Oil+Shale+Industry

=Oil Shale=

Oil shale is a fine grained sedimentary rock with high amounts of kerogen, and is in a group of rocks containing sapropel fuels. The name oil shale is actually a double misnomer (meaning that the name is not actually what it is). Oil shale is not actually made of shale, and its kerogen is different than crude oil. Crude oil is a naturally occuring flamable rock found around the Earth. Oil shale is actually an organic marlstone, a sedimentary rock containing a form of kerogen. Kerogen is a black, rubbery solid that is naturally flamable. It is a type of unformed petroleum. Back in the 1970s and in the early 1980s, oil shale was very popular among Colorado residents; it was by far the rock that citizens of the state wished to have most. It was sold as polished brooches, belt buckles, paperwieghts, and even bokends. These sales were most in areas such as Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.

Sources: Oil Shale by Mion from Wikipedia.org – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oilshale.jpg Voynick, Styephen M. __Colorado Rockhounding : A Guide to Minerals, Gemstones, and Fossils__. New York: Mountain P Company, Incorporated.