DSDP site 41–368 in the eastern Atlantic represents an unusual locality, where the behaviour of a short column of organic-rich shale can be studied in relation to the steep thermal gradient imposed by basaltic intrusions. This study indicates that the dominant effects on the measured parameters of the organic matter were thermal and that compositional variations in the original matter were minor in comparison.

Sediment depth is given in mbsf. Depths are calculated upwards from the core catcher, these are probably more representative of the true (absolute) depths than the DSDP convention of measuring downwards from the top of each core.

Supplement to: Simoneit, Bernd R T; Brenner, Shmuel; Peters, K E; Kaplan, I R (1978): Thermal alteration of Cretaceous black shale by basaltic intrusions in the Eastern Atlantic. Nature, 273(5663), 501-504