If a family owns land overlying gas-rich Marcellus shale, what type of rights do they possess?

When a family owns land that sits over gas-rich Marcellus shale, they possess sub-surface rights. Sub-surface rights refer to the legal rights to the minerals and resources found beneath the surface of a property, including oil, gas, and minerals. In this case, the Marcellus shale is known for its natural gas deposits, so owning the sub-surface rights would allow the family to access and extract that gas resource.

Surface rights primarily involve ownership and usage of the land above ground, whereas the specific rights related to anything found beneath the land fall under sub-surface rights. Water rights pertain to the rights related to the use of water sources such as rivers, lakes, or groundwater, and air rights refer to the rights to use the space above a property. Neither water rights nor air rights are applicable to the extraction of gas from the Marcellus shale, making sub-surface rights the correct choice in this scenario.