Gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis of cembrenoid diterpenes in kerogen from a lacustrine sediment

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Abstract
Alkaline hydrolysis of kerogen from a Miocene lacustrine sediment (Nördlinger Ries, southern Germany) afforded a series of cembrenoid diterpenes characterized by a 14‐membered ring system together with a second, probably related, series of yet unidentified structure. This is the first report of the occurrence of these compounds in fossil organic matter. The interpretation of cembrenoids as molecular markers of arid or semiarid climate is consistent with other information about the depositional environment of the former Nördlinger Ries crater lake.

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