Molecular stable carbon isotope compositions of alkylphenanthrenes in coals and marine shales related to source and maturity

Abstract

Phenanthrene (PHE) and methylphenanthrenes (MPs) extracted from coaly shale and coal samples containing terrestrial organic matter are compared with the same compounds from marine shales in terms of yields and δ 13C values at marginally to fully mature stages of thermal evolution. The shales derived from four boreholes in the Hils Half-Graben area, northwestern Germany, were shown to be representative of a greater number of samples from the same sites. The δ 13C values of extractable PHE and MPs are less negative in the terrestrial (−24.3 to −26.0‰) than in the marine (−28.8 to −30.5‰) samples. Since these values are unrelated to mean vitrinite reflectance ( R r) values in the range of 0.5–0.9%, it appears that the stable carbon isotope composition of PHE and MPs is controlled by organic matter type rather than maturity.