Several studies have indicated the presence of more than one generation of bitumen that could be isolated from rocks through sequential extraction or after demineralization or both. Nabbefeld et al. (2010a) and Holman et al. (2012, 2014) termed bitumen obtained after solvent extraction from the undigested rock as “Bitumen I" and that obtained by extraction after demineralization of rock as “Bitumen II.” The occurrence of different...

A 137-m continuous core from the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous marine derived oil shale with the maturity Ro about 0.7 %, representing the oil window in the Vaca Muerta Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina, was examined using geological, mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemistry techniques. Three distinct intervals were identified within the core: the upper carbonate-rich section with intense bioturbation, indicating dysoxic to...

This paper investigates chemical functional groups of the two extracted bitumen fractions in shales of the Jurassic to early Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation of the Neuquén Basin in Argentina, South America. The results indicate that Bitumen I is strongly aliphatic and appears to be genetically related to fluorescent amorphous organic matter. In contrast, Bitumen II consists of highly condensed, aromatic hydrocarbons, and has some...

This paper identifies formation interfaces that would appear to be "weak interfaces", in the Jurassic, Early- Cretaceous Vaca Muerta formation, in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina. Significant distribution of the weak interfaces was observed including contacts between volcanic ash layers of varying thicknesses, calcite-filled veins, and contacts between lithology changes, such as between argillaceous mudstone and mottled carbonates....