Jaap Sinninghe Damsté

The marine fossil record contains a myriad of organic molecules, which derive from marine and terrestrial micro-organisms living at the time of deposition. These moelcules contain information which, if properly decoded, can give insight in past climatic and environmental changes. This can help in understanding natural and anthropogenic influences on present-day climates and depositional systems, and deciphering the conditions which have led to sequestration of organic carbon in the geological record, and thus to the formation of marine petroleum rocks. On a molecular level we discriminate three different features of biochemicals: the carbon skeleton, functional group(s), and stable carbon isotopic composition (13C).