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Science 2 April 1965:
Vol. 148. no. 3666, pp. 77 - 79
DOI: 10.1126/science.148.3666.77
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Articles

Hydrocarbons of Biological Origin in Sediments about Two Billion Years Old

J. Oró 1, D. W. Nooner 1, A. Zlatkis 1, S. A. Wikström 2, and E. S. Barghoorn 3

1 Chemistry Department, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
2 Lipid Research Center, Department of Biochemistry, Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
3 Department of Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Normal paraffins in the C16 to C32 range and the saturated isoprenoid hydrocarbons, pristane and phytane, have been found in chert from the Gunflint iron formation (1.9 x 109 years old) of the north shore of Lake Superior. The distribution of n-alkanes shows two maxima, one at about C18 to C19 and the other at about C22 with a minimum occurring at C20 to C21. No predominance of odd- to even-carbon-number alkanes is observed within the C16 to C32 range. The results agree with micropaleontological observations made on the Gunflint chert and provide a chemical characterization of Precambrian life existing about two eons ago.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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High-Temperature Synthesis of Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Methane.
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