ESCI 120 Environmental Geology

Learning objectives: Part 3

After completing these sections, you should be able do all of the following. You should be
familiar with the knowledge underlying each item (for example, to explain how the
distribution of major earthquakes relates to plates/plate boundaries, you will need to be
able to define the terms earthquake, plate, and plate boundary in addition to
understanding how they relate). Note that the questions on your exams will be similar to
those on your quizzes, and may require applying this knowledge rather than simply
repeating it.
Energy Resources
-Define energy, and explain what energy resources and fuels are
-State how per capita energy use in the US today compares to the energy used by early
humans
-Understand what fossil fuels are, and identify any energy source we discussed as a fossil fuel
or non-fossil fuel
-Explain what hydrocarbons are
-Understand what viscosity and volatility are, and tell how the number of carbon atoms in a
hydrocarbon affects these properties
-Describe the source material(s) that oil and natural gas come from
-Describe the process of forming oil and natural gas, and understand all included/related
terms (e.g., source rock, kerogen, etc.)
-Explain how burial affects the formation of oil/gas (understand what about burial is the main
driving force for oil/gas formation)?
-Express how the depth of burial affects the amount of oil/natural gas produced from source
material
-State how the presence of oxygen affects oil/gas formation and preservation
-Understand what a reservoir rock is and what type of rock makes a good reservoir rock
-Understand what porosity and permeability are; explain how these characteristics affect
what makes a good reservoir rock
-Explain what seal rocks and oil seeps are
-State the approximate year the first modern oil well was completed (1850s)
-Understand the general idea behind geophysics (scan of the Earth similar to X-ray/MRI)
-Define the basic terms associated with well drilling (derrick, drilling mud, etc.)
-Explain whether or not pumping typically gets all (or most) of the oil or gas from a reservoir
rock
-Understand what secondary recovery is, identify the two most common secondary recovery
methods, and explain how they work
-Express what a turbine and a generator are
-Describe where the Marcellus Shale Formation is located, explain what resource is being
extracted from it, and discuss the major secondary recovery method being employed in
the Marcellus Shale
-Explain the main public concerns regarding the activities in the Marcellus Shale
-State what is the relatively recent technological advance that allows the Marcellus Shale to
be an economically viable reservoir rock
-List the main types of alternative hydrocarbons (tar sands, oil shale, gas hydrates). Explain
what each one is, and what its advantages/disadvantages are for use as an energy resource
-Define coal

-Explain the formation process for coal (be able to define/explain related terms such as peat,
lignite, etc.)
-Describe the parent material of coal (where does coal come from)?
-State what form of life had to evolve before significant coal deposits could be formed, and
state when that form of life first appeared
-Understand the different grades/ranks of coal; be able to sort the ranks/grades of coal in
order of increasing (or decreasing) carbon content and/or temperature of formation
-List the two major types of coal mining, and explain why one type of mining would be
chosen over another
-Define coal mining terms such as overburden, drag line, and reclamation
-Identify which is safer: underground coal mining or strip mining?
-Explain what a coalbed fire is, and how easy or difficult they are to extinguish
-State approximately what portion of the total energy use in the US is fed by fossil fuels
-Describe whether the worldwide rate of power use is rising, falling, or staying about the
same. Explain the two main reasons for the trend?
-State approximately how long it will be until we run out of oil, based on current predictions
-Understand the negative aspects of fossil fuel extraction, transport, and use (e.g., spills,
leaks, acid mine runoff, acid rain, smog, CO2 emissions)
-Explain the difference between a finite energy resource and a renewable energy resource,
and be able to classify any of the types of power we discussed as either finite or
renewable
-Explain how hydropower works, and define potential energy
-Understand the advantages and disadvantages of hydropower
-State how the amount of energy Earth receives from the Sun compares to our total energy
demand (you dont need to know exact numbers, just whether one is bigger or if they are
about the same)
-Summarize the main problems with using solar energy
-Identify the two main ways of using solar energy, and define photovoltaic cell
-Explain with methods that can be used to indirectly store energy from the Sun
-Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy
-Understand what geothermal energy production is
-Undserstand what biofuels are, and tell what the most common biofuel is
-Discuss the main advantages and disadvantages of biofuels
-State what material is used for fuel in a nuclear reactor
-Name which nuclear process is used in nuclear power plants, and explain if it is it the same
process that operates in the Sun
-Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power
-Explain what a meltdown is
-List the three most well-known nuclear power accidents, and explain how these accidents
impacted nuclear power plant construction