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Response of 17α(H)-diahopanes and 18α(H)-neohopanes to maturity in lacustrine source rocks derived from the Songliao Basin, NE China

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Abstract

A suite of 33 lacustrine source rocks (Pr/Ph ranging from 0.29 to 0.84) from the Songliao Basin with uniform organic matter input have been examined to explore the 17α(H)-diahopane and 18α(H)-neohopane series distribution. The absolute concentrations of 17α(H)-diahopane and 18α(H)-neohopane were determined. In addition, an immature lacustrine source rock was chosen to conduct a thermal simulation experiment to further study the relationship between these components and maturity. Analysis results of geological samples show that the absolute concentrations of 17α(H)-diahopanes have an excellent correlation with 18α(H)-neohopanes, whereas the relative abundance of two series of components exhibited a general correlation. Thermal simulation experiment results show that low absolute concentration and relative abundance of 17α(H)-diahopanes and 18α(H)-neohopanes are presented from low-maturity to high-maturity. However, high absolute concentration and relative abundance are merely distributed near the oil-generative peak. Moreover, with increasing of maturity, the absolute concentrations of both 17α(H)-diahopanes and 18α(H)-neohopanes display an initial increase and a following decrease. Interestingly, the relative abundances of 17α(H)-diahopanes and 18α(H)-neohopanes demonstrate an initial increase and a following decrease with maturity before the oil-generative peak, and then, the ratios display a finally gradual increase with increasing maturity. It suggested that the ratios of rearranged hopanes to hopanes could act as maturity parameter at the high maturity.

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Acknowledgments

Thank the editor in chief Dr. Domenico M Doronzo and the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on this paper.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the “Open Foundation of Top Disciplines in Yangtze University”and the “National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 41272170)”.

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Correspondence to Qingsong Cheng.

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Responsible Editor: Domenico M. Doronzo

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Zhang, M., Cheng, Q. & Zhang, W. Response of 17α(H)-diahopanes and 18α(H)-neohopanes to maturity in lacustrine source rocks derived from the Songliao Basin, NE China. Arab J Geosci 13, 564 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05603-4

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