Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.8, No.2, pp. 233-240, 1985

©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press, Ltd.

GEOLOGIC TIME AS A PARAMETER IN ORGANIC METAMORPHISM AND VITRINITE REFLECTANCE AS AN ABSOLUTE PALEOGEOTHERMOMETER: REPLY

Leigh C. Price*

* U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, PO Box 25046, MS 940 Denver, CO 80225.

Before replying to James Kohsmann's discussion of the Price (1983) paper, I wish to correct two errors in that paper. In the abstract I stated: "The threshold of intense petroleum generation is not detectable in Plio-Miocene sediments at minimum temperatures of 160°C" (Price, 1983, p. 5). I should have said ". . . in Pliocene and Miocene sediments with hydrogen-rich organic matter at minimum temperatures of 160°C." In the Fig. 19 caption, in a classic demonstration of Murphy's Law, a line was dropped during printing so that the last sentence of that caption read: "This equation can only be applied to coals or rocks with Type I organic matter". The sentence should have read: "This equation can only be applied to coals and rocks with Type III organic matter. It cannot be applied to rocks with Type I organic matter."+