GEOLOGY: Fossil Fuels

What kind of coal is also known as hard coal?

Anthracite

______ is a hard natural coal that burns slowly and gives intense heat.

Anthracite

What kind of oil trap is the El Nala oil field?

Anticline trap

How deep do you typically have to drill to strike oil?

At least one mile

What kind of coal has the highest average heat value?

Bituminous

What kind of coal is most common in the Eastern US?

Bituminous

Oil and gas migrate to the surface if not stopped by a _____ rock.

Cap

Shale is a great _____ because it is has low porosity and low permeability.

Cap rock

Oil and gas are organic compounds rich in the elements:

Carbon and Hydrogen

Most of the coal in the Eastern US is from the ________ period.

Carboniferous

From 1950-2000, most of the electricity in the U.S. was generated by burning:

Coal

The combustion of the fossil fuel ___________ releases nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter (PM), mercury, and dozens of other substances known to be hazardous to human health

Coal

What fossil fuel causes more pollution than any other?

Coal

What fossil fuel is decreasing in use due to cheaper natural gas prices?

Coal

What fossil fuel is the lithified remains of swamp plants?

Coal

_______ beds begin to be formed when coastal swamps are inundated by the sea and buried by sediment.

Coal

_______ is a hard rock which can be burned as a solid fossil fuel. It is mostly carbon but also contains hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen. It is a sedimentary rock formed from peat, by the pressure of rocks laid down later on top.

Coal

In geology, ___________ are alternating stratigraphic sequences of marine and non-marine sediments, sometimes interbedded with coal seams.

Cyclothems

What two innovations made shale gas a major energy source?

Directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing

Regression describes the geological strata formed from _____ sea levels.

Dropping

Oil and natural gas come from dinosaurs. True or False?

False

Prior to fracking, shale gas has only been recoverable from:

Faults across black shale formations

The shorter the hydrocarbon chain, the more likely the molecule is a:

Gas

Within an oil trap, your find three substances layer within the reservoir rock: gas, oil, and water. List the order of these substances from top to bottom you would find if you drilled down into the trap.

Gas, oil, and water

Which has the shortest hydrocarbon chain: gasoline, diesel, or motor oil?

Gasoline

Though hard to ignite, the highest grade of coal is:

Graphite

The quality of coal is graded by the average _____ value in BTUs produced when burned.

Heat

Polymers consisting of carbon and hydrogen are the principal components of oil and gas. These polymers are known as:

Hydrocarbons

What kind of coal has the lowest average heat value?

Lignite

What kind of coal is also known as brown coal?

Lignite

Crude oil has ________ hydrocarbons than gas.

Longer

The _____ the hydrocarbon chain, the greater the chemical energy it contains.

Longer

What shale formation in the Northeast US has an estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of shale gas reserves?

Marcellus

The source of oil and gas is:

Marine phytoplankton and zooplankton

Anticline trap

Name the oil trap

Fault trap

Name the oil trap

Salt dome trap

Name the oil trap

Stratigraphic trap

Name the oil trap

Currently, most of the electricity in the U.S. is generated by burning:

Natural gas

An _______________ is underground rock formation that blocks the movement of petroleum and causes it to accumulate in a reservoir that can be exploited.

Oil trap

The first stage in the formation of coal is:

Peat

______ is a brown deposit resembling soil, formed by the partial decomposition of vegetable matter in the wet acidic conditions of bogs and fens, and often cut out and dried for use as fuel and in gardening.

Peat

Which fossil fuel is used the most in the U.S.?

Petroleum

What three fossil fuels provide most of the energy in the U.S.?

Petroleum, natural gas, and coal

What happened to produce the following sequence of strata (top to bottom) coal, sandstone, shale

Regression

Sandstone is the best ___________ rock because it is permeable and porous.

Reservoir

Transgression describes the geological strata formed from _______ sea levels.

Rising

What kind of oil trap is very common in the Gulf of Mexico?

Salt dome trap

What is the most common reservoir rock for oil?

Sandstone

Where is the El Nala oil field?

Saudi Arabia

What type of rock is coal?

Sedimentary rock

Trillions of cubic meters of natural gas is trapped in:

Shale

What is the most common type of cap rock?

Shale

The longer the hydrocarbon chain, the more ______ the molecule is.

Solid

Vegetation is less likely to decompose in _________ because the flow of water is slow because of low gradients and retarding effects of the vegetation. Dead plant matter settles rather than being washed away. The slow replacement and lack of turbulence in the water result in a low rate of oxygen supply.

Swamps and wetlands

What happened to produce the following sequence of strata (top to bottom): shale, sandstone, coal?

Transgression