Abiotic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons originating from the sub-oceanic mantle.

ABSTRACT: Experimental studies have demonstrated that petroleum may form from abiotic organic compounds synthesised in the Earth's upper mantle. However, the most direct evidence of mantle-derived organics, as obtained from whole-rock analyses, indicates ambiguous origins. Although inclusions containing organic matter have been reported in minerals from kimberlite pipes, such occurrences have not previously been documented in mantle xenoliths derived from the sub-oceanic upper mantle, which represent the predominant lithology of the Earth's upper mantle. In this study, we identified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-bearing melt inclusions within a spinel-bearing unaltered harzburgite xenolith from Tahiti Island. The inclusions consisted of platinum-group minerals, base metal sulphides, silica

SUBMITTER: Mitsukawa I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12804844 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature