Preliminary Organic Geochemical Analyses; Site 391, Leg 44 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project

On the Jurassic Atlantic Ocean and a Synthesis of Results of Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 76

“…On the basis of a series of vitrinite reflectance data of the Cretaceous black shales and one data point in the immediately overlying Miocene chalks and clays, Dow (1978) has hypothesized that 800 m of meterial were removed from the Cretaceous section before the Miocene. An independent study by Cardozo et al (1978) provides three more points for the Miocene interval that agree with the scant information from Dow (1978), but, unlike Dow, it fails to show a reflectance index in the Cretaceous strata higher than compatible with the present stratigraphic thicknesses. It is peculiar that Cardozo's et al (1978) scatter of points in the Cretaceous shales shows a reflectance gradient with a negative intercept at zero depth; maybe their data has analytical errors.…”

“…An independent study by Cardozo et al (1978) provides three more points for the Miocene interval that agree with the scant information from Dow (1978), but, unlike Dow, it fails to show a reflectance index in the Cretaceous strata higher than compatible with the present stratigraphic thicknesses. It is peculiar that Cardozo's et al (1978) scatter of points in the Cretaceous shales shows a reflectance gradient with a negative intercept at zero depth; maybe their data has analytical errors. The lack of agreement between the two studies could be due to failure to differentiate satisfactorily between primary and secondary vitrinite particles.…”

Geochemistry of Tetrapyrrole, Carotenoid, and Perylene Pigments in Sediments from the San Miguel Gap (Site 467) and Baja California Borderland (Site 471), Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 63

“…4). Carotenoids have previously been reported in deep sea sediments recovered by DSDP and IPOD Leg 15 (Watts and Maxwell, 1977), Leg 44 (Cardoso et al, 1978), and Legs 56, 57 . Cariaco Trench sediments, ranging in age from 5 to 340 thousands of years, yielded not only ß-carotene but the dioxy-carotenoid zeaxanthin and the dioxo-carotenoid canthaxanthin (Watts and Maxwell, 1977).…”

“…The loss of xylene, M-106 (i.e., 430 m/z), reported by others (Vetter et al, 1971) was not observed in either the 12eV or 70eV spectra of ß-carotene isolates or standards. ß-Carotene and other carotenoids have previously been reported from marine sediments recovered from the California borderland (Fox et al, 1944;Schwendinger and Erdman, 1963), the Japan Trench (DSDP/ IPOD Legs 56, 57, Baker and Louda, in press; Louda et al, in press), and from more deeply buried sediments returned from the Cariaco Trench (DSDP Leg 15, Watts and Maxwell, 1977) and the Blake-Bahama Basin (DSDP Leg 44, Cardoso et al, 1978).…”

The fate of carotenoids in sediments: An overview

“…The oldest intact carotenoids reported are of Miocene age: isorenieratene in a Messinian (6 Ma) marl from Italy (ref, 12) and an unspecified diaromatic carotenoid from a Lower Miocene (c. 20 Ma) clay from the Blake-Bahama basin in the Western North Atlantic Ocean (ref. 13). In general, however, concentrations of intact carotenoids decrease significantly with depth, with a preferential loss of oxygen-containing (hydroxy-, 0x0-, epoxy) carotenoids (refs.…”