geochemistry. London: Longman Scientific and Technical, 265 pp.
Manning, D.A.C. (1991) Organic Geochemistry. Advances and Applications in the Natural Environment. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 662 pp.
McKay, D.S., Gibson, E.K. Jr., Thomas-Keprta, K.L. et al. (1996) Search for past life on Mars: possible relic biogenic activity in Martian meteorite ALH84001. Science, 273, 924–30.
Meyers, P.A. and Ishiwatari, R. (1993) Lacustrine organic geochemistry–an overview of indicators of organic matter sources and diagenesis in lake sediments. Org. Geochem., 20, 867–900.
Moldowan, J.M., Albrecht, P. and Philp, R.P. (eds) (1992) Biological Markers in Sediments and Petroleum. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 411 pp.
Orr, W.L. and White, C.M. (eds) (1990) Geochemistry of Sulfur in Fossil Fuels. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society Symposium Series 429.
Peters, K.E. and Moldowan, J.M. (1993) The Biomarker Guide. Interpreting Molecular Fossils in Petroleum and Ancient Sediments. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 363 pp.
Repeta, D.J. (1989) Carotenoid diagenesis in recent marine sediments: III. Degradation of fucoxanthin to loliolide. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 53, 699–707.
Rullkötter, J. (1987) Geochemistry, organic, in Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Vol. 6. London: Academic Press, pp. 53–77.
Shock, E.L. and Schulte, M.D. (1990) Summary and implications of reported amino acid concentrations in the Murchison meteorite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 54, 3159–73.
Tissot, B.P. and Welte, D.H. (1984) Petroleum Formation and Occurrence. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 699 pp.
Volkman, J.K. (1988) Biological marker compounds as indicators of the depositional environments of petroleum source rocks. Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ., 40, 103–22.
Wakeham, S.G. (1993) Reconstructing past oceanic temperatures from marine organic biogeochemistry, chemical fossils and molecular stratigraphy. Environ. Sci. Technol., 27, 29–33.
Cross-references
Biomarker: coals; Coal: organic petrography; Coal: origin and diagenesis; Coal: types and characteristics; Coal: vitrinite reflectance and maturity assessment; Geochemistry: low temperature; Hydrogen isotopes; Laboratory simulations of oil and natural gas formation; Occurrence of organic facies; Oil seeps and coastal bitumens; Oil shales; Oil–oil and oil–source rock correlation; Organic matter in fossils; Organic matter in meteorites; Organics: contemporary degradation and preservation; Organics: sources and depositional environments; Peat; Petroleum; Petroleum: hydrothermal; Petroleum: in-reservoir biodegradation; Petroleum: kinetic modeling; Petroleum: primary migration; Petroleum: surface geochemistry; Petroleum: types, occurrence and reserves; Porphyrins; Precambrian organic matter; Sulfate reduction; Sulfur isotopes
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this entry
Cite this entry
Volkman, J.K. (1998). Organic geochemistry . In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_226
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_226
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-75500-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4496-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive