Diagenetic organic matter in Recent sediments and environments of deposition

Organic geochemical studies of the reduced organic material in sedimentary rocks provide a valuable insight into the origin and history of the sediments. Information on the source of the organic matter (marine or non-marine), the depositional environment (oxic or anoxic), whether or not biodegradation has occurred, and the maturity of the organic matter can be obtained by studying the distribution of various organic compounds, known as biological markers, in extracts from these sediments. Selection of environments with a fairly narrow range of source material allows more direct correlations to be made between source material and specific biological markers.