The Lesson(s) of  Gilsonite

Physical description of Gilsonite:     "Gilsonite" is the trade-name for a solid asphaltite material which is mined in north-east Utah.  It is a black, lustrous brittle hydrocarbon material, with conchoidal fractures, and looks just like obsidian.

Stratigraphic description:  Gilsonite is found in almost vertical dikes ranging from a few millimeters to several meters in thickness in flat-lying strata of Eocene and early Oligocene sandstones of the Uinta formation. Gilsonite dikes are exposed in the vicinity of the Green and White rivers, south of the town of Vernal, Utah, within the east-central part of the Uinta Basin. The material is believed to have formed in the middle Eocene in oil shales from lacustrine environments in what is now the upper part of the Green River formation.  As Lake Uinta expanded and deepened with a maximum extent occupying much of central and northeast Utah and northwest Colorado, fine-grain bitumen-rich carbonate rocks were deposited over a wide region, with an organic content of up to 50%. As the lake shrank, the oil-shale beds were overlain by clastic fluvial deposits of the Duchesne River formation.The source beds generated formation water which was forcefully expelled, creating hydraulic fractures in the overlying Uinta formation before the source beds were sufficiently mature to generate significant quantities of liquid bitumen. The Gilsonite dikes are early products of a period of regional, post-Laramide, northeast-southwest tectonic extension that affected much of the northeast Colorado Plateau.  Gilsonite was transported to its present location where it wedged open preexisting dikes. In the easternmost part of the Uinta Basin, maximum emplacement depths are 700 - 1,300 meters, while in the center of the basin, emplacement depths are up to 2,500 meters.

History of uses :  The first known use of Gilsonite turned out badly - a blacksmith mistook the material for coal, and used it to fire up his forge.  His shop almost burned down when hot liquid asphalt began leaking out of his furnace.  Samuel Gilson began exploration of the region in 1886 and opened the first Gilsonite mine in 1888.  He was a tireless promoter of Gilsonite as a wonder product, and it has a myriad of uses: A) it is distilled and heat-refined to produce high-octane automotive gasoline, diesel fuels, LPG, raw naphtha, lubricating oils, road oils, and asphalt paving products; B) Saturates roofing and building construction papers (tar paper); C) Base for paints, varnishes, anticorrosive coatings; D) Component of battery boxes; E) Insulating and waterproofing jackets for underground pipes; F) Stabilizer in non-smearing inks; G) Additive for oil-well slurries; H) Binder for wood fibers; I) High-BTU component of explosives; J) Can be heated and calcined to produce metallurgical grade carbon coke, and high-purity carbon electrodes for the nuclear power industry.

Didactic lessons : As geology students move into the business world after graduation, they may be called upon by their employer to find practical uses for earth resources. Don't give up - don't be discouraged by early poor results (like the blacksmith shop).