Introduction
Breakthroughs in the last 20 years have established biological markers (biomarkers) as powerful petroleum exploration tools. Biomarkers are complex molecular fossils derived from once living organisms that are found in ancient and modern sediments and petroleum (Peters and Moldowan, 1993). Aliphatic biomarkers contain saturated and/or single unsaturated bonds, unlike aromatic biomarkers that contain conjugated double bonds.
Discussion
Isoprene (methylbutadiene) is the basic structural unit composed of five carbon atoms that is found in all biomarkers (I, Figure B1). Compounds built from isoprene are called isoprenoids, isopentenoids, or terpenoids. Biosynthesis of these compounds occurs by polymerization of functionalized C5-isoprene units. Linkage between isoprene units can be regular (head-to-tail) or irregular.
Chemical structure of isoprene (I) and examples of classes of aliphatic biomarkers in petroleum. Farnesane (II) is a regular, acyclic (not containing...
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Bibliography
Moldowan, J.M., Dahl, J., Huizinga, B.J. et al. (1994) The molecular fossil record of oleanane and its relation to angiosperms. Science, 265, 768–71.
Peters, K.E. and Moldowan, J.M. (1993) The Biomarker Guide — Interpreting Molecular Fossils in Petroleum and Ancient Sediments. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 363 pp.
Peters, K.E., Kontorovich, A.Eh., Huizinga, B.J., Moldowan, J.M. and Lee, C.Y. (1994) Multiple oil families in the West Siberian Basin. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull., 78, 893–909.
Cross-references
Biogeochemistry; Biomarker: Aromatic; Biomarker: assessment of thermal maturity; Coal: origin and diagenesis; Oil—oil and oil—source rock correlation; Oil seeps and coastal bitumens; Organics: sources and depositional environments; Petroleum; Petroleum: in-reservoir biodegradation; Petroleum: types, occurrence and reserves; Porphyrins
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Peters, K.E., Walters, C.C. (1998). Biomarker: Aliphatic. In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_26
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