This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

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    Readings

    Texts

    Hayes, J. M. "Fractionation of the Isotopes of Carbon and Hydrogen in Biosynthetic Processes". In Stable Isotopic Geochemistry. Edited by J. W. Valley and D. R. Cole. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 43 (2001): 225-278.

    Amazon logo Killops, S., and V. Killops. Introduction to Organic Geochemistry. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2005. ISBN: 9780632065042.

    Amazon logo Gaines, S. M., G. Eglinton, and J. Rullkötter. Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal About Earth History Oxford University Press, New York, 2009. ISBN: 9780195176193.

    Fahy, E., and many others. "A Comprehensive Classification System for Lipids." J Lipid Research 46 (2005): 839-861.

    WEEK # READINGS
    1

    Gelin, F., I. Boogers, A. A. M. Noordeloos, J. S. Sinninghe Damsté, R. Riegman, and J. W. de Leeuw. "Resistant Biomacromolecules in Marine Microalgae of the Classes Eustigmatophyceae and Chlorophyceae: Geochemical Implications." Org Geochem 26, no. 11-12 (1997): 659-675.

    Köster J., J. K. Volkman, J. Rullkotter, B. M. Scholz-Bottcher, J. Rethmeier, and U. Fischer. "Mono-, Di- and Trimethyl-Branched Alkanes in Cultures of the Filamentous Cyanobacterium Calothrix Scopulorum." Org Geochem 30 (1999): 1367-1379.

    Rieley G., J. W. Collister, B. Stern, and G. Eglinton. "Gas Chromatography / Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry of Leaf Wax n-alkanes from Plants of Differing Carbon Dioxide Metabolisms." Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 7 (1993): 488-491.

    Tegelaar E. W., J. W. de Leeuw, S. Derenne , and C. Largeau. "A Reappraisal of Kerogen Formation." Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53 (1989): 3103-3106.
    2 Hayes J. M. "Fractionation of the Isotopes of Carbon and Hydrogen in Biosynthetic Processes." In Stable Isotopic Geochemistry. Edited by D. R. Valley and J. W. Cole. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 43 (2001): 225-278.
    3

    Kates M. "Membrane lipids of Archaea." In The Biochemistry of Archaea (Archaebacteria). Edited by M. Kates, K. D. J, and A. T. Matheson. Elsevier Science (1993): 261-295.

    Sinninghe Damsté J. S., W. I. C. Rijpstra, E. C. Hopmans, F. G. Prahl, S. G. Wakeham, and S. Schouten. "Distribution of Membrane Lipids of Planktonic Crenarchaeota in the Arabian Sea." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68 (2002): 2997-3002.

    Tornabene T. G., T. A. Langworthy, G. Holzer, and J. Oro. "Squalenes, Phytanes and Other Isoprenoids as Major Neutral Lipids of Methanogenic and Thermoacidophilic Archaebacteria." J Mol Evol 13 (1979): 73-83.

    Amazon logo Volkman J. K., and J. R. Maxwell. "Acyclic Isoprenoids as Biological Markers." In Biological Markers and the Sedimentary Record." Edited by R. B. Johns. Elsevier NY, 1986, pp. 1-42. ISBN: 9780444425980.

    Woese C. R., O. Kandler, and M. L. Wheelis. "Towards a Natural System of Organisms: Proposal for the Domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87, (1990): 4576-457.

    Michaelis W., R. Seifert, K. Nauhaus, T. Treude, V. Thiel, M. Blumenberg, K. Knittel, A. Gieseke, K. Peterknecht, T. Pape, A. Boetius, R. Amann, B. B. Jørgensen, F. Widdel, J. Peckmann, N. V. Pimenov, and M. B. Gulin. "Microbial Reefs in the Black Sea Fueled by Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane." Science 297 (2002): 1013-1015.

    Thiel V., M. Blumenberg, T. Pape, R. Seifert, and W. Michaelis. "Unexpected Occurrence of Hopanoids at Gas Seeps in the Black Sea." Org Geochem 34 (2003): 81-87.

    Thiel V., J. Peckmann, R. Seifert, P. Wehrung, J. Reitner, and W. Michaelis. "Highly Isotopically Depleted Isoprenoids: Molecular Markers for Ancient Methane Venting." Geochim Cosmochim Acta 63 no. 23-24 (1999): 3959-3966.
    4 Amazon logo Mc Lafferty, F. W. Interpretation of Mass Spectra. University Science Books, 4 edition, May 1993, chapters 1-4,  pp. 371. ISBN: 9780935702255.
    5

    Sinninghe Damsté J. S., M. Strous, W. I. C. Rijpstra, E. C. Hopmans, J. A. J. Geenevasen, A. C. T. van Duin, L. A. van Niftrik, and M. S. M. Jetten. "Linearly Concatenated Cyclobutane Lipids form a Dense Bacterial Membrane." Nature 419 (2002): 708-712.

    Sinninghe Damsté J. S., S. Schouten, and A. C. T. Van Duin. "Isorenieratene Derivatives in Sediments: Possible Controls on their Distribution." Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65 (2001): 1557-1571.

    Anders E. "Pre-Biotic Organic Matter from Comets and Asteroids." Nature 342 (1989): 255-257.

    Bada J. L., J. R. Cronin, M. -S. Ho, K. A. Kvenvolden, J. G. Lawless, S. L. Miller, J. Oro, and S. Steinberg. "On the Reported Optical Activity of Amino Acids in the Murchison Meteorite." Nature 301 (1983): 494-497.

    Cronin J. R., and S. Pizzarello. "Enantiomeric Excesses in Meteoritic Amino Acids." Science 275 (1997): 951-955.

    Engel M. H., and S. A. Macko. "Isotopic Evidence for Extraterrestrial Non-Racemic Amino Acids in the Murchison Meteorite." Nature 389 (1997): 265-268.

    Pizzarello S., and J. R. Cronin. "Non-Racemic Amino Acids in the Murchison and Murray Meteorites." Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64 (2000): 329-338.

    Sephton M. A., and I. Gilmour. "Compound Specific Isotope Analysis of the Organic Constituents in Carbonaceous Chondrites." Mass Spectrometry Reviews 20 (2001): 111-120.

    Eglinton T. I., B. C. Benitez-Nelson, A. Pearson, A. P. McNichol, J. E. Bauer, and E. R. M. Druffel. "Variability in Radiocarbon Ages of Individual Organic Compounds from Marine Sediments." Science 277 (1997): 796-799.