DCHP-1 Online
tar sands tar sand-bed 
an extensive sand formation along the Athabasca River impregnated with petroleum oil and tar.
See also: Alberta tar sands
- 1897 Just at this place commence the wonderful tar sand-beds of the Athabasca, extending over an enormous area.
- 1905 The remarkable tar sands, lignite beds and gas deposits of Athabasca give promise of wondrous richness when fully developed. . . .
- 1964 I'll bet, unless you are closely associated with the tar sands of northern Alberta, you have all sorts of preconceived idea[s] of this natural phenomenon--mostly wrong.
- 1897 Just at this place commence the wonderful tar sand-beds of the Athabasca, extending over an enormous area.