Characterization of organic-rich material in an evaporitic environment: the Lower Oligocene of the Mulhouse basin (Alsace, France)

✍ Scribed by J. -P. Gely; M. -M. Blanc-Valleron; F. Fache-Dany; M. Schuler; M. Ansart

• Book ID: 104657610
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 714 KB
• Volume: 82
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-7835
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00191498

✦ Synopsis

Evaporitic sediments from the Max borehole (Mulhouse Potash Basin, southern Rhine Graben) were studied over an interval of about 40 m in the vicinity of sylvite beds. Total organic carbon (TOC) analyses of 450 samples showed that marly layers interbedded within the evaporites have TOC values that fluctuate in a rhythmic manner; the highest values are found near the top of the clay-anhydrite layers and the lowest values are recorded near the top of the halite-rich beds. Geochemical (elemental analysis of kerogen, gas chromatography of bitumen) and palynological studies of 26 samples showed that the organic matter is mainly of algal origin (A and B groups). A third category of organic material (C group) may have been derived from a mixture of continental supply and in situ bacterial productivity.