Introducing Natural Resources

Park Graham

Description

Over the many millennia that the human race has inhabited our planet, a use has been found for almost everything that is to be found on it. However, since the Industrial Revolution, many of the resources that we have come to rely on are being depleted, some at an alarming rate. Misuse of others, such as fossil fuels, is causing such damage to the environment that measures are being taken at an international level to restrict their useIntroducing Natural Resources explains how the natural resources of the Earth originated, by outlining the astronomical and geological evolution of the planet in the early period of its existence. The genesis, mode of occurrence, and abundance of the various non-renewable mineral resources are described, together with the methods of extraction, extent of reserves, and any environmental problems. The use of renewable resources, such as solar energy, air, and water, are then discussed, together with plant and animal life, which are renewable resources only if properly managed. The book concludes with a summary of future issues in resource management.Copiously illustrated, this book is intended for those whose interest in natural resources has been stimulated, perhaps by media coverage of declining resources or environmental pollution, and who want to better understand the issues involved. Technical terms are kept to a minimum and are explained in a glossary.

Sujets

• Sciences et techniques
• Earth science
• Environmental management
• Economic geology

Informations

• Publié par: Dunedin Academic Press
• Date de parution: 19 novembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781780465494
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

I N T R O D U C I N G
NATURAL RESOURCES
Graham Park
Contents
List of illustrations
Sourced illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
1   Introduction
2   Origin and early history of the Earth
3   Redistribution and concentration of mineral resources
4   Types of ore deposit
5   Metallic mineral resources I
6   Metallic mineral resources II
7   Resources of non-metallic elements
8   Rocks as an economic resource
9   Non-renewable energy resources
10 Atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere
11 Renewable energy resources
12 Protecting the Planet
Glossary
Appendix
Selected further reading
List of illustrations and tables
Figure 2.1 The Solar System
Figure 2.2 The Periodic Table of the elements
Figure 2.3 The abundance of the elements
Figure 2.4 Meteorites
Figure 2.5A The Earth: interior
Figure 2.5B The Earth: atmosphere
Figure 2.6 Meteorite impact craters on the Moon’s surface
Figure 3.1 Earth’s convection system
Figure 3.2 Ocean ridges, continental rifts and passive margins
Figure 3.3 Subduction at an active continental margin
Figure 3.4 Fractional crystallization
Figure 4.1 Ore deposits formed by magmatic processes
Figure 4.2 Ore deposits formed by surface processes
Figure 5.1 Iron ore
Figure 5.2 Aluminium and copper minerals
Figure 5.3A Molybdenum
Figure 5.3B Galena (lead sulphide)
Figure 5.4 Rhodochrosite (manganese carbonate)
Figure 6.1 Gold death mask of King Tutankhamun
Figure 7.1 Quartz crystals
Figure 7.2 Sulphur
Figure 7.3 Fluorite crystal
Figure 8.1 Rock as a building material
Figure 8.2 ‘Desert Rose’
Figure 9.1 Structural traps for oil and gas
Figure 9.2 Treatment process for natural gas
Figure 9.3 World nuclear power production, 1960–2010
Figure 10.1 Prevailing wind directions
Figure 10.2 Tropical cyclone
Figure 10.3 Oceanic surface currents
Figure 10.4 Temperature variation in the last 500 million years
Figure 11.1 Solar power
Figure 11.2 Geothermal power
Figure 11.3 Geothermal power systems
Figure 11.4 Wind power
Figure 11.5 Hydro-electric power
Figure 12.1 World molybdenum production, 1900–2010
Figure 12.2 The Vostok ice core
Figure 12.3 Sea-level variation over the last 500 million years
Figure A1 Main subdivisions of geological time
Figure A2 Principal igneous rock types and their main silicate minerals
Table 3.1 Mantle composition compared with various basalt types
Table 5.1 Metal production by main producing countries – I
Table 5.2 Metal production by main producing countries – II
Table 5.3 Metal production by main producing countries – III
Table 6.1 Metal production by main producing countries – IV
Table 6.2 Production of barites and lanthanides by main producing countries
Table 7.1 Production of non-metals by main producing countries – I
Table 7.2 Production of non-metals by main producing countries – II
Table 8.1 Production and export of building materials
Table 8.2 Production of aggregate
Table 9.1 Energy and power
Table 9.2 Coal production from main producing countries
Table 9.3 Distillation products of petroleum
Table 9.4 Petroleum production from main producing countries
Table 9.5 Nuclear power in top seven producing countries
Table 11.1 Renewable energy in main producing countries
Table 12.1 The 22 most at-risk elements
Sourced illustrations
The following illustrations are reproduced by permission:
Shutterstock: figures 2.1A ; 2.4A, B, C ; 5.1 B ; 5.2A, B, D ; 5.3A , B ; 5.4 ; 6.1 ; 7.1 ; 7.2A, B ; 7.3 ; 8.1A, B, C, D ; 8,2 ; 11.1A ; 11.2A ; 11.4 .
Figure 5.1A : Science Photo Library.
The following illustrations have been adapted from published sources:
Figure 2.3A : Wikipedia/commons/e/e6/SolarSystemAbundances.
Figure 2.3B : Ahrens, L.H. (1969). The composition of stone meteorites: Earth and Planetary Science Letters 5, 3.
Figure 4.2 A, C, D: Stanton, R.L. (1989). Ore Petrology, McGraw-Hill.
Figure 9.2 : WikimediaCommons: Nat Gas Processing.
Figure 9.3 : Delphi 234, via Wikimedia/commons.
Figure 10.3 : Encyclopedia Britannica.inc, 2011.
Figure 10.4 : Veizer, J. (1999). 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, δ 13 C and δ 18 O evolution of Phanerozoic seawater. Chemical Geology 161, 59–88.
Figure 11.5 : Renewable Energy Index, Jan. 2010.
Figure 12.2 : Petit, J.R., Jouzel, J., Raynaud, D., Barkov, N.I., Barnola, J.-M., Basile, I., Bender, M., Chappellaz, J., Davis, M.,
Delaygue, G., Delmotte, M., Kotlyakov, V.M., Legrand, M., Lipenkov, V.Y., Lorius, C., Pepin, L., Ritz, C., Saltzman, E., and
Stievenard, M. (1999). Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature 399 : 429–436.
Figure 12.3 : Exxon sea-level curve, e.g. Haq et al. (1987). Science 235, 156–1167.
Sources of other images:
Figure 12.1 , table 12.1 : US Geological Survey.
Preface
There is already an extensive literature both on natural resources and on the various associated topics such as climate change, reduction of biodiversity, destruction of habitat and so on, and it is not my intention to duplicate that. What I have attempted to do in this short book is to introduce the more important topics in a relatively simple manner, avoiding complex scientific terms and arguments, with the aim of informing the general reader about some of the most important issues of the day. Some previous knowledge of geology would be helpful in understanding parts of this book, but is not essential as terms that might be unfamiliar are highlighted in bold and defined in the Glossary. *
Over the many millennia that the human race has inhabited our planet, a use has been found for almost everything that is to be found on it. However, since the Industrial Revolution, many of the resources that we have come to rely on are being depleted, some at an alarming rate. Misuse of others, such as fossil fuels, is causing such damage to the environment that measures are being taken at an international level to restrict their use.
Earth is unique among the planets of the Solar System in providing not only an atmosphere and temperature range capable of sustaining life as we know it, but also accessible supplies of the various mineral resources that are now regarded as essential for us.
There is an important distinction between renewable and non-renewable types of natural resources. Non-renewable resources may be divided into four categories: 1) metallic minerals , including the ores of the well-known metals, but also those of uncommon and strategically important ones; 2) non-metallic minerals such as nitrates and phosphates; 3) economically important rocks such as limestone, salt and gypsum; and 4) fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), which are obviously of great economic significance. The possibility of the exhaustion of certain non-renewable resources poses significant problems.
Renewable resources include all plant and animal life, together with some physical resources that are effectively infinite, such as solar energy, air and water. In practice, renewability may be limited and exhaustion of the resource foreseeable: for example plant and animal life is a renewable resource only if properly managed, hence the importance of maintaining biodiversity. Renewable energy resources include biomass, solar, geothermal, wind, hydro, tidal and wave power. These have both advantages and limitations as energy sources.
The environment in which all living things exist, termed the biosphere , includes both the atmosphere and the oceans. It is important to understand the relationship between these and the necessity of keeping them in balance. Human intervention has created dangerous disturbances to the environment that have caused great debate among the scientific community; the topic of global warming in particular, and its effects on climate, is now a matter of widespread public concern.
* Note: all terms initially highlighted in bold are defined in the Glossary at the end of the book.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Professor John Winchester for many helpful comments and suggestions that have resulted in significant improvements to this book; to an anonymous reviewer who was responsible for some important changes to Chapter 2 , and to my wife, Sylvia, for her unfailing support and checking the manuscript for general readability.
1 Introduction
What is a resource?
The Oxford Dictionary definition of a resource is: ‘ an available stock or supply that can be drawn on ; an asset ; or ‘ a country’s collective wealth ’. Natural resources are those that occur naturally, rather than those that have accumulated due to human activity. In considering the origin of the natural resources of our planet, it is necessary first to understand how the Solar System came into being, how the composition of the Earth itself was determined, and how its early history shaped the distribution of its natural resources and the evolution of its life forms. These topics are summarized in chapter 2 .
Earth’s natural resources fall into two basic categories: renewable and non-renewable . Non-renewable resources ( chapters 3 – 9 ) are those of which the Earth has a finite supply, and which can become exhausted, whereas renewable resources could, in theory, be used indefinitely.
Resources and reserves
Economic geologists recognize a distinction between the resources of a useful or potentially useful substance such as a metallic ore mineral, and the reserves of that resource, which are those that have been calculated to exist and which are economically feasible to extract. Estimates of reserves frequently change due to the effects of continued extraction, new discoveries and price changes.
Non-renewable resources
The reason we are able to access useful natural resources of both minerals and rocks is that they have become concentrated by geological processes of one kind or another. Many elements are extremely rare and are only found in minute quantities in the commoner igneous roc