Reply to Effect of concentration of organic matter on optical maturity parameters. Interlaboratory results of the organic matter concentration working group of the ICCP. Discussion by Vinay K. Sahay

摘要

This reply ismotivated by Sahay's comments on the paper published byMendonca Filho et al. (2010) dealingwith the effect of concentration of an organicmatter on optical maturity parameters. Four pointswere raised by Sahay: suggestion to use of chemical parameters to assess the effect of isolation, indication that suppression of vitrinite reflectance in liptinite-rich rockswas insufficiently addressed, discussion on theway to deal with the existence of multiple vitrinite populations in a dispersed organicmatter, and contradictory explanation of results involving the influence of isolation procedure on fluorescence properties but no effect on vitrinite reflectance. The four points were separately addressed being the two first ones out of the scope of the paper. The existence ofmultiple vitrinite populations is a well-recognized problem whose importance in the results could be addressed because the participants provided individual records of vitrinite reflectance. These results indicated that election of different populations was not a major problem in the results. The influence of isolation procedure on the fluorescence spectra of alginite while the vitrinite reflectance remains unaltered is not considered contradictory because both parameters are measured on different components which may have a different response to the acid treatment.