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The Influence of Gloeocapsomorpha prisca on the Organic Geochemistry of Oils and Organic-Rich Rocks of Late Ordovician Age from Canada

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Early Organic Evolution

Abstract

There has recently been considerable interest in the geochemistry of Ordovician oils and source rocks. Here, organic petrological, Rock-Eval and especially biomarker data are presented for three sets of Late Ordovician organic-rich rocks from Canada that have different geochemical characteristics. The Yeoman kukersites from the Saskatchewan portion of the Williston Basin are representative of those Ordovician samples reported previously to have a distinctive chemical character (e.g. very low concentrations of acyclic isoprenoids and high concentrations of monocyclic alkanes). This distinctive chemistry is principally determined by the main contributor to the organic matter of these samples, Gloeocapsomorpha prisca, and the minimal microbial reworking of the primary organic matter during diagenesis. The Collingwood oil shale samples from southern Ontario also show chemical and optical evidence of a significant contribution by G. prisca to their organic matter. However, in this case there were also inputs from other algae and especially bacteria (as is evident from the predominantly amorphous appearance of the organic matter) which diluted the “classic” kukersite chemistry. The third group of samples are from Southampton Island in the eastern Canadian Arctic. There is no evidence that these oil shales received any contribution from G. prisca; and their biomarker characteristics suggest that they were deposited under hypersaline conditions.

The occurrence of kukersites and “diluted kukersites” are reviewed both in terms of paleogeography and age. Also discussed are geochemical details of a sample from the Middle Cambrian Mount Cap Formation of the Canadian Northwest Territories that shares many of the features of Ordovician kukersites. It is suggested that the organism which contributed to the organic matter of this sample may have been a direct biological precursor of G. prisca. Finally, some possible reasons for the absence of G. prisca in sediments younger than the Ordovician are suggested.

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  1. Institute of Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology, Geological Survey of Canada, 3303-33rd St. N. W., Calgary, Alberta, T2L 2A7, Canada

    Martin G. Fowler

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  1. IGCP Project 157, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie (Otto-Hahn-Institut), Saarstr. 23, W-6500, Mainz, Germany

    Manfred Schidlowski (Chairman) (Chairman)

  2. Biological Science Center, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Stjepko Golubic

  3. Dept. of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8208, USA

    Michael M. Kimberley

  4. Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, S.A., 5001, Australia

    David M. McKirdy Sr. (Lecturer) (Lecturer)

  5. Division of Continental Geology, Bureau of Mineral Resources, GPO Box 378, Canberra, A.C.T., 2601, Australia

    Philip A. Trudinger

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Fowler, M.G. (1992). The Influence of Gloeocapsomorpha prisca on the Organic Geochemistry of Oils and Organic-Rich Rocks of Late Ordovician Age from Canada. In: Schidlowski, M., Golubic, S., Kimberley, M.M., McKirdy, D.M., Trudinger, P.A. (eds) Early Organic Evolution. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76884-2_26

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