Geology and Nonrenewable

Mineral
TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 ATTENDANCE 02 LECTURE

03 BREAK 04 ACTIVITY
 ● LECTURE
○ What Are the Earth’s Major Geological
Processes and What Are Mineral Resources?
○ Rock Cycle
TABLE OF ○ How Long Might Supplies of Nonrenewable
Mineral Resources Last?
CONTENTS ○ What Are the Environmental Effects of
Using Nonrenewable Mineral Resources?
○ How Can We Use Mineral Resources More
Sustainably?
○ What Are the Earth’s Major Geological
Hazards?
What Are the Earth’s Major Geological
Processes and Hazards?
• Dynamic processes move matter within the earth
and on its surface and can cause volcanic
eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes.
 What is geology?
• Geology is the study of
the Earth, the materials of
which it is made, the
structure of those
materials, and the
processes acting upon
them.
• It includes the study of
organisms that have
inhabited our planet.
Earth’s Major Geological
Processes
Primitive earth cooled into 3
major concentric zones.
• Core – earth’s inner most zone
• Mantle – thick, solid rock zone
surrounding the core
• Crust – outermost & thinnest
zone.
.
 Plate Tectonics
• Tectonic Plates – huge rigid plates where much
of earth’s geologic activity takes place as they
separate, collide or slide past one another
3 Types of Tectonic Plate Boundaries
Earth’s Major Geological Processes
Fig. 12-2, p. 275
Convection
cells or currents
move large
volumes of rock
and heat in
loops within the
mantle like giant
conveyer belts.
Earth’s Major Geological Processes
Internal geologic
processes
generated by the heat from the
earth’s interior, build up the
earth’s surface via continental
and oceanic crust.
External geologic
processes
are driven directly by or
indirectly by the energy from the
sun and include wind, flowing
water, and glaciers which all
contribute to erosion and are
influenced by gravity.
Earth’s Major Geological Processes
• WEATHERING –
major external
influence
containing three
types, Chemical,
Biological, and
Physical. It is the
first step in soil
formation.
 VOLCANO
• Volcanoes are formed when magma
reaches the surface via fissures.
• When the magma reaches the
earth’s surface it is then called lava.
• Volcanic activity can release debris
ranging from large chunks of lava
rock to glowing hot ash, liquid lava,
and gases such as H2O vapor, CO2,
and SO2.
• Most activity is concentrated around
tectonic plate boundaries. Example:
Ring of Fire
TYPES OF VOLCANO
Mount Pinatubo 1991 largest stratospheric
disturbance in 20th century

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7NnLO5NNb8
 Earthquakes
• Forces inside the earth’s mantle
cause rocks to suddenly shift or
break producing transform faults or
fractures in the crust.
• Abrupt movement causes energy
to be released in the form of
vibrations called seismic waves.
These waves move through
surrounding rock and this process
is called an earthquake.
• Most occur at boundaries of
tectonic plates.
 Earthquakes
Focus – place where an earthquake begins below the earth’s surface.
Epicenter – found directly above the focus on the earth’s surface.
Magnitude – measure of ground motion indicated by the size of the
seismic waves. Used to measure severity of an earthquake.
Richter Scale – used to measure earthquake intensity. Each unit has
amplitude 10 times greater than the next smaller unit.
Aftershocks/Foreshocks – tremors after or before an earthquake
Fig. 12-7, p. 278
Fig. 12-9, p. 279
 Tsunamis
• Tsunami – series of large waves
generated when part of the ocean
floor suddenly rises or drops.
• Tsunamis are caused by
underwater earthquakes, volcanic
eruption, or thrust faults in the
ocean floor.
• Between 1900 and late 2007
tsunamis killed approximately
278,000 people in the Pacific
Ocean region.
2004 Tsunami
 Landslides
•Gravity and earthquakes can
cause landslides by detaching
loose soil, rocks, and mud to slide
down steep slopes.
•This movement is called mass
wasting.
•Landslide Video
•French Alps Landslide
How Are Earth’s Rocks Recycled?
The three major
types of rock
found in the
earth’s crust are
recycled very
slowly by physical
and chemical
processes.
The earth’s crust consists mostly of minerals and
rocks.
Minerals – elements or
inorganic compounds that
occur naturally in the
earth’s crust as a solid and
with a regular internal
crystalline structure.

Single element examples:

Gold, Silver, and diamonds
(carbon).
The earth’s crust consists mostly of minerals and
rocks.
Rocks – solid combination of
one or more minerals found in
the earth’s crust.
Single mineral rocks: Limestone
(CaCO3), Quartzite (SiO2)
Two or more mineral rocks: Things
like Granite which is made of
feldspars, micas, and quartz crystals.
(From Left to Right: Gold, Silver, Salt,
Quartzite, Limestone, Granite)
 Sedimentary – made of
Three Major Rock Types sediments- dead plant and animal
remains and existing rocks that
are eroded and weathered into
tiny particles.

Igneous - forms below the

earth’s surface when magma
wells up from the earth’s upper
mantle or deep crust and then
cools and hardens.

Metamorphic – forms when

preexisting rock is subjected to
high temperatures, high
pressures, chemically active
fluids, or a combination of these,
which
Can you guess what this means?
Fig. 12-12, p. 282
What Are Mineral Resources and What Are the
Environmental Effects of Using Them?
• Some minerals in the earth’s crust can be made
into useful products, but extracting and using these
resources can disturb the land, erode soils, produce
large amounts of solid waste, and pollute the air,
water, and soil.
Mineral Resources and the Environmental Effects of
Using Them
Mineral Resource – concentration of naturally
occurring material from the earth’s crust that can
be extracted and processed into useful products
and raw materials at an affordable cost.

*Because they take so long to form, these components of the earth’s

natural capital are classified as NONRENEWABLE MINERAL RESOURCES.
Mineral Resources and the Ore – rock that contains
large concentrations of a
Environmental Effects of Using particular mineral (often
Them metal).
• High-grade Ore –
contains large amount
of desired
nonrenewable
resource.
• Low-grade Ore –
contains small amount
of desired
nonrenewable
resource.
Important Metals
•Aluminum – packaging, structural
material
•Steel – alloy of Fe, and other elements
such as Mn, Co, Mo, and Cr.
•Copper – electrical and communications
•Platinum – electronics, catalyst in
industry, and in automobile pollution
control converters
•Gold – electrical equipment, jewelry,
coins, medical implants, and as a catalyst
to speed up certain chemical reactions
 Mineral Use
Mineral Use Advantages Mineral Use Disadvantages
• Mining and processing Use enormous amounts of
minerals does have benefits. energy
• Generates Significant Disturb Land
income Produce Solid Waste
• Provides Local, State, and Pollute the Air, Water, and Soil
National revenues from
taxes, fees, and royalties.
• Provides Employment
directly and indirectly
Fig. 12-14, p. 284
The environmental impacts of mining an ore are affected by it’s
percent of metal content, or grade. Mining lower grade ores takes
more money, energy, water, and other materials and increases land
disruption, mining waste, and pollution.Why?

Because lower grade ores are harder to

extract and you need more volume of
material to compare with the high
percent of material available in high
grade ores, which are easier to extract
Harmful Environmental
Effects of Mining

• Disruption of land surface

• Damage to forests and
watersheds
• Biodiversity harmed
• Subsidence
• Toxic-laced mining wastes
• Acid mine drainage
 Mining Techniques
Surface Mining • used to harvest shallow deposits

Subsurface Mining • used to harvest deep deposits

Open Pit Mining • Machines dig massive holes and remove ores
• used for extracting deposits that lie close to the
Strip Mining earth’s surface and lie in horizontal beds.
Area Strip Mining • used where terrain is fairly flat

Contour Strip Mining • used where terrain is hilly or mountainous

• use of explosives, large power shovels, and huge

Mountaintop Removal machines to remove tops of mountains
• using water cannons to wash entire hillsides into
Hydraulic Mining collection boxes.
Life Cycle of a Metal Resource
Surface Mining

Metal ore

Separation of ore from gangue

(waste material pronounced gang)

Recycling Smelting

Melting Metal

Conversion to Product

Discarding of Product
Smelting Harmful Environmental Effects
• Emits enormous amounts of
air pollutants and suspended
particles
• Damage vegetation and
acidify soils in the
surrounding area
• Cause water pollution
• Produces toxic liquid and solid
waste that requires safe
disposal
How Long Will Supplies of Nonrenewable Mineral
Resources Last?
• Raising the price of a
scarce mineral
resource can lead to
an increase in its
supply, but there are
environmental limits
to this effect.
Nonrenewable Mineral Resources can be
Economically Depleted
• Future Supply of Nonrenewable Minerals depends on the
ACTUAL or POTENTIAL Supply and the RATE at which it is used.
• Minerals become Economically Depleted when it costs more
than it is worth to find, extract, transport, and process the
remaining deposits.
• At this point we can recycle or reuse, waste less, use less, find
a substitute, or do without
• Depletion Time – the time it takes to use up a certain portion
of reserve at a given rate of use. Typically 80%.
Economics and Mining
• Geological processes determine the quantity and location of a
mineral resource.
• Economics determines what part is extracted and used.
• Standard economic theory states that in a competitive market
a plentiful mineral resource is cheap when it’s supply exceeds
demand and when a resource becomes scarce it’s price rises.
• Rising prices can help encourage exploration, develop better
technology, promote resource conservation, search for
substitutes, and make it profitable to mine lower-grade ores.
Economics and Mining
• Some Economists say this price effect may no longer occur in
developed countries since Industry and government use
subsidies, taxes, regulation, and import tariffs to control
supplies, demands, and prices of minerals.
• An artificially low price helps to promote economic growth and
national security.
• Most consumers are unaware of real costs being higher than
the market price, since they are paying taxes that provide
government subsidies and tax breaks to mining companies and
to environmental effects of mining.
Economics and Mining
Critics of Mining
Add hidden extra costs to market
prices so harmful environmental
effects of mining will be
drastically reduced, would
increase recycling and reuse
dramatically, and allow for many
minerals to be replaced with less
environmentally harmful
substitutes.
Mining Companies
Need taxpayer subsidies and low
taxes to keep the prices of
minerals low for consumers.
Subsidies also help keep
companies local instead of taking
their business to other countries
where they will not face such
high taxes and regulation.
 The Politics
Critics of Mining Mining Companies
• Money given up for subsidies offsets the lower • Have to invest large sums of money to develop a
prices site before profits can be made
• Ban such public land sales or propose 20 year • Government subsidized land costs help provide
leases high paying jobs for miners.
• Stricter environmental controls and cleanup • Supply vital resources for Industry
• Set up fund paid for by royalties to clean up • Stimulate economies
abandoned sites
• Reduce trade deficits
• Mining companies would pay 8-12% royalty off of
• Keep mineral products affordable
the gross income
• Canada, Australia, South Africa, and other
countries require higher royalty payments and
have laws that make mining companies fully
responsible for environmental damage
Mining Minerals from the Ocean
Some ocean minerals are dissolved in sea water. However, most
are in very low concentrations which require more energy and
money than they are worth.

• Only Mg, Br, and NaCl are abundant

enough to be extracted profitably.
Using Mineral Resources More Sustainably
How Can We Use
Mineral Resources
More Sustainably?
We can try to find
substitutes for scarce
resources, reduce
resource waste, and
recycle and reuse
minerals.
Why would using plastics still cause environmental
issues?
• Chemists are learning how to make
some plastics from plant materials
• Recycle and Reuse valuable metals
(recycling aluminum produces 95%
less air pollution and 97% less water
pollution and uses 95% less energy
than mining and processing it.
• Ask how can we decrease our use and
waste of minerals opposed to how we
can increase our supplies of
nonrenewable minerals
Activity for the day
• Group yourselves by friends – Make a
hazard plan for different natural disasters
• Tsunami
• Flood
• Earthquake
• Volcano eruption