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How is natureal gas formed?

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Anonymous

11y ago
Updated: 11/9/2022
_">Geologists view crude oil and natural gas as the product of compression and heating of ancient organic materials over geological time. Formation of petroleum occurs from hydrocarbon pyrolysis, in a variety of mostly endothermic reactions at high temperature and/or pressure.Today's oil formed from the preserved remains of algae which had settled to a sea or lake bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions (the remains of prehistoric terrestrial plants, on the other hand, tended to form coal). Over geological time the organic matter mixed with mud, and was buried under heavy layers of sediment resulting in high levels of heat and pressure (known as diagenesis). This caused the organic matter to chemically change, first into a waxy material known as kerogen which is found in various oil shales around the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis. In English terms, it's pushed down by pressure, getting every last ounce of everything squeezed out.
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Minerva Orn

Lvl 13
2y ago

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