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130-765: The field covers approximately 4,200 square kilometres (1,600 sq mi). The oil deposit is lays in depth of about 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in Kinovskiy and Pashiyskiy formations. Since its commissioning, the Romashkino field had produced over 15 billion barrels (2.4 × 10 ^  m) of oil . Statistic analysis predicted depletion at 16.5 to 17.2 billion barrels (2.62 × 10 ^ to 2.73 × 10 ^  m). However, advanced technologies allow for extraction of more oil. 54°34′22.6″N 52°22′11.9″E  /  54.572944°N 52.369972°E  / 54.572944; 52.369972 This Tatarstan location article

260-490: A big loss of gene diversity, resulting in a reduced potential for adaptations to subsequent changes. Undeveloped soil in heavy metal contaminated areas could be a sign of reduced activity by soils microfauna and microflora, indicating a reduced number of individuals or diminished activity. Twenty years after disturbance, even in rehabilitation area, microbial biomass is still greatly reduced compared to undisturbed habitat. Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi are especially sensitive to

390-439: A crucial component in stabilizing soil and preventing erosion. Eroded materials can be transported by runoff into nearby surface water, leading to a process known as sedimentation. Moreover, altered drainage patterns redirect water flow, intensifying erosion and sedimentation of nearby water bodies. The cumulative impact results in degraded water quality, loss of habitat, and long-lasting ecological damage. A sinkhole at or near

520-406: A density at least 5 times greater than that of water. Heavy metals are not readily degradable and therefore, are subjected to persistence in the environment and bioaccumulation in organisms. Their multiple industrial, domestic, agricultural, medical and technological applications have led to their wide distribution in the environment; raising concerns over their potential effects on human health and

650-435: A diminished species number. Contaminants can modify or disturb microorganisms, thus modifying nutrient availability, causing a loss of vegetation in the area. Some tree roots divert away from deeper soil layers in order to avoid the contaminated zone, therefore lacking anchorage within the deep soil layers, resulting in the potential uprooting by the wind when their height and shoot weight increase. In general, root exploration

780-520: A fluid resembling petroleum, which when treated in the same way as the seep oil gave similar products. Young found that by slow distillation he could obtain several useful liquids from it, one of which he named "paraffine oil" because at low temperatures it congealed into a substance resembling paraffin wax. The production of these oils and solid paraffin wax from coal formed the subject of his patent dated October 17, 1850. In 1850, Young & Meldrum and Edward William Binney entered into partnership under

910-652: A great risk to human health as it can accumulate within the water and fishes. There was a study done on an abandon mine in China, Dabaoshan mine and this mine was not active to many years yet the impact of how metals can accumulate in water and soil was a major concern for neighboring villages. Due to the lack of proper care of waste materials 56% of mortality rate is estimated within the regions around this mining sites, and many have been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and liver cancer. It resulted that this mine till this day still has negative impacts on human health through crops and it

1040-426: A high tendency to accumulate heavy metals, such as Noccaea caerulescens , may be used for phytoextraction. In the phytoextraction process , plants will extract heavy metals present in the soil, and store them in portions of the plant which can be easily harvested. Once the plant which has accumulated the heavy metals is harvested, the stored heavy metals are effectively removed from the soil. Habitat destruction

1170-612: A large depression at the surface without warning, this can be seriously hazardous to life and property. Sinkholes at a mine site can be mitigated with the proper design of infrastructure such as mining supports and better construction of walls to create a barrier around an area prone to sinkholes. Back-filling and grouting can be done to stabilize abandoned underground workings. Mining can have harmful effects on surrounding surface and groundwater. If proper precautions are not taken, unnaturally high concentrations of chemicals, such as arsenic , sulphuric acid , and mercury can spread over

1300-422: A long time to impact the environment the burning of coals and fires which can burn up to decades can release flying ash and increase the greenhouse gasses . Specifically strip mining that can destroy landscapes, forests, and wildlife habitats that are near the sites. Trees, plants and topsoil are cleared from the mining area and this can lead to destruction of agricultural land . Furthermore, when rainfall occurs

1430-435: A mine site is typically caused from the failure of a mine roof from the extraction of resources, weak overburden or geological discontinuities. The overburden at the mine site can develop cavities in the subsoil or rock, which can infill with sand and soil from the overlying strata. These cavities in the overburden have the potential to eventually cave in, forming a sinkhole at the surface. The sudden failure of earth creates

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1560-512: A much shallower level. The Athabasca oil sands are one example of this. An alternative mechanism to the one described above was proposed by Russian scientists in the mid-1850s, the hypothesis of abiogenic petroleum origin (petroleum formed by inorganic means), but this is contradicted by geological and geochemical evidence. Abiogenic sources of oil have been found, but never in commercially profitable amounts. "The controversy isn't over whether abiogenic oil reserves exist," said Larry Nation of

1690-476: A process known as catagenesis . Formation of petroleum occurs from hydrocarbon pyrolysis in a variety of mainly endothermic reactions at high temperatures or pressures, or both. These phases are described in detail below. In the absence of plentiful oxygen, aerobic bacteria were prevented from decaying the organic matter after it was buried under a layer of sediment or water. However, anaerobic bacteria were able to reduce sulfates and nitrates among

1820-496: A result of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of ore. These large amounts of waste are a mixture of water, sand, clay, and residual bitumen. Tailings are commonly stored in tailings ponds made from naturally existing valleys or large engineered dams and dyke systems. Tailings ponds can remain part of an active mine operation for 30–40 years. This allows for tailings deposits to settle, or for storage and water recycling. Tailings have great potential to damage

1950-424: A set of parallel reactions, and oil eventually breaks down to natural gas by another set of reactions. The latter set is regularly used in petrochemical plants and oil refineries . Environmental effects of mining Environmental impact of mining can occur at local, regional, and global scales through direct and indirect mining practices. Mining can cause erosion , sinkholes , loss of biodiversity , or

2080-643: A significant amount of petroleum while drilling for lignite in Wietze , Germany. Wietze later provided about 80% of German consumption in the Wilhelminian Era. The production stopped in 1963, but Wietze has hosted a Petroleum Museum since 1970. Oil sands have been mined since the 18th century. In Wietze in lower Saxony, natural asphalt/bitumen has been explored since the 18th century. Both in Pechelbronn as in Wietze,

2210-419: A significant area of surface or subsurface water. Large amounts of water used for mine drainage , mine cooling, aqueous extraction and other mining processes increases the potential for these chemicals to contaminate ground and surface water. As mining produces copious amounts of waste water, disposal methods are limited due to contaminates within the waste water. Runoff containing these chemicals can lead to

2340-494: A significant indirect impact of mining on local fauna in the Brong-Ahafo forest land. In this region, researchers utilized Sherman collapsible live traps for nine small mammal species (e.g. H. alleni , P. tullbergi , H. trivirgatus , etc.) to explore if there were any differences in fauna biodiversity between mining-impacted areas and areas without significant impacts from mining. After recording several captures in both areas, it

2470-507: A significant threat to medium and large-sized forest-dependent mammals that require large areas to meet their needs. Medium-large mammals vary in their tolerance to anthropogenically driven changes to their ecosystems; this impacts their ability to find food, move, and avoid hunting pressures. These same fauna are responsible for shaping the structure of forested areas via processes such as predation, trampling of low-lying vegetation, and seed consumption/dispersion. Outside of physically altering

2600-445: A small change in the soil pH can provoke the remobilization of contaminants, in addition to the direct impact on pH-sensitive organisms. Microorganisms have a wide variety of genes among their total population, so there is a greater chance of survival of the species due to the resistance or tolerance genes in that some colonies possess, as long as modifications are not too extreme. Nevertheless, survival in these conditions will imply

2730-574: A source of internal and inter-state conflict, leading to both state-led wars and other resource conflicts . Production of petroleum is estimated to reach peak oil before 2035 as global economies lower dependencies on petroleum as part of climate change mitigation and a transition towards renewable energy and electrification . The word petroleum comes from Medieval Latin petroleum (literally 'rock oil'), which comes from Latin petra 'rock' (from Greek pétra πέτρα ) and oleum 'oil' (from Greek élaion ἔλαιον ). The origin of

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2860-411: A variety of liquid, gaseous, and solid components. Lighter hydrocarbons are the gases methane , ethane , propane and butane . Otherwise, the bulk of the liquid and solids are largely heavier organic compounds, often hydrocarbons (C and H only). The proportion of light hydrocarbons in the petroleum mixture varies among oil fields . An oil well produces predominantly crude oil. Because the pressure

2990-520: A visit to Fort Duquesne in 1750. Early British explorers to Myanmar documented a flourishing oil extraction industry based in Yenangyaung that, in 1795, had hundreds of hand-dug wells under production. Merkwiller-Pechelbronn is said to be the first European site where petroleum has been explored and used. The still active Erdpechquelle, a spring where petroleum appears mixed with water has been used since 1498, notably for medical purposes. There

3120-469: A vital role in fulfilling a variety of niches and supporting the productivity of biogeochemical cycles within seafloor ecosystems. Primary zones of deep-sea mining include operational hydrothermal vents along spreading centers (e.g., mid-ocean ridges, volcanic arcs) on the ocean floor where sulfide minerals were deposited. Other extraction zones include inactive hydrothermal vents with similar mineral deposits, polymetallic protuberances (mainly manganese) along

3250-547: A year before Drake's Pennsylvania operation and could be argued to be the first commercial oil well in North America. The discovery at Oil Springs touched off an oil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to the area. Advances in drilling continued into 1862 when local driller Shaw reached a depth of 62 metres using the spring-pole drilling method. On January 16, 1862, after an explosion of natural gas , Canada's first oil gusher came into production, shooting into

3380-553: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an oil field is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Petroleum Petroleum is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture. It consists mainly of hydrocarbons , and is found in geological formations . The term petroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as to petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil. Conventional reserves of petroleum are primarily recovered by drilling , which

3510-469: Is a pile of accumulated overburden that was removed from a mine site during the extraction of coal or ore. These waste materials are composed of ordinary soil and rocks, with the potential to be contaminated with chemical waste. Spoil is much different from tailings, as it is processed material that remains after the valuable components have been extracted from ore. Spoil tip combustion can happen fairly commonly as, older spoil tips tend to be loose and tip over

3640-550: Is believed to directly impact fauna near the extraction site, it may also have indirect effects on mammal biodiversity by driving the construction of roads and infrastructure accommodating mining company employees. There remains a glaring gap in studies regarding the indirect impacts of mining on mammals, indicating that we must advocate for incentives to support studies aimed at testing the health of these larger mammals. This will allow for more effective conservation efforts to preserve animal biodiversity. One case study demonstrating

3770-487: Is called diagenesis , a word that means a transformation of materials by dissolution and recombination of their constituents. Kerogen formation continued to a depth of about 1 km from the Earth's surface where temperatures may reach around 50 °C . Kerogen formation represents a halfway point between organic matter and fossil fuels : kerogen can be exposed to oxygen, oxidize and thus be lost, or it could be buried deeper inside

3900-420: Is cleared extensively, consuming significant energy and water resources, emitting air pollutants, and producing hazardous waste . According to The World Counts page "The amount of resources mined from Earth is up from 39.3 billion tons in 2002. A 55 percent increase in less than 20 years. This puts Earth's natural resources under heavy pressure. We are already extracting 75 percent more than Earth can sustain in

4030-717: Is considered a sticky, black, tar-like form of crude oil which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow. Venezuela also has large amounts of oil in the Orinoco oil sands , although the hydrocarbons trapped in them are more fluid than in Canada and are usually called extra heavy oil . These oil sands resources are called unconventional oil to distinguish them from oil which can be extracted using traditional oil well methods. Between them, Canada and Venezuela contain an estimated 3.6 trillion barrels (570 × 10 ^  m ) of bitumen and extra-heavy oil, about twice

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4160-740: Is contaminated by heavy metals or metalloids at a concentration that is too elevated for their physiology. Some species are more resistant and will survive these levels, and some non-native species that can tolerate these concentrations in the soil, will migrate in the surrounding lands of the mine to occupy the ecological niche . This can also leave the soil vulnerable to potential soil erosion, which would make it inhabitable for plants. Plants can be affected through direct poisoning, for example arsenic soil content reduces bryophyte diversity. Vegetation can also be contaminated from other metals as well such as nickel and copper. Soil acidification through pH diminution by chemical contamination can also lead to

4290-738: Is done after a study of the relevant structural geology , analysis of the sedimentary basin , and characterization of the petroleum reservoir . There are also unconventional reserves such as oil sands and oil shale which are recovered by other means such as fracking . Once extracted, oil is refined and separated, most easily by distillation , into innumerable products for direct use or use in manufacturing. Products include fuels such as gasoline (petrol), diesel , kerosene and jet fuel ; asphalt and lubricants ; chemical reagents used to make plastics ; solvents , textiles , refrigerants , paint , synthetic rubber , fertilizers , pesticides , pharmaceuticals , and thousands of others. Petroleum

4420-670: Is evident that there needs to be more cleaning up measures around surrounding areas. The long-term effects associated with air pollution are plenty including chronic asthma, pulmonary insufficiency, and cardiovascular mortality. According to a Swedish cohort study, diabetes seems to be induced after long-term air pollution exposure. Furthermore, air pollution seems to have various malign health effects in early human life, such as respiratory, cardiovascular, mental, and perinatal disorders, leading to infant mortality or chronic disease in adult age. Discuss contamination basically influences those living in huge urban zones, where street outflows contribute

4550-530: Is generally lower than it would have been in regular growing conditions. Plants also tend to accumulate heavy metals in their aerial organs, possibly leading to human intake through fruits and vegetables. Regular consumption of contaminated crops might lead to health problems caused by long-term metal exposure. Cigarettes made from tobacco growing on contaminated sites might also possibly have adverse effects on human population, as tobacco tends to accumulate cadmium and zinc in its leaves. Moreover, plants which have

4680-411: Is likely due to phosphorus serving as a fertilizer for macro algae, allowing them to outcompete calcareous organisms. Algae communities are less diverse in acidic water containing high zinc concentration, and mine drainage stress decrease their primary production. Diatoms ' community is greatly modified by any chemical change, pH phytoplankton assemblage, and high metal concentration diminishes

4810-473: Is lower at the surface than underground, some of the gas will come out of solution and be recovered (or burned) as associated gas or solution gas . A gas well produces predominantly natural gas . However, because the underground temperature is higher than at the surface, the gas may contain heavier hydrocarbons such as pentane, hexane , and heptane (" natural-gas condensate ", often shortened to condensate. ) Condensate resembles gasoline in appearance and

4940-737: Is now called the Drake Well in Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania .There also was a company associated with it, and it sparked a major oil drilling boom. The first commercial oil well in Canada became operational in 1858 at Oil Springs, Ontario (then Canada West ). Businessman James Miller Williams dug several wells between 1855 and 1858 before discovering a rich reserve of oil four metres below ground. Williams extracted 1.5 million litres of crude oil by 1860, refining much of it into kerosene lamp oil. Williams's well became commercially viable

5070-466: Is one of the main issues of mining activity. Huge areas of natural habitat are destroyed during mine construction and exploitation, forcing animals to leave the site. In addition, desirable minerals exist across all biodiversity-rich areas, and future mineral demands are expected to rise. This indicates a significant risk for animal biodiversity, considering mining is believed to have some of the most profound negative impacts on local fauna, such as reducing

5200-409: Is reduced in contaminated areas compared to non-polluted ones. Plant species diversity will remain lower in reclaimed habitats than in undisturbed areas. Depending on what specific type of mining is done, all vegetation can be initially removed from the area before the actual mining is started. Cultivated crops might be a problem near mines. Most crops can grow on weakly contaminated sites, but yield

5330-410: Is severe. In case of functional complementary, however, it is possible that the phytoplankton and zooplankton mass remains stable. When assessing the potential risks of mining to marine microbiomes, it is important to broaden the scope to include other vulnerable communities, such as those found at the seafloor, which are at risk of ecosystem degradation due to deep-sea mining . Microbial life plays

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5460-451: Is similar in composition to some volatile light crude oils . The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes , cycloalkanes and various aromatic hydrocarbons , while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen , oxygen , and sulfur , and traces of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium . Many oil reservoirs contain live bacteria. The exact molecular composition of crude oil varies widely from formation to formation but

5590-473: Is used in manufacturing a vast variety of materials essential for modern life, and it is estimated that the world consumes about 100 million barrels (16 million cubic metres ) each day. Petroleum production played a key role in industrialization and economic development. Some countries, known as petrostates , gained significant economic and international power over their control of oil production and trade. Petroleum exploitation can be damaging to

5720-556: The Britannia Mine , a former copper mine near Vancouver, British Columbia . Tar Creek , an abandoned mining area in Picher, Oklahoma that is now an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site, also suffers from heavy metal contamination. Water in the mine containing dissolved heavy metals such as lead and cadmium leaked into local groundwater, contaminating it. Furthermore, the presence of heavy metals in freshwater may also affect

5850-670: The Earth's crust and be subjected to conditions which allow it to slowly transform into fossil fuels like petroleum. The latter happened through catagenesis in which the reactions were mostly radical rearrangements of kerogen. These reactions took thousands to millions of years and no external reactants were involved. Due to the radical nature of these reactions, kerogen reacted towards two classes of products: those with low H/C ratio ( anthracene or products similar to it) and those with high H/C ratio ( methane or products similar to it); i.e., carbon-rich or hydrogen-rich products. Because catagenesis

5980-484: The Orinoco Belt . While significant volumes of oil are extracted from oil sands, particularly in Canada, logistical and technical hurdles remain, as oil extraction requires large amounts of heat and water, making its net energy content quite low relative to conventional crude oil. Thus, Canada's oil sands are not expected to provide more than a few million barrels per day in the foreseeable future. Petroleum consists of

6110-780: The Soviet Union in total output. In 1973 , Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations imposed an oil embargo against the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and other Western nations which supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. The embargo caused an oil crisis . This was followed by the 1979 oil crisis , which was caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and caused oil prices to more than double. The two oil price shocks had many short- and long-term effects on global politics and

6240-533: The United States , but is responsible for only one percent of electricity generation. Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most important commodities . The top three oil-producing countries as of 2018 are the United States, Russia , and Saudi Arabia . In 2018, due in part to developments in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling ,

6370-455: The actinomycetales order of bacteria also produced antibiotic compounds (e.g., streptomycin ). Thus the action of anaerobic bacteria ceased at about 10 m below the water or sediment. The mixture at this depth contained fulvic acids, unreacted and partially reacted fats and waxes, slightly modified lignin , resins and other hydrocarbons. As more layers of organic matter settled into the sea or lake bed, intense heat and pressure built up in

6500-530: The contamination of soil , groundwater , and surface water by chemicals emitted from mining processes. These processes also affect the atmosphere through carbon emissions which contributes to climate change . Some mining methods ( lithium mining, phosphate mining, coal mining, mountaintop removal mining , and sand mining) may have such significant environmental and public health effects that mining companies in some countries are required to follow strict environmental and rehabilitation codes to ensure that

6630-567: The 12th century. It has also been present in Romania since the 13th century, being recorded as păcură. Sophisticated oil pits, 4.5 to 6 metres (15 to 20 ft) deep, were dug by the Seneca people and other Iroquois in Western Pennsylvania as early as 1415–1450. The French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm encountered Seneca using petroleum for ceremonial fires and as a healing lotion during

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6760-494: The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. "The controversy is over how much they contribute to Earth's overall reserves and how much time and effort geologists should devote to seeking them out." Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: The reactions that produce oil and natural gas are often modeled as first order breakdown reactions, where hydrocarbons are broken down to oil and natural gas by

6890-455: The Earth's surface. Unusual magma intrusions, however, could have created greater localized heating. Geologists often refer to the temperature range in which oil forms as an "oil window" . Below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form of kerogen. Above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to natural gas through the process of thermal cracking . Sometimes, oil formed at extreme depths may migrate and become trapped at

7020-572: The Soviet Union included the goal to capture the Baku oilfields , as it would provide much-needed oil supplies for the German military which was suffering from blockades. Oil exploration in North America during the early 20th century later led to the U.S. becoming the leading producer by mid-century. As petroleum production in the U.S. peaked during the 1960s, the United States was surpassed by Saudi Arabia and

7150-561: The United States became the world's largest producer. About 80 percent of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East , with 62.5 percent coming from the Arab five: Saudi Arabia , United Arab Emirates , Iraq , Qatar , and Kuwait . A large portion of the world's total oil exists as unconventional sources, such as bitumen in Athabasca oil sands and extra heavy oil in

7280-416: The abundance of planktonic species. Some diatom species may grow in high-metal-concentration sediments. In sediments close to the surface, cysts suffer from corrosion and heavy coating. In very polluted conditions, total algae biomass is quite low, and the planktonic diatom community is missing. Similarly to phytoplankton, the zooplankton communities are heavily altered in cases where the mining impact

7410-494: The air and water during the mining process. For example, during smelting operations large quantities of air pollutants, such as the suspended particulate matter, SO x , arsenic particles and cadmium, are emitted. Metals are usually emitted into the air as particulates as well. There are also many occupational health hazards that miners face. Most of miners suffer from various respiratory and skin diseases such as asbestosis , silicosis , or black lung disease . Furthermore, one of

7540-609: The air at a recorded rate of 480 cubic metres (3,000 bbl) per day. By the end of the 19th century the Russian Empire, particularly the Branobel company in Azerbaijan , had taken the lead in production. Access to oil was and still is a major factor in several military conflicts of the 20th century, including World War II , during which oil facilities were a major strategic asset and were extensively bombed . The German invasion of

7670-539: The area around modern Baku , Azerbaijan . These fields were described by the Persian geographer Abu Bakr al-Razi in the 10th century, and by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those wells as hundreds of shiploads. Arab and Persian chemists also distilled crude oil to produce flammable products for military purposes. Through Islamic Spain , distillation became available in Western Europe by

7800-593: The area is reduced, there is sometimes no effect of stream contamination on abundance or biomass, suggesting that tolerant species fulfilling the same function take the place of sensible species in polluted sites. pH diminution in addition to elevated metal concentration can also have adverse effects on macroinvertebrates' behaviour, showing that direct toxicity is not the only issue. Fish can also be affected by pH, temperature variations, and chemical concentrations. Soil texture and water content can be greatly modified in disturbed sites, leading to plants community changes in

7930-478: The area. Most of the plants have a low concentration tolerance for metals in the soil, but sensitivity differs among species. Grass diversity and total coverage is less affected by high contaminant concentration than forbs and shrubs . Mine waste-materials rejects or traces due to mining activity can be found in the vicinity of the mine, sometimes far away from the source. Established plants cannot move away from perturbations, and will eventually die if their habitat

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8060-406: The ashes and other materials are washed into streams that can hurt fish. These impacts can still occur after the mining site is completed which disturbs the presences of the land and restoration of the deforestation takes longer than usual because the quality of the land is degraded. Legal mining, albeit more environmentally-controlled than illegal mining, contributes to some substantial percentage to

8190-423: The availability of food and shelter, which in turn limits the number of individuals a region can sustain. Moreover, mineral exploitation poses additional threats to wildlife beyond habitat degradation, mining is believed to produce adverse impacts on wildlife in forms such as soil and water contamination, suppression of vegetation, and modifications in landscape structure. Landscape alterations, in particular, pose

8320-399: The biggest subset of mining that impacts humans is the pollutants that end up in the water, which results in poor water quality . About 30% of the world has access to renewable freshwater which is used by industries that generate large amounts of waste containing chemicals in various concentrations that are deposited into the freshwater. The concern of active chemicals in the water can pose

8450-418: The case of AMD, contaminated water is generally pumped to a treatment facility that neutralizes the contaminants. A 2006 review of environmental impact statements found that "water quality predictions made after considering the effects of mitigation largely underestimated actual impacts to groundwater, seeps , and surface water". Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements that have a high atomic weight and

8580-474: The coal industry dominated the petroleum technologies. Chemist James Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage in the coal mine at riddings Alfreton , Derbyshire from which he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a more viscous oil suitable for lubricating machinery. In 1848, Young set up a small business refining crude oil. Young eventually succeeded, by distilling cannel coal at low heat, in creating

8710-433: The concentration of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, switching to renewable energy sources, such as solar power and hydropower, may reduce greenhouse gas emissions further. Air pollution may also be reduced by maximizing the efficiency of the mine and conducting a life-cycle assessment to minimize the environmental impacts. Sub-surface mining often progresses below the water table, so water must be constantly pumped out of

8840-436: The devastation of the surrounding vegetation. The dumping of the runoff in surface waters or in a lot of forests is the worst option. Therefore, submarine tailings disposal are regarded as a better option (if the waste is pumped to great depth). Land storage and refilling of the mine after it has been depleted is even better, if no forests need to be cleared for the storage of debris. The contamination of watersheds resulting from

8970-416: The direct impacts at specific sites and the more extensive, far-reaching environmental consequences. The implantation of a mine is a major habitat modification, and smaller perturbations occur on a larger scale than exploitation site, mine-waste residuals contamination of the environment for example. Adverse effects can be observed long after the end of the mine activity. Destruction or drastic modification of

9100-400: The disturbance of acid sulfate soils formed under coastal or estuarine conditions after the last major sea level rise, and constitutes a similar environmental hazard. Acid mine drainage formation occurs when rocks containing sulfide minerals (e.g. Pyrite) are exposed to water and air, producing an acidic, sulfate-rich drainage. These acidic waters can leach out various heavy metals from

9230-516: The earliest Chinese writings, cites that oil in its raw state, without refining, was first discovered, extracted, and used in China in the first century BCE. In addition, the Chinese were the first to record the use of petroleum as fuel as early as the fourth century BCE. By 347 CE, oil was produced from bamboo-drilled wells in China. In the 7th century, petroleum was among the essential ingredients for Greek fire , an incendiary projectile weapon that

9360-403: The earth has been disturbed (e.g. construction sites, subdivisions, and transportation corridors) may create acid rock drainage. In many localities, the liquid that drains from coal stocks, coal handling facilities, coal washeries, and coal waste tips can be highly acidic, and in such cases it is treated as acid mine drainage (AMD). The same type of chemical reactions and processes may occur through

9490-408: The edge of a pile. As spoil is mainly composed of carbonaceous material that is highly combustible, it can be accidentally ignited by the lighting fire or the tipping of hot ashes. Spoil tips can often catch fire and be left burning underground or within the spoil piles for many years. Humans are also affected by mining. There are many diseases that can come from the pollutants that are released into

9620-469: The environment and human health. Extraction , refining and burning of petroleum fuels all release large quantities of greenhouse gases , so petroleum is one of the major contributors to climate change . Other negative environmental effects include direct releases, such as oil spills , as well as air and water pollution at almost all stages of use. These environmental effects have direct and indirect health consequences for humans. Oil has also been

9750-507: The environment by releasing toxic metals by acid mine drainage or by damaging aquatic wildlife; these both require constant monitoring and treatment of water passing through the dam. However, the greatest danger of tailings ponds is dam failure. Tailings ponds are typically formed by locally derived fills (soil, coarse waste, or overburden from mining operations and tailings) and the dam walls are often built up on to sustain greater amounts of tailings. The lack of regulation for design criteria of

9880-440: The environment. Naturally occurring heavy metals are displayed in shapes that are not promptly accessible for uptake by plants. They are ordinarily displayed in insoluble shapes, like in mineral structures, or in precipitated or complex shapes that are not promptly accessible for plant take-up. Normally happening heavy metals have a high adsorption capacity in soil and are hence not promptly accessible for living organisms. However,

10010-425: The fact that it happened at relatively low temperatures (when compared to commercial pyrolysis plants) of 60 to several hundred °C. Pyrolysis was possible because of the long reaction times involved. Heat for catagenesis came from the decomposition of radioactive materials of the crust, especially K , Th , U and U . The heat varied with geothermal gradient and was typically 10–30 °C per km of depth from

10140-406: The foremost to the degradation of discuss quality. There's moreover a threat of mechanical mishaps, where the spread of a harmful haze can be lethal to the populaces of the encompassing regions. The scattering of poisons is decided by numerous parameters, most outstandingly barometrical soundness and wind. With open cast mining the overburden, which may be covered in forest, must be removed before

10270-794: The global economy. They led to sustained reductions in demand as a result of substitution to other fuels, especially coal and nuclear, and improvements in energy efficiency , facilitated by government policies. High oil prices also induced investment in oil production by non-OPEC countries, including Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the North Sea offshore fields of the United Kingdom and Norway, the Cantarell offshore field of Mexico, and oil sands in Canada. About 90 percent of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil. Petroleum also makes up 40 percent of total energy consumption in

10400-423: The habitat to recover completely from the contamination. Remediation practices take time, and in most cases will not enable the recovery of the original diversity present before the mining activity took place. The mining industry can impact aquatic biodiversity through different ways. One way can be direct poisoning; a higher risk for this occurs when contaminants are mobile in the sediment or bioavailable in

10530-408: The heavier end of the range, paraffin wax is an alkane with approximately 25 carbon atoms, while asphalt has 35 and up, although these are usually cracked in modern refineries into more valuable products. The lightest fraction, the so-called petroleum gases are subjected to diverse processing depending on cost. These gases are either flared off , sold as liquefied petroleum gas , or used to power

10660-472: The high copper levels as well. Ants have good judgement whether an area is habitual as they live directly in the soil and are thus sensitive to environmental disruptions. Microorganisms are extremely sensitive to environmental modification, such as modified pH, temperature changes or chemical concentrations due to their size. For example, the presence of arsenic and antimony in soils have led to diminution in total soil bacteria. Much like waters sensitivity,

10790-537: The impact of phosphate mining on coral reef development adjacent to Christmas Island . In this scenario, phosphate-rich runoff was transported from local waterways to coral reefs off the coast, where reef sediment phosphate levels reached some of the highest levels ever recorded in Australian reefs at 54,000 mg/kg. Phosphate contamination has resulted in a noticeable decline in keystone reef-building species, such as crustose coralline algae and branching coral. This decline

10920-461: The impacts of heavy metal transformation and interactions with soil organisms is highly dependent on the physicochemical properties of the soil and the organisms present. The holding vitality between normally happening heavy metals and soil is exceptionally high compared to that with anthropogenic sources. Dissolution and transport of metals and heavy metals by run-off and ground water is another example of environmental problems with mining, such as

11050-651: The impacts of mining on animal biodiversity takes place in Western Ghana. Over the past several decades mining activities have rapidly expanded across Africa; this has driven large-scale deforestation and increased human settlement in the mineral-rich eastern and western regions of Brong-Ahafo (forest land in Ghana). Increased settlement has facilitated migration of loggers, miners, other workers creating further stress on forested areas, with many migrants utilizing hunting for wild animals to collect bushmeat. This example highlights

11180-638: The invention of the modern kerosene lamp (1853), the introduction of the first modern street lamp in Europe (1853), and the construction of the world's first modern oil "mine" (1854). at Bóbrka , near Krosno (still operational as of 2020). The demand for petroleum as a fuel for lighting in North America and around the world quickly grew. The first oil well in the Americas was drilled in 1859 by Edwin Drake at what

11310-446: The large number of co-eluted hydrocarbons within oil, many cannot be resolved by traditional gas chromatography. This unresolved complex mixture (UCM) of hydrocarbons is particularly apparent when analysing weathered oils and extracts from tissues of organisms exposed to oil. Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish, reddish, or even greenish). In

11440-499: The leakage of chemicals also has an effect on the health of the local population. In well-regulated mines, hydrologists and geologists take careful measurements of water to take precaution to exclude any type of water contamination that could be caused by the mine's operations. The minimization of environmental degradation is enforced in American mining practices by federal and state law, by restricting operators to meet standards for

11570-621: The long run." Erosion of exposed hillsides, mine dumps, tailings dams and resultant siltation of drainages, creeks and rivers can significantly affect the surrounding areas, a prime example being the giant Ok Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea . Soil erosion can decrease the water availability for plant growth, resulting in a population decline in the plant ecosystem. Soil erosion occurs from physical disturbances caused by mining activities (e.g. excavation, blasting, etc.) in wilderness areas. This causes disturbances of tree root systems,

11700-446: The long term, and can heavily affect communities. Changes in pH or temperature can affect metal solubility, and thereby the bioavailable quantity that directly impact organisms. Moreover, contamination persists over time: ninety years after a pyrite mine closure, water pH was still very low and microorganisms populations consisted mainly of acidophil bacteria. One big case study that was considered extremely toxic to aquatic organisms

11830-411: The lower regions. As a consequence, compounds of this mixture began to combine in poorly understood ways to kerogen . Combination happened in a similar fashion as phenol and formaldehyde molecules react to urea-formaldehyde resins, but kerogen formation occurred in a more complex manner due to a bigger variety of reactants. The total process of kerogen formation from the beginning of anaerobic decay

11960-899: The matter to H 2 S and N 2 respectively by using the matter as a source for other reactants. Due to such anaerobic bacteria, at first, this matter began to break apart mostly via hydrolysis : polysaccharides and proteins were hydrolyzed to simple sugars and amino acids respectively. These were further anaerobically oxidized at an accelerated rate by the enzymes of the bacteria: e.g., amino acids went through oxidative deamination to imino acids , which in turn reacted further to ammonia and α-keto acids . Monosaccharides in turn ultimately decayed to CO 2 and methane . The anaerobic decay products of amino acids, monosaccharides, phenols and aldehydes combined into fulvic acids . Fats and waxes were not extensively hydrolyzed under these mild conditions. Some phenolic compounds produced from previous reactions worked as bactericides and

12090-494: The mine in order to prevent flooding. When a mine is abandoned, the pumping ceases, and water floods the mine. This introduction of water is the initial step in most acid rock drainage situations. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the weathering process but is exacerbated by large-scale earth disturbances characteristic of mining and other large construction activities, usually within rocks containing an abundance of sulfide minerals . Areas where

12220-666: The mine, and effects on biodiversity tend to follow the same pattern. Impacts can vary greatly depending on mobility and bioavailability of the contaminant : less-mobile molecules will stay inert in the environment while highly mobile molecules will easily move into another compartment or be taken up by organisms. For example, speciation of metals in sediments could modify their bioavailability, and thus their toxicity for aquatic organisms. Biomagnification plays an important role in polluted habitats: mining impacts on biodiversity, assuming that concentration levels are not high enough to directly kill exposed organisms, should be greater to

12350-440: The mined area returns to its original state. Mining can provide various advantages to societies, yet it can also spark conflicts, particularly regarding land use both above and below the surface. Mining operations remain rigorous and intrusive, often resulting in significant environmental impacts on local ecosystems and broader implications for planetary environmental health. To accommodate mines and associated infrastructure, land

12480-414: The mining can commence. Although the deforestation due to mining may be small compared to the total amount it may lead to species extinction if there is a high level of local endemism . The lifecycle of mining coal is one of the filthiest cycles that causes deforestation due to the amount of toxins, and heavy metals that are released soil and water environment. Although the effects of coal mining take

12610-445: The mining process and can have significant impacts on global climate change . Air pollutants have a negative impact on plant growth, primarily through interfering with resource accumulation. Once leaves are in close contact with the atmosphere, many air pollutants , such as O3 and NOx , affect the metabolic function of the leaves and interfere with net carbon fixation by the plant canopy. Air pollutants that are first deposited on

12740-563: The ocean floor, and sometimes polymetallic crusts (cobalt crusts) left behind at seamounts. These mineral deposits are often found in exotic ecosystems capable of surviving under extreme chemical conditions and abnormally high temperatures. Resource extraction has only increased over time, leading to the potential for significant losses of microbial ecosystem services at hydrothermal vents and increased ecosystem service degradation at inactive massive sulfide deposits. Potential drivers of ecosystem degradation via deepsea mining include acidification,

12870-428: The original site and anthropogenic substances release can have major impact on biodiversity in the area. Destruction of the habitat is the main component of biodiversity losses , but direct poisoning caused by mine-extracted material, and indirect poisoning through food and water, can also affect animals, vegetation and microorganisms. Habitat modification such as pH and temperature modification disturb communities in

13000-623: The outcome on growth will depend on a complex interaction of processes within the plant. At the ecosystem level, air pollution can shift the competitive balance among the species present and may lead to changes in the composition of the plant community. The impacts of air pollution can vary depending on the type and concentration of pollutant released. In agroecosystems these changes may be manifest in reduced economic yield. Adaptation and mitigation techniques to reduce air pollution created by mining are often focused on using cleaner energy sources. Switching from coal and diesel to gasoline can reduce

13130-425: The plants or the smaller organisms they eat can also lead to poisoning: in certain areas horses, goats and sheep are exposed to potentially toxic concentrations of copper and lead in grass. There are fewer ant species in soil containing high copper levels, in the vicinity of a copper mine. If fewer ants are found, chances are higher that other organisms living in the surrounding landscape are strongly affected by

13260-482: The presence of chemicals, and the soil is sometimes so disturbed that they are no longer able to associate with root plants. However, some fungi possess contaminant accumulation capacity and soil cleaning ability by changing the biodisponibility of pollutants, this can protect plants from potential damages that could be caused by chemicals. Their presence in contaminated sites could prevent loss of biodiversity due to mine-waste contamination, or allow for bioremediation ,

13390-496: The preservation of hydrothermal microbes and the species that depend on them is critical for retaining the rich biodiversity of seafloor environments and the ecosystem services they provide Water insect and crustacean communities are modified around a mine, resulting in a low tropic completeness and their community being dominated by predators. However, biodiversity of macroinvertebrates can remain high if sensitive species are replaced with tolerant ones. When diversity within

13520-556: The proportion of chemical elements varies over fairly narrow limits as follows: Four different types of hydrocarbon appear in crude oil. The relative percentage of each varies from oil to oil, determining the properties of each oil. The alkanes from pentane (C 5 H 12 ) to octane (C 8 H 18 ) are refined into gasoline, the ones from nonane (C 9 H 20 ) to hexadecane (C 16 H 34 ) into diesel fuel , kerosene and jet fuel . Alkanes with more than 16 carbon atoms can be refined into fuel oil and lubricating oil . At

13650-542: The protection of surface and groundwater from contamination. This is best done through the use of non-toxic extraction processes as bioleaching . Furthermore, protection from water contamination should continue after a mine has been decommissioned, as surroundings water systems can still become contaminated years after active use. The mining industry contributes between 4 and 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions . .The production of greenhouse gases, such as CO 2 and CH 4 , can occur both directly and indirectly throughout

13780-644: The refinery's own burners. During the winter, butane (C 4 H 10 ), is blended into the gasoline pool at high rates, because its high vapour pressure assists with cold starts. The aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated hydrocarbons that have one or more benzene rings . They tend to burn with a sooty flame, and many have a sweet aroma. Some are carcinogenic . These different components are separated by fractional distillation at an oil refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbon fractions. The components in an oil sample can be determined by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry . Due to

13910-460: The release of toxic heavy metals, removal of slow-growing benthic fauna, burial and respiration impairment of benthic organisms from the generation of sediment plumes, and disruption of the food supply chain among benthopelagic species. These potential outcomes can alter the chemical balance of these environments, leading to a cascade of declines in benthic and pelagic species that rely on hydrothermal vents as sources of nutrient availability. Ensuring

14040-399: The removal of undesired chemicals from contaminated soils. On the contrary, some microbes can deteriorate the environment: which can lead to elevated SO4 in the water and can also increase microbial production of hydrogen sulfide, a toxin for many aquatic plants and organisms. Mining processes produce an excess of waste materials known as tailings . The materials that are left over after are

14170-412: The reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms a "gas cap" over the petroleum, and saline water which, being heavier than most forms of crude oil, generally sinks beneath it. Crude oil may also be found in a semi-solid form mixed with sand and water, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it is usually referred to as crude bitumen . In Canada, bitumen

14300-509: The same time the world's first, small, oil refinery was opened at Jasło in Poland (then Austria), with a larger one opened at Ploiești in Romania shortly after. Romania (then being a vassal of the Ottoman empire) is the first country in the world to have had its annual crude oil output officially recorded in international statistics: 275 tonnes for 1857. In 1858, Georg Christian Konrad Hunäus found

14430-518: The second half of the 19th century, the term became commonly known for the liquid form of hydrocarbons. Petroleum, in one form or another, has been used since ancient times. More than 4300 years ago, bitumen was mentioned when the Sumerians used it to make boats. A tablet of the legend of the birth of Sargon of Akkad mentions a basket which was closed by straw and bitumen. More than 4000 years ago, according to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus , asphalt

14560-442: The soil, such as heavy metals, first affect the functioning of roots and interfere with soil resource capture by the plant. These reductions in resource capture (production of carbohydrate through photosynthesis, mineral nutrient uptake and water uptake from the soil) will affect plant growth through changes in resource allocation to the various plant structures. When air pollution stress co-occurs with other stresses, e.g. water stress,

14690-446: The species on top of the food chain because of this phenomenon. Adverse mining effects on biodiversity depend a great extent on the nature of the contaminant, the level of concentration at which it can be found in the environment, and the nature of the ecosystem itself. Some species are quite resistant to anthropogenic disturbances, while some others will completely disappear from the contaminated zone. Time alone does not seem to allow

14820-553: The stream sediments. These impacts may also be enhanced in areas located downstream from the heavy metal source. Mining impacts biodiversity across various spatial dimensions. Locally, the immediate effects are seen through direct habitat destruction at the mining sites. On a broader scale, mining activities contribute to significant environmental problems such as pollution and climate change, which have regional and global repercussions. Consequently, conservation strategies need to be multifaceted and geographically inclusive, tackling both

14950-457: The structure of local landscapes, mining can also produce large amounts of residual waste reducing the quality of air and water, thereby reducing the amount of accessible land for large mammals. This relationship has been highlighted in iron-rich areas of India where mining's anthropogenic impacts have been reduced by regulations on waste production, mitigating the adverse effects of mineral extraction on local fauna such as elephants. While mining

15080-528: The surrounding area. Endemic species are especially sensitive, since they require very specific environmental conditions. Destruction or slight modification of their habitat put them at the risk of extinction . Habitats can be damaged when there is not enough terrestrial product as well as by non-chemical products, such as large rocks from the mines that are discarded in the surrounding landscape with no concern for impacts on natural habitat. Concentrations of heavy metals are known to decrease with distance from

15210-574: The surrounding rocks and soil. The acidic and metal-rich AMD is a major source of environmental pollution, contaminating nearby surface waters and groundwater, harming ecosystems and rendering water unsuitable for drinking. AMD can persist for extended periods, even long after mining activities have ceased, leading to continual environmental degradation. The five principal technologies used to monitor and control water flow at mine sites are diversion systems, containment ponds, groundwater pumping systems, subsurface drainage systems, and subsurface barriers. In

15340-474: The tailings ponds are what put the environment at risk for flooding from the tailings ponds. Some heavy metals that accumulate in tailings, such as thorium, are linked to increase cancer risk. The tailings around China's Bayan Obo mine contains 70 000 tons of thorium. Contaminated groundwater is moving towards the Yellow River due to the absence of an impermeable lining for the tailing dam. A spoil tip

15470-408: The term stems from monasteries in southern Italy where it was in use by the end of the first millennium as an alternative for the older term " naphtha ". After that, the term was used in numerous manuscripts and books, such as in the treatise De Natura Fossilium , published in 1546 by the German mineralogist Georg Bauer , also known as Georgius Agricola. After the advent of the oil industry, during

15600-528: The title of E.W. Binney & Co. at Bathgate in West Lothian and E. Meldrum & Co. at Glasgow; their works at Bathgate were completed in 1851 and became the first truly commercial oil-works in the world with the first modern oil refinery. The world's first oil refinery was built in 1856 by Ignacy Łukasiewicz in Austria. His achievements also included the discovery of how to distill kerosene from seep oil,

15730-468: The volume of the world's reserves of conventional oil. Petroleum is a fossil fuel derived from fossilized organic materials , such as zooplankton and algae . Vast amounts of these remains settled to sea or lake bottoms where they were covered in stagnant water (water with no dissolved oxygen ) or sediments such as mud and silt faster than they could decompose aerobically . Approximately 1 m below this sediment, water oxygen concentration

15860-468: The water chemistry. High concentrations of heavy metals can impact pH, buffering capacity, and dissolved oxygen. Long-term storage of tailings and dust can lead to additional problems, as they can be easily blown off site by wind, as occurred at Skouriotissa , an abandoned copper mine in Cyprus . Environmental changes such as global warming and increased mining activity may increase the content of heavy metals in

15990-693: The water. Mine drainage can modify water pH, making it hard to differentiate direct impact on organisms from impacts caused by pH changes. Effects can nonetheless be observed and proven to be caused by pH modifications. Contaminants can also affect aquatic organisms through physical effects: streams with high concentrations of suspended sediment limit light, thus diminishing algae biomass. Metal oxide deposition can limit biomass by coating algae or their substrate, thereby preventing colonization. Factors that impact communities in acid mine drainage sites vary temporarily and seasonally: temperature, rainfall, pH, salinisation and metal quantity all display variations on

16120-612: Was activity in various parts of the world in the mid-19th century. A group directed by Major Alexeyev of the Bakinskii Corps of Mining Engineers hand-drilled a well in the Baku region of Bibi-Heybat in 1846. There were engine-drilled wells in West Virginia in the same year as Drake's well. An early commercial well was hand dug in Poland in 1853, and another in nearby Romania in 1857. At around

16250-414: Was closed off from external reactants, the resulting composition of the fuel mixture was dependent on the composition of the kerogen via reaction stoichiometry . Three types of kerogen exist: type I (algal), II (liptinic) and III (humic), which were formed mainly from algae , plankton and woody plants (this term includes trees , shrubs and lianas ) respectively. Catagenesis was pyrolytic despite

16380-525: Was concluded that mining-impacted forests had lower levels of fauna biodiversity in comparison to their counterparts, indicating that mining definitely hurt local animal biodiversity. This scenario, exemplifies the profound ecological repercussions of mining on fauna biodiversity and highlights the urgent need for implementation of conservation strategies to mitigate the impacts of mineral extraction on local wildlife populations. Animals can be poisoned directly by mine products and residuals. Bioaccumulation in

16510-423: Was low, below 0.1 mg/L, and anoxic conditions existed. Temperatures also remained constant. As further layers settled into the sea or lake bed, intense heat and pressure built up in the lower regions. This process caused the organic matter to change, first into a waxy material known as kerogen , found in various oil shales around the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons via

16640-543: Was the contamination that occurred in Minamata Bay . Methylmercury was released into wastewater by industrial chemical company's and a disease called Minamata disease was discovered in Kumamoto, Japan. This resulted in mercury poisoning in fishes and shellfishes and it was contaminating surrounding species and many died from it and it impacted anyone that ate the contaminated fishes. Another significant case study illuminates

16770-475: Was used by Byzantine Greeks against Arab ships, which were then attacking Constantinople . Crude oil was also distilled by Persian chemists , with clear descriptions given in Arabic handbooks such as those of Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes). The streets of Baghdad were paved with tar , derived from petroleum that became accessible from natural fields in the region. In the 9th century, oil fields were exploited in

16900-539: Was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon ; there were oil pits near Ardericca and Babylon, and a pitch spring on Zakynthos . Great quantities of it were found on the banks of the river Issus , one of the tributaries of the Euphrates . Ancient Persian tablets indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of petroleum in the upper levels of their society. The use of petroleum in ancient China dates back to more than 2000 years ago. The I Ching , one of

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