romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
The word asphalt is derived from the late Middle English, in turn from French asphalte, based on Late Latin asphalton, asphaltum, which is the latinisation of the Greek ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos, ásphalton), a word meaning "asphalt/bitumen/pitch", which perhaps derives from ἀ-, "without" and σφάλλω (sfallō), "make fall". Note that in French, the term asphalte is used for naturally occurring bitumen-soaked limestone deposits, and for specialised manufactured products with fewer voids or greater bitumen content than the "asphaltic concrete" used to pave roads. It is a significant fact that the first use of asphalt by the ancients was in the nature of a cement for securing or joining together various objects, and it thus seems likely that the name itself was expressive of this application. Specifically Herodotus mentioned that bitumen was brought to Babylon to build its gigantic fortification wall. From the Greek, the word passed into late Latin, and thence into French (asphalte) and English ("asphaltum" and "asphalt").

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is the last origination of the word asphalt?
A: late Middle English', '
Q: From what language does asphalt initially come?
A: Greek', '
Q: What are the meanings of the Greek word for asphalt?
A: asphalt/bitumen/pitch', '
Q: What is the French term for natural asphalt?
A: asphalte', '
Q: To construct what feature was asphalt brought to Babylon?
A: wall']
The terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English, asphalt (or asphalt cement) is the carefully refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called bitumen. Geologists often prefer the term bitumen. Common usage often refers to various forms of asphalt/bitumen as "tar", such as at the La Brea Tar Pits. Another archaic term for asphalt/bitumen is "pitch".

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How are the words bitumen and asphalt frequently used?
A: interchangeably', '
Q: Where is bitumen the usual term for refined residue from crude oils?
A: United States', '
Q: What group likes the term bitumen instead of asphalt?
A: Geologists', '
Q: What is a naming term for asphalt?
A: tar', '
Q: What is asphalt called outside of the US?
A: bitumen']
The great majority of asphalt used commercially is obtained from petroleum. Nonetheless, large amounts of asphalt occur in concentrated form in nature. Naturally occurring deposits of asphalt/bitumen are formed from the remains of ancient, microscopic algae (diatoms) and other once-living things. These remains were deposited in the mud on the bottom of the ocean or lake where the organisms lived. Under the heat (above 50 °C) and pressure of burial deep in the earth, the remains were transformed into materials such as asphalt/bitumen, kerogen, or petroleum.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: From where does most asphalt come?
A: petroleum', '
Q: What are the sources of natural deposits of asphalt?
A: once-living things', '
Q: How much heat is required for the natural production of asphalt?
A: above 50 °C', '
Q: Besides heat, what other requirement is needed to form asphalt?
A: pressure', '
Q: What other product of heat and pressure does the formation of asphalt and petroleum  produce?
A: kerogen']
The world's largest deposit of natural bitumen, known as the Athabasca oil sands is located in the McMurray Formation of Northern Alberta. This formation is from the early Cretaceous, and is composed of numerous lenses of oil-bearing sand with up to 20% oil. Isotopic studies attribute the oil deposits to be about 110 million years old. Two smaller but still very large formations occur in the Peace River oil sands and the Cold Lake oil sands, to the west and southeast of the Athabasca oil sands, respectively. Of the Alberta bitumen deposits, only parts of the Athabasca oil sands are shallow enough to be suitable for surface mining. The other 80% has to be produced by oil wells using enhanced oil recovery techniques like steam-assisted gravity drainage.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: What is the name of the world's greatest deposit of bitumen?
A: Athabasca oil sands", '
Q: Where are the Athabasca oil sands located?
A: Northern Alberta', '
Q: What formative period  produced bitumen?
A: early Cretaceous', '
Q: How old are the Athabasca deposits?
A: 110 million years', '
Q: What percentage of recovery of bitumen is by oil wells?
A: 80%']
Bitumen was used in early photographic technology. In 1826 or 1827, it was used by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce to make the oldest surviving photograph from nature. The bitumen was thinly coated onto a pewter plate which was then exposed in a camera. Exposure to light hardened the bitumen and made it insoluble, so that when it was subsequently rinsed with a solvent only the sufficiently light-struck areas remained. Many hours of exposure in the camera were required, making bitumen impractical for ordinary photography, but from the 1850s to the 1920s it was in common use as a photoresist in the production of printing plates for various photomechanical printing processes.[not in citation given]

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what early technology was bitumen used?
A: photographic', '
Q: What photographer used bitumen to make the earliest extant nature picture?
A: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce', '
Q: What feature of bitumen use in photography made it impractical?
A: hours of exposure', '
Q: During what period was bitumen used in printing processes?
A: 1850s to the 1920s', '
Q: Exposure to what natural element was necessary for early photographic plates?
A: light']
The first British patent for the use of asphalt/bitumen was 'Cassell's patent asphalte or bitumen' in 1834. Then on 25 November 1837, Richard Tappin Claridge patented the use of Seyssel asphalt (patent #7849), for use in asphalte pavement, having seen it employed in France and Belgium when visiting with Frederick Walter Simms, who worked with him on the introduction of asphalt to Britain. Dr T. Lamb Phipson writes that his father, Samuel Ryland Phipson, a friend of Claridge, was also "instrumental in introducing the asphalte pavement (in 1836)". Indeed, mastic pavements had been previously employed at Vauxhall by a competitor of Claridge, but without success.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did Richard Tappin Claridge patent asphalt for use in pavement?
A: 25 November 1837', '
Q: When was the first British patent for the use of bitumen?
A: 1834', '
Q: Where had Claridge previously seen asphalt used as pavement?
A: France and Belgium', "
Q: What friend of Claridge's was helpful in introducing asphalt for use in pavements?
A: Samuel Ryland Phipson", '
Q: What type of pavement techniques had already been tried by a competitor of Claridge?
A: mastic']
Roads in the US have been paved with materials that include asphalt/bitumen since at least 1870, when a street in front of the Newark, NJ City Hall was paved. In many cases, these early pavings were made from naturally occurring "bituminous rock", such as at Ritchie Mines in Macfarlan in Ritchie County, West Virginia from 1852 to 1873. In 1876, asphalt-based paving was used to pave Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, in time for the celebration of the national centennial. Asphalt/bitumen was also used for flooring, paving and waterproofing of baths and swimming pools during the early 20th century, following similar trends in Europe.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Since what date has asphalt been used for road paving in the US?
A: 1870', '
Q: In front of what NJ building was the street paved with asphalt in 1870?
A: City Hall', '
Q: What natural substance was used in early road pavings?
A: bituminous rock', '
Q: From what Virginia  mines was asphalt obtained for early street pavings?
A: Ritchie Mines', '
Q: For what purpose was asphalt used in swimming pools and baths?
A: waterproofing']
In 1838, there was a flurry of entrepreneurial activity involving asphalt/bitumen, which had uses beyond paving. For example, asphalt could also used for flooring, damp proofing in buildings, and for waterproofing of various types of pools and baths, with these latter themselves proliferating in the 19th century. On the London stockmarket, there were various claims as to the exclusivity of asphalt quality from France, Germany and England. And numerous patents were granted in France, with similar numbers of patent applications being denied in England due to their similarity to each other. In England, "Claridge's was the type most used in the 1840s and 50s"

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what year was asphalt used for uses aside from road paving?
A: 1838', '
Q: In what places were asphalt used as waterproofing?
A: pools and baths', '
Q: For what reason was asphalt used in the flooring of buildings?
A: damp proofing', "
Q: When was Claridge's asphalt the most often used? 
A: 1840s and 50s", '
Q: Many of what were granted in France, but denied in Britain?
A: patents']
The value of the deposit was obvious from the start, but the means of extracting the bitumen were not. The nearest town, Fort McMurray, Alberta was a small fur trading post, other markets were far away, and transportation costs were too high to ship the raw bituminous sand for paving. In 1915, Sidney Ells of the Federal Mines Branch experimented with separation techniques and used the bitumen to pave 600 feet of road in Edmonton, Alberta. Other roads in Alberta were paved with oil sands, but it was generally not economic. During the 1920s Dr. Karl A. Clark of the Alberta Research Council patented a hot water oil separation process and entrepreneur Robert C. Fitzsimmons built the Bitumount oil separation plant, which between 1925 and 1958 produced up to 300 barrels (50 m3) per day of bitumen using Dr. Clark's method. Most of the bitumen was used for waterproofing roofs, but other uses included fuels, lubrication oils, printers ink, medicines, rust and acid-proof paints, fireproof roofing, street paving, patent leather, and fence post preservatives. Eventually Fitzsimmons ran out of money and the plant was taken over by the Alberta government. Today the Bitumount plant is a Provincial Historic Site.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who experimented with bitumen extraction techniques to make shipping easier?
A: Sidney Ells', '
Q: What researcher patented a hot water oil process to separate bitumen?
A: Dr. Karl A. Clark', '
Q: When did Ells begin using bitumen as a paving in Alberta?
A: 1915', '
Q: Who constructed the Bitumont oil separation plant?
A: Robert C. Fitzsimmons', "
Q: For what was most of the the Bitumont plant's output was used for waterproofing?
A: roofs"]
Canadian bitumen does not differ substantially from oils such as Venezuelan extra-heavy and Mexican heavy oil in chemical composition, and the real difficulty is moving the extremely viscous bitumen through oil pipelines to the refinery. Many modern oil refineries are extremely sophisticated and can process non-upgraded bitumen directly into products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and refined asphalt without any preprocessing. This is particularly common in areas such as the US Gulf coast, where refineries were designed to process Venezuelan and Mexican oil, and in areas such as the US Midwest where refineries were rebuilt to process heavy oil as domestic light oil production declined. Given the choice, such heavy oil refineries usually prefer to buy bitumen rather than synthetic oil because the cost is lower, and in some cases because they prefer to produce more diesel fuel and less gasoline. By 2015 Canadian production and exports of non-upgraded bitumen exceeded that of synthetic crude oil at over 1.3 million barrels (210×10^3 m3) per day, of which about 65% was exported to the United States.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What property of bitumen makes it difficult to move through pipelines?
A: extremely viscous', '
Q: What industry is capable of refining bitumen directly into gasoline without preprocessing?
A: modern oil refineries', '
Q: Why do refineries like to buy bitumen instead of synthetic oil?
A: cost is lower', '
Q: How much Canadian bitumen was exported to the US by 2015?
A: 65%']
A number of technologies allow asphalt/bitumen to be mixed at much lower temperatures. These involve mixing with petroleum solvents to form "cutbacks" with reduced melting point, or mixtures with water to turn the asphalt/bitumen into an emulsion. Asphalt emulsions contain up to 70% asphalt/bitumen and typically less than 1.5% chemical additives. There are two main types of emulsions with different affinity for aggregates, cationic and anionic. Asphalt emulsions are used in a wide variety of applications. Chipseal involves spraying the road surface with asphalt emulsion followed by a layer of crushed rock, gravel or crushed slag. Slurry seal involves the creation of a mixture of asphalt emulsion and fine crushed aggregate that is spread on the surface of a road. Cold-mixed asphalt can also be made from asphalt emulsion to create pavements similar to hot-mixed asphalt, several inches in depth and asphalt emulsions are also blended into recycled hot-mix asphalt to create low-cost pavements.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What does mixing bitumen with water create?
A: emulsion', '
Q: What percentage of bitumen is found in bitumen/water emulsions?
A: 70%', '
Q: What are the two types of bitumen emulsions?
A: cationic and anionic', '
Q: What are some bitumen emulsions blended with to make a low-cost product?
A: recycled', '
Q: What kind of asphalt pavements an cold-mix asphalt resemble?
A: hot-mixed']
Naturally occurring crude asphalt/bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for petroleum production from "Oil sands", currently under development in Alberta, Canada. Canada has most of the world's supply of natural asphalt/bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometres (an area larger than England), giving it the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The Athabasca oil sands is the largest asphalt/bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to surface mining, although recent technological breakthroughs have resulted in deeper deposits becoming producible by in situ methods. Because of oil price increases after 2003, producing bitumen became highly profitable, but as a result of the decline after 2014 it became uneconomic to build new plants again. By 2014, Canadian crude asphalt/bitumen production averaged about 2.3 million barrels (370,000 m3) per day and was projected to rise to 4.4 million barrels (700,000 m3) per day by 2020. The total amount of crude asphalt/bitumen in Alberta which could be extracted is estimated to be about 310 billion barrels (50×10^9 m3), which at a rate of 4,400,000 barrels per day (700,000 m3/d) would last about 200 years.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Where is naturally occurring bitumen in rock being developed as a feed stock for petroleum production?
A: Alberta, Canada', "
Q: How much area does Canada's natural bitumen cover?
A: 140,000 square kilometres", "
Q: Where does Canada rank in world's oil supplies?
A: second-largest", "
Q: What is Canada's only surface bitumen mine?
A: Athabasca oil sands", '
Q: What is the amount of bitumen that can be extracted in Alberta?
A: 310 billion barrels']
Roofing shingles account for most of the remaining asphalt/bitumen consumption. Other uses include cattle sprays, fence-post treatments, and waterproofing for fabrics. Asphalt/bitumen is used to make Japan black, a lacquer known especially for its use on iron and steel, and it is also used in paint and marker inks by some graffiti supply companies to increase the weather resistance and permanence of the paint or ink, and to make the color much darker.[citation needed] Asphalt/bitumen is also used to seal some alkaline batteries during the manufacturing process.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Besides fuels and paving, what accounts for most of the other use of bitumen?
A: Roofing shingles', '
Q: What lacquer is bitumen used to make for iron and steel production?
A: Japan black', '
Q: Why is Japan black used for outdoor paint?
A: weather resistance', '
Q: Besides weather resistance, why else is Japan black used in paints?
A: permanence', '
Q: What product is bitumen used in manufacturing as a sealant?
A: alkaline batteries']
The expression "bitumen" originated in the Sanskrit, where we find the words jatu, meaning "pitch," and jatu-krit, meaning "pitch creating", "pitch producing" (referring to coniferous or resinous trees). The Latin equivalent is claimed by some to be originally gwitu-men (pertaining to pitch), and by others, pixtumens (exuding or bubbling pitch), which was subsequently shortened to bitumen, thence passing via French into English. From the same root is derived the Anglo Saxon word cwidu (mastix), the German word Kitt (cement or mastic) and the old Norse word kvada.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What language originated the word bitumen?
A: Sanskrit', '
Q: What does the Sanskrit word translate as?
A: pitch creating', '
Q: To what English word does the Latin translate?
A: pitch', '
Q:  Through what language did bitumen pass to reach English?
A: French', '
Q: To what word does the Anglo Saxon translate?
A: mastix']
Asphalt/bitumen can sometimes be confused with "coal tar", which is a visually similar black, thermoplastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal. During the early and mid-20th century when town gas was produced, coal tar was a readily available byproduct and extensively used as the binder for road aggregates. The addition of tar to macadam roads led to the word tarmac, which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since the 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, asphalt/bitumen has completely overtaken the use of coal tar in these applications. Other examples of this confusion include the La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian oil sands, both of which actually contain natural bitumen rather than tar. Pitch is another term sometimes used at times to refer to asphalt/bitumen, as in Pitch Lake.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: To what similar substance can asphalt be confused?
A: coal tar', '
Q: For what was coal tar used in road paving?
A: binder', '
Q: What is the common word is used to describe the combination of tar and macadam?
A: tarmac', '
Q: What use has pushed out the need to produce roads with coal tar?
A: natural gas', '
Q: Instead of tar, what does the La Brea Tars Pits contain?
A: bitumen']
One hundred years after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Pierre Belon described in his work Observations in 1553 that pissasphalto, a mixture of pitch and bitumen, was used in Dubrovnik for tarring of ships from where it was exported to a market place in Venice where it could be bought by anyone. An 1838 edition of Mechanics Magazine cites an early use of asphalt in France. A pamphlet dated 1621, by "a certain Monsieur d'Eyrinys, states that he had discovered the existence (of asphaltum) in large quantities in the vicinity of Neufchatel", and that he proposed to use it in a variety of ways – "principally in the construction of air-proof granaries, and in protecting, by means of the arches, the water-courses in the city of Paris from the intrusion of dirt and filth", which at that time made the water unusable. "He expatiates also on the excellence of this material for forming level and durable terraces" in palaces, "the notion of forming such terraces in the streets not one likely to cross the brain of a Parisian of that generation". But it was generally neglected in France until the revolution of 1830. Then, in the 1830s, there was a surge of interest, and asphalt became widely used "for pavements, flat roofs, and the lining of cisterns, and in England, some use of it had been made of it for similar purposes". Its rise in Europe was "a sudden phenomenon", after natural deposits were found "in France at Osbann (BasRhin), the Parc (l'Ain) and the Puy-de-la-Poix (Puy-de-Dome)", although it could also be made artificially. One of the earliest uses in France was the laying of about 24,000 square yards of Seyssel asphalt at the Place de la Concorde in 1835.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who described the use of bitumen and pitch to tar ships?
A: Pierre Belon', '
Q: When did Belon make his shipbuilding observations?
A: 1553', '
Q: In what year did a French magazine describe the use of asphalt?
A: 1838', '
Q: After what event in France did  asphalt begin to be used for pavements and assorted other uses?
A: revolution of 1830', '
Q: Where in France in 1835 was asphalt used to lay pavement? 
A: Place de la Concorde']
In 1838, Claridge obtained patents in Scotland on 27 March, and Ireland on 23 April, and in 1851 extensions were sought for all three patents, by the trustees of a company previously formed by Claridge. This was Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company, formed in 1838 for the purpose of introducing to Britain "Asphalte in its natural state from the mine at Pyrimont Seysell in France", and "laid one of the first asphalt pavements in Whitehall". Trials were made of the pavement in 1838 on the footway in Whitehall, the stable at Knightsbridge Barracks, "and subsequently on the space at the bottom of the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St. James Park". "The formation in 1838 of Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company (with a distinguished list of aristocratic patrons, and Marc and Isambard Brunel as, respectively, a trustee and consulting engineer), gave an enormous impetus to the development of a British asphalt industry". "By the end of 1838, at least two other companies, Robinson's and the Bastenne company, were in production", with asphalt being laid as paving at Brighton, Herne Bay, Canterbury, Kensington, the Strand, and a large floor area in Bunhill-row, while meantime Claridge's Whitehall paving "continue(d) in good order".

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what year did Claridge acquire patents for the use of asphalt?
A: 1838', '
Q: From what French mine did Claridge offer asphalt?
A: Pyrimont Seysell', "
Q: What did Claridge's formation of a company with distinguished backers help inspire? 
A: British asphalt industry", '
Q: In what famous place did Claridge first begin to lay and test the use of asphalt pavement?
A: Whitehall', "
Q: By 1838 how many companies beside Claridge's were offering asphalt?
A: two"]
Canada has the world's largest deposit of natural bitumen in the Athabasca oil sands and Canadian First Nations along the Athabasca River had long used it to waterproof their canoes. In 1719, a Cree Indian named Wa-Pa-Su brought a sample for trade to Henry Kelsey of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who was the first recorded European to see it. However, it wasn't until 1787 that fur trader and explorer Alexander MacKenzie saw the Athabasca oil sands and said, "At about 24 miles from the fork (of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers) are some bituminous fountains into which a pole of 20 feet long may be inserted without the least resistance."

Questions and answers:
['
Q: For what  did Canadian natives use asphalt as a waterproofing material?
A: canoes', '
Q: Who was the first European trader to see asphalt?
A: Henry Kelsey', '
Q:  For what trading company did Kelsey work?
A: Hudson’s Bay Company', '
Q: Who was the first European to see the Athabascan oil sands?
A: Alexander MacKenzie', '
Q: What country has the largest deposits of bitumen?
A: Canada']