The Green River Formation with its energy rich oil shales and its remarkable collection of huge amounts of novel minerals is the product of a gigantic chemical process system which established itself in ancient lakes surrounding Utah's Uinta Mountains. Once established the chemical process system stabilized and maintained itself, repeating the same chemical processes continuously for millions of years on the raw material entering the lake. This chemistry produced uniform hydrogen-rich organic matte, a simple antigenic mineral suite, and massive deposits of sodium carbonate minerals like nahcolite, dawsonite, shortlite, and trona. The probable character of these chemical processes and their origin are reviewed.