Marcellus-Formation

The Marcellus Formation ( engl. Marcellus Shale ) is a unit of marine sedimentary rock, which is located in eastern North America. Is named the formation after a striking insight near the village of Marcellus in the U.S. state of New York in the United States. It extends over a large part of the Appalachian Plateau. The shale contains largely untapped natural gas reserves. The proximity to markets on the east coast of the United States makes the formation an attractive target for the development of the energy and chemical industry. Is the gas is extracted by hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. The method is the result of severe environmental damage as a result of chemical use and potential hazards to groundwater, climate damage due to methane emissions and potential earthquake danger highly controversial (see also: # Hydraulic_Fracturing environmental problems ).

Black shale is the dominant lithology, but the Marcellus formation contains light slate and limestone that formed due to the change in sea level during their deposition before nearly 400 million years ago. The black shale was in relatively deep water devoid of oxygen deposited and contains only sparse fossils. Most fossils are contained in the limestone. The black shale also contains iron ore, which was used in the early economic development of the region as well as uranium and pyrite, which are environmental hazards. The fissile shale erodes easily, which leads to environmental challenges as well as in the development of gas deposits.