Abstract
Mucky and/or silty sediments, dated as approx. 12,000 years old, contained aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, varying from 2-19 parts per 100,000 of dried material; total organic material varied from 30-450 parts per 100,000. In general, the amount of hydrocarbons increases and the percentage of complex organic materials decreases with depth. In 2 samples from the Laguna Madre Flats, Texas, that with a reducing environment contained 3.9 times as much free hydrocarbons and sulfur as that from an adjacent oxidizing environment. The author discusses the possible role of autotrophic sulfur bacteria in the genesis of petroleum.

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