CLASSIFICATION OF THE ASPHALTS AND THEIR SOURCE-ROCK FROM THE DEAD-SEA BASIN (ISRAEL) - THE ASPHALTENE KEROGEN VANADYL PORPHYRINS/

The asphaltenes of the asphalts from the Dead Sea Basin were examined for the occurrence of vanadyl porphyrins. These examinations demonstra te that the asphalts fall into two broad class types: one which exhibi ts a relatively high vanadyl porphyrins content ( > 300ppm), and the o ther characterized with no vanadyl porphyrins (< 10 ppm). It is conclu ded that these asphalts belong to two distinct types and have separate origins. The kerogens isolated from the petroleum-source rock of the Dead Sea Basin were also analyzed. Two genetic types of kerogen appear ed to exist: a marine one highly enriched with these pigments and a te rrestrial one with no vanadyl porphyrins. For comparison, the asphalte nes of typical asphaltic crude oils from Western Venezuela and kerogen from their La Luna source rock were also examined. Previous detailed geochemical studies' indicated that the La Luna kerogen is derived fro m marine organic matter source. These materials have higher concentrat ions of vanadyl porphyrins than the Dead Sea asphaltenes and kerogens are enriched with these compounds. Our results strengthen the potentia l of vanadyl porphyrins of both petroleum asphaltenes and source-rock kerogen for use in genetic and correlation studies. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. AII rights reserved.