Organic origin of petroleum and source rocks
Origen orgánico del petróleo y la roca madre
- Date
- 1877 / 1936 · confidence medium
- Place
- University of Moscow, Russia (Gubkin)
- Credited to
- Alfred Treibs (porphyrins, 1934-36), Ivan Gubkin ('Doctrine of Petroleum', 1932), Mendeleev (rival abiogenic theory, 1877)
- People
- 👤 Alfred E. Treibs1899–1983👤 Dmitri Mendeléyev1834–1907👤 Iván Gubkin1871–1939
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Treibs found chlorophyll-derived porphyrins in petroleum, proving its biological origin; Gubkin and petroleum geology established that it forms through the thermal maturation of organic matter in source rocks and migrates into traps. It explained where to look for hydrocarbons.
Coordinates of Moscow, home of Gubkin's school; Treibs worked in Munich. Mendeleev and Gold's abiogenic hypothesis persists as a minority view.
What it led to
- Systematic oil and gas prospecting
- Organic geochemistry
- Understanding of the carbon cycle at geological scale
Built on
- On the Strata of the Earth (Lomonosov)1757-1763
- Smith's stratigraphy
- Anticlinal theory (Hunt, 1861)
Made possible
- Reflection seismology for oil exploration1921
- Discovery of the Daqing oilfieldseptiembre de 1959
- Petroleum seismic reflection surveying
- Sedimentary basin modelling