Did you know that during much of the ancient past, Alberta was submerged beneath the seas? Hard to believe now but during the Devonian – about 360 million years ago – the province was located near the equator, and extensive reefs covered much of the seabed. It is these reefs, and the microorganisms living in the waters above them, that led to much of the oil and gas deposits that make Alberta such a fossil-fuel rich province today.