renewable resources resources that can be replaced within
renewable resources: resources that can be replaced within a human lifetime or as they are used (months, years, or decades)
Examples: air, water, animals, & plants
Nonrenewable resource: resources whose supply is limited and cannot be replaced once used (takes millions of years to form)
examples: minerals, metals, fossil fuels
Energy Resources • fossil fuels: fuel formed from remains of living organisms • examples: coal, oil, natural gas • consists of compounds of hydrogen and carbons (hydrocarbons) • non renewable
carbonization: process in which plant material are changed into carbon • coal originated in swamps from remains of plants
peat: brownish-black material produced by decomposed plant remains
Types of coal: • lignite: brown coal; made from peat deposits covered by sediments with gases and water squeezed out
• bituminous: soft coal; formed from lignite under pressure (most abundant)
• anthracite: produced when folding of earth’s crust produces high temperature and pressure
Coal Formation 1. Peat – partially decayed plant material 2. Lignite Coal – sedimentary rock (brown coal) 3. Bituminous Coal – sedimentary (soft coal) 4. Anthracite Coal – metamorphic (hard coal)
Observe an animation showing coal form.
Coal Fields in the U. S. More than 70% of the coal mined today is used in electric power plants!
two environmental problems associated with mining and uses of coal: 1. soil erosion from strip mining 2. air pollution from sulfur dioxide released into the atmosphere
Oil & Natural Gas Formation • animal & plant remains buried in ancient seas • sediments build up, burying remains • Organic remains turn into hydrocarbons under heat and pressure • materials are squeezed out of mud and move into bedrock where they are mixed with water • oil and gas float above water
products of petroleum: gasoline, medicines, plastics, tars, waxes, synthetic rubber, insecticides, detergents, synthetic fertilizers, shampoos
Tar Sands & Oil Shales Tar Sands - Mixture of clay, sand, water, and thick tar (oil) Oil Shale – Rock with waxy mixture of oil
Formation of Mineral Deposits ore: deposits of minerals from which metals and nonmetals can be removed profitably
Hydrothermal Solutions form some of the most important mineral deposits
examples: • Fe--> magnetite and hematite • Hg--> cinnabar • Al--> bauxite
Observe common objects made of minerals. Complete Student Mineral Research Presentations
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