Abstract: This paper presents the results of preliminary investigation on the distribution of amino acids and its relation to the source rocks in the Zhungaer Basin. The results show that the amino acid/organic carbon ratio in good source rocks are all comparatively high.Comparing the amino acid distributions of source rocks with some coal samples, it is found the types of kerogens are positively correlated to the compositions of amino acids. Proline is both observed in the kerogen of sapropelic source rocks and sapropelic coals, but no proline in humic kerogens. In addition, the characteristics of amino acids distribution of the lower organisms during diagenesis show a great differences between various sedi-mentary environments. When they are converted to oil, only the contents of basic amino acids diminish. When they are converted to coal, the contents of both acidic and basic amino acids decrease, but, the content of neutral amino acids increases. In conclusion, the investigation of the distribution of these three kinds of amino acids in the kerogens of source rocks may help differentiate the direction of convertion of original organic matter to oil or coal.