Keywords

(a) A dark, thinly laminated carbonaceous shale, exceptionally rich in organic matter (5% or more carbon content) and sulfide (esp. iron sulfide, usually pyrite), and commonly containing unusual concentrations of certain trace elements (U, V, Cu, Ni).  Fossil organisms are commonly preserved as a graphitic or carbonaceous film or as pyrite replacements.  Syn: biopelite.  (b) A finely laminated, sometimes canneloid, carbonaceous shale often found as a roof to a coal seam (Tomkeieff, 1954, p. 29).  Syn: black metal.

Tomkeieff, S.I. (1954). Coals and bitumens and related fossil carbonaceous substances; nomenclature and classification.  Pergamon Press, London, 122 p.

Geological keywords, such as “granite”, “lake”.  The definitions are generally taken from the AGI Glossary of Geology.  Keywords with a geographic context (e.g. Cape Smith Fold Belt, Selwyn Basin, Grenville Province) are assigned to a separate category.