ALBERTA TAR SANDS SOUVENIR

ALBERTA TAR SANDS SOUVENIR

Second hand item

The Athabasca tar sands are large deposits of bitumen or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada – roughly centred on the town of Fort McMurray. These tar sands (or oil sands) consist of a mixture of crude bitumen (a semi-solid rock-like form of crude oil), silica sand, clay minerals, and water. The Athabasca deposit is the largest known reservoir of crude bitumen in the world.

The large scale exploitation of the tar sands is controversial, with critics citing damage to the natural environment and the effects on human welfare.

This rare and unusual tourist souvenir consists of a metal base with samples of the oil sands, the processed oil known as 'synthetic crude', and the resulting sand residue. 

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