A tar pit, or more properly asphalt pit, is a geological occurrence where subterranean bitumen leaks to the surface, creating a large puddle, pit, or lake of asphalt. This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Bitumen is a mixture of organic liquids that are highly viscous, black, sticky, entirely soluble in carbon disulfide, and composed primarily of highly condensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. ... Base layer of asphalt concrete in a road under construction. ...
Known tar pits
There are only a few known asphalt lakes worldwide:
The Pitch Lake The Pitch Lake is a lake of natural asphalt located at La Brea in southwest Trinidad. ... La Brea is a town in southwestern Trinidad. ... La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles Countys Miracle Mile District. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government - Type Mayor-Council - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo - Governing body City Council Area - City 498. ... McKittrick is a census-designated place located in Kern County, California. ... Bakersfield is the county seat of Kern County, California, in the United States. ...
Archeological significance
Animals are sometimes unable to escape from the asphalt if they fall in and this makes these pits excellent locations to excavate bones of prehistoric animals. La Brea Tar Pits have a museum built around the fossilized remains of mammals and birds found in such a tar pit. For other uses of the term, see Fossil (disambiguation) Fossils are the mineralized remains of animals or plants or other artifacts such as footprints. ...
Brea is Spanish for "tar", "The La Brea TarPits" being a redundant "The The TarTarPits" (an example of pleonasm).
The 'tar' pits were used as a source of asphalt (for use as low-grade fuel and for waterproofing and insulation) by early settlers of the Los Angeles area.
Among the prehistoric species associated with the La Brea TarPits are mammoths, dire wolves, short-faced bears, ground sloths, and the state fossil of California, the saber-toothed cat, Smilodon californicus.
While the average size of a tarpit was 15 feet in diameter at the surface (the largest one having a semi-commodious measurement of 25 x 15 feet at the surface), the smaller pits with diameters of five feet or less present a serious challenge to animal entrapment scenario writers.
The fact that bones were found in pit-like formations is due to the tar vents saturating and preserving the bones within their reach, while the remaining bones beyond the margin disappeared through the attritional effects of weather and decay.
Pit 3 began on July 16, 1913 as an exploratory trench from the bank of a man-made pond.
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