Describe the relationship between

the carbon cycle, deposition, rock

layers, and fossil fuel.
Fossil Fuel Formation Activity 1
Fossil fuels, renewable and non-renewable
energy sources: A think-pair-share activity
Identifying Fossil Fuels
1. In two minutes, list as many fossil fuels as possible,
without consulting reference materials or other
students.
2. Pair up with several other students to compare lists
to see if they have anything additional you can add
to your list.
3. The instructor will call on each group to share an
answer and write it on the board.
Fossil Fuels
• Coal
• Oil (or petroleum)
• Natural gas
• Other nontraditional fossil fuels?
• Oil shale
• Oil sands and tar sands
• Shale gas
• Methane hydrate
Fossil Fuels are
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
• Nonrenewable means they are consumed by humans
faster than they can be replenished through
geological processes.
• Fossil fuels are produced by geological processes
acting on organic matter over long periods of time
(hundreds of millions of years).
Identifying Renewable Energy Sources
1. In two minutes, list as many renewable energy
sources as possible, without consulting reference
materials or other students.
2. Pair up with several other students to compare lists
to see if they have anything additional to add to the
list.
3. The instructor will call on each group to share an
answer and write it on the board.
Renewable Energy Sources
• Biomass (burning of wood, biofuels such as ethanol
& biodiesel, or waste)
• Hydroelectric power (using flowing water to
produce energy)
• Solar energy
• Wind energy
• Tidal and wave energy
• Geothermal energy
What about nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy is not a fossil fuel and is not

considered renewable.
Where does your energy come from?
Select the diagram that most closely matches
current energy usage in the United States.

A B C
Summary
Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Sources

• Coal • Biomass (burning of wood,

• Oil (or petroleum) biofuels such as ethanol &
biodiesel, or waste)
• Natural gas
• Hydroelectric power
• Other
• Solar energy
• Oil shale
• Oil sands and tar sands • Wind energy
• Shale gas • Tidal and wave energy
• Methane hydrate • Geothermal energy
 Review the
Carbon Cycle
How are rock layers
formed?
Discuss how deposition creates
rock layers.
Our Crust is full
of layers, which
are exposed in
mountains and
canyons
 Now that we have
layers, what happens
when organisms get
trapped in the layers?
 Compare Renewable to Nonrenewable Energy
Types, how we collect the energy, effecting the planet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEeH4EniM3E
NBpg. 65 Slide 1 of 5

Fossil fuels: composed of

partially decayed remnants of
Fossil Fuel organisms
Formation
• Which formed petroleum (oil) ,
natural gas and coal
• Fossil fuels are made of
hydrocarbons (carbon
and hydrogen)
• They are nonrenewable
resources.
• Fossil fuel takes hundreds
of millions of years to form.  
NBpg. 65 Slide 2 of 5

• Organic sedimentary rock

Fossil Fuel formed from plant remains
deposited in swamps and
Formation: marshes
Coal
• Then exposed to large amounts
of heat and pressure for eons
(longer than eras).

• Burning coal is one of the

largest sources of CO2
= Combustion
NBpg. 65 Slide 3 of 5
• Dead plants get buried and
compacted to create peat. ​

• Plant material breaks down

releasing natural gas.​

• Peat is further compacted to

create lignite (brown coal)​

• Lignite is compacted to create

bituminous coal (soft coal)​

• Finally, bituminous coal is

Organic Materials + Pressure + Heat + Time = compacted to create
COAL anthracite (hard coal)​
NBpg. 65 Slide 4 of 5

Oil is a thick, liquid fossil fuel,

it is formed from remains of
small animals, algae
and protists.​

• The United States consumes

about one third of all the oil
produced in the world.​

• Oil was formed when large

numbers of microscopic
Fossil Fuel Formation: aquatic organisms died and
settled in the sediments
PETROLEUM (OIL)
NBpg. 65 Slide 5 of 5

• It is a mixture of highly
flammable gasses, like
methane, which are made
from plants or animals.​

• Formation of natural gas starts

the same as oil: Marine life
gets buried deeper and
deeper. Pressure builds up
and creates heat. ​

• If heat is greater than 300 °C,

Fossil Fuel Formation: the oil is further broken
down to form natural gas​
NATURAL GAS
NBpg 64 Bottom

Draw and Color Images

Make sure to
understand that
pressure, heat, and time
are needed to create
these resources.
What is Coal?
• Organic sedimentary rock
formed from plant remains
deposited in swamps and
marshes.
• The major use of coal is
generating electric power.
• Burning coal is one of the
largest sources of CO2, a
greenhouse gas related to
global warming.
 Coal Formation

• Think about the carbon cycle. Trace the carbon from the
atmosphere into plants.
• Dead plants are buried under sediment, and converted into coal.
• When coal is burned, carbon returns to the atmosphere as
carbon dioxide.
 Types (or Ranks) of Coal

Low Rank
Increasing  Peat
pressure,  Lignite
temperature  Sub-bituminous coal
and  Bituminous coal
depth of
burial  Anthracite coal
High Rank
Peat: The sediment that forms coal
• Brown, partially decayed plant
fragments.
• Vegetation accumulates in
wetlands (swamps, marshes,
peat bogs or lakes).
• Stagnant water (little or no
oxygen) slows decomposition
rate. Pamela Gore
Lignite
• Soft, dark brown, gray or black,
crumbly, sooty coal.
• Plant parts may be visible.
• Formed from compaction of
peat under low burial pressures

Pamela Gore
& temperatures.
• Low rank coal.
• Carbon content 46-60% (dry
basis).
Sub-bituminous coal

• Intermediate between lignite and

bituminous coal.
• Carbon content 46-60% (dry basis).
Bituminous coal
• Hard, but slightly sooty.
• Dull to shiny luster.
• May have layers.
• Deeper burial, longer burial,
and higher temperatures than

Pamela Gore
lower coal ranks.
• Most abundant coal rank in the
United States.
• Carbon content 46-86% (dry
basis).
Anthracite coal
• Hard, shiny coal with a
silvery luster.
• A metamorphic rock
formed from bituminous
coal at higher temperatures

Pamela Gore
and pressures.
• The highest coal rank.
• Carbon content 86-98%
(dry basis).
 Coalification

• Water is expelled as peat is compacted.

• Plant material breaks down releasing natural gas
(mostly methane).
• A bed of peat about 10 feet thick produces a layer of
coal about 1 foot thick.
 Carbon, Heating Value and
Carbon Dioxide
• Different types of coal contain different amounts of carbon.
• The highest percentage of carbon is found in the highest rank coal.
• High-rank coal also has a higher heat content (or heating value).
• When coal is burned, carbon dioxide is emitted – a greenhouse gas
related to global warming.
 Review Questions

1. How does coal rank relate to temperature and pressure of burial?

2. How does carbon content relate to coal rank?
3. How does heating value relate to coal rank?
4. What is the major use of coal?
Fossil Fuel Formation Activity 4

Petroleum and Natural Gas

Includes the Origin of Oil Activity.

What is Oil (or Petroleum)?
• Liquid hydrocarbons that are present in certain layers of sedimentary
rock (the geosphere).
• Petroleum can be extracted from the rock and refined to produce
fuels and chemicals.
Petroleum products

Other products:
• Kerosene
• Lubricants
• Waxes
• Asphalt
• Chemicals

A barrel of oil is 42 gallons.

What is Natural Gas?
• The major component in natural gas is methane,
CH4

• Other gases that may be present include:

 ethane, C2H6
 propane, C3H8
 butane, C4H10
See video of formation of
petroleum source rocks, movement
of hydrocarbons, reservoir rock,
and hydrocarbon traps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PDOD_FEnNk
(2 minutes 15 seconds).
 Petroleum and Natural Gas Formation

• Think about the carbon cycle. Trace the carbon from the
atmosphere to the ocean and into marine organisms.
• Remains of organisms are buried under sediment and
converted into oil and natural gas.
• When these fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is emitted.
Do the Origin of Oil Activity

Materials needed:
The Origin of Oil Student Worksheet
Scissors or pre-cut strips
What are Tar Sands?
• Tar sands form when oil moving upward within a
reservoir of porous, permeable sand is not stopped by
an impermeable sedimentary layer.
• Oil begins to escape from the sand at the surface, and
is biodegraded by “oil-eating bacteria”, causing the oil
to become highly viscous asphalt or tar called
bitumen.
• Tar sands can be mined and processed with hot water
to separate the bitumen from the sand.
What is Oil Shale?
• Oil shale is sedimentary rock containing kerogen that has not been
heated enough within Earth to change the kerogen into hydrocarbons.

• Oil shale can be mined, but it must be subjected to a high

temperature before petroleum-like liquids can be separated from the
rock.
What is Shale Gas?
• Shale gas forms in organic-rich black shales where extremely deep
burial and extremely high temperatures have broken petroleum down
into natural gas (methane).
What is fracking?
• Shales have low permeability, so to extract the oil or
methane gas, it is necessary to create artificial
fractures.
• Wells are drilled to thousands of feet deep, and then
drilled horizontally along the shale bed.
• High-pressure fluids and sand are injected to
hydraulically fracture the shale, releasing the trapped
oil or methane gas (fracking).
What are methane hydrates?
• Ice saturated with natural gas
(methane) on the seafloor, and
in arctic permafrost regions.
• Methane in the cryosphere!
Watch video on Oil and Gas Formation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YHsxXEVB1M
(3 minutes 4 seconds).
Review Questions
1. Oil and natural gas form from the remains of what
sorts of organisms?
2. What has to happen to organic matter in order to
produce hydrocarbons?
3. What are the major components of natural gas?
4. What types of rock serve as reservoirs for oil and
gas?
5. How do tar sands form?
Review Questions
6. What is the major use of petroleum?
7. What other sorts of products are made from
petroleum?
8. What is the difference between oil and oil
shale?
9. How is natural gas extracted from shale?