Investigation on Terpene-Related Hydrocarbons from a Pliocenic Fossil Wood

Abstract

Gas Chromatographie and mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis of a steam distillate from a pliocenic lignite revealed the presence of hydrocarbons with sesqui-and diterpene skcleta. The compounds identified are characterized by alicyclic or aromatic stable structures which mainly have cadinane, selinane and abietane carbon skeletons. While the main compounds do not belong to particular botanical family,some minor constituents such as alpha-cedrane appear to be related to the cupressaceae family ,even if further identifications are needed. With regard to the process of diagenesis, this has been quite mild because oleoresins have remained inside the bulk, unlike in many European lignites where resins have migrated outside.

Long Term Degradation of Terpenes. From a 20 Million Years Old Taxodioxylon gypsaceum

“…Water affects all compounds in different ways in dependence of their solubility. A previous work (Staccioli et al 1993) has put in evidence the almost exclusive presence of diterpanes containing aromatic or aliphatic rings. Since the water solubility of a generic aromatic compound is greater than that of the corresponding aliphatic one (Price 1976), we can suppose that there is a preferred removal of aromatic terpanes.…”

“…The terpene fraction, a minor component of wood recently investigated in fossil woods, was shown to move towards the formation of hydrocarbons with very stable structures, as an intermediate degradation step (Staccioli et aL 1993). This statement derives from analyses carried out on fossil samples, one of which was from an 1.5 million years old Italian fossil forest, identified as Taxodioxylon gypsaceum .…”

Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry for analyses of organic compounds and biomarkers as tracers for geological, environmental, and forensic research

“…Analytical techniques have greatly improved since then, and the extracts of the fossil materials are analyzed with the same analytical methods as applied for extant plant analyses, i. e., GC -MS. Numerous terpenoids and aliphatic lipids have been reported from fossil conifer shoots and cones [185,186,195,196], fossil angiosperm leaves [197 -199], and fossil resins [200,201]. This procedure is illustrated here with the analysis of the extractable organic matter from the seed cones of a fossil Cupressaceae from the Miocene Clarkia Flora of Idaho and of a related extant species to evaluate the preservation of characteristic biomarkers in the fossils (Fig.…”

A review of current applications of mass spectrometry for biomarker/molecular tracer elucidations

“…The extracts of the fossil materials are analyzed with the same analytical methods as applied for extant plant analyses, i.e., GC-MS. Numerous terpenoids and aliphatic lipids have been reported from fossil conifer shoots and cones (Stout, 1992;Staccioli, Mellerio, & Alberti, 1993;Vávra & Walther, 1993;Anderson & LePage, 1995;Otto, Walther, & Püttmann, 1997, 2001, fossil angiosperm leaves (Huang et al, 1995;Logan, Smiley, & Eglinton, 1995;Lockheart, van Bergen, & Evershed, 2000), and fossil resins (Grantham & Douglas, 1980;Czechowski et al, 1996).…”