ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
mining
Parent material
(rock)
Biological
weathering
(tree roots and
lichens)
Chemical
Physical weathering
weathering (water, (wind, rain, thermal
acids, and gases) expansion and
contraction, water
freezing)
Particles of parent material
Stepped Art
Fig. 14-6, p. 348
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
In regards to a natural resource.
• COST TO
– FIND
– EXTRACT
– PROCESS
– TRANSPORT
What are some usable products from
mining?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Coal
Aluminum
Iron
Gold
Silver
Copper
What are some ways mineral deposits
are removed from the earth?
• Surface mining p. 345
overburden and spoils (spoil banks)
open pit mining
strip mining
Area strip mining
Countour strip mining
Mountain top removal
AREA STRIP MINING
OCCURS ON FLAT GRADES OF LAND
Contour strip mining
HIGHWALL and RUNNOFF
Subsurface mining
• Advantages of subsurface mining• Less impact on the environment, 1/10 or so when
compared to strip mining.
• disadvantages of subsurface mining– Uses dangerous explosives and there is a possibility of cave
ins, fires, build up of dangerous gas.
•
-subsidence– Black lung
Surface Mining Control and
reclamation ACT of 1977
• Requires mining companies to restore most
surface mined land by grading and replanting
it.
Environmental Impacts of Mining
• Scarring and disruption of the land surface.
See book!
• Subsidence• Toxin laced mining waste
OK, How do you get the desired
mineral from the ore?
• Ore mineral-contains the desired mineral and
waste material.
• Gangue “gang”
• Tailings-large piles of solid waste
Smelting- “roast” ores to release metals.
Remember physical properties of substances
separate due to different melting points?
Mining of low grade ore
• In 1900 the average copper mined in the United
States was 5%. Currently it is around 0.5%.
• Problems with mining low grade ores:
•
Increase cost of mining and processing low
grade ores.
•
Availability of water especially in arid and
semiarid areas.
•
Land disruption is increased due to having to
remove larger volumes of the earth.
• Cyanide heap extraction- allows mining
companies to level mountains to obtain low
grade gold ore.
•
- cyanide leach beds and and collecting
ponds may overflow or leak.
•
-Birds and mammals may be drawn to
the ponds for a source of water to drink.
Summitville Gold Mine Colorado
“Summitville is a “superfund site”
CERCLA
Comprehensive Environmental Response Control and Liability
Act
Cyanide heap extraction
1-4 stongest earthquakes since 1900
• 1. In 2011 a magnitude 8.9 quake struck this
country?
• 2. In December 2004 a magnitude 9.0
earthquake triggered this related event that
killed 230,000 or so souls.
• 3. Largest recorded earthquake in the United
States occurred in this US state. (Magnitude
9.2)
cont
• 4. In May 1960 a magnitude 9.5 earthquake
struck this not so cold South American
country.
5
• What region of the United States is the most
low sulfur coal mined?
• west, mid-west, east, south
6
• QUESTION: When two plates collide or
come together, a continental/continental
boundary is an example.
• ANSWER:
7
• QUESTION: What instrument measures the
shock waves of an earthquake?
• ANSWER:
8
• Theory that plates move due to hot, molton
convection currents beneath the Earth’s
surface. What is___________ _________
9
• Large supercontinent that existed 250 million
years ago.
10
• 10. Term for the process of plates moving
away from each other allowing thermal
energy to escape.
11
• A _________________is a person who shovels
broken ore or waste rock into orecars or
orebuckets. We have not covered this;
however, knowledge is power!
12-16
• 12. Found in old plumbing pipes and fixtures
and some ceramic glazes.
• 13. Composed of fibers known to cause lung
disease.
• 14. Flammable gas that may ignite in coal
mines
• 15. Colorless, odorless gas that is natrually
occurring decay product of uranium
• 16. Released from broken CFL bulbs
• Asbestos Methane
Ether
Lead Hg gas
Radon
17-20
• 17. The most abundant element in the Earth’s
crust.
• 18. The most abundant element in the Earth’s
atmosphere.
• 19. The most abundant element in the Earth’s
core.
• 20. The element commercially extracted from
bauxite
• Neon Oxygen Aluminum Iron Nitrogen Argon
21
The world wide population using coal as a
power source is growing at a rate of 5 percent
per year, the number of years required for the
the use of coal to double (assuming the
current rate) is closest to
a. 5 b. 10 c. 15 d. 25 e. 35 UNIT years
22
• Which of the following natural events would
most likely contribute to the cooling of the
Earth’s atmosphere? Past AP exam question.
• A. Hurricane B. Monsoon C. Earthquake
• D. Tsunami E. Volcanism
23
• Name the act enacted in 1977 that required
coal companies to grade, level and plant
vegetation to reclaim the land that was mined.
• Abbreviation ok for this one.