Oil
Is oil made from dinosaurs?
In short
No: oil formed mostly from microscopic sea creatures buried on the sea floor and slowly heated over millions of years.
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In three stops
Where were its atoms born?
Oil's carbon comes from stars and its hydrogen from the Big Bang.
How did it form on Earth?
Contrary to popular belief, oil is not made from dinosaurs but mostly from countless microscopic sea creatures (plankton and algae). Buried in oxygen-poor mud on the sea floor, they were heated for millions of years a few kilometres down and turned into oil and natural gas.
What did humans make of it?
Besides fuel, oil is the raw material for plastics, medicines, fertilisers and paints. Most of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels.
Did you know?
Oil took millions of years to form; humanity is burning it in just a few centuries.
Where did the gasoline go? →