Occurrence of Penta-Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Jaintia and Barail Group Mudstones, Northeastern Bengal Basin, Bangladesh

In the present experiment, concentration, distribution and sources of penta-aromatic hydrocarbons in seven drill core and outcrop samples from Jaintia and Barail Group mudstones, northeastern Bengal Basin, Bangladesh have been studied. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to obtain composition details about the sedimentary organic matter (OM). Mudstone samples were found to contain relatively high penta-aromatic hydrocarbon abundances in the lower Jaintia Group than in the overlying Barail Group. High concentration of perylene suggests terrigenous sources and significantly higher content of total organic carbon in the samples. A biogenic origin of perylene therefore indicates oxygen deficient environmental condition for deposition of OM. Perylene over pentacyclic aromatic hydrocarbon isomers regulating in-situ diagenetic origin. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jles.v8i0.20154 J. Life Earth Sci., Vol. 8: 105-112, 2013