Chapter 23 Energy and Mineral Resources
Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology, 9e (Tarbuck/Lutgens)
23.1 Multiple-Choice Questions
1) ________ coal is typically found only in association with tightly folded strata.
A) Anthracite
B) Peat
C) Lignite
D) Bituminous
Answer: A
Diff: 1
2) Cap rock and reservoir strata refer to accumulations of ________.
A) sedimentary iron ore
B) petroleum
C) oil shale
D) bedded rock salt
Answer: B
Diff: 1
3) ________ is too soft to be used as an abrasive for steel, glasses, and most silicate rocks.
A) Corundum
B) Diamond
C) Calcite
D) Garnet
Answer: C
Diff: 1
4) Comparatively speaking, the United States uses energy fuels and minerals ________.
A) so efficiently that only domestic coal, petroleum, and minerals are utilized
B) less efficiently than other technologically advanced countries
C) very efficiently, so consumption per person is below that in less industrialized
countries like Brazil and Mexico
D) about equally as efficient as other technologically advanced countries
Answer: B
Diff: 1
5) ________ is a nonrenewable resource.
A) Solar power
B) Water
C) Petroleum
D) Timber
Answer: C
Diff: 1
1
6) The world's largest plant for generating electricity from tides is ________.
A) along the coast of California just north of San Francisco
B) in the Rance River estuary, Brittany, along the Atlantic coast of France
C) along the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil
D) in the Netherlands along the Rhine River delta
Answer: B
Diff: 1
7) Vein- or fissure-filling deposits of lead and zinc minerals would be more common in
________.
A) impactites and shattered rock of a meteorite impact zone
B) rocks of a contact-metamorphic zone formed around a shallow, granite pluton
C) rocks formed in a deep, high-grade, regional-metamorphic zone
D) rhyolitic lava flows interbedded with pyroclastics
Answer: B
Diff: 1
8) Ore deposits of ________ form by prolonged, intense, tropical weathering of specific kinds of
bedrock.
A) silver
B) mercury
C) aluminum
D) magnesium
Answer: C
Diff: 1
9) Chemical decomposition of ________ produces acidic soil waters that can cause secondary
enrichment in copper and in other ore deposits.
A) calcite
B) quartz
C) bauxite
D) pyrite
Answer: D
Diff: 1
10) Bauxite is an ore of ________.
A) iron
B) tin
C) gold
D) aluminum
Answer: D
Diff: 1
2
11) Detrital grains of ________ are not likely to be concentrated in placer deposits.
A) native gold
B) diamond
C) corundum
D) gypsum
Answer: D
Diff: 1
12) The Geysers and Larderello are ________ facilities in California and Italy, respectively.
A) geothermal power
B) hydroelectric
C) copper mining
D) diamond mining
Answer: A
Diff: 1
13) ________ are both calcium-bearing minerals.
A) Calcite and gypsum
B) Bauxite and kaolin
C) Quartz and plagioclase
D) Halite and sylvite
Answer: A
Diff: 1
14) Which one of the following is a false statement concerning the Bingham Canyon mine?
A) is the largest, open-pit copper mine in North America
B) located in Utah near Salt Lake City
C) most of the mineralized rock is part of an igneous rock pluton
D) the ore contains, on average, more than three percent by weight of copper
Answer: D
Diff: 1
15) ________ are important fertilizer minerals with their correct elements.
A) Halite and calcite
B) Sylvite and gypsum
C) Cassiterite and albite
D) Apatite and sylvite
Answer: D
Diff: 1
16) ________ are used as abrasives.
A) Diamond and garnet
B) Calcite and gypsum
C) Apatite and galena
D) Talc and graphite
Answer: A
Diff: 1
3
17) By the year 2005, the world's population will probably have just reached or slightly
surpassed ________ people.
A) 70 million
B) 7 billion
C) 70 billion
D) 7 million
Answer: B
Diff: 1
18) The United States, with about 6 % of the world's population, uses about ________ of the
world's total, annual, energy production.
A) 9%
B) 30%
C) 3%
D) 15%
Answer: B
Diff: 1
19) ________ supplies the largest percentage of energy consumed annually in the United States.
A) Petroleum
B) Coal
C) Hydroelectricity
D) Uranium
Answer: A
Diff: 1
20) ________ accounts for the majority of the coal burned annually in the United States.
A) Production of carbon black, synthetic diamonds, and graphite
B) Coke manufacture for the steel industry
C) Home and industrial space heating
D) Generation of electricity
Answer: D
Diff: 1
21) Of the following fossil fuels, ________ is most likely to have the lowest sulfur content and
smallest volume of solid ash residue.
A) bituminous coal
B) natural gas
C) lignite
D) heavy, asphaltic, crude oil
Answer: B
Diff: 1
4
22) Coal and petroleum are considered to be fossil fuels because ________.
A) their energy content was derived from ancient sunlight
B) carbon dioxide, released when they burn, contributes to the greenhouse effect
C) their oxygen and nitrogen content were derived from the ancient atmosphere
D) coal beds and petroleum reservoir rocks contain abundant fossils
Answer: A
Diff: 1
23) ________ has the largest, current production and reserves of crude oil.
A) Offshore Japan
B) Texas
C) Central and eastern Saudi Arabia
D) The North Sea field
Answer: C
Diff: 1
24) Sandstone is a much more common reservoir rock for petroleum than shale because
________.
A) shale is more porous so the oil tends to leak out over time
B) sandstones are more permeable than shales so subsurface flows of fluids tend to be
directed through sandstone strata rather than through shales
C) sandstone is more abundant than shale
D) shales, especially black shales, are much richer in primary organic matter than are
sandstones
Answer: B
Diff: 1
25) The world's largest, commercially developed tar sand deposit is ________.
A) near Lake Athabasca in central Canada
B) in northern Brunei, Island of Borneo
C) in southern Iraq, near Basra
D) in northwestern Colorado, U.S.
Answer: A
Diff: 1
26) The ________ formation, rich in oil shale strata, was deposited in early Tertiary lakes that
once covered parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.
A) Red Lake
B) White Prairie
C) Blue Mountain
D) Green River
Answer: D
Diff: 1
5
27) ________ is an essential component of plasters and plasterboard.
A) Apatite
B) Garnet
C) Talc
D) Gypsum
Answer: D
Diff: 1
28) ________ is the main fuel used in nuclear fission reactors to produce electricity.
A) Thorium-232
B) Uranium-235
C) Thorium-238
D) Uranium-239
Answer: B
Diff: 1
29) Copper and copper-zinc sulfide deposits formed around ancient, seafloor, hot spring vents
would be most likely to be found in ________.
A) an accretionary wedge complex
B) an exotic, oedipus complex
C) a far traveled, cratonic complex
D) an ophiolite complex
Answer: D
Diff: 1
30) ________ is the mineral source of phosphorous in phosphate fertilizers.
A) Apatite
B) Garnet
C) Phosphorite
D) Kaolinite
Answer: A
Diff: 1
31) ________ is used in pencils and as a solid lubricant.
A) Gypsum
B) Bornite
C) Graphite
D) Galena
Answer: C
Diff: 1
32) The first, large-scale, commercial, geothermal, electrical power-generation facility in the
United States was brought into production at ________.
A) Yellowstone National Park in 1925
B) Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1945
C) The Geysers, northern California in 1960
D) Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1970
Answer: C
Diff: 1
6
33) ________, a rock-forming silicate mineral used as an insulator in electrical equipment, occurs
as large crystals with quartz and feldspars in pegmatites.
A) Olivine
B) Hornblende
C) Graphite
D) Muscovite
Answer: D
Diff: 1
34) Graphite deposits typically form geologically ________.
A) as deposits around submarine, hot spring vents
B) by decomposition of humus and soil gases during intense, tropical weathering
C) as hydrothermal vein deposits in limestone around a granitic batholith
D) by regional metamorphism of organic-rich, black shales
Answer: D
Diff: 1
35) Which one of the following best describes how talc deposits might originate geologically?
A) reaction of olivine and pyroxene with hydrothermal fluids during regional
metamorphism
B) reaction of hydrothermal fluids with quartz-rich sandstones during contact
metamorphism
C) dehydration of gypsum and limestone during contact metamorphism
D) high pressure metamorphism associated with impact of an asteroid or large meteorite
Answer: A
Diff: 1
36) Which one of the following statements is most likely correct?
A) By 2010, imported petroleum will account for over 50 % of U.S. consumption.
B) North and South America have about equal reserves of good-grade coals.
C) Coal imports into the United States have been rising steadily since about 1950.
D) By the year 2010, Russia and the republics of the former Soviet Union will probably be
importing large amounts of petroleum from South Africa.
Answer: A
Diff: 1
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23.2 Word Analysis Questions
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the
majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
1) A) coal
B) water
C) copper
D) natural gas
Answer: water
Diff: 1
2) A) nuclear
Answer: coal
B) geothermal
C) hydroelectric
D) coal
B) lead
C) sulfur
D) zinc
B) diamond
C) tin
D) platinum
Diff: 1
3) A) copper
Answer: sulfur
Diff: 1
4) A) copper
Answer: tin
Diff: 1
23.3 True/False Questions
1) The world's largest, open-pit, salt mine is at Bingham Canyon, Utah.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
2) Many of the world's very large, disseminated, copper deposits formed in or near igneous
plutons.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
3) Some gold and silver deposits were formed by hydrothermal solutions circulating through
open space along fractures in rock.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
4) Bauxite, the common ore of iron, is a product of intense, tropical weathering in a dry climate.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
5) A certain class of lead-zinc-copper ore deposits forms in association with contact
metamorphism of limestones.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
6) Over 60% of the world's coastlines have great potential for producing large amounts of low
cost electricity from the tides.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
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7) In the United States, the annual consumption of nonmetallic resources is far greater than the
consumption of metals and metallic resources.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
8) Solar and wind power are examples of renewable, energy resources.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
9) Coal, natural gas, and uranium are examples of fossil fuels.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
10) In contrast to the United States, the former Soviet Union had strict regulation of waste
disposal and safety considerations associated with their nuclear power industry and
weapons programs.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
11) Oxide and hydroxide ores of aluminum were produced by intense, tropical weathering in
the geological past; the world's largest iron ore deposits are of hydrothermal origin.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
12) In an economic sense, extraction of groundwater in areas where natural recharge is very
slow is similar to mining a nonrenewable resource.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
13) By the year 2005, the human population will have passed the 7 billion mark, barring any
unforeseen, catastrophic disasters or epidemics.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
14) Coal originated from plant remains preserved in swamplands and bogs; its energy content
was derived from ancient sunlight.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
15) Of the electrical power generated each year in the United States, 20 % is supplied by coalfired plants and hydroelectric dams supply about 60 %.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
16) Lignite is known as brown coal; it has a much higher energy content than anthracite and
bituminous coals.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
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17) Cap rocks over reservoir strata for petroleum are nonporous and nonpermeable.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
18) Tar sand deposits are more similar to coal beds interbedded with sandstones than to
sandstones impregnated with viscous, crude oil.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
19) Led by Alaska, the United States has the world's largest petroleum reserves; Saudi Arabia is
in second place.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
20) Processing and refining of oil shales results in higher yields of gasoline and heating oils than
does refining of a light, sweet, crude oil from wells in the North Sea off Great Britain.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
23.4 Short Answer Questions
1) Concentrations of tough, chemically resistant and higher density minerals in water
deposited sands and gravels are known as ________.
Answer: placers
Diff: 1
2) Name the principal ore of aluminum.
Answer: bauxite
Diff: 1
3) List three, different types of fossil fuels.
Answer: coal, oil, natural gas
Diff: 1
4) ________ is the hard, high carbon coal that occurs only in tightly folded strata or in contactmetamorphic zones associated with igneous intrusions.
Answer: Anthracite
Diff: 1
5) Most of the coal mined annually in the United States is used for production of ________.
Answer: electricity
Diff: 1
6) Which country has the world's only operating, commercial plant for producing electricity
from the tides?
Answer: France
Diff: 1
10
7) Hematite and magnetite are oxide ores of ________.
Answer: iron
Diff: 1
8) Chalcopyrite and bornite are sulfide ore minerals of ________.
Answer: copper
Diff: 1
9) The mineral apatite is mined as the major source of ________.
Answer: phosphorus
Diff: 1
10) ________, a common sedimentary rock, is used for the manufacture of lime and Portland
cement.
Answer: Limestone
Diff: 1
23.5 Critical Thinking Questions
Use complete sentences, correct spelling, and the information presented in Chapter 23 to answer the
questions below
1) Briefly outline the pros and cons of alternate energy sources such as nuclear, solar, wind,
geothermal and hydroelectric.
Diff: 2
2) Considering the various types of traps for oil and natural gas, which one(s) do you think are
easiest to locate, assuming you have a good working knowledge of the geology of an area?
Which one(s) would be most difficult? Finally, would any of the traps have the potential of
other natural resources other than oil and natural gas?
Diff: 3
3) Metallic and nonmetallic mineral resources occur in a variety of geologic environments.
From the standpoint of exploration, why is it important to understand the origin of a specific
mineral deposit? Also, are there other reasons why knowing the genesis of a mineral deposit
would be important?
Diff: 3
11
23.6 Visualization Questions
1) Label the areas of anthracite, bituminous coal, and subbituminous coal on the diagram
below.
Answer: See figure 23.5 in chapter 23 of Earth, 9e
Diff: 1
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2) On the blank provided beside each illustration below, write the name of the kind of oil and
gas trap that is shown.
a) ________
b) ________
c) ________
13
d) ________
14