2001 ACS NJ MS Award Lecture
Linking Geosphere to Biosphere through Mass Spectrometry
C. Sam Hsu, Ph.D.
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co.
Thursday, September 6, 2001
Somerset Marriott
Somerset, New Jersey
Abstract
Paleotransformation of ancient living organisms to fossil fuels is evidenced by the presence of biological markers (biomarkers) in hydrocarbon resources, such as petroleum, coal and oil shale. Biomarker molecules retain their basic carbon skeletons after catagenesis and diagenesis of the biomolecules throughout the geological history of the sedimentary basin. Hence, these molecules contain important geological information of the hydrocarbon resources, including source input, age, maturity and alteration. Comprehensive analysis of biomarkers in source rocks and oils of a sedimentary basin can also provide oil/oil and oil/rock correlation for oil migration through strata. Coupled with other geological information, geochemistry based on biomarkers has played an important role in basin assessment and the understanding of tectonic movement. Mass spectrometry has been a critical tool in the characterization of biomarkers. The underlying geological factors that affect distribution of biomarkers are comprehended by multivariate analysis of GC/MS or GC/MS/MS data. However, abundant opportunities exist for the discovery of new biomarkers through analytical advances to bridge the gaps in the understanding of the paleotransformation of molecules between biosphere and geosphere.
About the Award
The Annual New Jersey Regional Award for Achievements in Mass Spectrometry recognizes a premier scientist in the New Jersey region whom has made outstanding professional and scientific contributions to the field of mass spectrometry.
About the Speaker
Dr. Hsu has pioneered many areas of research in mass spectrometry, both theoretical and practical. His isotopic abundance calculation method, based on the Diophantine algorithm, eliminates the limitation in polynomial approaches for large molecules, and has been adopted by Micromass as the basis for their isotopic modelling routines. He performed early work in HPLC-MS interfaces, field ionization, chemical ionization with isotope labelled reagent gases and addressed many challenging problems in petroleum research. He holds nine patents and has published more than 120 technical presentations and articles.
Dr. Hsu attained his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Kentucky, under the supervision of Professor Robert W. Kiser. He later worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Purdue University under Professors John Beynon and R. Graham Cooks. He is currently a Principal Investigator at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co. in Annandale, NJ, and is also an adjunct professor at the Department of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
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