Month: July 2009

A stratigraphic unit of major significance which was deposited during a specific time period, and which can be correlated worldwide on the basis of its fossil content

A gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen generated by the gasification of a carbon-containing fuel to a gaseous product with a heating value.

Synthetic fuels are a new generation of transportation fuels with near to zero content of sulfur and aromatics and represent a good economic alternative to over dependence on conventional fuels whilst decreasing emission of dangerous pollutants.

Hot water is used to extract (or separate) the bitumen from the oil sand. It is then upgraded to produce “synthetic’ crude oil and other petroleum products. This is done by removing carbon and adding hydrogen to remove impurities such as nitrogen and sulfur. The upgraded product is called “synthetic” because it is altered from its naturally occurring state (bitumen) by a chemical process. Synthetic crude oil is not the same as synthetic oil for vehicles. Synthetic crude oil is very similar to conventional oil, there is just more work involved in upgrading the bitumen.

Basin – or trough-shaped fold in rock in which rock layers are downwardly convex. The youngest rock layers form the core of the fold and outward from the core progressively older rocks occur. Synclines typically do not trap hydrocarbons because fluids tend to leak up the limbs of the fold. Opposite of anticline