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The name tar sands was applied to bituminous sands in the late 19th and early 20th century. [18] People who saw the bituminous sands during this period were familiar with the large amounts of tar residue produced in urban areas as a by-product of the manufacture of coal gas for urban heating and lighting. [19]
The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventional oil in the world, making Canada a significant player in the global energy market.
The Tar Sand Triangle is located in Southeastern Utah and covers an area of 148,000 acres (600 km 2). It is located between the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers in Wayne and Garfield Counties. The Tar Sand Triangle is the largest deposit of oil sands in the United States known today.
Tar sands get a lot of bad press, much of it to do with the fact that the extraction and processing of tar sands bitumen creates a lot more pollution than other fuel sources.
Tar sands have affected over 75% of the habitat in the Alberta taiga forest due to the clearing of the forests and the oil ponds that come from the extraction. These tar sands also create awful toxic oil ponds that affect wildlife and surrounding vegetation. Oil extraction also affects the forest soil, which harms tree and plant growth.
Bitumen also occurs in unconsolidated sandstones known as "oil sands" in Alberta, Canada, and the similar "tar sands" in Utah, US. The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves, in three huge deposits covering 142,000 square kilometres (55,000 sq mi), an area larger than England or New York state .
Much of Canada's petroleum effort has focused on producing oil from the oil sands (sometimes called "tar sands") of northern Alberta.To appreciate these resources, it is important to understand a simple concept from chemistry and physics: the "gravity" of crude oil and natural gas liquids.
Oil sands, often pejoratively referred to as tar sands, are a phenomenon unique to the tundra environment and are profitable and plentiful in the Athabasca region of the Alberta sands. [16] Oil sands consist of bitumen, which contains petroleum, found in a natural state combined with clays, sands, and water. [ 16 ]