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NAL Agricultural Thesaurus
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Concept Breadcrumbs

Fields of Study > geology > sediments > sand > oil sands
Natural Resources, Conservation, Environment > natural resources > energy resources > fuels > fossil fuels > oil shale > oil sands
Natural Resources, Conservation, Environment > natural resources > mineral resources > fossil fuels > oil shale > oil sands
Fields of Study > geology > rocks > sedimentary rocks > mudstone > shale > oil shale > oil sands
Preferred Term:

oil sands

Definition:
Oil sands are a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil. Oil sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil. The bitumen in oil sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state; instead oil sand deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques, or the oil is extracted by underground heating with additional upgrading.
Concept Schemes:
NALT Full
Broader Concept:
sand, oil shale
Entry Terms:
  • bituminous sands
URI:
https://lod.nal.usda.gov/nalt/105520
Download this Concept:
RDF/XMLCreated 2007-11-05, last modified 2017-12-06
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