Albertite
Encyclopedia
Albertite is a type of asphalt
found in Albert County, New Brunswick
. It is a type of solid hydrocarbon
.
It is a deep black and lustrous variety, and is less soluble in turpentine
than the usual type of asphalt. It was from Albertite that kerosene
was first refined. It was first truly studied by New Brunswick
geologist Abraham Gesner
, who had heard stories of rocks that burned in the area.
which has become remobilised into liquid asphalt
. The process of formation is as follows;
. The geologists of the 1800s were at a loss as to describe how this coal apparently came to lie discordant to the strata
of the area, as they did not yet understand the nature of the oil shale
source rock
, nor the fact that the albertite was essentially solidified asphaltum.
and coal
. The work of various Russian scientists and Thomas Gold
are based on this early misconception.
These arguments are based on an archaic interpretation by the geologists of the day, who described it as coal, and presupposed (correctly) that it had once been liquid, though wrongly as about it being a liquid form of coal. The abiogenic theorists particularly favor the sentence:
However, proper reading of the 1865 source states:
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
found in Albert County, New Brunswick
Albert County, New Brunswick
Albert County is located in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada on the Chignecto Bay of the Bay of Fundy. Prior to the abolition of county government in 1967, the county seat was Hopewell Cape...
. It is a type of solid hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
.
It is a deep black and lustrous variety, and is less soluble in turpentine
Turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
than the usual type of asphalt. It was from Albertite that kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
was first refined. It was first truly studied by New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
geologist Abraham Gesner
Abraham Pineo Gesner
Abraham Pineo Gesner was a Canadian physician and geologist who invented kerosene. Although Ignacy Łukasiewicz developed the modern kerosene lamp, starting the world's oil industry, Gesner is considered a primary founder. Gesner was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia...
, who had heard stories of rocks that burned in the area.
Formation
Albertite is formed from oil shaleOil shale
Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...
which has become remobilised into liquid asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
. The process of formation is as follows;
- Production of crude oil (petroleum) from source rocks (in the case of Albert Mines, oil shale)
- Petroleum becomes trapped in an anticlinalFold (geology)The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in...
culmination - The petroleum gradually leaks out through the weakly permeable cap rock, the lighter oils are released most easily, leaving the bituminous residues of tars, asphaltanes and so forth behind
- Eventually, the lighter hydrocarbons are totally removed, leaving the solid residue behind as albertite
Occurrence
Albertite is named after the Albert County in New Brunswick, Canada, from whence it was first found. The occurrence at the area which became known as Albert Mines existed as a series of discordant veins which were hosted in the core of an anticlinal closure of a fold. It was initially mistaken for coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. The geologists of the 1800s were at a loss as to describe how this coal apparently came to lie discordant to the strata
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
of the area, as they did not yet understand the nature of the oil shale
Oil shale
Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...
source rock
Source rock
In petroleum geology, source rock refers to rocks from which hydrocarbons have been generated or are capable of being generated. They form one of the necessary elements of a working petroleum system. They are organic-rich sediments that may have been deposited in a variety of environments including...
, nor the fact that the albertite was essentially solidified asphaltum.
Albertite and controversial theories
Albertite is often used to argue the abiogenic origin of coal because it was originally reported as a "liquid coal" and this is a basis for arguments under the current theories of the abiogenic origin of petroleumAbiogenic petroleum origin
Abiogenic petroleum origin is a largely abandoned hypothesis that was proposed as an alternative to theory of biological petroleum origin. It was relatively popular in the past, but it went largely forgotten at the end of the 20th century after it failed to predict the location of new wells.The...
and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. The work of various Russian scientists and Thomas Gold
Thomas Gold
Thomas Gold was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society . Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in the 1950s proposed the now mostly abandoned 'steady...
are based on this early misconception.
These arguments are based on an archaic interpretation by the geologists of the day, who described it as coal, and presupposed (correctly) that it had once been liquid, though wrongly as about it being a liquid form of coal. The abiogenic theorists particularly favor the sentence:
- If this Albertite is to be called coal, then we must admit that coal is not continued to beds subordinate to the stratification, but occurs also in lodes, like metallic ores.
However, proper reading of the 1865 source states:
- This coal must have been injected into the crevices in a pasty or fluid state, since all the little apertures streaming off from the main vault, and even large cavities of many cubic yards extent have been filled in with it. It appears to me that these veins are analogous to veins of Petroleum. The latter are often found to occupy anticlinal vaults. If we should conceive a Petroleum vein to solidify, the solid mass resulting would present all the phenomena of the Albert vein. And on the other hand, the study of the irregularities of the Albert vein, if it be like Petroleum, would elucidate the sinking of oil wells.