earth midterm

renewable resource

3 examples of renewable resources

non-renewable resources

3 examples of non renewable resources

reserves

4 examples of why its difficult to predict reserves. for each if size increases or decreases

T/F In general, the elements listed first on the periodic table (elements with low atomic numbers) are also the most abundant elements in the universe.

T

Aside from hydrogen and helium, how did the rest of the elements in the periodic table form?

They were produced in stars by the fusion of hydrogen and helium.

The Earth's core is mostly composed of:

 

Iron and nickel

The Earth's mantle is mostly composed of:

 

Oxygen and silicon

The air we breath is mostly:

Nitrogen

Nearly all of the Earth resources we use come from the Earth's crust. What percentage of the planet does the crust represent?

 

About 1%

An element is:

 

A pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom, distinguished by its atomic number and the number of protons in its nucleus. Examples include elemental metals like copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and gold (Au).

Which of the following describes minerals:

 

All of the above

What is ore?

 

Rock that contains enough metal to make it economically worthwhile to extract it.

For Earth materials, the term grade refers to:

 

All of the above

According to the article about copper in this week's reading assignments, what are the three most consumed industrial metals in the world? List each metal, along with its rank (1st, 2nd, and 3rd).

1. iron

2. aluminum

   1. copper

Copper is currently being researched for which of the following?

anti microbial properties in hospital to slow spread of infections

copper bandages

soft electronics

keeping substances at extremely low temps

researching subatomic particles

soil additives

According to the interview about recycling electronics, how much of our electronic waste ends up being shipped to other countries and recycled in ways that are very toxic?

about 80%

According to the FRONTLINE investigation about plastic recycling, of all the plastic ever produced about ________ has never been recycled.

90%

type of plate boundary ocean floor copper deposits from

mid ocean ridges

A brief description of the geologic processes that create seafloor copper deposits

seawater percolates through hot rock above magma chamber, dissolves elements into water, escapes back up into ocean through hot springs, water cools and elements precipitate out

A brief description of the geologic processes that create copper deposits on land

magma chamber beneath volcano cools and solidifies, hydrothermal fluids containing dissolved elements collect. fluid fractures rock above chamber and fill up fractures. fluid cools and deposits minerals and form veins

Briefly describe at least five ways lead was used historically. This question is asking for examples of how lead was used in the past, NOT how it is used today.

pipes that carry drinking water

eyeliner in egypt

additive to food

wireless radio set

additive to fuel

Which of the following describes how copper ore is deposited on the ocean floor:

 

Sea water seeps into fractures at mid-ocean ridges, where it becomes enriched in copper and other metals. The water escapes through black smokers (hydrothermal vents) and the metals are deposited on the ocean floor.

Which of the following describes how copper ore is deposited in volcanic areas on land:

 

Fluids from a cooling magma chamber are injected into the rock above the chamber, forming veins of quartz and copper minerals.

One of the most common forms of copper ore is the mineral chalcopyrite (CuFeS₂). Which elements in this mineral are actually extracted and used, and which ones are waste products?

 

Copper is extracted and used, but iron and sulfur are waste products.

What is the most common method of extracting ore minerals, such as chalcopyrite, from the surrounding ore rock?

 

Grinding the rock to a fine powder and flotation to separate the ore minerals from the rest of the rock.

sulfide minerals in open pit mine

Sulfide minerals are exposed in the open pit, where sulfur reacts with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid.

sulfide minerals in waste rock dump

Sulfide minerals are exposed in the mine waste rock dump, where sulfur reacts with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid that drains off the rock dump and can contaminate the surrounding environment.

sulfide minerals in tailings pond

Sulfide minerals are dumped into the tailings pond, where sulfur reacts with water to form sulfuric acid that can drain out of the pond and into the surrounding environment.

sulfide minerals in smelter

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is released into the atmosphere during the smelting process, which causes acid rain.

Which of the following is associated with the smelting process for copper ore?

sulfur dioxide release- acid rain

carbon dioxide release- climate change

fly ash release- respiratory problems and toxic elements

Which of the following best describes how the smelting of copper ore is currently done in the United States?

 

Most smelting is not done in the U.S. because it is expensive to meet clean air standards. It is cheaper for mining companies to smelt copper ore in countries with lower pollution standards.

The most common ore mineral for lead is:

 

Galena (PbS)

The most common ore mineral for zinc is:

 

Sphalerite ([Zn, Fe]S)

The most common ore mineral for mercury is:

 

Cinnabar (HgS)

At the Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah, about 500,000 tons of rock is blasted and extracted every day to extract a very small amount of copper in the rock. This is a lot of rock! The video produced by the Kennecott Copper Mine compared this amount of rock as equivalent in weight to:

 

10,000 humpback whales

After grinding and flotation, copper concentrate contains about _____% pure copper.

 

28%

In addition to copper, what other elements are usually extracted from copper mines (for example, the Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah)?

gold, silver, molybdenum

Unlike copper ore, most lead ore is extracted by which of the following mining methods?

 

Room and pillar mines - underground mines laid out in a grid-like pattern of rooms and pillars excavated in the ore deposit; the pillars keep the mine from collapsing.

What metal has the highest recycling rate in the U.S.? (About 98% of this metal is recycled!)

lead

What are the two main categories of metals, and how is each category defined?

abundant metals- in crust in concentrations higher than 0.1%

scare metals- in crust in concentrations lower than 0.1%

List two examples of metals from the abundant metals and briefly explain how we use them

aluminum- drink cans

iron- steel for construction and vehicles

how are scare metals subdivided and 1 example of each

ferro-alloy metals- nickel, combined with iron to make steel alloy

base metals- copper, electronics

precious metals- gold, jewelry

iron (Fe²⁺) is being weathered from rocks and carried by water to the ocean. What characteristic of Fe²⁺ allows it to be transported by water?

water soluble

The fact that Fe²⁺is being weathered from rocks tells you something important about the composition of the Earth's atmosphere at this time. What does it tell you?

not enough oxygen in atmosphere to turn to ferric iron

Where is the oxygen (O₂) in early earth coming from?

cyanobacteria

Name two iron ore minerals that will be formed by iron and oxygen

hematite and magnetite

Iron (Fe³⁺) is also weathering from the rocks, but it is not being carried away by water. What characteristic of Fe³⁺ allows it to stay in the soil rather than be transported by water?

it is not water soluble

The fact that Fe³⁺ is being weathered from rocks tells you something important about the composition of the Earth's atmosphere. What does it tell you?

there is enough free oxygen in the atmosphere to turn the ferrous iron into ferric iron

what type of iron deposits form on ocean floor. are they being currently formed?

banded iron formations

not currently formed

what type of iron deposits form on land, are they being currently formed?

red beds

yes being currently formed

How plentiful is iron in the Earth's crust?

 

Iron makes up about 5% of the Earth's crust.

What type of geologic formation does most of the world's iron come from?

 

Iron rich minerals that formed as sedimentary deposits in ancient oceans, called banded iron formations.

How old are the rocks that contain most of the world's iron deposits?

 

Very old (Precambiran, older than 500 million years).

Most of the iron mined in the United States comes from:

 

States in the Great Lakes region; for example Michigan and Minnesota.

The most common ore mineral for iron is:

 

Hematite (Fe₂O₃) and magnetite (Fe₃O₄)

What element is removed from iron ore in the blast furnace?

 Oxygen (O)

The most common ore mineral for aluminum is:

 

Bauxite [Al(OH)₃]

The process of aluminum smelting relies on which of the following:

 

Electrolysis, or passing an electrical current through molten aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) to separate the aluminum from oxygen.

T/F Aluminum is very expensive to produce, but can be recycled over and over without losing its quality. Because of this, about two thirds of all the aluminum ever made is still in use today.

true

Why was gold prized in ancient times (and today!) for jewelry and other valuable decorative objects?

native element so doesnt need to be seperated from others

very rare in earths crust

soft and flexible

malleable, hammed without breaking

does not tarnish or rust

Where did all the gold on Earth originally come from?

 

It was formed in supernovas, or the collision of two neutron stars.

Which of the following describes what happens to bacteria, or "superbugs" like MRSA, on copper surfaces, stainless steel surfaces, and plastic surfaces?

copper atoms interfere with membrane around bacteria which kills

bacteria live longer on stainless steel and plastic surfaces

What technology allowed for the first smelting of iron?

 

The development of the bloomery (or furnace), which increases the amount of oxygen added to fire and makes the fire hotter.

What is "green steel?"

 

Steel that is "mined" from trash like tires and car parts, which might otherwise end up in landfills.

Graphene is the strongest material that has ever been found. How strong is this man-made material estimated to be (somewhat whimsically)?

 

It would take an elephant balanced on a pencil to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness of saran wrap.

why arent silicate minerals used as ores for metals

bonds too strong

what is one mineral group we do commonly use as ore for metals

oxides. weaker bonds

3 ways placer deposits are mined

panning- scooping and manually picking out minerals

hydraulic mining- high pressure hoses to remove gravel, run through sluices to remove minerals

dredging- scoops up deposits with machines and run through sluices

minerals we get from placer deposits

gold, platinum, uranium

two ways limestone forms

One way is the precipitation of calcite in seawater. Slightly acidic rainwater transports elements from the crust into the ocean. The carbonic acid from the rain becomes bicarbonate, which reacts with dissolved calcium to form calcite. This is not soluble in water, so it precipitates out and sinks to the bottom to form limestone.

Another way is the accumulation of organisms that produce calcite body parts. Ocean creatures with shells made of calcite die and sink to the bottom of the ocean. They accumulate to form limestone.

what mineral groups most often used as ores for metals

sulfides, oxides, carbonates, native metals

Most of the silica that is used for glass production comes from:

 

Quartz, which is usually extracted from sand

Which of the following describes how kimberlite deposits (the deposits that diamonds come from) are formed?

 

They form from volcanic eruptions of magma that originated deep in the Earth.

What minerals are most widely used as abrasives?

diamond, corundum, garnet

Which of the following is NOT true about rare earth elements?

 

They are incredibly rare in Earth's crust; even more rare than the precious metals (silver, gold, platinum, etc).

What country dominates the mining of rare earth elements, with over 90% of global production?

china

Which of the following minerals form in evaporite deposits?

Gypsum, Halite, Sylvite, Magnesium chloride, potash

What mineral is limestone composed of?

calcite

What is the difference between cement and concrete? Be sure your answer includes a description of what each material is made of.

Cement is a mixture of lime from limestone, alumina from clay, and silica from sand.

Concrete is a mixture of cement powder, aggregate (sand/gravel/crushed rock), and water.

Which of the following are problems associated with cement manufacturing?

 

It releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
 

It releases fly ash into the atmosphere, which contains toxic elements like lead, mercury, and cadmium that cause cancer and other serious health problems.

Diamonds and graphite are both pure carbon. Why are these materials so different?

More bonds: Carbon atoms in diamonds are bonded with four other carbon atoms, while carbon atoms in graphite are only bonded with three other carbon atoms.

 

Stronger bonds: Carbon atoms in diamonds form a dense cage-like structure, while carbon atoms in graphite form flat sheets that are not fully bonded to each other.

 

Formation of bonds: Carbon atoms in diamonds form bonds under high pressure, so the atoms are forced together and form very tight bonds. Carbon atoms in graphite form bonds in low pressure, so the atoms form loose bonds (the atoms are more spread out).

What trace element gives blue diamonds their unique color?

boron

What trace element gives blue corundum (or sapphire) its unique color?

iron and titanium

Why is jade so strong?

 

The crystals form bundles of long fibers that cross in different directions.