Review sheet for Exam 3 Chapter 9 Geology and mining Lithosphere and mantel Lithosphere Harder rock that contains mantle and crust Mantle Less dense elastic rock Smelting Heating re beyond its melting point then combining it with other metals or chemicals Modifies the strength malleability ect of metals Surface mining Underground work Accesses deep pockets of a mineral through tunnels and shafts up to 2 5 miles deep Mining for Zinc lead nickel tin gold diamonds phosphate salt coal Why is it the most dangerous form of mining Dynamite blasts collapsed tunnels Toxic fumes and coal dust Collapsed tunnels cause sinkholes Mountain removal 1 What This reshapes ridges 2 How Entire mountain tops are blasted off Causes Valley filling which dumps rocks and debris into valleys 3 Consequences Degrades destroys vast areas Pollutes streams deforest areas causes erosion mudslides flash floods biodiversity loss 4 This can be devastating o Mine blasting cracks foundations and walls o Floods and rock slides affect properties o Coal dust and contaminated water cause illness lung cancer heart and kidney disease pulmonary disorders hypertension and death o Poor people of Appalachia suffer while we benefit from coal produced electricity o Some say valley filling violates the Clean Water Act In 2010 rules were introduced to limit damage The U S General Mining Act of 1872 Encourages metal and mineral mining on federal land Any citizen or company can stake a claim on or buy 5 per acre any public land open to mining Public gets no payment for any minerals found Efforts to amend the act have failed in congress Supporters of General Mining Act of 1872 say it encourages a domestic industry that is risky and requires investment to locate vital resources Critics of General Mining Act of 1872 say it gives valuable public land for free to private interests Acid drainage Sulfide in newly exposed rock reacts with oxygen and rainwater This produces sulfuric acid Sulfuric Acid Leaches toxic materials from rock Flows into stream killing fish and other organisms Pollutes groundwater used for drinking and irrigation Chapter 10 Water crisis and air pollution Upwelling and downwelling Upwelling The rising of cold deep water to the surface Rich in nutrients High primary productivity and lucrative fisheries Downwelling Provides oxygen for deep water life Pathogens and waterborne diseases How do pathogens enter water Through inadequately treated sewage and animal waste from feed lots Biological Pollution causes more human health problems that any other type of water pollution There are 1 billion people without safe water and 2 6 billion without adequate sewer or sanitation facilities Solutions to pathogens waterborne diseases Disinfecting drinking water and treating waste water Government regulations protecting food Public education to encourage personal hygiene Proportion of Freshwater use in industry household and agriculture 70 of water is used for agriculture Crop irrigation and watering of livestock 20 of water is used for industry 10 of water is used for residential purposed Consumptive use water is removed from aquifer or surface water body and is not retuned Ex Irrigation Non Consumptive use does not remove or only temporarily removes water Ex electricity generation at hydroelectric dams Water supplies to agriculture Why does agriculture use so much water Rapid population growth requires more food and clothes o We use 70 more irrigation water than we did 50 years ago Irrigation can double crop yields o 18 is irrigated but produces 40 of our crops Irrigation is highly inefficient o Water evaporates in flood or furrow irrigation o 15 35 of irrigation water use is unsustainable Water Mining withdrawing water faster than it is replaced Surface water is piped in from elsewhere Impact of building dam and the Three Gorges Dam Dam any obstruction placed in a river or stream to block the flow of water To prevent floods provide drinking water allow irrigations and generate electricity 45 000 large dams in more than 140 nations The largest dam is China s Three Gorges Dam it is 385 mile long reservoir China s The Three Gorges Dam On the Yangtze river Provides flood control passage for boats and electricity o 39 billion to build o Flooded 22 cities o Displaced 1 24 million o Submerged old sites o Drowned farmland and habitat eroded marshes o Eroded tidal marshes The Montreal Protocol 196 nations agreed to cut CFC production in half by 1998 Later agreements deepened cuts advanced timetables and addressed other ozone depleting chemicals Results Industry shifted to safer alternative chemicals We stopped the Antarctic ozone hole from getting worse Still some challenges CFCs will remain in the stratosphere for decades It can serve as a model for international environmental cooperation Industrial smog Smog an unhealthy mixture of air pollutants Most common air quality problem Industrial smog burning coil or oil releases CO2 CO soot mercury and sulfur Sulfuric acid is formed Photochemical smog Brown air Sunlight drives chemical reactions between primary pollutant and atmospheric compounds Forming ozone NO2 and many other compounds Appears as brownish haze Formed in hot sunny cities surrounded by mountains Morning traffic releases NO and VOCs Irritates eye nose throat In 1996 photochemical smog killed 300 and sickened 400 000 in 5 days Acid deposition and its consequence Transboundary issue The deposition of acid or acid forming pollutants from the air onto earth s surface From automobiles electric utilities ad industrial facilities Impacts Nutrients are leached from top soil Soil chemistry is changed Toxic metal ions aluminum zinc ect are converted into soluble forms that pollute water Damage crops Erodes stone buildings corrodes cars erases writing on tombstones Chapter 11 Renewable and non renewable energy Three major type of fossil fuel and their characteristics 1 Coal Organic matter plants placed under high pressure 2 Oil Crude oil liquid made of hydrocarbons 3 Natural gas mainly methane CH4 Petroleum natural gas and oil formed from organic material plankton in coastal marine waters Coal most abundant fossil fuel Created 300 400 million years ago Helped drive industrial revolution Used to generate electricity o Converting water to steam which turns a turbine Coal qualities Varies in water and carbon content and its impurities Has sulfur mercury arsenic and other trace metals Burning coal releases impurities Natural gas qualities