Geology, early relationship

The raw data in the more comprehensive study (61) were conversions, determined in duplicate, when each of 104 coals selected from three geological provinces was heated with tetralin under standard conditions, together with the results of 14 commonly made analytical determinations for each coal. An early observation in this study was that when data for all 104 samples were plotted against volatile matter, a steady decrease of conversion with decreasing volatile matter was apparent. But there was a great deal of scatter (r=0.85). In any case, the formal requirements that make possible the employment of valid statistical analyses were not met by the data matrix, as evidenced by skewed and bimodal relationships between the variables the sample set was heterogeneous. ... 

Mojzsis SJ, Arrhenius G, McKeegan KD, Harrison TM, Nutman AP, Friend CRL (1996) Evidence for life on Earth before 3,800 million years ago. Nature 384 55-59 Mozely PS (1989) Relationship between depositional environment and the elemental composition of early diagenetic siderite. Geology 17 704-706... 

A significant amount of kinetic data exists for the decarboxylation and oxidation of carboxylic acids. However, a relatively small fraction of these results deals with n-C2 to n-C4 aliphatic mono- and dicarboxylic acids under conditions pertinent to geological interests. For example, the early studies of the decarboxylation kinetics of acetic acid utilized flow-though silica tubes in which the anhydrous gas was exposed to very high temperatures for only seconds (Bamford and Dewar 1949 Blake and Jackson 1968, 1969). Nevertheless, it is useful to consider all of these results because it reveals trends common for structural classes of carboxylic acids. In this background discussion, a brief introduction to the subject of isokinetic relationships is given, as well as an overview of the decarboxylation and oxidation of carboxylic acids in which isokinetic relationships are used to establish trends and gross variations in reaction mechanisms between structural classes of acids. 

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