Determination and geochemical implication of multiple series of long-chain oxygen-bearing compounds trapped in kerogen in the Lucaogou Formation, Santanghu Basin, NW China

Abstract

Studies of occluded oxygen-bearing compounds inside kerogen are scarce, although such studies are important in understanding early-stage transformation of organic matter. A relatively low-maturity kerogen from the late Permian mudstone of the Lucaogou Formation of the Santanghu Basin, northwestern China, was successively extracted with n-hexane, acetone and dichloromethane to release the adsorbed components, and the extracted kerogen was treated with a mild oxidation reagent H2O2 to release the occluded components. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the adsorbed and occluded components revealed a suite of oxygen-bearing compounds, including n-alkan-2-ones, n-aldehydes and fatty acid methyl esters. The n-alkan-2-ones were mainly detected in the adsorbed fraction and n-aldehydes in the occluded component. Comparison of the long-chain oxygen-bearing compound distributions and their individual stable carbon isotope characteristics both suggest that the oxygen-bearing compounds released by H2O2 treatment were occluded in the kerogen. The shorter-chain (C15 to C19) occluded n-aldehydes reflected similar isotopic distribution trends to the adsorbed n-alkan-2-ones, and the δ13C values of the mid-length (C21 to C25) occluded n-aldehydes were much closer to the adsorbed n-alkanes. Bacterially mediated methylation and decarbonylation of the n-aldehydes during kerogen formation may be important source(s) of n-alkan-2-ones and n-alkanes, respectively. The mid-chain ketones mainly originated from hydrothermal alteration of n-alkanes after kerogen formation. Uplift of the Lucaogou Formation in the Yuejingou section allowed surface-enhanced aerobic reactions.