Preliminary Lipid Analysis of Core Sections 18, 24, and 30 from Hole 402A

Abstract

A preliminary analysis of the solvent-extractable lipids from three samples from the Aptian-Albian core sections of Hole 402A, which was drilled on the mid-continental slope of the Bay of Biscay (47°52.48'N, 08°50.44'W), has been carried out. The aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, carboxylic acids and free hydroxy acids have been examined by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry A list of the samples is given in Table 1, together with relevant background data taken from the Summary Log. Core 402A-18 was a composite sample of Sections 1-4, obtained via the Institut Français du Pétrole; Cores 402A-24 and 30 were collected from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. An additional core, 401-5 (supplied in a frozen state by the shipboard geochemist via British Petroleum Ltd.), was extracted, but the low concentrations of extractable lipids at comparable concentrations to a blank analysis precluded further investigations. A preliminary attempt has been made to relate the extractable lipids of these black shales to the extent of diagenesis/maturation and to the paleoenvironment of deposition.