Secular variations in kerogen structure and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in pre-Phanerozoic and Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks

Abstract Variations in the chemical composition of sedimentary rocks and the nature of kerogen through geologic time were investigated in order to obtain information on biological and environmental evolution during the pre-Phanerozoic eon. Rock samples differing in lithology, depositional environment, and age were pulverized, pre-extracted with organic solvents, and analyzed for total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and organic carbon (org. C or CT). Variations in the molecular structure of kerogen were measured by determining the ratio of org. C content after pyrolysis (CR) to org. C content before pyrolysis (CT), the C R C T ratio being considered an index of the degree of condensed-aromatic (as opposed to aliphatic) character. The rocks included mudstones (Early Archean (> 3 · 109 years old) to Miocene), carbonate rocks (mid-Proterozoic (1.3 · 109 years old) to Eocene), cherts (Early Archean (> 3 · 109 years old) to Late Proterozoic (0.8 · 109 years old)), and coal (Archean (> 2.7 · 109 years old) to Early Proterozoic (∼1.8 · 109 years old)). The mudstones and carbonates showed progressive increase in org. C content with decreasing age, as reported by other investigators, but the cherts unexpectedly showed a decrease in org. C content with decreasing age. In all samples, a simple inverse correlation between C R C T ratio and org. C was observed, each rock type forming its own trend separate from but parallel to those of the other rock types. Thus, the older cherts tend to be richer in org. C and have lower C R C T ratios, but the older carbonates and mudstones are poorer in org. C and have higher C R C T ratios. For a given org. C concentration, chert has the highest C R C T ratio and carbonate rock the lowest, mudstone being intermediate; this may mean that chert is relatively ineffective as a catalyst for the thermal cracking of kerogen or that it inhibits cracking. N appears to be correlated with org. C. The relationship between C R C T ratio and org. C or N suggests that the concentrations of org. C and N in sedimentary rocks are largely determined by selective elimination of labile aliphatic and nitrogenous groups of kerogen during post-depositional maturation, although the nature, abundance and depositional environment of the organic source material must be taken into consideration as well. The observed secular variations of org. C, N and C R C T ratio may be ascribed to several possible causes, including age-dependent post-depositional alteration of kerogen, secular decrease in the CO 2 O 2 ratio of the atmosphere and hydrosphere during pre-Phanerozoic time, secular increase in rates of accumulation of organic matter in sediments and evolutionary changes in the composition of the biological source material. The secular variations of the carbonates and mudstones could be accounted for by age-dependent cumulative effects of post-depositional alteration alone, whereas the secular variations of the cherts probably reflect changes in the nature of the biological source material and the composition of the atmosphere and hydrosphere. The available evidence suggests that primary characteristics of kerogen are better preserved in chert than in the other types of sediment. The C R C T ratios of the carbonates and cherts correlate negatively with the A 465 m μ A 665 m μ absorbance ratios of “humic matter” extracted from the same rock samples with benzene—methanol. Thus, the greater the degree of condensed-aromatic character of the kerogen, the greater the degree of condensed-aromatic character of the solvent-extractable bituminous “humic matter” with which it is associated. In addition, the ratio of aliphatic to carbonyl-type groups ( CH 2 C=O ) in the extractable “humic matter” of carbonates and cherts correlates with the non-extractable org. C content of the rocks, suggesting that the org. C data are related to the degree of aliphatic character of the kerogen. The chemical similarity between extractable “humic matter” and its associated kerogen is evidence that the “humic matter” is as old as its rock matrix and can be accepted as a valid chemical fossil. It also suggests that information obtainable from kerogen may be gotten more easily, rapidly and cheaply from solvent-extractable organic matter. The mudstones showed little or no relationship between A 465 m μ A 665 m μ ratio and C R C T ratio, or between CH 2 C=O ratio and org. C content. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the kerogen in the carbonates and cherts is autochthonous, whereas the kerogen in the mudstones is partly allochthonous, implying the existence of soil humus and soil organisms in pre-Phanerozoic times. Moreover, the existence of coal in Archean sediments is consistent with the existence of very shallow-water and possibly terrestrial microfloras possessing adaptations for protection against ultraviolet solar radiation. The P content of the sediments showed a complicated zig-zag pattern of variation through geologic time. All the different suites of samples gave similar results, indicating that the variations represent phenomena whose effects were worldwide and independent of local environment. P levels are low in the early pre-Phanerozoic but rise with decreasing age until ∼ 1 · 109 years B.P., then fall to a minimum at (∼0.7–0.8) · 109 years B.P., and rise again to a lower Paleozoic (Ediacarian?) maximum, decline to a later Paleozoic minimum, and then rise again. The low P content of early pre-Phanerozoic sediments could be due to several factors, including high CO2 content of seawater, anaerobic conditions in the sea, absence of stable-shelf environments, and low rates of primary production. The minimum in the Late Proterozoic is tentatively attributed to the Late Proterozoic glaciations. The data are consistent with the theory that the glacial episode was of worldwide extent.