EARTH SCIENCE Lessons 4-5 for MIDTERMS

Mineral

It is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and a crystalline structure

Rock

It is a solid combination of one or more minerals found in the Earth’s crust

Sedimentary rock igneous

Formed from the accumulation and compaction of sediments, which can include mineral particles, organic matter, and small rock fragments. These rocks often have layered appearances and may contain fossils. Examples include sandstone, limestone, and shale.

Igneous rock

Formed from the solidification and cooling of molten magma or lava.

Intrusive (Plutonic) Igneous Rocks

Formed from magma that cools slowly beneath the Earth's surface, resulting in coarse-grained textures

Extrusive (Volcanic) Igneous Rocks

Formed from lava that cools quickly on the Earth's surface, resulting in fine-grained textures. Examples include basalt and pumice.

Intrusive (Plutonic) Igneous Rocks & Extrusive (Volcanic) Igneous Rocks

Igneous rock can be further classified into two types:

Metamorphic rock

Formed from the transformation of existing rocks (igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rocks) due to high pressure, high temperature, or chemical processes within the Earth's crust.

Rock cycle

It is a continuous, dynamic process by which rocks are formed, broken down, and transformed into other types of rocks over geological time.

Mineral resources

Are naturally occurring concentrations of minerals in the Earth's crust that can be extracted and processed economically for human use.

Ore

It is a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a mineral - often a metal - to make it profitable for mining and processing.

High-grade ore

This type of ore contains a high concentration of the mineral.

Low-grade ore

This type of ore contains a low concentration of mineral.

Overburden & Spoils

Shallow mineral deposits are removed by the surface mining, in which vegetation, soil, and rock overlying a mineral deposit are cleared away. This waste material is called ____ and usually deposited in piles called _____.

Strip mining

It involves extracting mineral deposits that lie in large horizontal beds close to the Earth’s surface

Contour strip mining

It is used mostly to mine coal and various mineral resources on mountainous terrain. Huge power shovels and bulldozer cut a series of terraces into the side of a hill. Then, earthmovers remove the overburden, a power shovel extracts the coal, and overburden from each new terrace is dumped onto the one below.

Moutaintop removal

It is a type of surface mining used primarily to extract coal in regions with steep terrain. This technique involves removing the summit or summit ridge of a mountain by using explosives to expose underlying coal seams, which are then extracted. This destroys forests, buries mountain streams, and risk of flooding.

Highwall

Unless the land is restored, this leaves a series of spoils banks and a highly erodible hill of soil and rock called a ____.

Subsurface mining

It is a method of extracting minerals and ores from beneath the Earth's surface. Unlike surface mining, which involves removing layers of soil and rock deposits, surface mining requires digging tunnels or shafts to reach deep mineral deposits.

The ore material & the waste material

Ore extracted by mining has typically two components:

Tailings

Its rock wastes that are left in piles where they settle out.

Smelting

Heating ores to release metals is called

Chemical extraction

It can create several environmental and health problems to the environment.

Nonrenewable mineral

They are finite resources that do not regenerate on a human timescale.

Depletion time

It is the time it takes to use up a certain proportion - usually 80% - of the reserves of a mineral at a given rate of use.

Shortest depletion time

The estimate assumes no recycling ore reuse and no increase in the reserve.

Longer depletion time

The estimate assumes recycling will stretch the existing reserve and that better mining technology, higher prices, or new discoveries will increase the reserve.

Longest depletion time

It makes the same estimate assumption, But also assumes that people will reuse and reduce consumption to expand the reserve further. Finding a substitute for a resource leads to a new set of depletion curves for the new mineral.

Earths crust

It contains abundant deposits of nonrenewable mineral resources such as iron and aluminum. But concentrated deposits of important mineral resources such as manganese, chromium, cobalt, platinum, and rare earth elements are relatively scarce.

Geological processes

It determines the quantity and location of a mineral resource in the Earth’s crust, but economics determines what part of the known supply is extracted and used.

Lower-grade ore

Mining it can be less profitable due to higher operational costs, especially if market prices for metals are low.

Lower-grade ore

It requires mining and processing larger volumes of ore, which takes much more energy and costs more.

Economic feasibility

It depends on metal prices, production efficiency, and energy costs

Hydrothermal ore deposits

It forms when superheated, mineral rich water shoots out of vents in volcanic regions of oceanic floor

magnesium, bromine, and sodium chloride

Currently, only these 3 elements are abundant enough to be extracted profitably from seawater.

Sand, gravel, phosphate, copper, iron, silver, titanium, and diamonds.

These are sediments along the shallow continental shelf and adjacent shorelines contain significant deposits of minerals such as:

Black smokers

When the hot water comes into contact with cold seawater, black particles of various metal sulfides precipitate out and accumulate as chimney-like structures called:

Sustainable use

______ of mineral resources involves managing and utilizing these finite resources in a way that meets current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainable use

This approach aims to minimize environmental impacts, reduce resource depletion, and promote economic and social well-being.

Recycling

It improves the efficiency of resource use in manufacturing and construction helps to reduce the amount of minerals needed.

Reuse

It promotes ____ of products and materials extends the life of mineral resources and reduces waste.

Biomining

It reduces its environmental impact use biological approach

Hydrothermal ore deposits

It is another potential ocean source of some minerals.

Depletion allowances

It allows the companies to deduct the costs of developing and extracting mineral resources from their taxable incomes.

Open-pit mining

It is used on flat terrain, a gigantic earth mover strips away the overburden and a power shovel. which removes a mineral resource such as gold.

Subsidence

It is the collapse of land above some underground mines.

Gravel

It is used for roadbeds and to make concrete.

Phosphate

It is used to make inorganic fertilizers and certain detergents.

Energy resource

involves any material that can be used as a source of energy and is used to generated electricity or other forms of power, such as light and heat, for human use.

Energy Efficiency

It is a measure of how much useful work we can get from each unit of energy we use

Energy Conservation

It is the act of reducing or eliminating the unnecessary waste of energy.

Energy waste

occurs when any form of power or energy is used unnecessarily or inefficiently

cogeneration

One way for industries and utility companies to save energy is to use ________ to produce forms of energy from the same fuel source

Recycling materials

________ such as steel and other metals can also help industries save energy and money

smart grid

A ______ is an electrical grid system that’s digitally controlled, and has a high-capacity system with supper efficient transmission lines.

gasoline-electric (conventional) hybrid car

A ____________ is a vehicle that has a gasoline-powered engine and a battery-powered electric motor used as the car’s source of energy to accelerate and climb hills

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

uses batteries to power an electric motor, as well as another fuel, such as gasoline or diesel, to power an internal combustion engine or other propulsion source

All-electric cars (fuel cell vehicles)

are energy-efficient cars that fully operates only on battery or produces electricity using hydrogen gas as fuel (hydrogen fuel cell)

Green architecture

It can help us transition to energy, resource, and money-efficient buildings over the next decades. They make use of technologies such as insulated windows and energy-efficient appliances and lightings.

living roofs or green roofs

Some homes and urban buildings also have _____ or _____, covered with formulated soil and selected vegetation

Superinsulation

is also vital in building energy-efficient houses sinceit warms the house with no backup heating system, especially in cold climates.

passive solar heating system

It is designed to absorb and store the sun's energy to heat a well-insulated, airtight structure. It incorporates architectural elements and materials to naturally collect, store, and distribute solar heat.

active solar heating system

It captures energy from the sun by pumping a heat-absorbing fluid such as water or an antifreeze solution through special collectors, usually mounted in a roof or on special racks that face the sun

Solar thermal systems

_________, also known as concentrated solar power (CSP), use different methods to collect and concentrate solar energy to boil water and produce stream for generating electricity.

parabolic troughs

one method CSP uses rows of curved mirrors called _______

solar cookers

Solar energy can also be concentrated on a smaller scale. these are called

computer-controlled mirrors

another type of CSP system uses an array of

synthetic oil.

These mirrors are designed to focus sunlight onto a pipe filled with

central power tower

These mirror track the sun and focus sunlight on

solar cookers

On a smaller scale, people can use ___ to boil water and cook food. Smaller-Scale Solar Energy these are simple, inexpensive devices that focus sunlight onto a cooking pot

deforestation, indoor air pollution

Solar cookers they reduce the need for firewood or charcoal, which helps prevent _ and cuts down on _, a major problem for many poor people around the world.

Hydropower

is any technology that uses the kinetic energy of flowing and falling water to produce electricity

Hydropower

is actually world's leading renewable energy source.

Hydropower

is the least expensive renewable energy resource

build a high dam

The most common method to harnessing renewable hydropower is to __ across a river to create a reservoir.

ocean tides and waves.

Another way we can produce electricity from flowing water is to tap into the energy of ____ & ____

Wave Energy, wave energy converters

_______, ocean waves are consistent in many places, and engineers uses devices called_______ to capture their motion and turn it into electricity.

Tidal Energy, tidal barrages

____ uses the movement of ocean tides to generate electricity, In places with big tidal changes, like coastal bays, engineers build dams called _____

Wind Power

______ is a form of renewable energy that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity using wind turbines.

wind turbines

The kinetic energy from blowing winds can be can be captured and converted to electrical energy by devices called

wind farms

Groups of wind turbines are called ___ transmit electrical energy to electrical grids.

Biomass

_____ is derived from organic materials like plants, agriculture waste, and even wood

gaseous or liquid biofuels

Energy can be produced by burning the solid biomass or organic matter found in plants or plant-related material or by converting it to ___&___

Geothermal energy

____ is heat stored in soil, underground rocks, and fluids in the earth's mantle. It is used to heat and cool buildings, and to heat water to produce electricity

geothermal heat pumps and deeper hydrothermal

Geothermal energy is primarily harnessed through two methods: ____&____ reservoirs

geothermal heat pump system

A _______ is a heating and cooling system that use the Earth's constant temperature to regulate indoor temperature. this technology harnesses the natural heat stored in the ground

hydrothermal reservoirs

deeper ______. wells are drilled to extract either dry steam, wet steam, or hot water from these reservoirs

Electricity generation

_________: Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells, which combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity.

Transportation

______: Hydrogen is used to fuel hydroge-powered vehicles

Heating

_______: Hydrogen can be used to heat building by burning it in furnaces or using it in fuel cells

Industrial processes

_______: Hydrogen is also used in industrial processes like refining petroleum, producing fertilizers, and even steel production.

Crude oil (petroleum)

________ is a black gooey liquid containing a mixture of combustible hydrocarbons along with a small amount of nonmetal impurities and is the second most widely used energy resource in the world.

peak production.

After years of pumping crude oil, pumpjacks will start to notice a decline of oil production which is referred to as

refining

Crude oil from oil wells can’t be used directly but rather has to go through the process of ______ in order for society to use

petrochemicals,

About 2% of the products of refining, called ______ are used as raw materials to make industrial organic chemicals, pesticides, and many other products.

Unconventional heavy oil

_______ is a thick type of crude oil that does not flow as easily as light oil from various resources.

Oil sand (tar sands)

_______ is a growing source of heavy oil which consists of a mixture of clay, sand, water, and an organic material called bitumen.

Proven oil reserves

_______ are known deposits from which oil can be extracted profitably at current prices using current technology.

Natural gas

_____ is a mixture of gases of which 50-90% is methane and heavier gaseous hydrocarbons such as propane, butane, and small amounts of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide.

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

When a natural gas deposit is tapped, propane and butane gases can be liquified under high pressure and can be removed as _______________