# Albertite

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertite
> Source revision: 1187480264
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{{Short description|Variety of asphalt}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
thumb|Drawing of the asphalt-like ore known as Albertite.
'''Albertite''' is a variety of [asphalt](/source/Bitumen) found in the [Albert Formation](/source/Albert_Formation) in [Albert County, New Brunswick](/source/Albert_County%2C_New_Brunswick), and in a deposit at [Dingwall](/source/Dingwall), in the north-east of Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BEAD REPORT {{!}} Orkney {{!}} Swandro-Orkney Coastal Archaeology Trust|url=https://www.swandro.co.uk/sheridan-bead-report|access-date=October 30, 2020|website=Swandro|language=en}}</ref> It is a type of solid [hydrocarbon](/source/hydrocarbon).

Albertite has a black colour, a resinous [luster](/source/luster_(mineralogy)), and a [hardness](/source/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness) of 2½.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mindat.org |title=Mineral Information:Albertite |url=https://www.mindat.org/min-25570.html |accessdate=April 23, 2020}}</ref> It is less soluble in [turpentine](/source/turpentine) than the usual type of asphalt.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Albertite|volume=1|page=503}}</ref> It was from a mixture of albertite and [pitch](/source/Pitch_(resin)) that [kerosene](/source/kerosene) was first distilled in 1846 by [Abraham Gesner](/source/Abraham_Pineo_Gesner),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Gwen L. |title=Gesner's Dream: The Trials and Triumphs of Early Mining in New Brunswick |date=2003 |publisher=Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum |location=Fredericton |isbn=1894475-46-1 |page=40}}</ref> a [New Brunswick](/source/New_Brunswick) geologist who had heard stories of rocks that burned in the area and gave the material its first scientific study.

== Origin ==
Albertite is formed from [oil shale](/source/oil_shale) in which some of the hydrocarbons have been remobilised as liquid [asphalt](/source/Bitumen). The process is as follows:
* Crude oil (petroleum) is produced from source rocks (in the case of [Albert Mines](/source/Albert_Mines), oil shale).
* The petroleum migrates through fractures and becomes trapped in the apex of an [anticline](/source/anticline).
* The lighter oils gradually leak out through the weakly permeable [caprock](/source/caprock).
* The bituminous residues (tars, asphaltanes, etc.) are left behind in the fractures as albertite.

== Occurrence ==
Albertite is named after [Albert County](/source/Albert_County) in New Brunswick, Canada, where it was first found in the area that became known as [Albert Mines](/source/Albert_Mines%2C_New_Brunswick). There, the albertite occurs as discordant, cross-cutting [veins](/source/vein_(geology)) in the core of an anticline. It was initially mistaken for [coal](/source/coal). Most geologists of the 1800s were puzzled by how this "coal" came to be discordant to the local [strata](/source/stratum), as they did not understand the nature of its [oil shale](/source/oil_shale) [source rock](/source/source_rock), or the fact that the albertite was essentially solidified [asphaltum](/source/asphaltum).{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Extraterrestrial albertite has also been detected on the dwarf planet [Ceres](/source/Ceres_(dwarf_planet)).<ref name="De SanctisAmmannito2017">{{cite journal|last1=De Sanctis|first1=M. C.|last2=Ammannito|first2=E.|last3=McSween|first3=H. Y.|last4=Raponi|first4=A.|last5=Marchi|first5=S.|last6=Capaccioni|first6=F.|last7=Capria|first7=M. T.|last8=Carrozzo|first8=F. G.|last9=Ciarniello|first9=M.|last10=Fonte|first10=S.|last11=Formisano|first11=M.|last12=Frigeri|first12=A.|last13=Giardino|first13=M.|last14=Longobardo|first14=A.|last15=Magni|first15=G.|last16=McFadden|first16=L. A.|last17=Palomba|first17=E.|last18=Pieters|first18=C. M.|last19=Tosi|first19=F.|last20=Zambon|first20=F.|last21=Raymond|first21=C. A.|last22=Russell|first22=C. T.|title=Localized aliphatic organic material on the surface of Ceres|journal=Science|volume=355|issue=6326|year=2017|pages=719–722|issn=0036-8075|doi=10.1126/science.aaj2305|pmid=28209893}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060518162305/http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/~Heritage/AlbertMines/Albertite.htm Albertite occurrences, Albert Mines]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060228204044/http://gov.ns.ca/NATR/MEB/is/is11.htm Oil Shows of Nova Scotia, including Albertite leads]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060518132044/http://www.tsop.org/refs/solhyd.htm Solid Hydrocarbon References]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204142146/http://www.mta.gov.tr/english/dergi/dergi_pdf/72/5.pdf Asphaltic substances in Turkey; their physical properties]

Category:Petroleum industry in Canada
Category:Oil shale in Canada
Category:Oil shale geology
Category:Bitumen-impregnated rocks

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Albertite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertite) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertite?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.