This process, known as diagenesis and catagenesis, essentially cooked the dead plankton. The lipids in the cell walls of these ancient plankton are molecularly similar to the components of crude oil.
How Geologic Traps Capture and Hold Crude Oil Underground
The key to finding usable oil is the trap. Migration and Trapping: Finding the Reservoir After the oil formed, it did not remain in the source rock.
This reservoir is the underground lake of oil that drillers aim to access. These included algae—plant-like cells that perform photosynthesis—and zooplankton—tiny animals that fed on the algae.
How Geologic Traps Capture and Hold Crude Oil Underground
The Biological Origins: Life and Death in Ancient Seas The story of oil begins in the warm, shallow seas that covered vast portions of the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. When the rock is penetrated, the pressure within the reservoir forces the oil to the surface.
More About Where does oil come from
Looking at Where does oil come from from another angle can help expand the discussion and give readers a second clear paragraph under the same section.
More perspective on Where does oil come from can make the topic easier to follow by connecting earlier points with a few simple takeaways.