Environmental factors affecting the low temperature isomerization of homohopanes in acidic peat deposits, central China

Abstract

Progressively more evidence reveals the abundant occurrence of the C31 homohopane with a 17α, 21β-configuration (C31 αβ) in immature peats. This compound is commonly considered to be an indicator of thermal maturity in petroleum source rocks, but in peats it has also been interpreted to reflect the oxidation and subsequent decarboxylation reactions of bacteriohopanepolyols with microbially mediated epimerization at C-17 that is catalyzed by the acidic peat conditions. To learn more about the environmental factors that affect the low-temperature isomerization of homohopanes, we investigated the distribution patterns of homohopanes in a well-studied peat core from the Dajiuhu peatland, central China, together with data from modern surface peat samples from Dajiuhu and three other locations. From comparison with paleotemperature and paleohydrologic records in the peat core, we hypothesize that the ratio of C31 αβ hopane relative to the ββ isomer (C31 αβ/ββ) is mainly influenced on a centennial to millennial timescale by ambient temperature with a secondary effect from redox conditions that are defined by peatland water levels. The surface peat samples revealed that relatively high C31 αβ/ββ values occurred under pH<6. These results suggest that pH is indeed an important factor in the low-temperature isomerization of C31 homohopanes, although the magnitude of the pH effect may be less than those of ambient temperature and redox conditions. In both surface peat and peat horizons from the Dajiuhu peatland, the amount of the C31 αβ compound with R configuration relative to that with S configuration (C31 R/S) varied closely with C31 αβ/ββ, suggesting that the epimerization at both C-17 and C-22 may happen synchronously and at similar rates. This study reveals that the isomerization of homohopanes has the potential to reflect paleoenvironmental changes in acidic peat deposits. In addition, acidic peat samples investigated in this and previous studies commonly have relatively high values of C31 αβ/ββ and C31 R/S, highlighting the potential of homohopane isomers to be tracers of the delivery and deposition of organic matter from acidic settings.