Biomarker and stable carbon isotopic study of Eocene sediments of North-Western Potwar Basin, Pakistan

Eocene sediments from the Potwar Basin Pakistan have been characterized geochemically using liquid chromatography, gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), GC-isotope ratio MS and metastable reaction monitoring (MRM) GC-MS. Biomarker and non-biomarker parameters have been used to evaluate the origin, paleodepositional conditions, lithology and thermal maturation of organic matter. The n-alkanes distribution profiles observed for the studied samples suggest an abundance of low molecular weight compounds in the Upper Eocene sequence, which is consistent with higher marine input. On the other hand, the bimodal n-alkanes distribution observed with depth may suggest terrigenous contribution. An enrichment of the δ13C of low molecular weight n-alkanes (