Energy and Mineral Resources

Renewable resources
Can be replenished over
relatively short time spans
Examples include
Plants
Animals for food
Trees for lumber
Also energy from
Flowing water
Wind
Sun

From http://sunsite.tus.ac.jp/multimed/pics/plants/forest.gif

Renewable and nonrenewable

resources

From www.southernco.com/ alpower/about/

Renewable and nonrenewable

resources
Nonrenewable resources
They are forming today, but significant deposits
take millions of years to form
Examples
Fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)
Metals (iron, copper, uranium, gold)

Some resources, such as groundwater, can go in

either category depending on how they are used
Some resources (aluminum for example) can be
used over and over
Oil, for example, cannot be reused

U.S. energy consumption in 2001

Coal
Coal
23% of US energy needs
Formed mostly from plant material
Along with oil and natural gas,
coal is commonly called a fossil
fuel
The major fuel used in power
plants to generate electricity
Problems with coal use include
environmental damage from
mining and air pollution

Coal fields of the

United States

OIL AND NATURAL GAS

Oil and natural gas
Oil and natural gas, consisting of
various hydrocarbon compounds, are
found in similar environments
typically found together
Derived from the remains of marine
plants and animals
Coal is formed mostly from plant material
in a swamp environment
Oil and gas are derived from plants and
animals with a marine origin

OIL AND NATURAL GAS

Oil and natural gas

With increasing burial over millions of
years, chemical reactions transform
some of the organic material into
liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons
Oil and gas migrate upwards into
porous rock lighter than water

OIL AND NATURAL GAS

Oil and natural gas
A geologic environment that allows for economically
significant amounts of oil and gas to accumulate
underground is termed an oil trap
Common oil and natural gas traps include anticlinal traps, fault
traps, and stratigraphic traps

When the cap rock is

punctured by
drilling, the oil and
natural gas, which
are under pressure,
migrate from the
pore spaces of the
reservoir rock to the
drill hole

Sandstone is a much more common reservoir rock for

petroleum than shale because ____________.
1. shale is more porous so the oil tends to leak out over time
2. sandstone is more abundant than shale
3. shales, especially black shales, are much richer in primary
organic matter than are sandstones
4. sandstones are more permeable than shales so subsurface
flows of fluids tend to be directed through sandstone strata
rather than through shales

Environmental effects of
burning fossil fuels
Urban air pollution
Air pollutants are airborne
particles and gases that
occur in concentrations
that endanger the heath of
organisms and disrupt the
orderly functioning of the
environment
Primary pollutants
Secondary pollutants

Environmental effects of
burning fossil fuels
Carbon dioxide and global warming
Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide which is one of the
gases responsible for warming the lower atmosphere
Greenhouse effect the atmosphere is transparent to incoming
short-wavelength solar radiation. However, the outgoing longwave radiation emitted by Earth is absorbed in the lower
atmosphere, keeping the air near the ground warmer

Environmental effects of
burning fossil fuels
Carbon dioxide
and global
warming
Global
temperatures
have increased
(global
warming) due to
a rising level of
atmospheric
carbon dioxide

Which one of the following statements is most likely correct?

1. Coal imports into the U.S. have been rising steadily since
about 1950.
2. By the year 2010, Russia and the republics of the former
Soviet Union will probably be importing large amounts of
petroleum from South Africa.
3. North and South America have about equal reserves of goodgrade coals.
4. By 2010, imported petroleum will account for over 50% of
U.S. consumption.

Alternate energy sources

Nearly 90 percent of the worlds energy needs
are derived from nonrenewable fossil fuels
Possible alternate energy sources
Nuclear energy
Solar energy
Wind energy
Hydroelectric power
Geothermal energy
Tidal energy

NUCLEAR ENERGY
8% of US energy demand
Nuclei of uranium-235 are bombarded
with neutrons causing fission and the
release of energy
Nuclear reaction is controlled by
moving neutron absorbing control rods
into and out of the nuclear reactor
Large quantities of uranium ore have
been found, but typically only contain
0.05% uranium

NUCLEAR ENERGY
Of this, 99.3% is nonfissionable uranium238
Fuels in nuclear reactors have to be at
least 3% uranium-235 it therefore has to
be enriched expensive
Found in South Africa, Colorado Plateau,
Wyoming
Problems
Safety
Expense of building a nuclear power plant

SOLAR ENERGY
Passive south facing
windows
Active blackened boxes
covered with glass suns
energy transferred to a fluid
that is then used to heat the
house
Initial cost is high
Supplemental systems

Photovoltaic cells turn suns

energy directly into
electricity
Becoming more common on
rooftops
Geologist use these to power
field equipment
Still very expensive

WIND ENERGY

If the winds in North and South

Dakota could be harnessed they
would provide 80% of the electrical
energy in the US
Wind provided 1% of Californias
energy in 2000
Technology advance between 1983
and 2003 cut the cost of wind
power by 85%
In the next 50-60 years wind power
might meet 5-10% of US electricity
needs
Good for providing power in
remote areas
Needs large remote and windy
areas
Many people do not want wind
turbines near them maybe put
them offshore (Nantucket)

From www.abc.net.au/landline/ img/20011006windfarm2.jpg

HYDROELECTRIC POWER

Water energy has been used

for centuries watermills
5% of US electricity
Water is a renewable energy
source, but the dams have a
finite lifespan
Sediment eventually fills the
reservoir takes 50-60 years
Aswan Dam built in 1960s,
will be half full of sediment by
2025
Limited by the availability of
sites
Pumped water systems

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Tapping underground reservoirs of

steam and hot water
Steam and hot water are used for
heating and electricity generation
Iceland hot water used to heat
houses, warm greenhouses, etc
60 million people get electricity that
has been generated geothermally
3.5 million homes in US
Steam and heat typcially lasts 10-15
years

TIDAL POWER

This source of energy is

largely untapped
Beginning in the 12th century
water mills driven by tides
were used to power sawmills
17th and 18th centuries: much
of Bostons flour produced at
tidal powered mill
Harnessed by building a dam
across the mouth of a river of
estuary
Rance River, France
produces enough power for
all of Brittany
There must be narrow,
enclosed bays and a tidal
range of at least 8 m (25 feet)
Can also use offshore
turbines

MINERAL RESOURCES
The endowment of useful minerals
ultimately available commercially
Mineral resources include
Reserves - already identified deposits from
which minerals can be extracted profitably
As well as known deposits that are not
economically or technologically recoverable

MINERAL RESOURCES
Ore - refers to useful metallic minerals that can be
mined at a profit
Industrial rocks and minerals building stone,
abrasives, road aggregate, ceramics, fertilziers
To be considered of value, an element must be
concentrated above the level of its average crustal
abundance
Copper makes up 0.0135% of the crust a copper ore
must contain 50 times this much
Profitability of a deposit may change with time
dependant on cost and technology

Mineral resources and igneous

processes
Examples of igneous mineral
resources
Magmatic segregation

Separation of heavy minerals

that crystallize early or
enrichment of rare elements
in the residual melt
As a large magma body cools,
heavy minerals that
crystallize early settle out
In a basaltic magma chromite,
magnetite, and platinum are
formed this way
Late stage melts can also
become enriched in minerals
grantic pegmatites and
minerals containing cesium,
uranium, lithiurm

Mineral resources and igneous

processes
Examples of igneous mineral resources
Diamonds
Mainly used as an abrasive
Also a common gem
Originate at great of nearly 200 km where
pressures are great enough to generate the high
pressure form of carbon
Once formed they are carried upward in
conduits
The kimberlite pipe contains diamond
crystals that are disseminated in ultramafic
rock called kimberlite
Mostly found in South Africa

Mineral resources and igneous

processes
Hydrothermal solutions
Among the best known and
important ore deposits
Majority originate from hot,
metal rich fluids that are
remnants of late-stage
magmatic processes
Move along fractures toward
the top pf the magma chamber,
cools, and precipitates the
metallic ions to produce vein
deposits
Vein deposits gold, silver,
mercury
Disseminated deposits
distributes as minute masses copper

Hydrothermal deposits often occur

with igneous rocks

Mineral resources and

metamorphic rocks
Many of the most important metamorphic ore deposits
are produced by contact metamorphism
The host rock is recrystallized and chemically altered
by heat, pressure and hydrothermal solution
Sphalerite (zinc)
Galena (lead)
Chalcopyrite (copper)

Regional metamorphism can also generate useful

deposits
Talc
Graphite

WEATHERING AND ORE DEPOSITS

Secondary enrichment concentrating metals into
economically valuable
concentrations
Chemical weathering might remove
undesirable components of a rock
Desirable elements might be moved
to a lower level

Bauxite
Principal ore of aluminum
Forms in rainy tropical climates
from chemical weathering and the
removal of undesirable elements by
leaching

Pyrite
Sulfuric acid is created when it
chemically weather
Metals are dissolved and carried to a
lower level

From http://www.mindat.org/min-3314.html

PLACER DEPOSITS
Placer deposits
Placers deposits formed
when heavy metals are
mechanically concentrated
by currents
Often deposited in point
bars, cracks, depressions,
etc
Involve heavy and durable
minerals
Examples include
Gold
Platinum
Diamonds

NONMETALLIC RESOURCES
Two common groups
Building materials
Natural aggregate
(crushed stone, sand, and
gravel)
Gypsum (plaster and
wallboard)
Clay (tile, bricks, and
cement)

Industrial minerals
Fertilizers potassium
from sylvite where else?
Sulfur 80% = sulfuric
acid
Salt water softening,
highways, nutrients