Accumulation of organic carbon in marine sediments / Накопление органического углерода в морских отложениях

In 1984, I had had the chance to join the organic geochemistry group of Prof. Dr. D. Welte at the Institute for Petroleum and Organic Geochemistry, KFA Jtilich, where my first encounter with organic geochemistry took place. There, I learned - as marine geologist - to talk to and work with geochemists and to understand the importance of multidisciplinary cooperation. For this possibility, I gratefully thank Prof. Welte as well as Dr. J. Rullk6tter.
At JNieh, I started to study the organic geochemistry of DSDP Mesozoic black shales and their formation in relationship to paleoclimate, paleoceanography, and paleogeographic boundary conditions. During this work on deposifional environments of black shales, the idea to study more recent (Quaternary and Neogene) organic-carbonrich sediments from very different environments as case studies was born. Thus, in the recent past, I participated three ODP-Legs on which late Cenozoic organic-carbon-rich sediments were drilled: ODP-Leg 105 (Baffin Bay and Labrador Sea; August to October 1985), ODP-Leg 108 (subtropical-tropical Northeast Atlantic Ocean; February and March 1986), and ODP-Leg 128 (Japan Sea; August to October 1989). The results of the sedimentological and organic-geochemical investigations of these sediments allowed detailed reconstructions of mechanisms controlling organic carbon accumulation and provided important informations about the evolution of paleoclimate and paleoceanic circulation in the study areas. These results may also help to understand the formation of fossil organic-carbon-rich sedimentary rocks, i.e., petroleum source rocks. <...>