Carbonization measurements of pollen-grains and spores and their application

This study presents the equipment and technique used in the author’s palynological carbonization studies. The equipment consists mainly of modified Zeiss microphotographie equipment. A photoelectric cell fitted with a field restrictor is used to measure the light absorption of a spore or pollen type. The light-absorption value is considered to be a measure of carbonization, and values of a standard spore or pollen type are used to construct a carbonization line for an individual well. Isocarbonization lines can be constructed in sections to show local or regional carbonization. Maps, block diagrams, panel diagrams, etc., can be constructed with either isocarbonization or carbonization contours. Carbonization is a low-grade metamorphic process; an understanding of this process and its effects can be useful to the petroleum industry. The primary advantage of the described technique is that the degree of carbonization of pollen-grains and spores is a measure of low-grade (organic) metamorphism in areas or intervals devoid of coal. In addition the technique is cheaper and faster than the usual chemical coal analyses. Samples normally taken in the petroleum industry, such as cores, sidewall cores, and cuttings, can be used in palynological carbonization studies. Palynological carbonization studies may be undertaken not only in strata in which palynological time correlations arc possible but also in areas or sections in which alteration is too great for routine palynological time correlation. The carbonization method is unsuccessful in extremely carbonized zones, where alteration makes standard types unrecognizable, or, of course, in strata devoid of pollen-grains and spores. The equipment and technique described here yield reasonably accurate and reproducible data that may shed some light on the temperature history of the organic material, the sediments, and the associated hydrocarbons.