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ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY :
Definition, Scope and Tools
INTRODUCTION
Environmental geology is an applied subject driven for the most part by the
commercial reality of the marketplace, since most reserach in this field is
financed commercially.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
The following list gives some of the key points which must be considered in
collecting these data, and which reflect the principles of commercial reality :
scoping the task, types of field task, spatial scale, and observational versus
instrumental data.
3. Terrain analysis
1. Parametric terrain analysis, involves the derivation of a secondary map, or
series of maps. It is the basic tool by which all hazard maps, ground
classification maps, site-location maps and planning zone maps. There
are two broad approaches to parametric terrain analysis :
1. Interrogative approach
2. Cartographic summation
2. Physiographic terrain analysis
It uses the physical properties of the land surface to break it down into a
natural sequence of units known as landsystems. The idea of this type of
analysis is to recognise recurrent or repetitive patterns within the
landscape, which are referred to as landsystems.
4. Environmental monitoring
Two broad types of environmental monitoring can be identified :
1. Direct methods, involve the observation of a process or landform for a
period of time.
2. Indirect methods, provide information relatively quickly and are therefore
more commonly used in environmental geology. There are five broad
types of indirect or secondary method.
1. Inference from morphology or sediment volume.
2. Prediction from known location to an unknown location.
3. Physical and numerical simulation
4. Space-time transformation
5. Historical data
5. Data Presentation
In summarising their result, environmental geologists have to consider the
following points :
1. The nature of the brief
2. The nature of the audience
3. Map format
4. Internal and external audit
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
Mineral Flues
There are three main mineral fuels : (1) coal and peat; (2) petroleum; (3)
uranium. Coal and peat are traditional mineral fuels which, at their simplest,
are extracted, transported and burned to produce energy without recourse to
processing. Both materials are products of the accumulation of organic matter,
mostly land plants, in a humid environment. Peat is composed of partially
decomposed and compressed plant matter and forms extensive surface deposits
today in many mid-to high-latitude countries. Coal is derived from peat, but has
been buried and matured, and is therefore mostly a geologically older deposit.
There are two main requirements for coal and peat formation :
1. Land plants, which restrict the age of coal and peat formation to post
formation
2. An anaerobic depositional environment such as swamps and bogs in
which organic decomposition occurs in the absence of free oxygen.
Since coal requires compaction for its maturation, two other factors are
important in the formation of economic deposits :
1. Subsidence of the peat swamps in order to accumulate sufficient organic
matter
2. Burial under a great thickness of sediment.
Construction Minerals
Minerals, aggregates and stones which are used in building are known
collectively as construction minerals, and these represent the most widely used
of all geological materials. In this case the term mineral is used in an industrial
sense, referring to any geological material of economic value, rather than the
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
All mineral extraction will have some degree of environmental impact prior to,
during and after mineral extraction. The aim of the environmental geologist is to
minimise and manage this impact. In developing countries, where for economic
or other reasons environmental control is less stringent, the impact of current
mineral extraction may be more marked. There are a variety of different types of
environmental impact depending on the mining/quarrying operation involved.
The key impacts commonly encountered both during and after the cessation of
mineral extraction include :
1. Mining subsidence
2. Problem associated with the disposal and management of mine spoil and
tailings
3. Environmental impact of mine operations such as blasting, land loss,
noise, traffic problems and problems of water quality
4. Quarry/mine restoration
Each of these management problems is dealt with in turn.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
2. Aggregates, are the most important of all geomaterials and may be either
derived from natural sand and gravel deposits or processed from crushed rock.
Classification of aggregates is important as it provides the potential user with the
basic information needed to make a judgement on the suitability of an aggregate
for a specific purpose. Typical classifications employ three important
characteristics, namely type, physical characteristics and petrology.
4. Structural clay, which is fired to make , which are among the commonest of
all geomaterials because of their low unit cost. There are five basic process
involved in the formation of a typical bricks : (1) clay extraction; (2) clay
processing; (3) brick forming; (4) brick drying; (5) brick firing. In all of these
stages the geology of the brick clay is of utmost importance.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
WATER RESOURCES
Water is essential to life, used not only for domestic consumption, but for
agriculture, industry, power generation and waste disposal. It varies widely in
availability from one location to the next, both globally and regionally. Principal
problems are the storage and transfer of water from areas where it is abundant
to meet the demand in those areas where it is not. Water resource management,
in the context of human use, therefore involves three components : (1) resource
acquisition; (2) redistribution; and (3) water treatment and disposal.
The rate at which water is delivered from a drainage basin either to stream flow
or to groundwater depends on the topography and land use within catchment,
both of which can be changed by human action.
Artificial Reservoirs
Reservoirs are constructed for a wide range of uses including water supply,
power generation, irrigation and flood control, and vary from local structures to
store treated water, to large reservoirs on major continental rivers. In designing
and planning reservoirs, the following factors need to be considered : (1) water
availability in relation to short-term and long-term demand; (2) reservoir location
and geometry; (3) hydrogeology of the reservoir floor and walls; (4) engineering
geology of the dam site; (5) reservoir lifetime; (6) hazards to the integrity of the
reservoir; (7) capital cost and operational costs; and (8) environmental impacts.
River Abstraction
River abstraction involves the direct removal of water from rivers by either
diversion or pumping. The consequences of abstraction may be considerable on
a river which is deprived of its natural discharge, although this depends on the
amount and timing of the abstraction. Impacts of water abstraction include : (1)
channel sedimentation and reduction in channel size due to decreased transport
capacity; (2) encroachment of vegetation into channel; (3) effects on the river
ecology and river bank habitats; (4) an increased concentration of solutes and
pollutants due to a decrease in dilution; (5) adverse aesthetic impacts; (6)
downstream impacts on fisheries, navigation and other river-based activities.
Groundwater Abstraction
Groundwater may be obtained either directly from springs or by pumping from
saturated aquifers. In the case of springs the rate of supply is limited by rate of
spring discharge. Removal groundwater by pumping causes a draw-down in the
water table in the vicinity of the well; this has the potential to cause settlement
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
Desalination
In areas with a surplus of cheap fuel, desalination of seawater to produce fresh
water is a practical option. Seawater is evaporated and condensed on a large
scale to produce fresh water. This is clearly a fuel-intensive process, but is
economic in the oil-rich regions of the Middle East where oil is more easily
obtained than water.
Water can be transferred from one location to the next by use of pipes, canals
and tunnels, natural rivers, and recharge of groundwater. The aim is to deliver a
constant supply of water sufficient to meet the demand in a specific location and
to minimise leakage or other loss. The more complex the methods of water
transfer and the greater the travel distances involved, the more costly and
wasteful the scheme may become.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
Earth heritage conservation is based on four convictions : (1) that rocks and
landforms should be conserved for their own sake; (2) that they provide a basis
for economic exploitation; (3) that they form a basis for research, training and
education; and (4) that they have aesthetic or cultural value. The scientific and
aesthetic earth science resource is varied, but typically comprises surface
landforms and processes, rock exposures created by human activity or natural
processes, and the unusual or rare rock, mineral or fossils deposits.
Rock Outcrops
Rock outcrops, by strict definition, are those rock units which come to the
surface of the earth and may be marked on a geological map, which are exposed
as visible rock breaking the surface of the landscape in a variety of settings, and
those which are obscured, the outcrop being covered by surface deposits, soils,
or human developments such as towns and cities.
Aesthetically and culturally, the main value of rock outcrops lies in their
contribution to the formation of specific landforms.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
the geological resource, in the form of building stones and other construction
materials.
In many cases, the original siting of towns or city was controlled by nature of the
geomorphology.
Assessment of Value
Assessment of value is primarily subjective and is a function of the comparison of
selected areas of the earth with others. The process of selecting conservation
sites, whatever their size and nature (aesthetic or scientific), is a critical
component in the conservation process.
Promotion of Awareness
Awareness is in most cases the most important aspect of successful
conservation. The successful conservation of wildlife and the promotion of the
green movement over the last 20 years is a function of the increase in awareness
of the need for protection of fragile habitats. Awareness can also be enhanced
through an appropriate use of signage and of interpretative boards, guided tours,
leaflets and other litarature.
Site Enhancement
Effective management and conservation of a site also needs the development of
site enhancemet techniques. These can vary from the promotion of a greater
awareness of a site through better access, to physical actions such as, for
example, the clearance of unwanted vegetation or dumped rubbish.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
There are two approaches to conservation : (1) conflict, and (2) compromise.
Conflict deals in direct opposition to any form of development and is a high-risk
strategy. Compromise is often viewed as being inconsistent with conservation,
but is the strategy most commonly used by statutory conservation agencies.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
The single most important tasks of the engineering geologist is site investigation.
This task involves the pre-development identification of difficult ground
conditions and other building hazards. It may take many different forms, from
regional land-use planning surveys, to site selection and site specific analysis.
Within site investigation, four main stages, not always present, can be identified :
(1) regional reconnaissance to identify the most problem-free location or route
corridor; (2) site documentation; (3) material testing; and (4) data presentation
either as engineering geology maps or in detailed site reports.
Site Documentation
Site documentation involves two complementary phases : (1) the desk study, and
(2) the field survey.
Desk study, usually includes : (1) published and unpublished material; (2)
historical maps; (3) topographic maps; (4) air photographs and satellite
images; (5) miscellaneous maps; (6) borehole logs; (7) national surveys or
databases; (8) mining records.
Field survey may involves : (1) geological mapping; (2) geomorphological
mapping; (3) geophysical surveys; (4) trial pits and trenches; (5) boreholes.
Consequently, through a combination of deskwork and targeted fieldwork, the
principal engineering problem on a site can be identified, located and in many
cases quantified.
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Lecture Note : Environmental Geology, edited by : Agus Hendratno
Material Testing
Testing of rock and soils taken from boreholes and trial pits can be divided into
three types of activity : (1) hard rock testing; (2) rock mass strength
determinations; and (3) soil testing.
Hard rock testing involving laboratory analysis of the intact strength of the
lithologies present is rare, since most have sufficient bearing capacity and the
strength envelope is well known for most common rock types. In practise, the
effective rock mass strength is determined by a combination of the fracture
pattern and the weathering state. Soil testing is a routine part of site
investigation. Engineering soils are defined as any unlithified sediment and may
include both soil as studied by pedologists, and unlithified rocks as studied by
geologists. The aim of testing is to determine not only the strength of a soil, but
also its sensitivity to failure.
In engineering terms one can recognise three types of geological terrain, each
with its own engineering hazards : (1) ancient hard rock terrain; (2) soft rock
terrain; and (3) superficial sediments and landforms. Of particular note in a
country such as Britain are the problems associated with the glacial and
periglacial landforms and sediments which cover much of the surface.
Of the range of engineering geology tasks, rock excavation and tunnelling involve
more geological input than any other. Choice of excavation techniques is
controlled by rock mass strength, as is the method of tunnel stabilisation used.
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