The specific carbon isotopic compositions of branched and cyclic hydrocarbons from Fushun oil shale

Various branched and cyclic hydrocarbons are isolated from the Fushun oil shale and their carbon isotopes are determined. The analytical results show that the branched and cyclic hydrocarbons are fully separated fromn-alkanes by 5 Å molecular-sieve adduction using long time and cold solvent. The branched and cyclic hydrocarbon fraction obtained by this method is able to satisfy the analytic requests of GC-IRMS. The carbon isotopic compositions of these branched and cyclic hydrocarbons obtained from the sample indicate that they are derived from photoautotrophic algae, chemoautotrophic bacteria (?33.4‰–?39.0‰) and methanotrophic bacteria (?38.4‰–?46.3‰). However the long-chain 2-methyl-branched alkanes indicate that their carbon isotopic compositions reflect biological origin from higher plants. The carbon isotopic composition of C₃₀ 4-methyl sterane (?22.1‰) is the heaviest in all studied steranes, showing that the carbon source or growth condition for its precursor, dinoflagellate, may be different from that of regular steranes. The variation trend of δ¹³C values between isomers of hopanes shows that¹³C-enriched precursors take precedence in process of their epimerization. Methanotrophic hopanes presented reveal the processes of strong transformation of organic matter and cycling of organic carbon in the water column and early diagenesis of oil shale.