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Carbon Isotopes in Petroleum Science

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Encyclopedia of Petroleum Geoscience

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition

In petroleum science, carbon isotopes generally involve the interpretative information carried by the relative, natural distributions of the two stable carbon isotope species, \( {}_6{}^{12}\mathrm{C} \)and \( {}_6{}^{13}\mathrm{C} \), in various organic and inorganic compounds. As carbon transfers between phases and substances, e.g., from kerogen to oil, or CO2 to CH4, the moves are associated with isotope effects that produce systematic, and generally predictable, isotopic fractionations. The carbon isotopes are thus partly partitioned, such that one carbon-bearing phase compared to another in the system can be relatively enriched or depleted in 12C or 13C. This uneven distribution between phases and substances is expressed by the isotope molar abundance ratio, i.e., n(13C)/n(12C), or more commonly, in delta notation (δ13C), whereby either the magnitude of the isotope fractionation or the resultant isotope signature can be diagnostic for petroleum-related processes or...

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Acknowledgments

I dedicate this paper to my friend and colleague Ėrik Mikhaĭlovich Galimov (1936–2020), Professor at the V.I. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russia. He inspired us with his vast and insightful work in isotope geochemistry, but also with his keen humor. I thank E. Faber (BGR) for reviewing the paper and J. Zumberge (GeoMark Research) and O. Podlaha (Shell) for providing data. I warmly acknowledge the many other fellow isotope geochemists who have developed the methodologies and helped our understanding of petroleum isotope systematics reflected in this brief summary.

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  1. Biogeochemistry Facility (BF-SEOS), School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Michael J. Whiticar

  2. Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (Inst. for Advanced Study), Delmenhorst, Germany

    Michael J. Whiticar

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  1. Energy and Geoscience Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Rasoul Sorkhabi

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Whiticar, M.J. (2021). Carbon Isotopes in Petroleum Science. In: Sorkhabi, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Petroleum Geoscience. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02330-4_310-1

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