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Organic Geochemistry and Environmental Geochemistry Resources on the 'Net

An Interdiscipinary Approach

Organic geochemistry, sometimes called petroleum geochemistry, has moved beyond the simple characterization and quantitation of organic species present in a naturally occuring hydrocarbon mixture, to attempt to answer fundamental questions about the geological history of those mixtures, which we know as oil and natural gas.

Organic geochemistry examines generally ancient geological materials for clues to the source of hydrocarbons and related organic compounds, their migration path(s), organic maturity of the source(s), biodegradation of reservoired hydrocarbons, age of generation, and length of time hydrocarbons have resided in a given reservoir. It also attempts to answer questions about the thermal history of source rocks and reservoired hydrocarbons, as this is perhaps the single most important factor controlling the generation and preservation of hydrocarbons, given the presence of a suitable source.

The success of geoscientists in finding and producing hydrocarbons, and their universal utilization in technological civilization, has contributed to the release of a variety of petroleum-derived organic compounds into the natural and human environment in significant quantities. The potential for environmental harm caused by these substances has led to the employment of a variety of analytical and predictive techniques which are similar to those pioneered by organic geochemists engaged in the search for oil and gas. The principle differences between environmental geochemistry and organic geochemistry involves the age of the samples, which are generally recent, and the species sought, which are generally simpler than the complex molecules sought by the organic geochemist.

The more prominent presence of environmental geochemistry on the Internet should not be taken to indicate that it is a more vital or important branch of geochemistry, but is instead indicative of the value placed on organic geochemistry by the petroleum industry--hence the confidential nature of much of the work in that field.

PLEASE NOTE: The following is not meant to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of all the resources that were consulted for this project, merely a selection, admittedly biased, of the more useful or impressive sites visited.

Petroleum-Oriented Geochemistry Resources

The organic geochemistry of the marine environment is one of the fields of study at the University of Bangor Ocean Sciences Institute in the U.K. NOTE: this is a slow link.

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Environmentally-Oriented Geochemistry Resources

Government laboratories, chiefly those of the Department of Energy, have moved aggressively into performing much of the basic science in environmental geochemistry and related fields.