The effect of bacterial degradation on bituminite reflectance

Examination of the measured transects yielded a very rapid drop in reflectance a few micrometers away from the BSR zone. This study demonstrates a bacterial process that causes elevation of BRo on a micrometer scale and leads to a positively skewed, highly variable BRo population. We also demonstrate the magnitude of variation that can be expected when measuring BRo which could result in significant overestimation of thermal maturity.