The Biomarker Guide provides a comprehensive discussion of the basic principles of biomarkers, their relationships with other parameters, and their applications to studies of maturation, correlation, source input, depositional environment, and biodegradation of the organic matter in petroleum source rocks, reservoirs, and the environment. It builds upon previous books by Tissot and Welte (1984),Waples and Machihara (1991), Bordenave (1993), Peters and Moldowan (1993), Hunt (1996), and Welte et al. (1997). The volumes were prepared for a broad audience, including students, company exploration geologists, geochemists, and environmental scientists for several reasons:

1. (1) Biomarker geochemistry is a rapidly growing discipline with important worldwide applications to petroleum exploration and production and environmental monitoring.

2. (2) Biomarker parameters are becoming increasingly prominent in exploration, production, and environmental reports.

3. (3) Different parameters are used within the industry, academia, service laboratories, and the literature.

4. (4) The quality of biomarker data and interpretation can vary considerably, depending on their source.

The objective of this guide is to provide a single, concise source of information on the various biomarker parameters and to create general guidelines for the use of selected parameters. Animportant aim is to clarify the relationships between biomarker and other geochemical parameters and to show how they can be used together to solve problems. It is not intended to teach interpretation of raw biomarker data. This is a job for a biomarker specialist with years of training in instrumentation and organic chemistry.