La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; brea in Spanish) has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years.

Tar pits, sometimes referred to as asphalt pits, are large asphalt deposits. They form in the presence of petroleum , which is created when decayed organic matter is subjected to pressure underground.

Oct 20, 2013 · Here's some bubbling tar at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California on a cool, Fall morning. Not much else, I just found it fascinating to watch.

May 14, 2007 · Researchers at UC Riverside have finally found the answer: Hardy bacteria embedded in the natural asphalt are eating away at the petroleum and burping up methane. Of the bacteria the...

May 22, 2007 · LOS ANGELES -- Like many visitors to the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits, sisters Samantha and Katie Salazar watched a basketball-size bubble emerge from dark, slimy gunk Sunday and wondered, why are the...

A sculpted mammoth shows visitors to the La Brea Tar Pits what these ancient animals might have looked like, but the pits themselves have looked the same for thousands of years. How did they form, and what discoveries lie beneath the sticky surface?

Rain and groundwater has collected above the bubbling asphalt, creating a small lake. The lake’s bubbles, sheet, and distinctive odor come from a deep underground oil field. Here you can see a recreation of a mammoth becoming trapped in “tar.”

Jul 12, 2022 · Why Do Tar Pits Bubble? Tar pits bubble due to bacteria within the asphalt that releases methane gas. The methane rises to the surface and then creates bubbles.

854K views, 2.2K likes, 78 loves, 105 comments, 369 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from La Brea Tar Pits and Museum: "Dr." Will Ferrell finally tells us where those gurgling tar pits bubbles come...

Oct 28, 2022 · La Brea Tar Pits recognized as a geological heritage site. A methane gas bubble breaks the surface of a pool of asphalt at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park. The tar pits were recognized...