challenged.

Studies on organic forest-floor horizons

indicated that the contribution of aromatic carbon
remained constant throughout the soil profile.[2]
The high contribution of aromatic compounds to
organic matter of some soils was related to the
presence of substantial amounts of charcoal produced
by vegetation fires.[3] Nitrogen, which had long been
suspected to be of stable heterocyclic nature in soils,
was shown to be mainly amide N, derived most probably
from proteins.[4] With those results, the nature of
organic matter as a mixture of macromolecular humic
substances was questioned. It was shown that instead
of macromolecules, substances with lower molecular
weight are more likely to survive in soil. For example,
studies with analytical pyrolysis showed that polysaccharides
and proteins may have a much longer
residence time in soils than molecules derived from
lignin or other macromolecular substances.[5] From
these findings, a new theory emerged after which the

It is difficult to control the surface properties of oils

in the laboratory. Experimentally it is easier to use
mercury as the displacing fluid and mercury
size distribution in reservoir rocks. Since the surface
tension is known the critical pore throat radius (R) can
be calculated.
In sandstones the displacement pressure increases
with increasing cementation and the resultant reduc-
tion in porosity and permeability. Even relatively well
cemented sandstones are not normally barriers to oil
migration, though. Well-cemented carbonate layers
and also thin clay layers and stylolites may serve
effectively as seals for further migration. The main
problem is usually not the migration through
sandstones, but from one sandstone body to the next
through shales. Faults in sandstones may have a clay
smear, reducing the permeability