Comparison of vitrified and unvitrified Eocene woody tissues by TMAH thermochemolysis – implications for the early stages of the formation of vitrinite

Samples of vitrified and unvitrified Eocene woody plant tissues collected from the Fossil Forest site, Geodetic Hills, Axel Heiberg Island, have been characterized by TMAH thermochemolysis. All samples are gymnosperm-derived, are of very low maturity and all share the same post-depositional geologic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geochemical Transactions
Main Authors: Kaelin, Paul E, Huggett, William W, Anderson, Ken B
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: BioMed Central 2006
Subjects:
Research Article
Axel Heiberg Island
Geodetic Hills
Heiberg
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1622741
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17032456
https://doi.org/10.1186/1467-4866-7-9
Description
Summary:Samples of vitrified and unvitrified Eocene woody plant tissues collected from the Fossil Forest site, Geodetic Hills, Axel Heiberg Island, have been characterized by TMAH thermochemolysis. All samples are gymnosperm-derived, are of very low maturity and all share the same post-depositional geologic history. Differences in the distributions of products observed from vitrified and unvitrified samples suggest that vitrification of woody tissue is associated with modification of the lignin C3 side chain, following loss of all or most of the carbohydrate present in the precursor woody tissues. The key driver of vitrification appears to be physical compression of the tissue following biological removal of cellulosic materials.

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