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Shale is a sedimentary rock composed of very fine clay particles. Clay forms from the decomposition of the mineral feldspar. Other minerals present in shale are quartz, mica, pyrite, and organic matter.
What can you find in shale?
The properties of shales are largely determined by the fine grain size of the constituent minerals. The Shales characteristically consist of at least 30 percent clay minerals and substantial amounts of quartz. They also contain smaller quantities of carbonates, feldspars, iron oxides, fossils, and organic matter.
What is shale rock good for?
Shale has many commercial uses. It is a source material in the ceramics industry to make brick, tile, and pottery. Shale used to make pottery and building materials requires little processing besides crushing and mixing with water. Crushing shale and heating it with limestone makes cement for the construction industry.
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.
How is black shale formed?
Depositional processes involve a range of relationships among such factors as organic productivity, clastic sedimentation rate, and the intensity of oxidation by which organic matter is destroyed. If enough organic material is present to exhaust the oxygen in the environment, black shale results.
How do you identify shale?
Shale: Shale breaks into thin pieces with sharp edges. It occurs in a wide range of colors that include red, brown, green, gray, and black. It is the most common sedimentary rock and is found in sedimentary basins worldwide.
Why is shale oil bad?
The production of oil from shales has a potentially serious impact on the environment. Four specific areas of concern dominate discussion regarding development of the resource: greenhouse gas output, water consumption and pollution, surface disturbance, and socioeconomic effects.
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.
How do you identify a shale rock?
Shale. Environment: Shale sediments are deposited in still water (low energy) such as a lake or a deep, slow river. Distinguishing Characteristics: dull, reddish- brown, very fine grains (smooth to the touch), breaks easily.
Who is the biggest producer of shale oil?
Chevron is the largest shale oil producer in the U.S. In 2020, the California based Big Oil company produced an average of 387,000 barrels of shale oil and condensate products per day.
Is shale good to build on?
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.
What are the different types of shale?
(1) Shale Types. Typically, shale types include black shale, carbonaceous shale, siliceous shale, ferruginous shale, and calcareous shale. When sandy components are mixed in with shale, it can form sandy shale. According to the size of the sand grains, sandy shale can be divided into silty shale and sandy shale.
What happens when shale is metamorphosed?
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.
How does shale metamorphose into gneiss?
Gneiss can form in several different ways. The most common path begins with shale, which is a sedimentary rock. Regional metamorphism can transform shale into slate, then phyllite, then schist, and finally into gneiss. During this transformation, clay particles in shale transform into micas and increase in size.
What rock is gold 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.
Can shale scratch glass?
Contaminated specimens, or impure specimens are frequent. Sometimes a rock which is not supposed to scratch glass, like a shale, will be contaminated with a small percentage of sand grains, not enough to notice at first. These will scratch the glass, and can lead you astray.
What is the difference between shale and clay?
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. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.
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.
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.
Can granite turn into shale?
SCHIST to GRANITE, SCHIST to SHALE and SCHIST to SCHIST Schist can become shale in the much the same way that granite can become shale. It can be exhumed (brought toward the surface through erosion and uplift) and eventually exposed at the Earth’s surface.
Where is shale mainly found?
Shale forms in very deep ocean water, lagoons, lakes and swamps where the water is still enough to allow the extremely fine clay and silt particles to settle to the floor. Geologists estimate that shale represents almost ¾ of the sedimentary rock on the Earth’s crust.
Where is the largest source of oil shale?
In the United States, the largest oil shale deposits occur in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, but remain relatively untouched.
What is shale mined for?
Oil shale is the rock from which shale oil is extracted. Shale oil is similar to petroleum, and can be refined into many different substances, including diesel fuel, gasoline, and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Companies can also refine shale oil to produce other commercial products, such as ammonia and sulfur.
What kind of rock is a shale?
Shale is a fine-grained laminated sedimentary rock composed of silt and clay-sized particles.
