Marine strata are widely exposed in the Hushan and Chaohu areas, Lower Yangtze region. As biomarker geochemistry of the strata has not been well documented, this paper deals with the biomarker composition of representative samples collected from the Silurian, Carboniferous and Triassic systems and their geological implications, thus providing clues to marine organic matter. On the basis of experimental results, it is shown that abundant biomarkers (e.g. n-alkanes, isoprenoids, terpanes and steranes) were detected. As organic matter in the strata is highly to over mature in general based on petrologic microobservation, some biomarkers (mainly n-alkanes) except terpanes and steranes cannot reflect the source, depositional environment and maturity of organic matter. Thus, primarily based on analyses of the terpanes and steranes, it is suggested that organic matter in the Silurian and Carboniferous strata is derived mainly from lower organisms, while higher plants are predominant in the Triassic organic matter. This further indicates that the depositional environment may have transformed from the marine to continental facies in the Late Triassic. These results provide new evidence for the study of regional depositional evolution, and have enriched the study of biological composition of organic matter. In addition, the biomarker geochemistry of organic matter at high to over maturation stage is addressed.
