As this is the first general textbook for the field published in over twenty years, the editors have taken great care to make sure coverage is comprehensive. Diagenesis of organic matter, kerogens, exploration for fossil fuels, and many other subjects are discussed in detail to provide faculty and students with a thorough introduction to organic geochemistry.

This volume presents the most significant papers given during the 13th International Meeting in Organic Geochemistry. The intention of the publication is to provide the scholars of this science with its state-of-the-art and recent papers not only in academic research but above all in practical applications. Several papers attest to an increased use of organic geochemistry not only in the oil industry, during all phases of petroleum exploration, but also in the other research areas of coal origin and structure, metallogeny, sedimentology, molecular palaeontology, biochemistry and pollution.

The field of nuclear magnetic resonance has experienced a number of spectacular developments during the last decade. Fourier transform methodology revolutionized signal acquisition capabilities. Superconducting magnets enhanced sensitivity and produced considerable improvement in spectral dispersion. In areas of new applicat ions, the life sciences particularly bene fited from these developments and probably saw the largest increase in usage. NMR imaging promises to offer a noninvasive alternative to X rays. High resolution is now achievable with solids, through magic angle spinning and cross polarization, so that the powers of NMR are applicable to previously intractable materials such as polymers, coal, and other geochemicals. The ease of obtaining relaxation times brought an important fourth variable, after the chemical shift, the coupling constant, and the rate constant, to the examination of structural and kinetic problems i~ all fields. Software development, particularly in the area of pulse sequences, created a host of useful tech niques, including difference decoupling and difference nuclear Overhauser effect spectra, multidimensional displays, signal enhancement (INEPT), coupling constant analysis for connectivity (INADEQUATE), and observation of specific structural classes such as only quaternary carbons. Finally, hardware development gave us access to the entire Periodic Table, to the particular advan tage of the inorganic and organometallic chemist. At the NATO Advanced Study Institute at Stirling, Scotland, the participants endeavored to examine all these advances, except imaging, from a multidisciplinary point of view.

Biochar is the carbon-rich product when biomass (such as wood, manure or crop residues) is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. It can be used to improve agriculture and the environment in several ways, and its stability in soil and superior nutrient-retention properties make it an ideal soil amendment to increase crop yields. In addition to this, biochar sequestration, in combination with sustainable biomass production, can be carbon-negative and therefore used to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with major implications for mitigation of climate change. Biochar production can also be combined with bioenergy production through the use of the gases that are given off in the pyrolysis process. This book is the first to synthesize the expanding research literature on this topic. The book's interdisciplinary approach, which covers engineering, environmental sciences, agricultural sciences, economics and policy, is a vital tool at this stage of biochar technology development. This comprehensive overview of current knowledge will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and professionals in a wide range of disciplines.

The science of organic Geochemistry bridges the gap between living and fossil organisms. It is concerned with the processes by which organic material changes after death, during sediment burial, diagenesis and maturation, to produce gas, liquid petroleum and coal. It is equally concerned with the way in which organic matter of geological origin enters the biosphere and interacts with living organisms. Applications of organic geochemistry to the petroleum industry include exploration (developing the ability to predict the occurrence of petroleum within a sedimentary basin) and production (predicting the response of reservoir rocks to interaction with organic-rich pore fluids) as well as in fingerprinting oil spills.

This book is the perfect link for learning how to perform the experiments after only having studied theory. In eight chapters more than 50 essential NMR experiments are described in detail. Special focus is put on the organic set of NMR spectra (1H, 13C-APT, COSY, NOESY, HSQC and HMBC). Different chapters deal with advanced organic NMR, selective methods, heteronuclear NMR, relaxation and diffusion measurements, organic applications and maintenance. Every experiment has a section providing the reader with the purpose and scope of the specific experiment. Every experiment is concluded with the spectrum as it is obtained under the conditions described. Questions and comments enable the reader to check their understanding. The authors are very experienced and the whole book is in full color, which enhances the reading experience and makes the spectra and other figures easier to understand. This book is strongly recommended for all students and researchers who are involved in the structural elucidation of chemical compounds both in practical education and in pursuing research, in particular if they handle an NMR spectrometer.

Natural organic matter is important to the quality of drinking water. It constitutes precursors for disinfectant by-product formation and supports regrowth of bacteria. The drinking water industry is involved in work designed to improve biological treatment of water, control bacterial regrowth in distribution systems, and measure biodegradable NOM concentrations. These efforts would benefit from a knowledge of NOM composition and structure and the composition of microbial communities that colonize biological filters and distribution systems. In this project the researchers addressed four major goals: (1) to determine the structure and composition of natural organic matter (NOM), (2) to describe the structure of heterotrophic bacterial communities supported by raw and treated source water, (3) to measure the responses of heterotrophic bacterial communities to seasonally driven variations in NOM and temperature, and (4) to determine whether bioreactor systems can serve as small-scale models for the development and refinement of drinking water treatment processes. The five source waters selected for this project included a broad range of physiographic provinces, vegetation zones, and NOM concentrations. The research team analyzed NOM and microbial communities from an analytical hierarchy involving assessment of concentration, composition, and structure. Concentrations of NOM and BOM were estimated from dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and biodegradable DOC concentrations. NOM composition was assessed from analyses of carbohydrates with ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection, humic substances with XAD-8 resin, and functional groups with NMR. Molecular structure was determined from tetramethylammonium hydroxide thermochemolysis (TMAH) GC/MS. Microbial community composition was assessed from comparative ribosomal ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing, specifically, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (t-RFLP), to provide an overview of microbial population structure and detect population shifts at the level of species. NOM Composition NOM and BOM concentrations showed extensive temporal variation in all of the source waters, but a general pattern of concentration ranges was discernable, indicating that each watershed has a particular concentration signal. Compositional studies revealed that humic substances and complex carbohydrates are components of both NOM and BOM. Structural and compositional studies identified unique NOM signatures for the different source waters, with some classes of molecules observed only in specific source waters. The BOM pool included humic substances and lignin, sources generally presumed to be relatively resistant to biodegradation. Additional novel insights included the quantitative contribution of aromatic molecules to the BOM pool and the potential for bacterial demethylation of lignin. Bacterial Communities The communities of microorganisms that developed in bioreactors that were fed water from different watersheds were unique. NOM influenced the genetic composition of resulting microbial communities, and seasonal shifts were observed for watersheds possessing strong seasonal temperature signals. Thus, temperature and organic matter quantity and quality probably influenced parameters important to the biological treatment of drinking water. A comparison of bioreactor metabolism with rapid sand filters showed some overlap, suggesting the bioreactors may indicate the ultimate potential of rapid sand filters for BOM processing. The researchers recommend the following: Bioreactors designed to monitor a BOM source should ideally be inoculated, colonized, and maintained by that source; at a minimum, acclimation to the source over several months is needed. Seasonal changes in the microbial community colonizing a biologically active filter may diminish filter performance and require an acclimation period to restore performance. Molecular-based methods for both microbial and chemical analyses of drinking water and treatment processes should be targeted for continued development and implementation within the drinking water industry. Originally published by AwwaRF for its subscribers in 2004.