Fatty acids in the Beacon Group of southern Victoria Land in Antarctica

• Main Authors: Matsumoto,Genki I., Watanuki,Kunihiko, Torii,Tetsuya
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Chemistory, the College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo/Department of Chemistory, the College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo/Chiba Institute of Technology 1985
• Subjects: McMurdo Sound; Victoria Land; Antarc*; Antarctica; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=1794; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00001794/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=1794&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Fatty acids in the Beacon Group samples, shale, coal and silicified wood, from the McMurdo Sound region of southern Victoria Land in Antarctica were studied to elucidate their features in relation to chemical fossils of ancient organisms. The concentrations of fatty acids for the saponification extracts (0.5M potassium hydroxide methanol, 80℃, 2h) and the harsher saponification extracts (0.5M potassium hydroxide methanol, 160℃, 3h) ranged from 0.41 to 2.6 and from 0.043 to 2.3μg/g of dry sample, respectively. The major constituents are comprised only of short-chain acids (<C_<20>), including normal alkanoic, branched and unsaturated acids, along with the dominance of even-carbon numbers. The high abundances of unsaturated and branched acids suggest strongly the contribution of bacterial lipids. The fatty acids found in the Beacon Group samples are thought to have been derived not only from ancient organisms but also from Recent organic matter and/or living microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi and algae. The evidence of ancient vascular plants was not indicated in the samples studied so far.