RT Journal Article
T1 Geochemical Composition of Beach Tar from the Se Coast of the Paria Peninsula, Ne Venezuela: Derivation from Natural Seepages
A1 Márquez Martínez, Gonzalo
A1 Galarraga, Freddy
A1 Fernandez, R
A1 De Freitas, K.A
A1 Lorenzo García, Erica
A1 Escobar, Marcos
A1 Sierra, Carlos
A1 Gallego, Jose Ramón
A1 Márquez Martínez, Gonzalo
AB Tar residues (“tarballs”) occur frequently on the SE coast of the Paria Peninsula, NE Venezuela.This paper reports on tarballs recovered from approximately 14 km of shoreline during monthlysampling over a two-year period ending in April, 2011. The tarballs were analysed geochemicallyand results show that more than 70% of them could be included within a single compositionalgroup on the basis of their physical and organoleptic properties. The tarballs were fingerprintedusing biomarkers (hopanes, steranes, alkanes, aromatic steroids, phenanthrenes anddibenzothiophenes) by gas chromatography and gas chromatography – mass spectrometry.Sulphur and trace element contents were also determined. These analyses indicate that thetarballs do not have an anthropogenic origin, but that they probably originated from petroleumgenerated by argillaceous limestones in the Turonian – Campanian Naparima Hill Formation.This formation includes marls and organic-rich shales and limestones, and is an importantsource rock at oilfields in Trinidad and the southern Gulf of Paria. In the southern part of theGulf, petroleum escapes from Neogene reservoirs to the seafloor via natural seepages associatedwith the Los Bajos and other fault systems. It is inferred that the petroleum is then transportedby wind and tidal currents to the coast of the SE Paria Peninsula where it strands as tarballs.The geochemistry of the tarballs collected is discussed to investigate their source.
PB Wiley
SN 0141-6421
SN 1747-5457 (electrónico)
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24580
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24580
LA eng
NO Márquez, G., Galarraga, F., Fernández, R., De Freitas, K. A., Lorenzo, E., Escobar, M., Sierra, C., & Gallego, J. R. (2013). GEOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BEACH TAR FROM THE SE COAST OF THE PARIA PENINSULA, NE VENEZUELA: DERIVATION FROM NATURAL SEEPAGES. In Journal of Petroleum Geology (Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp. 179–193). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpg.12550
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 30 may 2026