A tar pit, or more accurately known as an asphalt pit or asphalt lake, is a geological occurrence where subterranean bitumen leaks to the surface, creating a large area of natural asphalt. This happens because after the material reaches the surface its lighter components vaporize, leaving only the thick asphalt.
Read more about Tar Pit: Known Tar Pits, Paleontological Significance, Living Organisms
Famous quotes containing the words tar and/or pit:
“The master, the swabber, the boatswain and I,
The gunner and his mate,
Loved Mall, Meg, and Marian and Margery,
But none of us cared for Kate;
For she had a tongue with a tang,
Would cry to a sailor, ‘Go hang!’
She loved not the savour of tar nor of pitch,
Yet a tailor might scratch her where’er she did itch:
Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and wicked men alike are mingled.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)