9781422285596

Chapter One HOW NATURAL GAS FORMED N atural gas started life millions of years ago, as microscopic life forms known as plankton, Words to Understand

hydrocarbon: a substance containing only the pure chemical substances, or elements, carbon and hydrogen. kerogens: a variety of substances formed when once-living things decayed and broke down, on the way to becoming natural gas or oil. methanogenic: able to make the gas methane. porous: allowing a liquid to seep or soak through small holes and channels, like a sponge. shales: rocks with very small particles or grains, usually of clay minerals.

floating in large bodies of water such as seas, oceans, and great lakes. Some of these life forms were phytoplankton (plant plankton). Just like other plants, the phytoplankton captured the Sun’s light energy to grow through the process called photosynthesis. These phytoplankton were consumed by zooplankton (animal plankton), which took in the Sun’s energy for their own use. Some of the larger zooplankton ate up the smaller ones, transferring the sun’s energy again, and so on.

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