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Botryococcane in a new class of Australian non-marine crude oils

Abstract

There are few documented examples of source-specific hydrocarbons in non-marine petroleum, and most of these are related to land-plant precursors1–3. One such biological marker of algal origin is botryococcane (C34H70), a geologically rare acyclic alkane derived from the freshwater green alga Botryococcus braunii4,5, first discovered in several Sumatran crude oils6,7 and here identified in a suite of coastal bitumens from 10 different stranding sites between Kingston, South Australia and Portland, Victoria (Table 1, Figs 1, 2). Biological marker and carbon isotope analyses of these bitumens provide evidence for a new class of Australian non-marine crude oils. The bitumens are inspissated waxy residues of paraffinic and paraffinic–naphthenic crude oils that emanate from submarine seeps in the western Otway Basin8–12, and are characterized by high concentrations of botryococcane. Unlike other high-wax Australian oils13,14, the coastal bitumens contain up to 2.6% sulphur and seem to be primarily of algal origin. Their geochemistry can be used to predict the occurrence of extensive organic-rich source beds that were deposited in deep meromictic lakes along Australia's southern continental margin.

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McKirdy, D., Cox, R., Volkman, J. et al. Botryococcane in a new class of Australian non-marine crude oils. Nature 320, 57–59 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320057a0

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