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Part I: Concepts and Methods |
Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock’s Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS
An approach to palaeoenvironmental interpretation of sediments using lipid data, is developed. This approach initially attempts to summarize the major lipid components of plants, bacteria and invertebrate animals and to relate these data to sedimentary lipid distributions. Most of the major lipid groups found in sediments are used in this study. The very large amount of lipid data generated, necessitated the development of a simple system for data processing. The method of data analysis used involved the construction of a simple taxonomic hierarchy based on ‘Ruzicka’s Rules’ i.e. the biosynthetic origins of the major lipid types. By bringing in the concept of taxonomic hierarchy based on the biosynthetic pathways, a palaeontological approach towards lipid geochemistry is being evolved.
Secondly, DSDP lipid data (derived from the O.G.U., Bristol University) are collated and grouped using matrices of lipid data and histograms of the lipid groups, i.e. all compounds of a common structure are ‘summed’. These data are compared with the geological data and the results briefly discussed for each sediment.
In conclusion, the diagenetically stable lipid patterns of three representative environments, i.e. marine planktonic, bacterially-dominated marine, and a lacustrine facies, are presented and discussed. From these data the rules by which environments are described are extended; the parameters so derived have good potential for source correlation.
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