Mineral Deficiencies cause various minor and serious health conditions.
Humic shale is like the floor of a forest, very compacted dry leaves and sticks.
The consistency is like dried saltine crackers or very dry oak leaves. It's not rock. It's not fossilized. To be fossilized you need a lot of water in the area. Then, as the water soaks the plants, minerals from the water are absorbed into the plant cells, fossilizing the plant.