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68-516: The Perdrix Formation was deposited in a marine basin and consists primarily of black, bituminous shales . The upper portion includes nodules and thin nodular beds of argillaceous limestone that increase in frequency upwards and laterally toward the reefs of the Cairn Formation . The Perdrix Formation is present as outcrops in the front and main ranges of the Canadian Rockies from

136-539: A company previously formed by Claridge. Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company  – formed in 1838 for the purpose of introducing to Britain "Asphalte in its natural state from the mine at Pyrimont Seysell in France",  – "laid one of the first asphalt pavements in Whitehall". Trials were made of the pavement in 1838 on the footway in Whitehall, the stable at Knightsbridge Barracks, "and subsequently on

204-508: A mixture of pitch and bitumen, was used in the Republic of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik , Croatia ) for tarring of ships. An 1838 edition of Mechanics Magazine cites an early use of asphalt in France. A pamphlet dated 1621, by "a certain Monsieur d'Eyrinys, states that he had discovered the existence (of asphaltum) in large quantities in the vicinity of Neufchatel", and that he proposed to use it in

272-651: A moldable putty that hardened into handles. Earlier, less-careful excavations at Le Moustier prevent conclusive identification of the archaeological culture and age, but the European Mousterian style of these tools suggests they are associated with Neanderthals during the late Middle Paleolithic into the early Upper Paleolithic between 60,000 and 35,000 years before present. It is the earliest evidence of multicomponent adhesive in Europe. The use of natural bitumen for waterproofing and as an adhesive dates at least to

340-480: A similar material. Neither of the terms "asphalt" or "bitumen" should be confused with tar or coal tars . Tar is the thick liquid product of the dry distillation and pyrolysis of organic hydrocarbons primarily sourced from vegetation masses, whether fossilized as with coal, or freshly harvested. The majority of bitumen, on the other hand, was formed naturally when vast quantities of organic animal materials were deposited by water and buried hundreds of metres deep at

408-522: A temperature of 50 to 150 °C (120 to 300 °F). Due to pressure from the rising of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta, 80 to 55 million years ago, the oil was driven northeast hundreds of kilometres and trapped into underground sand deposits left behind by ancient river beds and ocean beaches, thus forming the oil sands. Bitumen use goes back to the Middle Paleolithic , where it

476-424: A variety of ways – "principally in the construction of air-proof granaries, and in protecting, by means of the arches, the water-courses in the city of Paris from the intrusion of dirt and filth", which at that time made the water unusable. "He expatiates also on the excellence of this material for forming level and durable terraces" in palaces, "the notion of forming such terraces in the streets not one likely to cross

544-432: Is a visually similar black, thermoplastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal . During the early and mid-20th century, when town gas was produced, coal tar was a readily available byproduct and extensively used as the binder for road aggregates. The addition of coal tar to macadam roads led to the word " tarmac ", which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since

612-450: Is also commonly used as a shortened form of " asphalt concrete " (therefore equivalent to the British "asphalt" or "tarmac"). In Canadian English , the word "bitumen" is used to refer to the vast Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil , while "asphalt" is used for the oil refinery product. Diluted bitumen (diluted with naphtha to make it flow in pipelines) is known as " dilbit " in

680-405: Is an immensely viscous constituent of petroleum . Depending on its exact composition it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American English , the material is commonly referred to as asphalt . Whether found in natural deposits or refined from petroleum, the substance is classed as a pitch . Prior to the 20th century,

748-508: Is derived from the late Middle English , in turn from French asphalte , based on Late Latin asphalton , asphaltum , which is the latinisation of the Greek ἄσφαλτος ( ásphaltos , ásphalton ), a word meaning "asphalt/bitumen/ pitch ", which perhaps derives from ἀ- , "not, without", i.e. the alpha privative , and σφάλλειν ( sphallein ), "to cause to fall, baffle, (in passive) err, (in passive) be balked of". The first use of asphalt by

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816-455: Is produced from coal as a byproduct of coke production. "Tar" and " pitch " can be used interchangeably. Asphalt (naturally occurring pitch) may also be called either "mineral tar" or "mineral pitch". There is a tendency to use "tar" for more liquid substances and "pitch" for more solid ( viscoelastic ) substances. Both "tar" and "pitch" are applied to viscous forms of asphalt, such as the asphalt found in naturally occurring tar pits (e.g.,

884-764: Is related to the English word mummy . The Egyptians' primary source of bitumen was the Dead Sea , which the Romans knew as Palus Asphaltites (Asphalt Lake). In approximately 40 AD, Dioscorides described the Dead Sea material as Judaicum bitumen , and noted other places in the region where it could be found. The Sidon bitumen is thought to refer to material found at Hasbeya in Lebanon. Pliny also refers to bitumen being found in Epirus . Bitumen

952-461: Is sometimes sold combined with other materials, often without being labeled as anything other than simply "bitumen". Of particular note is the use of re-refined engine oil bottoms – "REOB" or "REOBs"  – the residue of recycled automotive engine oil collected from the bottoms of re-refining vacuum distillation towers, in the manufacture of asphalt. REOB contains various elements and compounds found in recycled engine oil: additives to

1020-429: Is typical of some petroleum. The substance is soluble in carbon disulfide . It is commonly modelled as a colloid , with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase and maltenes as the continuous phase. "It is almost impossible to separate and identify all the different molecules of bitumen, because the number of molecules with different chemical structure is extremely large". Asphalt may be confused with coal tar , which

1088-535: Is used for the surface treatment of wooden shingle roofs, boats, buckets, and tubs and in the medicine, soap, and rubber industries. Pine tar has good penetration on the rough wood. An old wood tar oil recipe for the treatment of wood is one-third each genuine wood tar, balsam turpentine, and boiled or raw linseed oil or Chinese tung oil. In Finland , wood tar was once considered a panacea reputed to heal "even those cut in twain through their midriff". A Finnish proverb states that "if sauna , vodka and tar won't help,

1156-414: Is used to bind aggregate particles like gravel and forms a substance referred to as asphalt concrete , which is colloquially termed asphalt . Its other main uses lie in bituminous waterproofing products, such as roofing felt and roof sealant. In material sciences and engineering , the terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably and refer both to natural and manufactured forms of

1224-672: The Kakwa Lakes area in northeastern British Columbia to the Ram River area of Alberta. It is also recognized in the subsurface immediately adjacent to the mountain front. Thicknesses range from about 80 metres (260 ft) to 140 metres (460 ft). The Perdrix Formation overlies the Maligne Formation or, where the Maligne is absent, the Flume Formation . It is conformably overlain by

1292-566: The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles). "Rangoon tar", also known as "Burmese oil" or "Burmese naphtha", is also a form of petroleum. Oil sands , found extensively in Alberta, Canada , and composed of asphalt, are colloquially referred to as "tar sands". Since prehistoric times wood tar has been used as a water repellent coating for boats , ships , sails , and roofs . In Scandinavia , it

1360-660: The Mount Hawk Formation and the contact is gradational. Laterally it interfingers with the Peechee Formation and the reefs of the Cairn Formation . Tentaculids are common throughout the Perdrix Formation, and brachiopods and pelecypods are present in the more limestone-rich portions. Bituminous Bitumen ( UK : / ˈ b ɪ tʃ ʊ m ɪ n / BIH -chuum-in , US : / b ɪ ˈ tj uː m ɪ n , b aɪ -/ bih- TEW -min, by- )

1428-460: The Sanskrit , where we find the words "jatu", meaning "pitch", and "jatu-krit", meaning "pitch creating", "pitch producing" (referring to coniferous or resinous trees). The Latin equivalent is claimed by some to be originally "gwitu-men" (pertaining to pitch), and by others, "pixtumens" (exuding or bubbling pitch), which was subsequently shortened to "bitumen", thence passing via French into English. From

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1496-579: The Uinta Basin in Utah, US. The Tar Sand Triangle deposit, for example, is roughly 6% bitumen. Bitumen may occur in hydrothermal veins . An example of this is within the Uinta Basin of Utah , in the US, where there is a swarm of laterally and vertically extensive veins composed of a solid hydrocarbon termed Gilsonite . These veins formed by the polymerization and solidification of hydrocarbons that were mobilized from

1564-815: The diagenetic point, where the disorganized fatty hydrocarbon molecules joined in long chains in the absence of oxygen. Bitumen occurs as a solid or highly viscous liquid. It may even be mixed in with coal deposits. Bitumen, and coal using the Bergius process , can be refined into petrols such as gasoline, and bitumen may be distilled into tar, not the other way around. The components of bitumen include four main classes of compounds: Bitumen typically contains, elementally 80% by weight of carbon; 10% hydrogen; up to 6% sulfur; and molecularly, between 5 and 25% by weight of asphaltenes dispersed in 90% to 65% maltenes. Most natural bitumens also contain organosulfur compounds , Nickel and vanadium are found at <10 parts per million, as

1632-572: The fractional distillation of crude oil boiling at 525 °C (977 °F) is sometimes referred to as "refined bitumen". The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves of natural bitumen in the Athabasca oil sands , which cover 142,000 square kilometres (55,000 sq mi), an area larger than England . The Latin word traces to the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷet- "pitch". The expression "bitumen" originated in

1700-522: The 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, bitumen has completely overtaken the use of coal tar in these applications. Other examples of this confusion include La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian tar sands , both of which actually contain natural bitumen rather than tar. "Pitch" is another term sometimes informally used at times to refer to asphalt, as in Pitch Lake . For economic and other reasons, bitumen

1768-577: The 19th century. One of the earliest surviving examples of its use can be seen at Highgate Cemetery where it was used in 1839 to seal the roof of the terrace catacombs. On the London stockmarket, there were various claims as to the exclusivity of bitumen quality from France, Germany and England. And numerous patents were granted in France, with similar numbers of patent applications being denied in England due to their similarity to each other. In England, "Claridge's

1836-861: The Bastenne company, were in production", with asphalt being laid as paving at Brighton, Herne Bay, Canterbury, Kensington, the Strand, and a large floor area in Bunhill-row, while meantime Claridge's Whitehall paving "continue(d) in good order". The Bonnington Chemical Works manufactured asphalt using coal tar and by 1839 had installed it in Bonnington . In 1838, there was a flurry of entrepreneurial activity involving bitumen, which had uses beyond paving. For example, bitumen could also be used for flooring, damp proofing in buildings, and for waterproofing of various types of pools and baths, both of which were also proliferating in

1904-403: The Canadian petroleum industry, while bitumen " upgraded " to synthetic crude oil is known as "syncrude", and syncrude blended with bitumen is called "synbit". "Bitumen" is still the preferred geological term for naturally occurring deposits of the solid or semi-solid form of petroleum. "Bituminous rock" is a form of sandstone impregnated with bitumen. The oil sands of Alberta, Canada are

1972-708: The Parc ( Ain ) and the Puy-de-la-Poix ( Puy-de-Dôme )", although it could also be made artificially. One of the earliest uses in France was the laying of about 24,000 square yards of Seyssel asphalt at the Place de la Concorde in 1835. Among the earlier uses of bitumen in the United Kingdom was for etching. William Salmon's Polygraphice (1673) provides a recipe for varnish used in etching, consisting of three ounces of virgin wax, two ounces of mastic , and one ounce of asphaltum. By

2040-568: The advent of iron and steel ships. Production nearly stopped in the early 20th century. Traditional wooden boats are still sometimes tarred. The heating ( dry distilling ) of pine wood causes tar and pitch to drip away from the wood and leave behind charcoal. Birch bark is used to make particularly fine tar, known as " Russian oil", used in Russian leather protection. The by-products of wood tar are turpentine and charcoal . When deciduous tree woods are subjected to destructive distillation ,

2108-447: The ancients was as a cement to secure or join various objects, and it thus seems likely that the name itself was expressive of this application. Specifically, Herodotus mentioned that bitumen was brought to Babylon to build its gigantic fortification wall. From the Greek, the word passed into late Latin, and thence into French ( asphalte ) and English ("asphaltum" and "asphalt"). In French,

Perdrix Formation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2176-451: The brain of a Parisian of that generation". But the substance was generally neglected in France until the revolution of 1830 . In the 1830s there was a surge of interest, and asphalt became widely used "for pavements, flat roofs, and the lining of cisterns, and in England, some use of it had been made of it for similar purposes". Its rise in Europe was "a sudden phenomenon", after natural deposits were found "in France at Osbann ( Bas-Rhin ),

2244-600: The deeper oil shales of the Green River Formation during burial and diagenesis . Bitumen is similar to the organic matter in carbonaceous meteorites . However, detailed studies have shown these materials to be distinct. The vast Alberta bitumen resources are considered to have started out as living material from marine plants and animals, mainly algae , that died millions of years ago when an ancient ocean covered Alberta. They were covered by mud, buried deeply over time, and gently cooked into oil by geothermal heat at

2312-459: The disease is fatal." Wood tar is used in traditional Finnish medicine because of its microbicidal properties. Wood tar is also available diluted as tar water , which has numerous uses: Mixing tar with linseed oil varnish produces tar paint. Tar paint has a translucent brownish hue and can be used to saturate and tone wood and protect it from weather. Tar paint can also be toned with various pigments, producing translucent colors and preserving

2380-624: The early 20th century with the rise of the automobile . Asphalt gradually became an ever more common method of paving. St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans was paved its whole length with asphalt by 1889. Tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon , obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation . Tar can be produced from coal , wood , petroleum , or peat . Mineral products resembling tar can be produced from fossil hydrocarbons , such as petroleum . Coal tar

2448-524: The economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America . Its main use was in preserving wooden sailing vessels against rot. For centuries, dating back at least to the 14th century, tar was among Sweden 's most important exports. Sweden exported 13,000 barrels of tar in 1615 and 227,000 barrels in the peak year of 1863. The largest user was the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom . Demand for tar declined with

2516-794: The fifth millennium BC, with a crop storage basket discovered in Mehrgarh , of the Indus Valley civilization , lined with it. By the 3rd millennium BC refined rock asphalt was in use in the region, and was used to waterproof the Great Bath in Mohenjo-daro. In the ancient Near East , the Sumerians used natural bitumen deposits for mortar between bricks and stones, to cement parts of carvings, such as eyes, into place, for ship caulking , and for waterproofing. The Greek historian Herodotus said hot bitumen

2584-490: The fifth edition in 1685, he had included more asphaltum recipes from other sources. The first British patent for the use of asphalt was "Cassell's patent asphalte or bitumen" in 1834. Then on 25 November 1837, Richard Tappin Claridge patented the use of Seyssel asphalt (patent #7849), for use in asphalte pavement, having seen it employed in France and Belgium when visiting with Frederick Walter Simms , who worked with him on

2652-523: The horse-drawn era, US streets were mostly unpaved and covered with dirt or gravel. Especially where mud or trenching often made streets difficult to pass, pavements were sometimes made of diverse materials including wooden planks, cobble stones or other stone blocks, or bricks. Unpaved roads produced uneven wear and hazards for pedestrians. In the late 19th century with the rise of the popular bicycle , bicycle clubs were important in pushing for more general pavement of streets. Advocacy for pavement increased in

2720-426: The hulls of ships and boats. For millennia, wood tar was used to waterproof sails and boats, but today, sails made from inherently waterproof synthetic substances have reduced the demand for tar. Wood tar is still used to seal traditional wooden boats and the roofs of historic, shingle-roofed churches, as well as painting exterior walls of log buildings. Tar is also a general disinfectant. Pine tar oil, or wood tar oil,

2788-510: The introduction of asphalt to Britain. Dr T. Lamb Phipson writes that his father, Samuel Ryland Phipson, a friend of Claridge, was also "instrumental in introducing the asphalte pavement (in 1836)". Claridge obtained a patent in Scotland on 27 March 1838, and obtained a patent in Ireland on 23 April 1838. In 1851, extensions for the 1837 patent and for both 1838 patents were sought by the trustees of

Perdrix Formation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2856-742: The oil deposits to be about 110 million years old. Two smaller but still very large formations occur in the Peace River oil sands and the Cold Lake oil sands , to the west and southeast of the Athabasca oil sands, respectively. Of the Alberta deposits, only parts of the Athabasca oil sands are shallow enough to be suitable for surface mining. The other 80% has to be produced by oil wells using enhanced oil recovery techniques like steam-assisted gravity drainage . Much smaller heavy oil or bitumen deposits also occur in

2924-424: The original oil and materials accumulating from its circulation in the engine (typically iron and copper). Some research has indicated a correlation between this adulteration of bitumen and poorer-performing pavement. The majority of bitumen used commercially is obtained from petroleum. Nonetheless, large amounts of bitumen occur in concentrated form in nature. Naturally occurring deposits of bitumen are formed from

2992-470: The products are methanol (wood alcohol) and charcoal . Tar kilns ( Swedish : tjärmila , Danish : tjæremile , Norwegian : tjæremile , Finnish : tervahauta ) are dry distillation ovens, historically used in Scandinavia for producing tar from wood. They were built close to the forest, from limestone or from more primitive holes in the ground. The bottom is sloped into an outlet hole to allow

3060-505: The remains of ancient, microscopic algae ( diatoms ) and other once-living things. These natural deposits of bitumen have been formed during the Carboniferous period, when giant swamp forests dominated many parts of the Earth. They were deposited in the mud on the bottom of the ocean or lake where the organisms lived. Under the heat (above 50 °C) and pressure of burial deep in the earth,

3128-651: The remains were transformed into materials such as bitumen, kerogen , or petroleum. Natural deposits of bitumen include lakes such as the Pitch Lake in Trinidad and Tobago and Lake Bermudez in Venezuela . Natural seeps occur in the La Brea Tar Pits and the McKittrick Tar Pits in California , as well as in the Dead Sea . Bitumen also occurs in unconsolidated sandstones known as "oil sands" in Alberta , Canada, and

3196-433: The rest of the day. Pitch was familiar in 9th-century Iraq , derived from petroleum that became accessible from natural fields in the region. It was sometimes used in the construction of baths or in shipbuilding. Coal tar was formerly one of the products of gasworks . Tar made from coal or petroleum is considered toxic and carcinogenic because of its high benzene content, though coal tar in low concentrations

3264-710: The same root is derived the Anglo Saxon word "cwidu" (Mastix), the German word "Kitt" (cement or mastic) and the old Norse word "kvada". The word "ašphalt" is claimed to have been derived from the Accadian term "asphaltu" or "sphallo", meaning "to split". It was later adopted by the Homeric Greeks in the form of the adjective ἄσφαλἤς, ἐς signifying "firm", "stable", "secure", and the corresponding verb ἄσφαλίξω, ίσω meaning "to make firm or stable", "to secure". The word "asphalt"

3332-459: The similar "tar sands" in Utah , US. The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves, in three huge deposits covering 142,000 square kilometres (55,000 sq mi), an area larger than England or New York state . These bituminous sands contain 166 billion barrels (26.4 × 10 ^  m ) of commercially established oil reserves, giving Canada the third largest oil reserves in

3400-428: The space at the bottom of the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St. James Park". "The formation in 1838 of Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company (with a distinguished list of aristocratic patrons, and Marc and Isambard Brunel as, respectively, a trustee and consulting engineer), gave an enormous impetus to the development of a British asphalt industry". "By the end of 1838, at least two other companies, Robinson's and

3468-726: The stone artefacts, suggesting that bitumen was an important and frequently-used component of tool making for people in that region at that time. Geochemical analyses of the asphaltic residues places its source to localized natural bitumen outcroppings in the Bichri Massif, about 40 km northeast of the Umm el Tlel archeological site. A re-examination of artifacts uncovered in 1908 at Le Moustier rock shelters in France has identified Mousterian stone tools that were attached to grips made of ochre and bitumen. The grips were formulated with 55% ground goethite ochre and 45% cooked liquid bitumen to create

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3536-493: The substance, although there is regional variation as to which term is most common. Worldwide, geologists tend to favor the term bitumen for the naturally occurring material. For the manufactured material, which is a refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils, bitumen is the prevalent term in much of the world; however, in American English , asphalt is more commonly used. To help avoid confusion,

3604-486: The surface above underlying petroleum deposits. All three groups used the substance as an adhesive. It is found on many different artifacts of tools and ceremonial items. For example, it was used on rattles to adhere gourds or turtle shells to rattle handles. It was also used in decorations. Small round shell beads were often set in asphaltum to provide decorations. It was used as a sealant on baskets to make them watertight for carrying water, possibly poisoning those who drank

3672-417: The tar to pour out. The wood is split into dimensions of a finger, stacked densely, and finally covered tight with earth and moss. If oxygen can enter, the wood might catch fire, and the production would be ruined. On top of this, a fire is stacked and lit. After a few hours, the tar starts to pour out and continues to do so for a few days. Tar was used as seal for roofing shingles and tar paper and to seal

3740-417: The term asphalte is used for naturally occurring asphalt-soaked limestone deposits, and for specialised manufactured products with fewer voids or greater bitumen content than the "asphaltic concrete" used to pave roads. Bitumen mixed with clay was usually called "asphaltum", but the term is less commonly used today. In American English , "asphalt" is equivalent to the British "bitumen". However, "asphalt"

3808-487: The term asphaltum was in general use. The word derives from the Ancient Greek word ἄσφαλτος ( ásphaltos ), which referred to natural bitumen or pitch. The largest natural deposit of bitumen in the world is the Pitch Lake of southwest Trinidad , which is estimated to contain 10 million tons. About 70% of annual bitumen production is destined for road construction , its primary use. In this application, bitumen

3876-416: The terms "liquid asphalt", "asphalt binder", or "asphalt cement" are used in the U.S. to distinguish it from asphalt concrete. Colloquially, various forms of bitumen are sometimes referred to as " tar ", as in the name of the La Brea Tar Pits . Naturally occurring bitumen is sometimes specified by the term crude bitumen . Its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses while the material obtained from

3944-590: The water. Asphalt was used also to seal the planks on ocean-going canoes. Asphalt was first used to pave streets in the 1870s. At first naturally occurring "bituminous rock" was used, such as at Ritchie Mines in Macfarlan in Ritchie County, West Virginia from 1852 to 1873. In 1876, asphalt-based paving was used to pave Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, in time for the celebration of the national centennial. In

4012-403: The wood texture. Tar was once used for public humiliation , known as tarring and feathering . By pouring hot wood tar onto somebody's bare skin and waiting for it to cool, they would remain stuck in one position. From there, people would attach feathers to the tar, which would remain stuck on the tarred person for the duration of the punishment. That person would then become a public example for

4080-644: The world. Although historically it was used without refining to pave roads, nearly all of the output is now used as raw material for oil refineries in Canada and the United States. The world's largest deposit of natural bitumen, known as the Athabasca oil sands , is located in the McMurray Formation of Northern Alberta. This formation is from the early Cretaceous , and is composed of numerous lenses of oil-bearing sand with up to 20% oil. Isotopic studies show

4148-864: Was a valuable strategic resource. It was the object of the first known battle for a hydrocarbon deposit – between the Seleucids and the Nabateans in 312 BC. In the ancient Far East, natural bitumen was slowly boiled to get rid of the higher fractions , leaving a thermoplastic material of higher molecular weight that, when layered on objects, became hard upon cooling. This was used to cover objects that needed waterproofing, such as scabbards and other items. Statuettes of household deities were also cast with this type of material in Japan, and probably also in China. In North America , archaeological recovery has indicated that bitumen

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4216-543: Was more widely used. However, the First World War ruined the Clarmac Company, which entered into liquidation in 1915. The failure of Clarmac Roads Ltd had a flow-on effect to Claridge's Company, which was itself compulsorily wound up, ceasing operations in 1917, having invested a substantial amount of funds into the new venture, both at the outset and in a subsequent attempt to save the Clarmac Company. Bitumen

4284-457: Was produced as a cash crop. "Peasant Tar" might be named for the district of its production. Wood tar is still used as an additive in the flavoring of candy , alcohol , and other foods. Wood tar is microbicidal . Producing tar from wood was known in ancient Greece and has probably been used in Scandinavia since the Iron Age . Production and trade in pine-derived tar was a major contributor in

4352-552: Was shaped into tool handles or used as an adhesive for attaching stone tools to hafts . The earliest evidence of bitumen use was discovered when archeologists identified bitumen material on Levallois flint artefacts that date to about 71,000 years BP at the Umm el Tlel open-air site, located on the northern slope of the Qdeir Plateau in el Kowm Basin in Central Syria. Microscopic analyses found bituminous residue on two-thirds of

4420-487: Was sometimes used to adhere stone projectile points to wooden shafts. In Canada, aboriginal people used bitumen seeping out of the banks of the Athabasca and other rivers to waterproof birch bark canoes , and also heated it in smudge pots to ward off mosquitoes in the summer. Bitumen was also used to waterproof plank canoes used by indigenous peoples in pre-colonial southern California. In 1553, Pierre Belon described in his work Observations that pissasphalto ,

4488-401: Was the type most used in the 1840s and 50s". In 1914, Claridge's Company entered into a joint venture to produce tar-bound macadam , with materials manufactured through a subsidiary company called Clarmac Roads Ltd. Two products resulted, namely Clarmac , and Clarphalte , with the former being manufactured by Clarmac Roads and the latter by Claridge's Patent Asphalte Co., although Clarmac

4556-543: Was thought in 19th century Britain to contain chemicals with medicinal properties. Extracts from bitumen were used to treat catarrh and some forms of asthma and as a remedy against worms, especially the tapeworm . The first use of bitumen in the New World was by aboriginal peoples. On the west coast, as early as the 13th century, the Tongva , Luiseño and Chumash peoples collected the naturally occurring bitumen that seeped to

4624-407: Was used as mortar in the walls of Babylon . The 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long Euphrates Tunnel beneath the river Euphrates at Babylon in the time of Queen Semiramis ( c.  800 BC ) was reportedly constructed of burnt bricks covered with bitumen as a waterproofing agent. Bitumen was used by ancient Egyptians to embalm mummies. The Persian word for asphalt is moom , which

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