Many of those assessing geochemical data have taken a “cookbook” approach to interpretation. Such an approach generally does not take into consideration the limitations of the different data sets. Among these data sets are those associated with thermal maturity, which guides the interpretation of the extent of generation and hydrocarbon phase.The temperature of peak pyrolysis generation (Tmax) is commonly used to map thermal maturity directly or through a conversion to vitrinite reflectance equivalent values. Such efforts do not take into consideration analytical uncertainties or natural variability within a stratigraphic unit at any given locality. Furthermore, when presented as vitrinite reflectance equivalents, the associated error in the conversion is not considered, yet the values are presented as “absolutes.”When examining vitrinite reflectance, there are also several issues that should be considered. Individual mean values are commonly considered out of context. All thermal maturity indicators, including vitrinite reflectance, need to be placed into a geologic framework, and trends rather than discrete values should be considered. The nature of the studied samples is also significant. Whole-rock and isolated kerogen analyses yield different results, commonly because of the lack of a statistically meaningful number of individual measurements because of either low organic carbon or low concentrations of vitrinite when examining whole-rock samples. Such differences are not trivial, with final interpretation of hydrocarbon phase boundaries potentially being shifted.Bitumen reflectance shares some of the same issues as vitrinite reflectance measurement, including misidentification, the presence of multiple populations and insufficient measurements, and the possibility that environmental factors may influence the observed reflectance. Conversion issues of bitumen to vitrinite reflectance are similar to those identified for the Tmax conversion.

中文翻译：

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考虑热成熟度对镜质体反射率，Tmax和其他指标的限制

许多评估地球化学数据的人采用“食谱”方法进行解释。这种方法通常不考虑不同数据集的局限性。在这些数据集中有与热成熟度相关的数据集，这些数据指导了生烃程度和烃相的解释。峰值热解生成温度（Tmax）通常用于直接映射热成熟度或通过转换为镜质体反射率等效值来进行映射。 。此类工作未考虑任何给定位置的地层单元内的分析不确定性或自然变异性。此外，当以镜质体反射率当量表示时，不考虑转换中的相关误差，但这些值以“绝对值”表示。”在检查镜质反射率时，还应考虑几个问题。通常认为单个平均值与上下文无关。所有热成熟度指标（包括镜质体反射率）都需要放入地质框架中，并且应考虑趋势而不是离散值。研究样品的性质也很重要。整岩和分离的干酪根分析产生不同的结果，通常是因为在检查整岩样品时，由于有机碳含量低或镜质体含量低，因此缺乏统计意义上的单个测量值。这种差异并非微不足道，对烃相边界的最终解释可能会发生变化。样品反射率与镜质体反射率测量存在一些相同的问题，包括错误识别，多个种群的存在和测量不足以及环境因素可能影响所观察到的反射率的可能性。沥青到镜质体反射率的转换问题与为Tmax转换确定的问题相似。