Where did shale come from?

Where did shale come from?

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.

Are shale and limestone the same?

Limestone forms in a deep marine environment from precipitation of calcium carbonate. Shale is made of fine clay particles, and therefore indicates deposition in relatively still water.

What rock does shale come from?

Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite.

What rock did limestone come from?

sedimentary rock
Limestone is usually a biological sedimentary rock, forming from the accumulation of shell, coral, algal, fecal, and other organic debris. It can also form by chemical sedimentary processes, such as the precipitation of calcium carbonate from lake or ocean water.

Where are shale rocks found?

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.

Is limestone a sedimentary?

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed principally of calcium carbonate (calcite) or the double carbonate of calcium and magnesium (dolomite). It is commonly composed of tiny fossils, shell fragments and other fossilized debris. It is a soft rock and is easily scratched.

How can you tell shale from limestone?

Both limestone and mudstone/shale can ve very fine grained, so how do you tell them apart? Well, shales tend to break into thin, angular pieces whereas limestones tend to break into hard blocks. While mudstones also break into blocky pieces, they tend to be quite soft.

Is shale mined?

Mining. Oil shale is mined either by traditional underground mining or surface mining techniques. There are several mining methods available, but the common aim of all these methods is to fragment the oil shale deposits in order to enable the transport of shale fragments to a power plant or retorting facility.