Investigation of organic geochemistry and isotopic properties of bituminous deposits in Late Cretaceous - Paleocene sedimentary basin of Lorestan (case study: Kuhdasht, Poldokhtar and Sepiddasht)

The study area is a part of Zagros Folded zone and located in the Lorestan sedimentary basin. In this regard, three areas with high bitumen potential were selected, which include the northern area of Kuhdasht, northeast of Poldokhtar and southeast of Sepiddasht. In the study areas, bitumens are exposed as veins between the fractures and as interlayers with host rock that the thickness of these veins is between 10 cm to more than 1.5 meters. Field studies showed that the studied bitumens have developed in the shales of Amiran Formation. Based on the results of organic geochemistry, 80.10 to 93.60% of the extractable saturated compounds are in the category of asphalts and have a very good quality in terms of thermal maturity (maturity of organic matter). The studied samples are formed in a reducing to slightly reducing sedimentary environment. Drawing the diagram of C34/C35 Homohopane vs. C29/C30 Hopane for the studied bitumens showed that the generating rocks of the studied samples are carbonate and detrital in nature. This can be explained by the lithology of bituminous formations such as Ilam and Gurpi formations in the study areas. The triangular diagram of regular streams (m/z = 217) for the studied bitumens showed that the source of organic compounds of the studied bitumens is mostly marine with a small amount of entry from dry environments. Severe depletion of the carbon isotope (average -28.83 per mill) indicates organic origin and biomass in these samples. On the other hand, sulfur compounds with depletion (-12.16  per mill) indicate formation in a reduced to semi-regenerated sedimentary environment and oxygen isotope data (+15.03  per mill) indicate the formation of organic matter of sedimentary origin.