New insights into the chemical composition of chitinozoans

Jérémy Jacob (1) , Florentin Paris (2) , Olivier Monod (1) , Meller A. Miller (3) , Peng Tang (2) , Simon C. George (3) , Jean-Michel Bény (1)

1 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans
2 GR - Géosciences Rennes
3 Saudi Arabian Oil Company

The chemical structure of isolated chitinozoan specimens extracted from Early Silurian marine rocks has been investigated by micro-FTIR, laser micro-Raman spectroscopy and laser micropyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (LmPy- GC/MS). The samples were subjected to relatively low thermal stress as attested by several indices. LmPy-GC/MS and micro-FTIR indicate that chitinozoans consist mostly of a kerogen network dominated by aromatic groups with a low contribution of aliphatics and oxygen- or nitrogen-bearing compounds. No chitin-related product was found in the pyrolysate of the chitinozoans, confirming previous findings on the occurrence of this biopolymer in the fossil record.

Mots clés: Chitinozoans; Laser micropyrolysis-GC/MS; chitin; Lower Palaeozoic

Domaines: Géochimie

Jérémy Jacob, Florentin Paris, Olivier Monod, Meller A. Miller, Peng Tang, et al.. New insights into the chemical composition of chitinozoans. Organic Geochemistry, 2007, 38 (10), pp.1782-1788. ⟨10.1016/j.orggeochem.2007.06.005⟩. ⟨insu-00149308⟩