Fatty alcohols (normal and isoprenoid) in sediments.

Normal long-chain alcohols were isolated from Recent marine sediments from several environments. The isoprenoid alcohol dihydrophytol, which is thought to originate from phytol, the side chain of chlorophyll, by hydrogenation in the reducing environment of the sediment, was also present in most of the samples. Both the normal and isoprenoid alcohols were found in the Green River shale (Eocene). Geochemical implications are considered.