oa Influence of Amorphous Silica on the Preservation of Selected Isoprenoid Hydrocarbons — An Experimental Study

We investigated the preservation potential of archaeal lipid biomarkers in siliceous hot spring deposits. Therefore, we conducted closed-system maturation experiments on a microbial mat lipid extract containing archaea-derived isoprenoid hydrocarbons and linear hydrocarbons of bacterial origin. The experiments were performed in the presence or absence of silica, and the products were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS).