A novel type of oil-generating organic matter — Crystal-enclosed organic matter

Abstract: The comparative study of organic matter in carbonate rocks and argillaceous rocks from the same horizon indicates that the organic thermal maturities of carbonate rocks are much lower than those of argillaceous rocks. And extensive analysis of extracted and inclused organic matter from the same sample shows that inclused organic matter is different from extracted organic matter, and the thermal maturity of the former is usually lower than that of the latter in terms of biomarker structural parameters. It seems that carbonate minerals could preserve organic matter and retard organic maturation. The inclused organic matter, abundant in most carbonate rocks, will be released from minerals and transformed into oil and gas during the high thermal maturity stage.