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Science 25 January 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5555, pp. 657 - 660
DOI: 10.1126/science.1066611
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Reports

Mineral Surface Control of Organic Carbon in Black Shale

Martin J. Kennedy,1* David R. Pevear,1 Ronald J. Hill2

We show that 85% of variation in total organic carbon can be explained by mineral surface area in a black shale deposit from two locations in the late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, United States. This relation suggests that, as in modern marine sediments, adsorption of carbon compounds onto clay mineral surfaces played a fundamental role in the burial and preservation of organic carbon. Our data also provide evidence for organic matter within the smectite interlayer. This association implies that organic carbon sequestration in a representative oil-prone black shale facies may be more closely related to patterns of continental weathering and clay mineralogy than to ocean water chemistry or marine productivity.

1 Department of Earth Science, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
2 U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25045, Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop 939, Denver, CO 80225, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: martink@mail.ucr

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
THE ROLE OF CLAY MINERALS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ORGANIC MATTER IN SEDIMENTS OF QINGHAI LAKE, NW CHINA.
B. Yu, H. Dong, H. Jiang, G. Lv, D. Eberl, S. Li, and J. Kim (2009)
Clays and Clay Minerals 57, 213-226
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Biological formation of ethane and propane in the deep marine subsurface.
K.-U. Hinrichs, J. M. Hayes, W. Bach, A. J. Spivack, L. R. Hmelo, N. G. Holm, C. G. Johnson, and S. P. Sylva (2006)
PNAS 103, 14684-14689
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Late Precambrian Oxygenation; Inception of the Clay Mineral Factory.
M. Kennedy, M. Droser, L. M. Mayer, D. Pevear, and D. Mrofka (2006)
Science 311, 1446-1449
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Oxygenation and organic-matter preservation in marine sediments: Direct experimental evidence from ancient organic carbon-rich deposits.
L. Moodley, J. J. Middelburg, P. M.J. Herman, K. Soetaert, and G. J. de Lange (2005)
Geology 33, 889-892
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Organic molecules formed in a "primordial womb".
L. B. Williams, B. Canfield, K. M. Voglesonger, and J. R. Holloway (2005)
Geology 33, 913-916
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Anionic Polysaccharide Sorption by Clay Minerals.
K. M. Dontsova and J. M. Bigham (2005)
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69, 1026-1035
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
MICROBIAL FORMATION OF A HALLOYSITE-LIKE MINERAL.
K. Tazaki (2005)
Clays and Clay Minerals 53, 224-233
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
MEASUREMENT OF CLAY SURFACE AREAS BY POLYVINYLPYRROLIDONE (PVP) SORPTION AND ITS USE FOR QUANTIFYING ILLITE AND SMECTITE ABUNDANCE.
A. E. Blum, A. E. Blum, and D. D. Eberl (2004)
Clays and Clay Minerals 52, 589-602
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Late Cambrian Spice ({delta}13C) Event and the Sauk II-SAUK III Regression: New Evidence from Laurentian Basins in Utah, Iowa, and Newfoundland.
(2004)
Journal of Sedimentary Research 74, 366-377
The weathering of sedimentary organic matter as a control on atmospheric O2: I. Analysis of a black shale.
R. A. Wildman, R. A. Berner, S. T. Petsch, E. W. Bolton, J. O. Eckert, U. Mok, and J. B. Evans (2004)
Am J Sci 304, 234-249
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Effects of clay-rich river-dam sediments on downstream fish and plant life.
K. Tazaki, K. TAZAKI, M. SATO, S. VAN DER GAAST, and T. MORIKAWA (2003)
Clay Minerals 38, 243-253
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