Part 1 Energy and Mineral Resources

Chapter 4 : 

Chapter 4 Earth’s Resources

Energy and Mineral Resources : 

Energy and Mineral Resources Chapter 4.1 Objectives Distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources Identify which energy resources are fossil fuels Predict which energy resources might replace dwindling petroleum supplies in the future Describe the processes that concentrate minerals into large deposits as they form Recognize how nonmetallic mineral resources are used

London, England : 

London, England

Mexico City, Mexico : 

Mexico City, Mexico

San Francisco : 

San Francisco

New York City : 

New York City

Oklahoma City : 

Oklahoma City

Every City in the World! : 

Every City in the World! What do all these cities have in common? Mineral resources went into the construction of every building Energy resources keep the lights on in each one, also.

Energy and Mineral Resources : 

Energy and Mineral Resources Mineral and energy resources are the raw materials for most of the things we use Mineral resources are used to produce everything from computers to basketballs Energy Resources warm your home, fuel the car, and provide light

Renewable and Nonrenewable : 

Renewable and Nonrenewable Renewable Can be replenished over a fairly short time span Plants, animals, natural fibers, trees, water, wind, sun Nonrenewable Take millions of years to form and accumulate Coal, oil, natural gas, iron, copper, uranium, gold

Renewable and Nonrenewable : 

Renewable and Nonrenewable What is increasing the demand for resources? Growing world population The USA only has 6% of the world’s population We use 30% of the world’s resources China and other emerging economies have increased the demand for fossil fuels

Fossil Fuels : 

Fossil Fuels 90% of the energy used in the USA comes from fossil fuels Fossil fuels is a general term for any hydrocarbon that may be used as fuel Fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas

Coal : 

Coal Coal forms when heat and pressure transform plant material over millions of years There are four stages of development: Peat Lignite Bituminous coal Anthracite coal

Coal : 

Coal Stage 1: Peat Peat is partially decayed plant material that sometimes looks like soil Stage 2: Lignite Sedimentary rock that is often called brown coal

Coal : 

Coal Stage 3: Bituminous Coal Continued heat and pressure transforms lignite into bituminous coal, or “soft coal” This is another sedimentary rock Stage 4: Anthracite Coal Under metamorphism, bituminous coal becomes anthracite, or “hard coal”

Coal : 

Coal What affect on the coal do all these changes have? As coal develops from peat to bituminous coal it becomes harder and releases more heat when burned How does this help us? Electric power plants use 70% of the coal mined today to make electricity

Coal Reserves : 

Coal Reserves

Coal Recovery : 

Coal Recovery Recovery is not easy Surface mines scare the land All surface mining companies must now restore the land surface when mining ends Underground mines cost lives in mine disasters Think of recent disasters in the news

Coal Use : 

Coal Use Burning coal Much of coal is high in sulfur which creates air pollution problems Sulfur becomes oxidized in the air This leads to other chemical reactions which create sulfuric acid which becomes acid rain

Formation of Coal : 

Formation of Coal This is a very basic example of the steps in the formation of the different coal types

Petroleum and Natural Gas : 

Petroleum and Natural Gas These form from the remains of animals and plants that were buried in ancient seas The seas buried the remains in the sediment and so prevented oxidation and decay Time and chemical reactions turn the organic remains into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons

Petroleum and Natural Gas : 

Petroleum and Natural Gas These materials are gradually squeezed out and move to permeable beds such as sandstone Even though water is squeezed out also, gas and oil are less dense so they move upward Some gets caught in “oil traps” Geological structures that allow large amounts of fluid to accumulate and stops upward movement

Petroleum and Natural Gas : 

Petroleum and Natural Gas Oil Traps Stops the upward movement of oil and gas Have two things in common Has a permeable layer of rock that allows oil and gas to collect in large quantities Has a cap rock that is nearly impenetrable and keeps the oil and gas from escaping to the surface When the cap rock is broken, such as with a well or drill hole, pressure is released and the oil and gas move toward the hole

Petroleum and Natural Gas : 

Petroleum and Natural Gas An anticline is a typical oil trap In the picture to the right you can see how it works to trap oil and natural gas

Substitutes for Oil and Gas : 

Substitutes for Oil and Gas Some energy experts believe that fuels derived from tar sands and oil shale could become good substitutes for dwindling petroleum supplies

Substitutes for Oil and Gas : 

Substitutes for Oil and Gas Tar Sands Mixtures of clay, sand, water, and a black, thick tar called bitumen The tar is similar to heavy crude oil, but so thick it cannot be pumped out easily Found in sands and sandstone The largest tar sand deposits are found in the province of Alberta, Canada

Substitutes for Oil and Gas : 

Substitutes for Oil and Gas Recovering oil from Tar Sands Tar sand is mined like surface mining for coal The tar sand is then heated and with the help of high pressure steam is softened until it rises and can be extracted This process requires almost half as much energy as the tar sand supplies and pollutes the water

Substitutes for Oil and Gas : 

Substitutes for Oil and Gas Oil Shale A rock that contains a waxy mixture of hydrocarbons called Kerogen Can be mined and heated to vaporize the Kerogen The Kerogen vapor is processed to remove impurities and then refined Half the world’s supply is found in the Green River Formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming

Substitutes for Oil and Gas : 

Substitutes for Oil and Gas Oil Shale Where did Oil Shale come from? Oil Shales are part of the sedimentary layers that accumulated at the bottom of two extremely large, shallow lakes about 57 to 36 million years ago Recovery Recovery is very costly due to large amounts of water needed in the process and due to the minor heating benefit of Oil shale Heat energy is only 1/8th that of crude oil

Formation of Mineral Deposits : 

Formation of Mineral Deposits Mineral Resources are deposits of useful minerals that can be extracted Mineral Reserves are deposits which can be extracted profitably Ore is a useful metallic mineral that can be mined at a profit

Formation of Mineral Deposits : 

Formation of Mineral Deposits Money and the definitions If a large deposit is known, but it costs more to extract the mineral than it is worth, then it is not a reserve, but is still considered a resource For example: Copper makes up about 0.0135% of the Earth’s crust but, to be considered an Ore, a deposit must contain a concentration of about 50 times that amount If it doesn’t, then even though it is a resource, it is not an ore

Formation of Mineral Deposits : 

Formation of Mineral Deposits Where do our deposits come from? Some of our most important mineral deposits form through igneous processes and from hydrothermal solutions

Formation of Mineral Deposits : 

Formation of Mineral Deposits The igneous process Igneous processes produce important deposits of metallic minerals such as: gold, silver, copper, mercury, lead, platinum, and nickel As the large body of magma cools, heavy minerals crystallize early and settle to the bottom of the magma chamber

Formation of Mineral Deposits : 

Formation of Mineral Deposits The hydrothermal process Hydrothermal solutions generate some of the best known and most abundant ore deposits such as gold, lead, silver, and copper ores Most hydrothermal deposits form from hot, metal rich fluids that are left during the late stages of the movement and cooling of magma These collect near the top of a magma chamber and in fractures and crack in surrounding rock producing “vein deposits”

Formation of Mineral Deposits : 

Formation of Mineral Deposits Placer Deposits These deposits are formed when eroded heavy minerals settle quickly from moving water while less dense particles continue to be carried away This results in a “sorting” according to size and weight of the grains Placer deposits usually involve minerals that are not only heavy, but durable and chemically resistant Often found in cracks, depressions, point bars along steams, and other streambed irregularities The best known placer deposit is gold! Placer deposits in California and Alaska were responsible for the gold rushes in both of those states

Gold! : 

Gold! The largest gold nugget ever found was the “Welcome Stranger” nugget found in 1869 as a placer deposit in Victoria, Australia Weight: 210 lbs The largest nugget still in existence is the “Hand of Faith” nugget found in 1975 near Wedderburn, Victoria, Australia Weight 73 lbs Now in the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas

Hand of Faith Gold Nugget : 

Hand of Faith Gold Nugget This is what 73 pounds of gold looks like

Nonmetallic Mineral Resources : 

Nonmetallic Mineral Resources These are extracted and processed either for the nonmetallic elements they contain or for their physical and chemical properties Divided into two groups: Building materials Industrial materials Some have uses in both groups

Nonmetallic Mineral Resources : 

Nonmetallic Mineral Resources Nonmetallic resources are used for their specific chemical elements or compounds or for their physical properties Examples and uses Fluorite and limestone are part of the steelmaking process and for fertilizers used to grow food Limestone is also used as a building material Crushed stone, sand, and gravel are used in building construction Corundum, garnet, diamond used as abrasives

Nonmetallic Mineral Resources : 

Nonmetallic Mineral Resources Drawback to nonmetallic resources Most industrial minerals are not nearly as abundant as building materials Transportation costs Industrial minerals require considerable processing and cost before being useable

Metallic Minerals : 

Metallic Minerals Here is a small list of where some of our metallic minerals are found

Nonmetallic Minerals : 

Nonmetallic Minerals Here is a small list of some of the uses of nonmetallic minerals

How much do we use? : 

How much do we use?