HUMAN IMPACT ON THE LITHOSPHERE
WHY IS THE LITHOSPHERE IMPORTANT?
Provides land/space on which to live
Provides necessary resources required for
survival, like food and fuel
OVER TIME…
Hunter-GatherersObtained food by hunting and gathering plants
Agricultural revolution – 10,000 years ago, started collecting seeds, etc
Industrial Revolution – middle of 1700sWater/animal muscle – coal and oil
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Machinery made farming, work, etc more efficient.
Cheap transportation over great distances
Materials such as plastic, pesticides, and fertilizers developed
RESOURCES
Natural resource – natural material used by humans
Renewable resource – can be replaced quickly with natural processes
Non-renewable resource – forms at a much slower rate (fossil fuels)
POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION
Developed nations 75 percent of world’s resources, 20%
population = more waste
Ecological Footprint – productive area of Earth needed to support one person in a particular country.
4 MAJOR PRACTICES THAT AFFECT QUALITY OF
LITHOSPHERE
Deforestation
Agriculture
Urbanization
Mining
DEFORESTATION Forests are cut down for the purpose of
building and agriculture
Removing plants increases the rate of erosion,because the plant roots no longer secure thesoil in one place
Deforestation
The removal of forests (rain, deciduous, etc.)• Less carbon pulled from atmosphere
• Less oxygen produced
• Increase water runoff!!
• Decrease in biological diversity• Bio-diversity down 30% in past 40 years
Deforestation
URBANIZATION
Increasing population has led to the need for
more land space for homes, resulting in use of
more natural resources and limiting availability
of farmland.
Urbanization
• Physical growth of urban areas as result of rural
migration
• Currently more people living in urban areas than
rural areas (first time in history)
Urbanization
Environmental Effects
•Heat Islands – solar radiation reflected by
buildings, asphalt, etc
•Makes location hotter than surrounding areas
•Extra solar radiation not being used (plants,
water, etc)
Urbanization
Environmental Effects
•More people = more waste/trash
•Less plant life to clean air (increase air
pollution)
•Acid rain – Decrease in pH of rain due to
pollution
URBANIZATION
Environmental Effects
• Increase of impermeable surfaces• Water and other materials cannot pass
through
• Leads to increased run off and flooding
AGRICULTURE In addition to losing soil by
deforestation, we alsolose tons of topsoil eachyear through agriculture
Topsoil is the upper,outermost layer of soil,usually the top 2 inches. Ithas the highest amount oforganic matter andmicroorganisms, and iswhere plants obtain mostof their nutrients
AGRICULTURE
Traditional agriculture techniques, like plowing,
remove topsoil and require replanting each
year. The United States alone loses almost 3
tons of topsoil per acre per year.
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Preserving fertile topsoil is essential to feeding
the world’s rapidly growing population. This
can be done through:
(1) Windbreaks
(2) Terracing hillsides
(3) Contour plowing
(4) Crop rotation
WINDBREAKS
Windbreaks are located along crop field borders
or within the field itself
How do windbreaks help to reduce erosion rates?
TERRACING HILLSIDES
Terracing is the building of wide flat rows of
terraces on mountainside and hillsides. The
terraces look like big staircases. They hold
rainwater so that it will not wash away the soil.
CONTOUR PLOWING Instead of plowing up and down, farmers plow
across a slope. In this way, the soil forms a ridge that slows down the flow of water, so soil is not carried away.
CROP ROTATION
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series
of different types of crops in the same area in
back to back seasons. It maintains a balance
of nutrients in the soil.
EFFECT OF DEVELOPMENT ON SHORELINE
Construction along the shoreline increases the
rate of erosion beyond the already high rate of
erosion experienced along shorelines due to
the ocean.
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SHORELINE
STRUCTURES
Structures can be built to protect a coast from
erosion or to prevent movement of sand along
a beach:
Groins
Breakwaters
Seawalls
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: GROINS
Groins are barriers built at right angles to the
beach to trap sand that is moving parallel to
the shore. Groins are built to maintain or widen
beaches that are losing sand.
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: BREAKWATERS
Breakwaters are built parallel to the shoreline
off the coast to limit the force of oncoming
waves.
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SEAWALLS
Structure designed to
prevent impact of tides
and waves on property,
built directly along the
shoreline.
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: BEACH
NOURISHMENT
Beach nourishment projects add large
quantities of sand to the beach system. It is an
attempt to stabilize shorelines without adding
protective features.
EFFECT OF DEVELOPMENT ON MOUNTAINSIDES
Construction along mountainsides can
decrease the stability of the land, allowing for a
greater rate of erosion. Mass movements (ex:
rockslides) are more probable.
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SLOPE REVETMENT
Screen mesh (called slope revetment) draped over a steep slope keeps loosened rocks from entering roadways.
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: RETAINING WALLS
Human activities or natural processes can removesome soil from the base of a slope, making theremaining upper part of the slope less stable andmore prone to mass movement. Construction of aretaining wall can support the upper part of aslope.
ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SLOPE VEGETATION
While harvesting trees, leave enough mature
trees to anchor the slope and protect soil from
excessive erosion due to runoff.
FOSSIL FUELS
Remains of ancient organisms that changed into coal, oil, or natural gasSupply is limited
Environmental consequences
FOSSIL FUEL FORMATION
Coal – plants in swamps hundreds of millions of years agoSediments compressed plant remains
Oil/natural gas – decay of tiny marine organisms compressed and heated
COAL
57% of electric production in US formed by coal
Obtained by underground mines and/or mountain removal
DRILLING
Oil pumped from the ground; crude oil
Fuels, chemicals, plastics – petroleum products
45% of world’s commercial energy use
MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINING
Subsurface mining – ore deposits that are usually 50 meters or more beneath Earth’s surface
Surface Mining – ore deposits located close to Earth’s surface.
MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINING
Surface miningSurface coal mining
Quarrying
Solar Evaporation
Mountaintop Removal
MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINING
Undersea mining Land mining is cheaper
Deep water makes processes difficult
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Energy needs increased surface mining
Reclaiming land and returning it to previous state is a requirement
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Air and noise pollution Dust created by mining and loading/unloading
Machine causes noise pollution and damage nearby structures
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Water ContaminationWater picks up and dissolves toxic substances
(arsenic)
Sulfur and water – diluted sulfuric acidAcid Mine Drainage - AMD
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Displacement of WildlifeStripping of plant life
Animals leave area
New ecosystem created after
Destroy river and sea bottoms
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Erosion and SedimentationSediments find way into streams
Choke stream life
Degrades water quality
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Soil DegradationDeeper soil layers added to top
Decreases richness of original soil
Subsidence (sink holes)Sinking of regions of ground
with no horizontal movementhttp://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/0
1/man-goes-missing-in-florida-when-
bedroom-falls-into-sinkhole/
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Underground Mine Fires Last decades and even centuries
Australian fire – 2,000 Years!!!!!
Gas and smoke emitted
MINING REGULATION AND RECLAMATION
Must comply with Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Act, and Endangered Species Act
Reclamation – returning land to original or better state after mining
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