Abstract
Light hydrocarbons, especially C7 isoalkanes, cyclopentanes, cyclohexanes and n-heptane in 540 oils from the Tarim Basin were studied systematically. The results suggested the K1 values [(2-MH+2,3-DMP)/(3-MH+2,4-DMP)] of crude oils vary from a lowest value of 0.78, to a highest value of 1.54, but the K1 values of the majority of oil samples (80%) range from 0.90 to 1.20. However, the absolute contents of (2-methylhexane+2,3-dimethylpentane) and (3-methylhexane+2,4-dimethylpentane) in the total light hydrocarbons (C4–C7) show a similar variation trend. The variation of K1 values of crude oils can suggest a typical sedimentary environment for source rocks. Therefore, according to the compositional characteristics of C7 light hydrocarbons in light of the steady-state catalytic hypothesis, nonmarine oils from the Yingmaili area and marine oils from the Tazhong uplift in the Tarim Basin were genetically classified.
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This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (No. 2004ABA144).
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Zhang, M. Compositional characteristics and geochemical significance of light hydrocarbons for crude oils in Tarim Basin, China. Chin. J. Geochem. 24, 228–231 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02871315
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02871315