View source for Fossil fuel formation

[[Category:Done 2018-07-20]] 
[[File:4889462844_d61d5a4dcb_o.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Figure 1. [[Pump jack]]s are used to extract one type of fossil fuel - oil - that takes millions of years to form.<ref>CGP Grey. (January 9, 2016). ''California - Oil Pumps'' [Online]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cgpgrey/4889462844</ref>]]
<onlyinclude>'''Fossil fuel formation''' refers to the process that takes place over the time span of hundreds of millions of years to produce a variety of [[fossil fuel]]s including [[coal]], [[oil]], and [[natural gas]].</onlyinclude> Although all of the produced materials begin as organic material and are transformed over a large time span due to burial by [[sediment]], [[pressure]], and [[temperature]], different conditions result in the formation of different types of fossil fuels. Even within one "class" of fossil fuel (such as oil) there are a variety of ways that the oil can form and each method results in a different oil deposit, sometimes requiring special techniques to access<ref> J. Kraushaar, R. Ristinen. (May 11, 2015).Energy and the Environment, 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ, U.S.A.: John Wiley & Sons, 2006, pp. 54</ref>. 

==Types of Fossil Fuel Formation==
There are three major types of fossil fuel formation, and they are:

* '''[[Oil formation]]''': Although traditional oil [[reserve]]s form in relatively the same way, the [[oil sands]] form in a slightly different way. Additionally, [[shale oil]] is oil that forms in a special type of reserve from [[kerogen]] trapped inside low [[permeability]] [[shale]].
* '''[[Natural gas formation]]''': Traditional natural gas reserves form in essentially the same manner, however [[shale gas]] and [[tight gas]] are two special types of natural gas.<ref>S. Holditch, "Tight Gas Sands", Journal of Petroleum Technology, vol. 58, no. 6, 2006.</ref> Tight gas is gas trapped inside of a rock with extremely low permeability—typically limestone or sandstone. In contrast, shale gas is a type of natural gas that is trapped within shale formations.
* '''[[Coal formation]]''': Coal formation differs from oil and natural gas formation as burial for extended periods of time leads to different varieties of coal. Namely, extended burial results in the formation of [[lignite]], [[sub-bituminous coal]], [[bituminous coal]], and [[anthracite]].

==For Further Reading==
*[[Oil formation]]
*[[Natural gas formation]]
*[[Coal formation]]
*[[Fossil fuel]]
*Or explore a [[Special:Random|random page]]

==References==
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