Alum shale

Alum shale
Type	Geological formation
Lithology
Primary	Black shale
Other	Shale, Oil shale
Location
Country	Sweden, Denmark, Norway, England

Alum shale (also known as alum schist and alum slate) is a variety of black shale. It is shale or clay slate containing pyrite. Decomposition of pyrite by weathering forms sulfuric acid, which acts on potash and alumina constituents to form alum, which often occurs as efflorescences on the rock outcrop.

As alum shale contains kerogen originated from algae, it is also classified as marinite-type oil shale. At the same time it is rich in aromatic hydrocarbon attributed to post-depositional irradiation damage induced by uranium concentration in the shale.^[1] Alum shale also contains enhanced levels of radium as a result of uranium decay.^[2] Between 1950 and 1989, Sweden used alum shale for the uranium production.^[3]

Paleofauna

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs of the Alum Shale
Taxa	Presence	Notes	Images
Genus: Parapsicephalus[4] P. purdoni[4]	Found near the town of Whitby in Yorkshire, England.[4]

References

1. Peters, Kenneth E.; Walters, Clifford C.; Moldowan, J. Michael (2005). The biomarker guide. Cambridge University Press. p. 777. ISBN 978-0-521-83762-0. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
2. Stranden, E.; Strand, T. (1988). "Radon in an Alum Shale Rich Norwegian Area". Radiation Protection Dosimetry (Oxford University Press) 24 (24): 367–370. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
3. Dyni, John R. (2006). "Geology and resources of some world oil shale deposits. Scientific Investigations Report 2005–5294" (PDF). United States Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
4. Wellnhofer, Peter (1991). "Summary of Lower Jurassic Pterosaurs." The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. London, UK: Salamander Books Limited. p. 79. ISBN 0-86101-566-5.

Preceded by Proterozoic Eon	Phanerozoic Eon
	Paleozoic Era						Mesozoic Era			Cenozoic Era
	Cambrian	Ordovician	Silurian	Devonian	Carboniferous	Permian	Triassic	Jurassic	Cretaceous	Paleogene	Neogene	4ry