| P.F. van Bergen University Utrecht Faculty of Earth Sciences Budapestlaan 4 3584 CD Utrecht The Netherlands Fax: +31-30-253.5302 e-mail: can be reached through geochemistry@geo.uu.nl Lecturer in Organic Geochemistry / Biogeochemistry (left on 1 August 2002; webpage is not updated since then) |
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Research:
Stable Carbon Isotope analyses of Modern, Ancient and Fossil woods
This new research (ALW-funded) has recently been insigated based on collabative work with Imogen Poole (Univer. Leeds, UK). Stable carbon isotope analyses of individual wood consituents are studied to obtain insight into the natural stable carbon isotope variation of the three main chemical entities in wood (i.e. hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin). Subsequently, analyses of these entities from well-defined ancient and fossil wood specimens will be undertaken to determine variations in past and palaeo-atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Other collaborators on this project are Jaap Sinninghe Damsté and Rich Pancost (Marine Biogeochemie en Toxicologie, NIOZ, NL) and Ute Sass-Klaassen (Ring Instituut Amersfoort, NL).
The macromolecular composition of modern and fossil propagules
The distinct chemical and morphological composition of propagules (i.e. fruits and seeds) make them ideal study objects for organic matter decomposition. This ongoing research with Margaret Collinson (Royal Holloway, UK) and Jan de Leeuw (NIOZ) has already revealed insights into the chemical stability of lignin and highly aliphatic macromolecules and the effect lithology has on the preservation of these molecules (see publications). Variations in chemistry are also used to determine chemotaxonomic relationships and explain taphonomic biases observed in the fossil record. Other collaborators include Mike Field, (Coventry Univ., UK) and Barbara Meller, (Univ. of Vienna, Austria).
The chemistry of resistant organic walls of microfossils (i.e. pollen, spores, dinoflagellates).
Despite the numerous studies still little is known about the detailed chemical composition of these, often abundant, remains (see publications). This collaborative research involves Margaret Collinson (Royal Holloway, UK), researchers from the Marine Biogeochemistry Division (NIOZ, NL; Peter Blokker, Gerard Versteegh a.o.) and the Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology (University of Utrecht, Faculty of Biology; Henk Brinkhuis a.o.). This current reserach uses a variety of chemical and microscopical techniques to determine the original chemical composition of resistant organic walls of Recent and fossil pollen grains, spores and dinoflagellates and study changes induced by diagenesis.
The chemical composition of German Miocene Brown coals
Vast amounts of brown coal are extracted from German coal mines in the Lower Rhine Basin. Lignin is often suggested to be the main contributor to the ground mass of such coals. However, our preliminary results have revealed that chemical composition of this ground mass bears little resemblance with lignin which has been studied from in situ preserved wood specimens. This ongoing research tries to determine what the main contributor(s) are to the organic matter of these brown coals as well as obtaining detailed information with respect to the coalification processes affecting these coals. In collaboration with Tim Jones (Univ. of Wales, Cardiff, UK), Nick Rowe (Univ. Montpellier, France), Isabel Figueiral (Universität Tübingen, Germany) and David Clifford (Penn State Univ., USA).
Organic Geochemistry of soils
Carbon in soils has been studied for decades, however, detailed molecular analyses of organic molecules in soils have only relatively recently gathered momentum. Research on high and low-molecular weight constituents is undertaken in collaboration with Richard Evershed and Ian Bull (Univ. of Bristol, UK) and Paul Poulton (Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK). Furthermore, research into the interactions of and the effects of pH on organic matter-mineral complexes has started recently with Guus Loch.
Refs: 1992/1993/1994/1995/1996/1997/1998/1999/2000/2001
van Bergen P.F. (2001) Resistant plant tissues - Cuticles and Propagules. In: Palaeobiology II (Eds, Briggs D.E.G. and Crowther P.R.). Blackwell Science, Oxford. (In press)
van Bergen P.F. and Poole I. (2001) Stable carbon isotopes in wood: A clue to palaeoclimate? Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. (Accepted)
Blokker P., van Bergen P.F., Pancost R., Collinson M.E., Sinninghe Damsté J.S. and de Leeuw J.W. (2001) The chemical structure of Gloeocapsomorpha prisca microfossils: Implications for their origin. Geochem. Cosmochim Acta 65, 886-900.
Collinson M.E., Knobloch E., van Bergen P.F. and Brain T.P.R. (2001) An abundant, but enigmatic, organic mesofossil from the Upper Cretaceous of the Czech Republic. Palaeontographica B (In press)
Naafs D.F.W. and van Bergen P.F. (2001) A qualitative study on the chemical composition of ester-bound moieties in an acidic andosolic forest soils. Org. Geochem. (Accepted)
Nierop K.G.J. and van Bergen P.F. (2001) Clay and ammonium catalyzed reactions of alkanols, alkanoic acids and esters under pyrolytic conditions. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (Accepted)
Regert M., Dudd S.N., van Bergen P.F., Pétrequin P. and Evershed R.P. (2001) Investigations of solvent extractable lipids and insoluble polymeric components: Organic residues in Neolithic ceramic vessels from Chalain (Jura, France). In: Proceedings of Archaeological Sciences Ç97, (ed. A. Millard). British Archaeological Reports., Oxbow, Oxford. (In press).
van Bergen P.F., Poole I., Ogilvie T.M.A., Caple C. and Evershed R.P. (2000) Evidence for Demethylation of Syringyl Moieties in Archaeological Wood using Pyrolysis/Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 14, 71-79.
Bull I.D., van Bergen P.F., Nott C.J., Poulton P.R. and Evershed R.P. (2000) Organic geochemical studies of soils from the Rothamsted Classical Experiments-V. The fate of lipids in different long-term soil experiments. Org. Geochem. 31, 387-408
Bull I.D., Nott C.J., van Bergen P.F., Poulton P.R. and Evershed R.P. (2000) Organic geochemical studies of soils from the Rothamsted Classical Experiments-VI. The occurrence and source of organic acids in an experimental grassland soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 32, 1367-1376.
Lockheart M.J., van Bergen P.F. and Evershed R.P. (2000) A chemotaxonomic approach to the classification of fossil leaves from the Miocene Clarkia Lake deposit, Idaho, USA. Org. Geochem. 31, 1223-1246.
van Bergen P.F. (1999) Collection and storage of fossil plant remains for organic geochemical analyses. In: Fossil plants and spores: modern techniques. (Eds, Jones T.P. and Rowe N.P.). pp. 135-138, The Geological Society, London.
van Bergen P.F. (1999) Pyrolysis and chemolysis of fossil plant remains: applications to palaeobotany. In: Fossil plants and spores: modern techniques. (Eds, Jones T.P. and Rowe N.P.). pp. 143-148, The Geological Society, London.
van Bergen P.F., Collinson M.E. and Stankiewicz B.A. (1999) The importance of molecular palaeobotany. Acta Palaeobotanica Supplement 2, 653-657.
Bull I.D., van Bergen P.F., Bol R., Brown S., Gledhill A.R., Gray A.J., Harkness D.D. Woodbury S.E. and Evershed R.P. (1999) Estimating the contribution of Spartina anglica biomass to salt-marsh sediments using compound specific stable carbon isotope measurements. Org. Geochem. 30, 477-483.
Bull I.D., Simpson I.A., van Bergen P.F. and Evershed R.P. (1999) Muck 'n' molecules: Organic geochemical methods for detecting ancient manuring. Antiquity 73, 86-96.
Evershed R.P., Dudd S.N., Charters S., Mottram H., Stott A.W., Raven A., van Bergen P.F. and Bland H.A. (1999) Lipids as carriers of anthropogenic signals from prehistory. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B, 354, 19-31.
van Heemst J.D.H., van Bergen P.F., Stankiewicz B.A. and de Leeuw J.W. (1999) Multiple sources of alkylphenols produced upon pyrolysis of DOM, POM and recent and ancient sediments. J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 52, 239-256.
Simpson I.A., van Bergen P.F., Perret V., Elhmmali M.M., Roberts D.J. and Evershed R.P. (1999) Lipid biomarkers of manuring practice in relict anthropogenic soils. Holocene 9, 223-229.
van Bergen P.F., Flannery M.B., Poulton P.R. and Evershed R.P. (1998) Organic Geochemical Studies of Soils From Rothamsted Experimental Station: III Nitrogen-Containing Macromolecular Moieties in Soil Organic Matter from Geescroft Wilderness. In: Nitrogen-Containing Macromolecules in the Bio- and Geosphere (Eds, Stankiewicz B.A. and van Bergen P.F.). ACS Symposium Series 707, 321-338, Oxford University Press, New York.
van Bergen P.F., Nott C.J., Bull I.D., Poulton P.R. and Evershed R.P. (1998) Organic geochemical studies of soils from the Rothamsted Classical Experiments - IV. Preliminary results from a study of the effect of soil pH on organic matter decay. In: Advances in Organic Geochemistry 1997 (Eds, Horsfield B., Radke M., Schaefer R.G. and Wilkes H.). Org. Geochem. 29, 1779-1795.
Bland H.A., van Bergen P.F., Carter J.F. and Evershed R.P. (1998) Early diagenetic transformations of proteins and polysaccharides in archaeological plant remains. In: Nitrogen-Containing Macromolecules in the Bio- and Geosphere (Eds, Stankiewicz B.A. and van Bergen P.F.). ACS Symposium Series 707, 113-131, Oxford University Press, New York.
Bull I.D., van Bergen P.F., Poulton P.R. and Evershed R.P. (1998) Organic geochemical studies of soils from the Rothamsted Classical Experiments II: Soils from the Hoosfield Spring Barley experiment treated with different quantities of manure. Org. Geochem. 28, 11-26.
Lockheart M.J., Poole I., van Bergen P.F. and Evershed R.P. (1998) Leaf carbon isotope compositions and stomatal characters: important considerations for palaeoclimate reconstructions. Org. Geochem. 29, 1003-1008.
Regert M., Bland H.A., Dudd S.N., van Bergen P.F. and Evershed R.P. (1998) Free and bound fatty acid oxidation products in archaeological ceramic vessels. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 265, 2027-2032.
Stankiewicz B.A. and van Bergen P.F. Eds. (1998) Nitrogen-Containing Macromolecules in the Bio- and Geosphere. ACS Symposium Series 707, Oxford University Press, New York. 370 pp
Stankiewicz B.A. and van Bergen P.F. (1998) Nitrogen and N-containing Macromolecules in the Bio- and Geosphere: An Introduction. In: Nitrogen-Containing Macromolecules in the Bio- and Geosphere (Eds, Stankiewicz B.A. and van Bergen P.F.). ACS Symposium Series 707, 1-12, Oxford University Press, New York.
Stankiewicz B.A., van Bergen P.F., Smith M.B., Carter J.F., Briggs D.E.G. and Evershed R.P. (1998) Comparison of analytical performance of filament and Curie-point pyrolysis devices. J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 45, 133-151.
van Bergen P.F., Bland H.A., Horton M.C. and Evershed R.P. (1997) Chemical and morphological changes in archaeological seeds and fruits during preservation by desiccation. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61, 1919-1930.
van Bergen P.F., Bull I.D., Poulton P.R. and Evershed R.P. (1997) Organic geochemical studies of soils from the Rothamsted Classical Experiments: I Total lipid extracts, solvent insoluble residues and humic acids from Broadbalk Wilderness. Org. Geochem. 26, 117-135.
van Bergen P.F., Hatcher P.G., Boon J.J., Collinson M.E. and de Leeuw J.W. (1997) Macromolecular composition of the propagule wall of Nelumbo nucifera. Phytochem. 45, 601-610.
van Bergen P.F., Peakman T.M., Leigh-Firbank E.C. and Evershed R.P. (1997) Chemical Evidence for Archaeological Frankincense: Boswellic Acids and their Derivatives in Solvent Soluble and Insoluble Fractions of Resin-Like Materials. Tetrahedron Lett. 38, 8409-8412.
Evershed R.P., van Bergen P.F., Peakman T.M., Leigh-Firbank E.C., Horton M.C., Edwards D., Biddle M., Kjølbye-Biddle B. and Rowley-Conwy P.A. (1997) Archaeological Frankincense. Nature 390, 667-668.
Evershed R.P., Bland H.A., van Bergen P.F., Carter J.F., Horton M.C. and Rowley-Conwy P.A. (1997) Volatile Compounds in Archaeological Plant Remains and the Maillard Reaction During Decay of Organic Matter. Science 278, 432-433.
Lockheart M.J., van Bergen P.F. and Evershed R.P. (1997) Variations in the stable carbon isotope compositions of individual lipids observed in the leaves of modern angiosperms: implications for the study of higher land plant derived sedimentary organic matter. Org. Geochem. 26, 137-153.
Raven A.M., van Bergen P.F., Stott A.W., Dudd S.N. and Evershed R.P. (1997) Formation of long-chain ketones in archaeological pottery vessels by pyrolysis of acyl lipids. J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 40/41, 267-285.
Stankiewicz B.A., Mastalerz M., Kruge M.A., van Bergen P.F. and Sadowska A. (1997) A comparative study of modern and fossil cone scales and seeds of conifers: a geochemical approach. New Phytologist 135, 375-393.
van Bergen P.F., Collinson M.E. and de Leeuw J.W. (1996) Characterization of the insoluble constituents of propagule walls of fossil and extant water lilies; implications for the fossil record. Ancient Biomolecules 1, 55-81.
Kerp H., Penati F., Brambilla G.,Clement-Westerhof J.A. and van Bergen P.F. (1996) Aspects of Permian palaeobotany and palynology. XVI. Three-dimensionally preserved stromatolite-incrusted conifers from the Permian of the western Orobic Alps (northern Italy). Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 91, 63-84.
Stankiewicz B.A., van Bergen P.F., Duncan I.J.,Carter J.F., Briggs D.E.G. and Evershed R.P. (1996) Recognition of chitin and proteins in invertebrate cuticles using analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Rapid Comm. Mass Spectrom. 10, 1747-1757.
van Bergen P.F., Collinson M.E., Briggs D.E.G., de Leeuw J.W., Scott A.C., Evershed R.P. and Finch P. (1995) Resistant biomacromolecules in the fossil record. Acta Bot. Neerl. 44, 319-342.
van Bergen P.F., Collinson M.E., Scott A.C. and de Leeuw J.W. (1995) Unusual Resin Chemistry From Upper Carboniferous Pteridosperm Resin Rodlets. In: Amber, Resinite and Fossil Resin (Eds, Anderson K.B. and Crelling J.C.). ACS Symposium Series 617, 149-169, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.
Hooker, J.J., Collinson M.E., van Bergen P.F.,Singer R.L., de Leeuw J.W. and Jones T.P. (1995) Reconstruction of land and freshwater palaeoenvironments near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, southern England. J. Geol. Soc.London 152, 449-468.
de Leeuw J.W., Frewin N.L., van Bergen P.F.,Sinninghe Damsté J.S. and Collinson M.E. (1995) Organic carbon as a palaeoenvironmental indicator in the marine realm. In: Marine Palaeoenvironmental Analysis from fossils. (Eds,Bosence D. and Allison P.). Geol. Soc. Special Publ. 83, 43-71, The Geological Society Publishing House, London.
van Bergen P.F., Collinson M.E.,Hatcher P.G. and de Leeuw J.W. (1994) Lithological control on the state of preservation of fossil seed coats of water plants. In: Advances in Organic Geochemistry 1993 (Eds, Telnæs N., van Graas G. and Øygard K.). Org. Geochem. 22, 683-702.
van Bergen P.F., Collinson M.E., Sinninghe Damsté J.S. and de Leeuw J.W. (1994) Chemical and microscopical characterization of inner seed coat layers of fossil water plants. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58, 231-239.
van Bergen P.F., Goñi M., Collinson M.E., Barrie P.J., Sinninghe Damsté J.S. and de Leeuw J.W. (1994) Chemical and microscopic characterization of outer seed coats of fossil and extant water plants. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58, 3823-3844.
van Bergen P.F., Scott A.C., Barrie P.J., de Leeuw J.W. and Collinson M.E. (1994) The chemical composition of upper carboniferous pteridosperm cuticles. Org. Geochem. 21, 107-112.
Brugman W.A., van Bergen P.F. and Kerp J.H.F. (1994) A quantitative approach to Triassic palynology-the Lettenkeuper of the Germanic Basin as an example. In: Sedimentation of organic particles (Ed., Traverse A.), pp.409-429, Cambridge University Press.
Collinson M.E., van Bergen P.F., Scott A.C. and de Leeuw J.W. (1994) The oil-generating potential of plants from coal and coal-bearing strata through time: a review with new evidence from Carboniferous plants. In: Coal and Coal-bearing Strata as Oil-prone Source Rocks? (Eds, Scott A.C. and Fleet A.J.). Geol. Soc. Special Publ. 77, 31-70, The Geological Society Publishing House, London.
Rospondek M.J., de Leeuw J.W., Baas M., van Bergen P.F. and Leereveld H. (1994) The role of organically bound sulphur in stratiform ore sulphide deposits. Org. Geochem. 21, 1181-1191.
van Bergen P.F., Collinson M.E. and de Leeuw J.W. (1993) Chemical composition and ultrastructure of salvinialean microspore massulae and megaspores. Grana 1993, suppl. 1, 18-30.
Sinninghe Damsté J.S., De las Heras F.X.C., van Bergen P.F. and de Leeuw J.W. (1993) Characterisation of Tertiary Catalan lacustrine oil shales: Discovery of extremely organic sulphur-rich type I kerogens. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 57, 389-415.
Derenne S., Metzger P., Largeau C.,van Bergen P.F., Gatellier J-P.L.A., Sinninghe Damsté J.S., de Leeuw J.W. and Berkaloff C. (1992) Similar morphological and chemical variations of Gloeocapsomorpha prisca in Ordovician sediments and cultured Botryococcus braunii as a response to changes in salinity. In: Advances in Organic Geochemistry 1991. (Eds, C.B. Eckardt et al.). Org.Geochem. 19, 299-313.