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| Geological hazard that occurs when large amounts of rock or soil collapse and flow downhill. Severe, and often sudden manifestation of the more general phenomenon of mass wasting. |
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| The downslope movement of soil and rock due to gravity. Occurs naturally, but often brought about by human land use practices that expose or loosen soil. |
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| Mudslides caused when volcanic eruptions melt snow and send huge volumes of destabilized mud racing downhill. |
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| An immense swell, or wave, of water that can travel thousands of miles across oceans. Can be triggered by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and large coastal landslides that can displace huge volumes of ocean water instantaneously. |
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| leaving natural vegetation such as mangrove forests in place can... |
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Definition
| ...lessen the impacts of tsunamis. |
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| Other types of natural hazards that result from conditions in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, or biosphere |
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Definition
Flooding
Coastal erosion
Wildfire
Hurricanes |
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| Ravages low-lying areas near rivers and streams. |
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| Can threaten life and property in fire-prone areas. |
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Definition
| Can cause extensive damage and loss of life. |
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| We can worsen the impacts of so-called natural hazards in various ways: |
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Definition
-population growth (people living in areas susceptible to natural disasters).
-"attractive" living areas also prone to hazards (coastlines).
-Land use and landscape engineering can induce mass wasting, speed ruoff, compact soil and change drainage patterns (damming, dyking, suppressing wildfire, clear-cutting, and some mining practices). |
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| Reducing or mitigating impacts hazards |
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Definition
-Earthquake resistant structures
-Early warning systems for tsunamis/volcanoes
-Conserving coastal forests, reefs, and salt marshes to protect against erosion
-Better forestry and mining practices help prevent landslides
-Zoning regulations, building regulations, insurance incentives.
-Mitigating global climate change. |
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Definition
| Type of chemical element or a mass of such an element that typically is lustrous, opaque, malleable, and can conduct heat or electricity. |
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Definition
| A mineral or grouping of minerals from which we extract metals. |
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| Mining Nonmetallic Minerals |
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Definition
-Sand/gravel (construction and fill materials)
-Phosphates (fertilizer)
-Limestone (various purposes)
-Gemstones (rarity/beauty - Diamonds) |
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Definition
-Uranium (nuclear power)
-Coal
-Petroleum
-Natural Gas
-Oil Sands
-Methane Hydrates |
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Term
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Definition
-Resources occurring in shallow horizontal deposits near the surface
-Layers of surface soil and rock are removed from large areas to expose the resource, then filled back in with the overburden.
-Used for coal, sand, gravel, and oil sands
-Destroys natural communities over large areas, can trigger extensive soil erosion/chemical runoff (acid drainage). |
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Term
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Definition
When the sulfide minerals in newly exposed rock surfaces react with oxygen and rainwater to produce sulfuric acid.
-Leaches metals from the rocks, many of which are toxic to organisms.
-Natural phenomenon, greatly accelerated by mining |
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Term
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Definition
-Shafts excavated deep into the ground, networks of tunnels dug or blasted out to follow deposits of the mineral.
-Used for zinc, lead, nickel, tin, gold, copper, uranium, diamonds, phosphate, salt, potash and coal
-Most dangerous form of mining (dynamite blasts, collapsing shafts/tunnels, inhalation of toxic fumes/coal dust
-Creates acid drainage, toxic leachate can make its way down into groundwater, polluting it long after mining has ceased. |
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Definition
-Digging a gigantic hole, removing desired ore and surrounding waste rock
-Terraced, expanded until resource runs out or becomes unprofitable.
-Used for copper, iron, gold, diamonds, and coal.
-Also used for clay, gravel, sand and stone (called Quarries).
-Habitat loss, aesthetic degradation, Chemical contamination (acid drainage)
-Once abandoned, can fill up with groudwater (developed nations require that they be capped with clay and soil planted with vegetation), but can leach acid for hundreds or thousands of years. |
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Definition
-Miners sift through material from rivers or streams using running water to separate lightweight mud and gravel from heavier minerals of value.
-Most methods wash large amounts of debris into streams, making them uninhabitable for fish and other life |
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Definition
-Entire mountaintops are blasted off and the waste is dumped into the adjacent valleys (coal mining)
-Economically efficient way to extract coal (forests clear-fut, timber sold, topsoil removed, then rock blasted away to expose coal).
-Dumping debris into valleys degrades immense areas of habitat, pollutes and clogs streams and rivers. |
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Term
| Dumping of waste rock into valleys and streams (Mountaintop Removal). |
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Definition
-Degrades or destroys immense areas of habitat and pollutes and clogs streams and rivers.
-Violates the Clean Water Act? |
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Term
| Social impacts of Mountaintop Removal |
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Definition
-Blasts crack housing foundations and wells
-floods, rock slides
-Coal dust (respiratory problems)
-loss of forests and landscapes |
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Definition
-Hydraulic dredges
-sand, gravel, salt, phosphorite, other minerals
-logistics of mining have kept it uneconomical |
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Term
| Effectiveness of Restoration of Mined Sites |
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Definition
-Not all countries have reclamation mandates
-even with restoration, sites do not often regain the natural biotic communities that were present before mining
-grass can anchor restoration efforts, but often outcompetes native plants.
-Many vital symbioses are eliminated by mining and very difficult to restore |
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| General Mining Act of 1872 |
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Definition
-Encourages prospecting for minerals on federally owned land (allows claim staking and patenting)
-Mineral extractions often require no payment to public, some have led to lucrative development schemes that have nothing to do with mining |
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| Supporters of General Mining Act of 1872 |
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Definition
| -appropriate and desirable to encourage domestic industry that provides essential products. |
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| Critics of General Mining Act of 1872 |
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Definition
-policy gives valuable public resources for free
-2007 Bill would end patenting, require royalties that would go to cleanup mine operations and communities affected by mining. |
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Term
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Definition
| -acid solvents to purify the metals we desire |
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Term
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Definition
| A metal mixed melted or fused with another metal or nonmetal substance. |
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Definition
| A process of heating and melting used to extract metals from ores. |
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| Environmental Impacts of Processing Minerals |
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Definition
-water/energy intensive
-air pollution
-soil and water pollution (tailings)
-non-renewable/in limited supply. |
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Definition
| Portions of ore left over after metals have been extracted. |
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| Uncertainty of mineral reserves |
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Definition
-new deposits of minerals found
-new technologies (modify demand)
-changing consumption patterns
-advances in recycling technologies. |
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Term
| Making mineral use more sustainable |
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Definition
Recycling
-decreases energy use and save money
-20 times more energy to extract virgin aluminum from ore than from recycled sources. |
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