Archive | 2019
Geological Significance of Solid Bitumen Preserved within Phosphorous Concretions from the Lower Cambrian Niutitang Formation, Upper Yangtze Region
Abstract
Solid bitumen, formed as a result of the transformation of the primary organic matter, has important geological significance within both source and reservoir rocks (Jacob, 1985). Presence of solid bitumen within a rock succession is diagnostic of hydrocarbon generation, migration, and accumulation (Lomando, 1992). The geochemical characteristics of solid bitumen (i.e. biomarkers, stable isotopes, and trace element abundances), are widely used to determine the origin and source of solid bitumen (Curiale, 1986; Parnell, 1992). Within vitrinite-free rocks, optical properties of solid bitumen are used as an indicator for the thermal maturity of the host rocks (Bernard, 1993; Jacob, 1989; Landis and CastaƱo, 1995; Schoenherr et al., 2007)