Chapter 1
Introductory Aspects
Organic Geochemistry as an interdisciplinary scientific field is methodologically
based on organic analyses. Corresponding geoscientific problems are tried to be
solved by analyzing organic substances in matrices from the geosphere, e.g. water,
soil, rocks, air and to some extent also biota. Main intention is to obtain both
qualitative and quantitative information on the composition of the organic matter.
Or in general parlance: Which organic substance and how much of it appear in a
certain geological or environmental sample?
Since individual organic substances occur not isolated but incorporated in organic
and inorganic matrices, the analysis of such substances requires several separate
steps as summarized in Fig. 1.1. It comprises roughly the sampling, the separation or
even isolation of the target substance, the analyte, from the matrix, further cleaning
and separation steps and finally the detection.
Main goal of any developed analytical method is the unambiguous identification
of an analyte and the quantification with a sensitivity down to concentration levels,
that are sufficient for the related scientific question.
The concentration level is partly a huge challenge for organic-geochemical
analysis. This accounts especially for environmental contamination and its characterization. Concentrations determined in such samples covers a wide range as
illustrated in Fig 1.2. In former times the so-called pp. . .-system has been used,
where pp.. means ‘part per . . .’ ranging from ppm as ‘part per million’ down to ppq
or ‘part per quadrillion’ and lower. However, this system is inaccurate since it is
based originally on ‘particle number per particle number’ but has also used in
dimensions like ‘particles per volume’ (e.g. mol/L), ‘mass per volume’ (e.g. μg/
m
3 ) or ‘mass per mass’ (μg/kg). Therefore, the SI units have to be used instead of the
old pp. . .-notation. Further on, concentration as mass per volume and amount as
mass per mass have to be distinguished.
Beside the huge concentration range, organic substances cover a wide range of
chemical and physical properties. And the same accounts for the geological and
environmental matrices. As a consequence, there is no perfect analytical approach
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
J. Schwarzbauer, B. Jovančićević, Introduction to Analytical Methods in Organic
Geochemistry, Fundamentals in Organic Geochemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38592-7_1
1
Introductory Aspects
Organic Geochemistry as an interdisciplinary scientific field is methodologically
based on organic analyses. Corresponding geoscientific problems are tried to be
solved by analyzing organic substances in matrices from the geosphere, e.g. water,
soil, rocks, air and to some extent also biota. Main intention is to obtain both
qualitative and quantitative information on the composition of the organic matter.
Or in general parlance: Which organic substance and how much of it appear in a
certain geological or environmental sample?
Since individual organic substances occur not isolated but incorporated in organic
and inorganic matrices, the analysis of such substances requires several separate
steps as summarized in Fig. 1.1. It comprises roughly the sampling, the separation or
even isolation of the target substance, the analyte, from the matrix, further cleaning
and separation steps and finally the detection.
Main goal of any developed analytical method is the unambiguous identification
of an analyte and the quantification with a sensitivity down to concentration levels,
that are sufficient for the related scientific question.
The concentration level is partly a huge challenge for organic-geochemical
analysis. This accounts especially for environmental contamination and its characterization. Concentrations determined in such samples covers a wide range as
illustrated in Fig 1.2. In former times the so-called pp. . .-system has been used,
where pp.. means ‘part per . . .’ ranging from ppm as ‘part per million’ down to ppq
or ‘part per quadrillion’ and lower. However, this system is inaccurate since it is
based originally on ‘particle number per particle number’ but has also used in
dimensions like ‘particles per volume’ (e.g. mol/L), ‘mass per volume’ (e.g. μg/
m
3 ) or ‘mass per mass’ (μg/kg). Therefore, the SI units have to be used instead of the
old pp. . .-notation. Further on, concentration as mass per volume and amount as
mass per mass have to be distinguished.
Beside the huge concentration range, organic substances cover a wide range of
chemical and physical properties. And the same accounts for the geological and
environmental matrices. As a consequence, there is no perfect analytical approach
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
J. Schwarzbauer, B. Jovančićević, Introduction to Analytical Methods in Organic
Geochemistry, Fundamentals in Organic Geochemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38592-7_1
1