Composition and origin of fuel from the hut of explorer Robert Falcon Scott, Cape Evans, Antarctica

Geochemical analyses of the fuel used for the motor driven sledges used by the explorer Robert Falcon Scott for his 1911/1912 quest to the South Pole indicate that it is a straight run gasoline. The presence of bicadinanes, oleanane and other oleanoid angiosperm markers indicate that the feedstock oil was likely to have been sourced from terrestrial source rocks of Tertiary age in the South East Asian region. The overall chemical composition of the fuel in its present state indicates that it may have been too heavy for usage in polar regions.