Every Chromatogram Tells a Story

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SANTA BARBARA
Specific compounds provide clues to what types of organisms and conditions went into making the oil. Bisnorhopanes show that this oil formed in low-oxygen ocean sediments. But oleanane reveals that some of the oil came from land sources.

MACONDO WELL
The tall peaks on the left are diasteranes: bulky, nonpolar compounds that resist breaking down in the environment. A high fraction of trisnorneohopane indicates that the Macondo oil underwent a lot of heating during its formation.