Torbanite

[3] A similar mineral, cannel coal, is classified as being a terrestrial form of oil shale, not a lacustrine type.

[3] Torbanite is named after Torbane Hill near Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland, a major location of occurrence.

[1][4] Organic matter (telalginite) in torbanite is derived from lipid-rich microscopic plant remains similar in appearance to the fresh-water colonial green alga Botryococcus braunii.

[4] A rubber-like, elastic, highly-resilient bituminous substance, known as coorongite—classified as an organic-rich sediment and named after the Coorong where it was found—has been identified as a 'peat stage' in the formation of torbanite.

[6][12][13][14][11] Substances very similar to coorongite had other historical names, depending upon the location of the deposits, such as n'hangellite from Portuguese East African (now Mozambique) and marahunite from Brazil.