Geologists have located both oil and natural gas underground in the central United States. Oil and natural gas form from the remains of tiny sea organisms. The remains are buried in ocean sediments and slowly change to fossil fuels over millions of years.

Based on this information,
A.
foreign oil and natural gas must have been imported and pumped into the rock layers of the central United States.
B.
there must be a large ocean deep underground in the central United States.
C.
the central United States must have been covered by sea water at some point in the past.
D.
the oil and natural gas in the central United States must have flowed through the ground from the Gulf of Mexico.

1 answer

The correct answer is C. the central United States must have been covered by sea water at some point in the past.

This conclusion is based on the fact that oil and natural gas form from the remains of tiny sea organisms, which implies that there must have been an ocean or sea environment where these organisms lived and died, leading to the formation of fossil fuels over millions of years.