TY - JOUR

T1 - Composition of lipids from coal deposits of the Far East: Relations to vegetation and climate change during the Cenozoic

AU - Bechtel, Achim

AU - Chekryzhov, Igor Yu.

AU - Pavlyutkin, Boris I.

AU - Nechaev, Victor P.

AU - Dai, Shifeng

AU - Vysotskiy, Sergei V.

AU - Velivetskaya, Tatyana A.

AU - Tarasenko, Irina A.

AU - Guo, Wenmu

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2020/1/15

Y1 - 2020/1/15

N2 - Twenty-one samples of sub-bituminous coal and 1 sample of coaly shale have been collected from different coal seams, representing the Cenozoic coal basins widely distributed in the region of Primorye and Sakhalin (Russia), and NE China (Hunchun deposit). The seams belong to lower Miocene-upper Oligocene (Sineutesovsky), Oligocene-upper Eocene (Pavlovsky), upper Eocene (Ust-Davydovsky), lower Eocene (Uglovsky), and upper Paleocene (Kivdinsky) local chronostratigraphic units. Terpenoid biomarker compositions indicate the contribution of conifers and angiosperms to peat formation. The results are in agreement with paleobotanical data from sedimentary successions closely associated with the seams, highlighting abundant conifers of the taxodioid Cupressaceae and Pinaceae families, as well as Betula, Alnus, Fagus, and Ulmus during Cenozoic in the Far East. In contrast to previous findings about changes in peat-forming vegetation in central Europe, the terpenoid biomarker ratios revealed increased contributions of angiosperms during the Oligocene and gymnosperm domination during Eocene and Miocene. The different evolution may be related to differences in temperature and precipitation distribution, as well as in geomorphology and landscape evolution. A positive relationship between the di-/(di- + tri-)-terpenoid biomarker ratios and δ 13C of Oligocene samples indicates the role of varying gymnosperm/angiosperm influences on the δ 13C of coal. Differences in vegetation and climate are most probably responsible for the different trends in δ 13C of terpenoid biomarkers over the Cenozoic, beside their general variation coupled to the evolution in δ 13C of atmospheric CO 2. Lower δ 2H values of plant-derived lipids during the Oligocene were most probably caused by lower temperatures during coal formation. This conclusion is supported by the results of recent paleobotanical studies, yielding lower mean annual temperatures (MAT) during the Oligocene but comparable values for mean annual precipitation (MAP) during the Eocene and Oligocene in the Primorye region. Pimarane-type diterpenoids are significantly depleted in 2H. The results are in agreement with previous studies identifying different sources of hydrogen and/or different biosynthetic pathways during their formation.

AB - Twenty-one samples of sub-bituminous coal and 1 sample of coaly shale have been collected from different coal seams, representing the Cenozoic coal basins widely distributed in the region of Primorye and Sakhalin (Russia), and NE China (Hunchun deposit). The seams belong to lower Miocene-upper Oligocene (Sineutesovsky), Oligocene-upper Eocene (Pavlovsky), upper Eocene (Ust-Davydovsky), lower Eocene (Uglovsky), and upper Paleocene (Kivdinsky) local chronostratigraphic units. Terpenoid biomarker compositions indicate the contribution of conifers and angiosperms to peat formation. The results are in agreement with paleobotanical data from sedimentary successions closely associated with the seams, highlighting abundant conifers of the taxodioid Cupressaceae and Pinaceae families, as well as Betula, Alnus, Fagus, and Ulmus during Cenozoic in the Far East. In contrast to previous findings about changes in peat-forming vegetation in central Europe, the terpenoid biomarker ratios revealed increased contributions of angiosperms during the Oligocene and gymnosperm domination during Eocene and Miocene. The different evolution may be related to differences in temperature and precipitation distribution, as well as in geomorphology and landscape evolution. A positive relationship between the di-/(di- + tri-)-terpenoid biomarker ratios and δ 13C of Oligocene samples indicates the role of varying gymnosperm/angiosperm influences on the δ 13C of coal. Differences in vegetation and climate are most probably responsible for the different trends in δ 13C of terpenoid biomarkers over the Cenozoic, beside their general variation coupled to the evolution in δ 13C of atmospheric CO 2. Lower δ 2H values of plant-derived lipids during the Oligocene were most probably caused by lower temperatures during coal formation. This conclusion is supported by the results of recent paleobotanical studies, yielding lower mean annual temperatures (MAT) during the Oligocene but comparable values for mean annual precipitation (MAP) during the Eocene and Oligocene in the Primorye region. Pimarane-type diterpenoids are significantly depleted in 2H. The results are in agreement with previous studies identifying different sources of hydrogen and/or different biosynthetic pathways during their formation.

KW - Biomarkers

KW - C-isotopic composition

KW - H-isotope ratios

KW - NW Pacific

KW - Terpenoids

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076914772&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109479

DO - 10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109479

M3 - Article

VL - 538

JO - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology

JF - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology

SN - 0031-0182

IS - January

M1 - 109479

ER -