Yes, the Earth does produce asphalt. It is found in crude petroleum, the same stuff that is refined to make oil and petrol.
It doesn’t look like a basketball court when it comes out of the Earth though. To make roads and other surfaces from asphalt it is mixed with bitumen/tarmac to make it cement-like.
Right, so the earth doesn’t produce ROADS, that’d be weird – a road coming out the ground with pavements and stuff. The earth produces oil (which is just old, very altered biological stuff). The lighter liquids from oil are removed to make fuels and things, and you’re eventually left with this sticky black mess that contains all kinds of stuff. Technically that’s asphalt. On a molecular level it’s very complex, unlike the stuff we use in fuel with is simple, and purified before we put it in planes and cars.
Asphalt’s gluey. Mix it with rocks and other minerals and it all kind of sets very hard to give roads and things. Americans call that asphalt, but it’s actually asphalt concrete, which is maybe what you’re referring to?
The sticky stuff is amazing. It’s hard when cooled, but when hot it’s kind of bendy. We call that “thermoplastic”. On hot days you can sometimes see black bits in roads looking a bit like a liquid. The advantage of that is that the roads expand and contract just fine with the changes in temperature, and don’t crack.
Yes, the Earth does produce asphalt. It is found in crude petroleum, the same stuff that is refined to make oil and petrol.
It doesn’t look like a basketball court when it comes out of the Earth though. To make roads and other surfaces from asphalt it is mixed with bitumen/tarmac to make it cement-like.
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Right, so the earth doesn’t produce ROADS, that’d be weird – a road coming out the ground with pavements and stuff. The earth produces oil (which is just old, very altered biological stuff). The lighter liquids from oil are removed to make fuels and things, and you’re eventually left with this sticky black mess that contains all kinds of stuff. Technically that’s asphalt. On a molecular level it’s very complex, unlike the stuff we use in fuel with is simple, and purified before we put it in planes and cars.
Asphalt’s gluey. Mix it with rocks and other minerals and it all kind of sets very hard to give roads and things. Americans call that asphalt, but it’s actually asphalt concrete, which is maybe what you’re referring to?
The sticky stuff is amazing. It’s hard when cooled, but when hot it’s kind of bendy. We call that “thermoplastic”. On hot days you can sometimes see black bits in roads looking a bit like a liquid. The advantage of that is that the roads expand and contract just fine with the changes in temperature, and don’t crack.
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Again Aimee and Matt have great answers, to which there is nothing useful that I can add.
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