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https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jess/119/05/0711-0716

Fossil resin; Miocene; western India; sesquiterpenoids; geochemistry; geology; biogeosciences.

The terpenoid composition of resins from the Miocene lignite horizons from the Kerala –Konkan Coast,western India was analyzed by Curie-point pyrolysis –gas chromatography –mass spectrometry (Cupy –GC –MS).The major pyrolysates were cadalene-based bicyclic sesquiterpenoids including some C₃₀-C₃₁ bicadinenes and bicadinanes typical of dammar resin from angiosperm plants of Dipterocarpaceae family.These plants are typically supported by tropical climates which the western Indian region was known to have experienced during early Tertiary period.The present study suggests that these palaeoclimatic conditions persisted until at least the Miocene epoch.These sesquiterpenoids which are commonly detected in many SE Asian crude oils may be utilised as useful biomarkers for petroleum exploration in the western Indian region.

Suryendu Dutta¹ Monalisa Mallick¹ Runcie Paul Mathews¹ Ulrich Mann² Paul F Greenwood³ Rakesh Saxena⁴

1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India.
2. Forschungzentrum Jülich, Institut für Chemie und Dynamik der Geosph¨are, D-52425 Jülich, Germany.
3. John De Laeter Mass Spectrometry and WA Biogeochemistry Centre, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
4. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226 007, India.

Published

October 2010

Manuscript received

15 June 2010

Accepted

28 June 2010