Green River Formation

The Green River Formation is a sequence of Eocene sedimentary rocks in the western United States, famous for thick oil shale deposits formed in ancient lake basins.

Oil shale: A fine-grained sedimentary rock containing solid organic matter that can yield oil when heated. The formation’s best-known resource is oil shale, especially rich in kerogen.
Eocene climate: The global and regional climate conditions that prevailed during the Eocene epoch. Warm conditions and variable rainfall influenced the water balance of the ancient lake basins.
Piceance Basin: A sedimentary basin in western Colorado containing major deposits of Green River Formation oil shale. Its thick oil-shale sequence is one of the formation’s principal resource areas.
Oil shale extraction: Methods for heating or processing oil shale to produce liquid hydrocarbons. The formation’s kerogen must be converted before it can serve as conventional liquid fuel.
Colorado River Compact: A 1922 agreement dividing the Colorado River’s water among U.S. states in its basin. Proposed development must fit within an already allocated and heavily used water supply.
Kerogen: A mixture of solid organic compounds in sedimentary rocks that can generate petroleum when heated. Kerogen accumulated in the formation’s lake mud and gives its oil shale potential.
Lake stratification: The separation of lake water into layers with different temperatures or chemical properties. Stratified waters could limit oxygen at depth and help preserve organic matter in lake mud.
Uinta Basin: A sedimentary basin in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado containing Eocene Green River Formation rocks. Its Green River strata include oil shale as well as other petroleum-bearing rocks.
In-situ oil shale processing: A method that heats oil shale underground to convert kerogen into recoverable hydrocarbons. This approach has been proposed for deeply buried deposits that cannot be mined conventionally.
Land reclamation: The restoration of land disturbed by mining or other industrial activity. Surface extraction of oil shale would leave extensive disturbed ground requiring rehabilitation.

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