CHED 316 |
| Rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave, Idaho, are coated with a mysterious shiny, black coating of unknown origin. The coating might be a residue from cooking inside the cave, or could be organic material deposited by dripping water. Both of these sources contain fatty acids, or lipids, but the ratios of the specific compounds in each may differ significantly. Qualitative analyses show significant similarities between the coating and soil organic matter. We are using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to carry out quantitative analysis of the fatty acids and to compare the ratios of those compounds to those found in other black residues such as cooking residues and soil organic matter. Lipids were extracted using chloroform:methanol and derivatized to their methyl esters using tetramethylammonium hydroxide which was mixed with the sample just prior to insertion into the Varian Chromatoprobe inlet system. The results of this new method will be presented. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Analytical Chemistry
11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |