How Far Down Is Shale Rock

Shale formations are ubiquitous in sedimentary basins and, as a result, the main organic-rich shale formations have already been identified in most regions of the world. The depths vary from near surface to several 1000 feet underground, whereas the thickness varies from tens of feet to several hundred feet.

Where do you find shale rock?

Shales are often found with layers of sandstone or limestone. They typically form in environments where muds, silts, and other sediments were deposited by gentle transporting currents and became compacted, as, for example, the deep-ocean floor, basins of shallow seas, river floodplains, and playas.

How many years does it take shale to form?

Natural gas shale well: In less than ten years, shale has skyrocketed to prominence in the energy sector. New drilling and well development methods such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling can tap the oil and natural gas trapped within the tight matrix of organic shales.

Is shale a strong rock?

Shale is a hardened, compacted clay or silty clay that commonly breaks along bedding planes some of which are no thicker than paper. The best exposures are found beneath ledges of harder more resistant rocks such as limestone and sandstones. Most shales are soft enough to be cut with a knife and can be very brittle.

Is it possible for shale to become a marble?

This occurs when limestone, for example, is subjected to heat and pressure and turns into a more coarsely-crystalline and sometimes banded rock called marble. The soft, clay-rich rock known as shale, when subjected to pressure becomes a harder rock called slate.

How do you identify a shale rock?

Shale is a fine-grained rock made from compacted mud and clay. The defining characteristic of shale is its ability to break into layers or fissility. Black and gray shale are common, but the rock can occur in any color. Shale is commercially important.

What is red shale?

Shale Sedimentary Rock – Red Shale is often a red or gray rock made of mostly clay minerals. This sedimentary rock forms in quiet water setting such as lakes and the deep parts of the ocean. The clay particles settle on the bottom of the lake or ocean and harden into rock.

Is there gold in shale rock?

The principal gold-bearing stratum is supposed to be the Benton group, including the Ostrea shales and the Blue Hill shales. It is stated that these rocks over practically the whole of the areas in which they occur contain more or less gold and silver, though the metals may be rather irregularly distributed.

Is shale easy to excavate?

Soft rocks, which include principally shale and sandstone, can be excavated without blasting. Hard rocks, which require blasting to excavate, include igneous, metamorphic rocks and carbonates. Often, sandstone is exposed in high bluffs where it would be impractical to cut it to a soil slope.

What kind of rock is a shale?

Shale is a fine-grained laminated sedimentary rock composed of silt and clay-sized particles.

Can a house be built on a rock?

It’s not too hard to build a home when you’re dealing with rock unless you need to blast. You’re lucky that excavators can dig through your rock. I feel the biggest thing you need to understand is the relationship between water and rock. Rainwater penetrates topsoil and starts to head into the ground.

What is the defining difference between sandstone and shale?

Sandstone is defined as a rock which is composed of sand-sized grains of various minerals mostly of uniform size and often are smooth and rounded. Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock which is formed by the compaction of silt and clay-size mineral particles.

Can I find gold in shale?

A shale bedrock has all kinds of crevices in it and erodes quickly, you can find gold In it but you have to break open a lot of bedrock to find the small pieces scattered about. shiner than others. That is because they are very hard. When these dense heavy rocks drop, the gold usually drops with them.

What kind of rock is black and shiny?

Environment: Gabbro is formed by magma that cools very slowly into hard rock below or within the Earth’s crust. Distinguishing Characteristics: dark grey-black, shiny surfaces of feldspar are visible.

Can you build a house on shale?

In the construction business, shale is an excellent rock to build a foundation on because it’s so strong. Plus, it’s compact enough to endure a structural piling without cracking, unlike clay.

Is shale cemented?

The most common sedimentary rock is shale. It is made of compressed mud–that is, a mixture of clay and silt (fine particles of mineral matter). The sand or gravel particles in sandstone and conglomerate are held together by a mineral cement.

Does shale erode easily?

The mechanical weathering of rocks like shale and sandstone causes their grains to break up over time and become sand and clay particles. Rocks that are constantly bombarded by running water, wind, and other erosion agents, will weather more quickly.

Is shale and clay the same?

The main difference between Shale and Clay is that the Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock and Clay is a soft rock based compound often used for sculpture and tools.

Why does shale often crumble easily?

Why does shale often crumble quite easily? better sorted than deposits sorted by wave activity. commonly better sorted than materials deposited by streams. Materials were transported a short distance before they were deposited and some other medium may have transported them.

What rock is gold mostly found in?

Gold is most often found in quartz rock. When quartz is found in gold bearings areas, it is possible that gold will be found as well. Quartz may be found as small stones in river beds or in large seams in hillsides.

Is shale good to fill?

The problem with using shale in our area,as any kind of fill, is that the shale particles are not durable. If it is placed as a durable rock, in larger pieces, over time the shale will weather in-place when subjected to water and air.

What will shale turn into?

Shales that are subject to heat and pressure of metamorphism alter into a hard, fissile, metamorphic rock known as slate. With continued increase in metamorphic grade the sequence is phyllite, then schist and finally gneiss.

Does shale have oil?

Oil-bearing shales are underground rock formations that contain trapped petroleum. The petroleum trapped within the rocks is known as “tight oil” and is difficult to extract. Companies extracting tight oil often use hydraulic fracturing (fracking), while companies extracting shale oil most often use heat.