| Abstract: | Most sedimentary rocks contain small concentrations of finely divided organic material. With the aid of modern analytical methods, samples of such rocks can be examined in detail, and conclusions can be drawn concerning the origin of the organic substances. Intact or modified biogenic compounds such as paraffins, isoprenoids, alcohols, ketones, carboxylic acids, steroids, triterpenes, and porphyrins have been isolated from the soluble fractions of the organic material of many sediments and from identified fossils of various geological ages. Even Precambrian rocks contain biogenic substances, so that life forms must have existed more than three billion years ago. The main component of the organic material is “kerogen”, the complicated polymeric structure of which has not yet been established. |
