SPECTROSCOPIC FEATURES OF GLOEOCAPSOMORPHA-PRISCA COLONIES AND OF INTERSTITIAL MATRIX IN KUKERSITE AS REVEALED BY TRANSMISSION MICRO-FT-IR - LOCATION OF PHENOLIC MOIETIES

Kukersite, an important Ordovician oil shale composed of accumulations of a fossil colonial microorganism, Gloeocapsomorpha prisca, cemented by an organo-mineral matrix, has been examined by micro-FT-i.r. The a bundant phenolic moieties occurring in this material (unexpected for s uch a marine type-II/I kerogen) were shown to be associated with G. pr isca colonies and not with the interstitial matrix. These observations strengthen previous assumptions about the nature of G. prisca, its af finity with extant species and the important palaeoenvironmental contr ol of salinity on the content of phenolic units in G. prisca-derived k erogens.