tar sand

noun

, Geology.

1. bituminous sand or sandstone from which asphalt can be obtained.

tar sand

noun

1. a sandstone in which hydrocarbons have been trapped; the lighter compounds evaporate, leaving a residue of asphalt in the rock pores

Word History and Origins

Origin of tar sand¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

No stranger to extractive industries, he worked in Alberta’s tar sand oil fields before working until retirement as a police officer at the Makah Nation, the Quinault Indian Nation and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

From Seattle Times

So she headed west, to the tar sand fields of northern Alberta, one of the world’s most environmentally destructive oil operations, where workers lived in barracks-like camps and men vastly outnumbered women.

From New York Times

In fact, there’s no more good tar sand pipelines.

From Slate

One of those spills, a 2010 release of more than 1 million gallons of sludgy tar sand soil into a Michigan creek polluted a nearly 40-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River.

From Seattle Times

According to Ms. Kearney, a 2010 oil spill on another Enbridge line in Michigan, which poured nearly 850,000 gallons of tar sand into the Kalamazoo River, piqued public interest in Line 5 and other pipelines.

From New York Times