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.

Photomicrograph of torbanite, from Bathgate, Scotland