Table 1 Organic geochemistry of Red Stone samples with relative abundance of total organic carbon (TOC) (% dry weight), stable isotopic composition of the bulk organic carbon (‰), and concentration of lipid biomarkers (µg·g dw−1)
From: Dark microbiome and extremely low organics in Atacama fossil delta unveil Mars life detection limits
Upper Zone | U1 | U2 | Sandstones | Mudstones | Evaporites spot1 | Evaporites spot2 | Lower Zone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TOC (% dw) | 0.10 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.11 | 0.06 |
δ13C (‰) | −26.5 | −26.3 | −25.6 | −25.8 | −21.3 | −20.6 | −19.5 | −25.3 |
n-alkanes (16-31) | 0.12 | 0.14 | 0.25 | 0.09 | 0.48 | 0.07 | 0.54 | 0.13 |
pristane | 0.01 | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | 0.01 | 0.01 |
phytane | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | 0.01 | n.d. |
heptadecene | 0.13 | 0.07 | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | 0.19 |
Hopanes | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | 0.06 | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. |
br-alkanesa | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.13 | 0.05 |
n-fatty acids (14-20) | 1.85 | 0.95 | 1.35 | 1.47 | 1.92 | 1.75 | 2.42 | 0.59 |
MUFA (16-18)b | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 0.05 |
Iso-C17:0c | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | 0.01 | n.d. |
MMe-10-C16:0d | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. | 0.28 | n.d. | n.d. | n.d. |
Total sum of fatty acidse | 1.95 | 1.91 | 1.41 | 1.50 | 2.30 | 1.81 | 2.47 | 0.64 |
n-fatty acids/n-alkanes | 16 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 25 | 4 | 4 |