Centre d''Océanologie de Marseille, Université d''Aix-Marseille II, faculté de Luminy, 13228 France;Laboratoire de chimie organique physique, Université d''Aix-Marseille III, faculté de St-Jérome, 13397 Marseille 13, France
Abstract:
Various analyses of an asphaltenic fraction of Asthart crude oil enabled us to show that it was partially degraded by a marine mixed bacterial population with saturated hydrocarbons as cosubstrate. We also gave evidence of its strong biotransformation rate and tried to correlate its evolution with the nature of the produced fractions.