Sustainable Earth Resources Final

This consists of info from the past quizzes

Compositional layers(top→ bottom)

Crust, Mantle, Core

The age of the Earth

4.5 Billion Years before present

Physical Layers (top→ bottom)

Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mesosphere, Liquid core, Solid core

liquid core

convecting

solid core

nonconvecting

4 most abundant elements in the Earth’s Crust

Oxygen (O), Aluminum (Al), Silicon (Si), Iron (Fe)

Older tectonic plate

sinks because it is denser than the newer, less dense plate.

During an oceanic-continental

the oceanic plate subducts while the continental plate floats over

divergent boundaries

create a ridge when they pull apart

oceanic plates are

denser

Polar Wander Curve

the movement of the pole in relation of the pole in relation to a continent.

Lithosphere

its physical properties are brittle and cool

asthenosphere

its physical properties weak, hot, plastic and convecting

Earth’s PHYSICAL layers that DO NOT have convection Currents

inner(solid) core, lithosphere

Why is oceanic crust young and continental crust old?

Oceanic crust is young because during divergence magma is coming up and creating the new plate at the Mid Atlantic ridge. The continental crust is less dense

core

felsic

continental crust

metalic

mantle

mafic

mineral

solid, inorganic, natural, definite but not fixed(this means some elements can be in different percentages), 3D arrangement(because of Silica tetrahedral)

uniformitarianism

the theory that states that a lot of processes have been occurring that same way forever. Example: a stream that erodes that bank of a river will continue to do so

The theory that combines Uniformitarianism and Catastrophism

the theory is that they are synergistic which means they work together to cause repeated great events that have the same effect each time. Ex: major flood to the Grand Canyon eroding the same spot

ways to estimate the Earth’s age (after bible, before radioactivity)

stratigraphy: a method of estimating the Earth’s age by using the layers of sedimentary rock layers(not accurate because rocks change overtime), salt in the ocean, cooling of the earth

how many half lives for 2g of K^40 and 6g of Ar^40 if Ar started as 8g

half lives=1.2 billion years, the answer is 2 half lives(2.4 billion years)

Cation

positive charge

Anion

negative charge

Isotope

same # of protons, different # of neutrons

Ion

unequal protons and electrons

Silicates

formed from Silicon and oxygen. Its shape is a silica tetrahedral. The chemical formula is SiO4^-4

sulfides

MS or MS2, metal and sulfar

sulfate

MSO4, metal, sulfar and oxygen

oxide

M2O3, 2 metals and 3 oxygen

carbonate

MCO3, metal, carbon, and 3 oxygen

clay (how it acts)

they have layers (TOT,TO), they expand, absorb H2O, cause pressure when it expands

Clay is used for

Well liners; they make good liners because that can prevent stuff from getting into the ground water

Clay mineral formation

form as secondary minerals mostly from the feldspar minerals (NaAlSi3O8) by the process of weathering

feldspar formula

NaAlSi3O8

Cation Exchange

many clays absorb metals. during this process, some metals are more attracted to clay so they can kick off one of the other metals that are originally attached to the clay

Igneous rocks

they are formed within the Earth(INTRUSIVE). They have large grains because they cool slowly. some of them for ores called PEGMATIC

Formation of Clastic Sedimentary rock

Weathering, Erosion, deposition, burial, compaction, cementation

Weathering

this is the process of weakening the material, can include chemicals

why does sandstone lasts long?

it is made of quartz sand and silica cement which makes it hard/strong

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)

this is associated with sulfides. this leads to water problems: dissolved metals, acidic water

testing for Asbestos in the air

pump/fan air out through a pipe to the outside, have a filter on the pipe to collect the asbestos, count the particles

porosity

volume of voids/total volume

reserve

what we can get right now

Criteria for inclusion in a mineral reserve

economically worth it, legally available, quantitative, technically available, found or known

Calcite

dissolves from LIMESTONE in Finger Lakes bedrock. this protects the Finger lakes from acid rain.

CLACITE mineral dissolving formula

CaCO3→←- Ca^(+2) + CO3^(-2)

CALCITE protection equation

CO3^(-2) + H^+ → HCO3^-

Chemical and Physical properties that make Asbestos a good building material

Fireproof, flexible, high tensile strength, insulator, chemically resistant

Halite

dissolves from ROCK SALT. Its formula is NaCl. It is used to dissolve snow and ice on roads and walkways.

HALITE: 3 negative environmental effects

soil salinization, can runoff into rivers or sink into ground water, frog and amphibians lay eggs in spring(AKA when it rains and runoff occurs.

HALITE: negative Civil Engineering effect

the steel in building can rust/weaken for the halite

HALITE: mineral dissolving equation

NaCl→ Na^+ + Cl^-

Original Horizontality

the idea that originally when all of the sediments were laid out it was horizontally and they were then flattened to make horizontal layers

Syncline

they are downfolds formed from sediment that piles and as it gets heavier it sinks.

Unconformity

a gap in time in a sequence of sedimentary rocks. They usually form after erosion

Sedimentary Rock layers in WNY

they dip towards the south at an angle of 1.5 degrees so rocks outcropping in the north are older than in the south.

outcropping

sedimentary rock that is exposed at the surface

Physical weathering

the process in which rocks, minerals, etc, break down without changing their chemical composition

chemical weathering

when rocks/minerals react with something(like chemicals/water) that changes their composition

Physical and Chemical weathering are…

synergistic because when added together they create more destruction. It acts like a Positive feedback loop.

clay

small grains which have a lot of surface area to hold water and nutrients

sand

large grains which allow for drainage

silt

holds nutrients

glacial till

glacier melts and everything is dropped into one location, it is not sorted

glacial outwash

the glacier melts and water moves the sediments which sorts them

erosion

the downslope movement of sediment through a flowing medium(air, water, ice, etc)

hyrdroseeding

a method of minimizing erosion that plants grass. it is a spray

components of hydroseeding mix

seeds, fertilizer/nutrients, mulch/paper, water, green dye, tackifier

factors that determine the rate of erosion on a slope

incline of slope, length of slope, vegetation, rainfall intensity, what the slope is made of, wind speed

particle sizes and erosion

Silt is easiest to erode

it is more erodible than clay because silt is easily detachable while clay sticks together.

it is more erodible than sand because silt is easier to more by wind or water. Also sand is heavier and larger.

Vegitation lessens erosion by

protecting against kinetic energy and the roots hold the soil in place

2nd law of thermodynamics

heat is diminished with every transfer (energy is lost when it is converted). This relates to thermal power plants because a low percentage of useful energy comes out of them.

AMD is associated with coal mines because…

living plants and coal contain the element sulfur which combines with metals brought in by ground water

Coal with the lowest carbon content

lignite

Coal with the Highest carbon content

Antracite

characteristics associated with high carbon coal

heat content, harder to light, hardness, darkness

steps for forming a petroleum deposit

• thick layers of sediment rich in marine plant, animal, and microbial remains that are deposited in an isolated ocean basin

• it is buried rapidly in ANEROBIC conditions so it doesn’t decay

• it has to be about 7,500’-15,000’

• overtime the organic material transforms into a liquid in the reservoir rock

• it moves up into the source rock and is stopped by the cap rock

cap rock

shale

source rock and reservoir rock

sandstone or limestone

Petroleum is converted into usable products by…

the process of fractional dissolution followed by cracking. In addition SULFAR is removed so that burning of fuels made from petroleum does not cause acid rain.

Usable products made from petroleum

gasoline, lubricant, diesel, kerosine, heavy oil

lots of gasoline and diesel, not much sulfur

light sweet

mostly lubricants and tar, not much sulfur

heavy sweet

high sulfur tar sands

heavy sour

Brine

water with a higher SALT content that comes from nutrients/sediment/minerals in sediment for years. In a fold trap it is everywhere in the layers.

Methane hydrates

methane molecules trapped in a cage of ice. They can be found in the ocean floor and permafrost environments.

Fracking steps

• drill vertically down to about 100’ above the target layer

• turn the pipe horizontally

• set the pipe and make sure the ejection holes are in place

• inject the hydrofracking fluid

In the US, Hydrofracking is…

good for the environment because it has led to an increase in natural gas usage and a decrease in coal usage for electricity production.

Tar sands

this is made of sand, clay, and crude oil. they have double the carbon foot print because it takes a lot of production to separate the crude oil.

2 isotopes of uranium

U^235 and U^238

To make nuclear fuel…

we enrich U^235 from .7% to 4%. The uranium fuel is replaced at 3.5%

The US planned to store high level radioactive waste near…

Yucca mountains in Nevada. We could not put them there because hydrothermal deposits would bring uranium to the surface. Also, they found faults and water.

three main uses for dams

produce power, irrigation/reservoir, flood control

dam uses that require high water

power production, irrigation, water supply

dam uses that required low water

flood control

components of a hydraulic head

total mechanical energy= Kinetic energy, potential energy, pressure

For wind power, rare earth elements are…

used in the generator. They make the magnets more powerful, and allows the wind turbine to be lighter.