GEOL 11040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Source Rock

• School: Kent State University
• Department: Geology
• Course: GEOL 11040
• Professor: Christopher Rowan

Document Summary

Something from the earth that we can put to use. Need to be able to extract and separate from the other materials around it. Some rocks are easier to extract from than others. Usually easier to extract from sedimentary rocks than igneous. Rocks with bigger grains are easier to extract from. Reserve: the fraction of the resource that can be used to make a profit at current market prices. The earth sometimes concentrates resources for us. Can also turn useless substances into more useful ones. These processes often take millions of years. The usa uses about 4 billion tons of geological materials each year. Geologists can use their knowledge to find the best places to dig/drill for materials. Organic carbon molecules are created by photosynthesis. These molecules are the starting point for fossil fuels. Coal comes from the remains of plants. Oil and gas are produced by marine algae. Normally most organic carbon is recycled through scavenging and decomposition.