Resources and Energy

Chapter 7

Mineral Resources

• Metal Ores• Non-metallic minerals• Gems

Metal ores• From cooling magma (Cr, Ni, Pb)

– Rock cools, heavy metals settle to bottom

• From contact metamorphism (Pb, Cu, Zn)– Heat changes chemical composition to ore

• From hydrothermal solutions creating contact metamorphism– Minerals dissolve into solution, solution

enters cracks, new minerals form and precipitate out into “veins”

• From moving water– Fragments settle out as placer deposits

Minerals and Their Uses  

Metallic Uses

Hematite and Magnetite (iron) making steel

Galena (lead) car batteries; solder

Gold, silver, platinum electronics; dental; coins; jewelry; utensils; bowls

Chalcopyrite (copper) wiring; coins; jewelry; ornaments

Sphalerite (zinc) brass; galvanization of steel

Non-metallic Uses

Diamond (carbon) drills; saws; jewelry

Graphite (carbon) pencils; paint; lubricants; batteries

Calcite cement; building stone

Halite (salt) food preparation; food preservation; de-icers

Kaolinite (clay) ceramics; cement; bricks

Quartz (sand) glass

Sulfur gunpowder; medicines; rubber

Gypsum plaster and wallboard

Mining

• Removing resources faster than nature can replace them– Subsurface– Surface– Placer– Undersea

Nonrenewable Energy

• Used faster than can be replenished or is not likely to be replenished (limited)

• Fossil fuels– Formed from remains of living things– Coal– Petroleum– Natural gas– Oil traps (shale)

Coal• Massive plant deposits

• Carbonization of peat

• Produces methane, carbon dioxide and coal in the absence of oxygen (swamps)

Peat

Lignite (brown coal) in the Dakotas

Strip mining soft coal (80% C) in Wyoming

High grade anthracite

Petroleum

• Part of carbon cycle also• Liquid hydrocarbons from converted

plant and animal remains• Natural gas = gaseous hydrocarbons• Often found together with water

Oil Shale

Impervious rocks like shale trap oil and gas in crests or upwarps of rock layers.A=anticline trap. R=reef trap. S=stratigraphic trap

Nuclear Energy• Fission is the splitting of atoms

• Releases tremendous amounts of energy that bind individual atoms together

• 1,000,000X stronger than chemical bonds

Power Generation

Fusion Power

• Fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form helium

• 15 million degrees C

• Cold fusion ?

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy

• Geothermal• Solar• Hydropower• Biomass• Wind

Geothermal

• Steam generated from underground heat sources

• Advantages?• Disadavantages?

Solar energy• Passive systems – sun room, etc

• Advantages/disadvantages?

Solar Energy• Active solar – collectors/photovoltaic cells

Photovoltaic cell

Hydropower• Water moves turbines generating

electricity• Advantages/disadvantages?

Sea power, too!

Tidal and wave generator

Biomass

• Decomposition or processing of organic wastes create substances which may be burned as fuel

• E.g., trees, manure, sawdust, garbage, straw, paper

• Advantages/disadvantages

Biomass Generator

Waste wood in chip form

Windpower• Moving air moves blades of

turbine generating electricity• Advantages/disadvantages?

Wind farm

Resources and Conservation

• Weigh options; positive vs. negative

• Choose cleanest available option• Regulate, clean up and reclaim• Resources used for more than

just energy, so………• Conserve all resourcesUses of minerals in your home

Landfill Operation