Tar pit
Encyclopedia
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
occurrence where subterranean bitumen leaks to the surface, creating a large area of natural asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
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Known tar pits
There are only a few known asphalt lakes worldwide:- Tierra de BreaPitch LakeThe Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, located at La Brea in southwest Trinidad, within the Siparia Regional Corporation. The lake covers about 40 ha and is reported to be 75 m deep....
at La BreaLa Brea, Trinidad and TobagoLa Brea is a town in southwestern Trinidad, located north of Point Fortin and south of Rousillac and San Fernando. La Brea is best known as the site of the Pitch Lake, a natural asphalt lake. Pronunciation of "La Brea" differs from that used in the USA at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles...
, Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles... - Lake BermudezLake BermudezLake Guanoco is the world's second largest natural asphalt lake and lies in Venezuela in northern South America....
at Libertador, Estado SucreSucre (state)Sucre State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Cumaná. Sucre State covers a total surface area of 11,800 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 916,600.-Municipalities and municipal seats:...
, VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south... - La Brea Tar PitsLa Brea Tar PitsThe La Brea Tar Pits are a cluster of tar pits around which Hancock Park was formed, in the urban heart of Los Angeles. Asphaltum or tar has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years. The tar is often covered with water...
Los AngelesLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - McKittrick Tar PitsMcKittrick Tar PitsThe McKittrick Tar Pits are a series of natural asphalt lakes situated in the western part of Kern County in southern California. The pits are the most extensive asphalt lakes in the state...
at McKittrickMcKittrick, CaliforniaMcKittrick is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. McKittrick is located northwest of Taft, at an elevation of 1056 feet . The population was 115 at the 2010 census, down from 160 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
near Bakersfield, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - Carpinteria Tar PitsCarpinteria Tar PitsThe Carpinteria Tar Pits are a series of natural asphalt lakes situated in the southern part of Santa Barbara County in southern California....
at CarpinteriaCarpinteria, CaliforniaCarpinteria is a small oceanside city located in southeastern Santa Barbara County, California, east of Santa Barbara and northwest of Ventura. The population was 13,040 at the 2010 census, down from 14,194 at the 2000 census....
, Santa Barbara CountySanta Barbara County, CaliforniaSanta Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - Tar pits in Hit, Iraq
There are other fossil-bearing asphalt deposits in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
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For other rich deposits, fossilized where they occurred, see Lagerstätten. Tar pits are the resting places of many fossils.
Paleontological significance
Animals are usually unable to escape from the asphalt when they fall in, making these pits excellent locations to excavate bones of prehistoric animals. The La Brea Tar Pits Museum is built around the tar pit and houses the fossilized remains of mammals and birds found within. The tar pits can trap animals because the asphalt that seeps up from underground forms a bitumen pit thick enough to relentlessly grab even mammoths until they die of starvation, exhaustion of trying to escape or from the heat that would come from the sun.In computer science
Brooks in his seminal work The Mythical Man-MonthThe Mythical Man-Month
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering is a book on software engineering and project management by Fred Brooks, whose central theme is that "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later"...
(1975) has a chapter entitled "The tar pit", alluding to the tendency of software projects, once in trouble, never to escape from that trouble, any attempt to do so making it worse.