UNDERSTANDING THE SOURCE OF PETROLEUM FORMATION FROM MINERALS

Abstract

Minerals are formed under variety of conditions; the cooling of lava or liquid solutions, the
evaporation of mineral-rich water at high temperatures and pressures found in the core of the
earth. They have a solid, crystalline structure, and are arranged in geometric patterns at the
atomic level. In geology and mineralogy, mineral or mineral species are solid substances with a
fairly well-defined chemical composition with specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure
form. Geologist definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that occur only in living
organisms. However, some minerals are often biogenic (such as calcite) or organic compounds in
the sense of chemistry (such as mellite). Moreover, living organisms often synthesize inorganic
minerals (such as hydroxylapatite) that occurs in rocks acting as catalyst or bonding gels of
diatoms to the shell of silicon. Mineral concept is distinct from rock, which is any bulk solid
geologic material that is relatively homogeneous at a large scale. A rock may consist of one type
of mineral or may be an aggregate of two or more different types of minerals, spatially segregated
into distinct phases. Minerals are both Organic and Inorganic that has inorganic and organic traces
due to their formation, structure, chemical properties, development, metabolic processes to
mention but a few. Their Origin is traceable to their names inorganic and organic that has been
subjected to various degrees of temperature, pressure and transported in their medium of fluid
mechanics for accumulation and change through geological or biological processes. Inorganic
minerals are naturally occurring substances that do not contain carbon – hydrogen bonds and are
not derived from living things. They are important for wide range of geological, industrial and
biological processes but not for human consumption. In overview of all, there is indication by
synergy, nature and origin of formation that minerals and their traces optimized reservoir well.
Therefore, this Journal focuses on the sources of Petroleum from the biodegradation of Organic
and Inorganic minerals as formation of Kerogen at the immature stage and at the mature
stage,deeply buried by continuous sedimentation, increasing temperatures, and advancing
geologic age result in hydrocarbon formation, during which the full range of
petroleum compounds is produced from kerogen through thermal degradation and cracking .It is
recognized that the original source of carbon and hydrogen were in the form mineral materials
that made up primordial Earth which is generally accepted that these two elements had to pass
through an organic phase to be combined into the varied complex molecules recognized as
hydrocarbons. The organic material that is the source of most hydrocarbons has probably been
derived from single-celled planktonic (free-floating) plants, such as diatoms and blue-green algae,
and single-celled planktonic animals, such as foraminifera, which live in aquatic environments of
marine, brackish, or fresh water.The first, or immature, stage of hydrocarbon formation is
dominated by biological activity and chemical rearrangement, which convert organic matter
to kerogen. This dark-coloured insoluble product of bacterially altered plant and animal detritus is
the source of most hydrocarbons generated in the later stages. During the first stage,
biogenic methane is the only hydrocarbon generated in commercial quantities. The production of
biogenic methane gas is part of the process of decomposition of organic matter carried out by
anaerobic microorganisms (those capable of living in the absence of free oxygen). The maturity of
potential source rocks in core samples include measuring the degree of darkening of fossil pollen
grains and the colour changes in conodont fossils. In addition, geochemical evaluations showed
that mineralogical changes were also induced by fluctuating paleotemperatures. In general, there
appears to be a progressive evolution of crude oil knowing the maximum temperature reached by
a potential source rock during its geologic history helps in estimating the maturity and the volume
of the organic material contained within the reservoir.