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Explain how petroleum was formed in the earth. |
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Answer» Thanx nancy Yaah same Petroleum was formed from the remains of marine plant and animal life which existed many millions of years ago (hence it is known as a fossil fuel ). Some of these remains were deposited along with rock-forming sediments under the sea where they were decomposed anaerobically (without oxygen) by bacteria which changed the fats in the sediments into fatty acids which were then changed into an asphaltic material called kerogen. This was then converted over millions of years into petroleum by the combined action of heat and pressure. At an early stage the organic material was squeezed out of its original sedimentary mud into adjacent sandstones. Small globules of oil collected together in the pores of the rock and eventually migrated upwards through layers of porous rock by the action of the oil \'s own surface tension (capillary action), by the force of water movement within the rock, and by gas pressure. This migration ended either when the petroleum emerged through a fissure as a seepage of gas or oil onto the Earth \'s surface, or when it was trapped in porous reservoir rocks, such as sandstone or limestone, in anticlines and other traps below impervious rock layers. |
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