General characteristics and biomarker distributions of Lower Permian coal-measure source rocks in northeastern Ordos Bsain have been analyzed in this paper. The results show that the source rocks are type III kerogen, thermally mature, with high content of total organic carbon. The extracts of the source rock samples with different lithologies from Well Su 27 feature high Pr/Ph ratios, high C19TT and C24Te, high rearranged hopanes, a predominance of C29 sterane in regular steranes, and the absence of C30 4-methylsteranes. These data suggest that the source rocks were deposited in suboxic to oxic conditions with dominantly terrigenous higher plant input. In contrast, the source rocks from wells Shuang 1 and Yu 20, are characterized by low Pr/Ph ratios, low C19TT and C24Te, high C23TT, similar content of C27 sterane and C29 sterane, and the presence of C30 4-methylsteranes, showing that the source rocks were deposited in reducing environment with algae and/or microorganisms and terrigenous higher plant input.