Oil Geological Materials
Oil formed from buried marine plankton
- Diatoms are a great example of oil-producing marine plankton
- The plankton must have anoxic burial
- Once formed, oil rests in the pore spaces of rocks
"Conventional" oil is running out
- California was once a leading producer of conventional oil
- Early California oil exploitation set the stage for the modern petroleum world
Most new oil exploration is "unconventional"
- These oils are low-energy and emit more greenhouse gases
- They aren't liquid
The Athabasca Tar Sands are some of the most important "unconventional" oils
- Athabasca holds the 4th largest oil reserves in the world
- Mining there has been expanding dramatically
- Athabasca mining pollutes the waterways
- ... with carcinogens like Naphthalene
- ... and dramatically alters the region's cultural dynamics
- Yet media coverage of Athabasca issues has ignored Indigenous voices
Burning fossil fuels has serious consequences for Earth and its climate
- Here are collaborative data art projects that illustrate some of these consequences
- Here are a collection of student data art projects that illustrate some of these consequences