Five immature sediments from a Messinian evaporitic basin, representing one evaporitic cycle, were studied using molecular organic sulphur and isotope geochemistry. It is shown that a specific carbon skeleton which is present in different "modes of occurrence" ("free" hydrocarbon, alkylthiophene, alkylthiolane, alkyldithiane, alkylthiane, and sulphur-bound in macromolecules) may have different biosynthetic precursors which are possibly derived from different biota. It is demonstrated that the mode of occurrence and the carbon isotopic composition of a sedimentary lipid can be used to "reconstruct" its biochemical precursor. This novel approach of recognition of the suite of palaeobiochemicals present during the time of deposition allows for identification of the biological sources with an unprecedented specificity.

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有机硫和同位素地球化学联合应用评估具有相同碳骨架的古生物化学物质的多种来源

使用分子有机硫和同位素地球化学研究了来自墨西拿蒸发盆地的五个未成熟沉积物，代表一个蒸发循环。结果表明，以不同“发生模式”（“游离”烃、烷基噻吩、烷基硫杂环戊烷、烷基二噻烷、烷基噻烷和硫结合的大分子）存在的特定碳骨架可能具有不同的生物合成前体，这些前体可能来自不同的生物合成前体。生物群。结果表明，沉积脂质的发生模式和碳同位素组成可用于“重建”其生化前体。这种识别沉积期间存在的一组古生物化学物质的新方法允许以前所未有的特异性识别生物来源。