Environment Chapter 16 Study Guide

Surface mining can cause?

Air and noise pollution

Evaporites most commonly form in?

Arid regions (Hot and Dry)

Through ________________, mining companies can identify areas where there may be valuable material resources.

Mineral Exploration

Gangue minerals

Minerals with no commercial value

What can contaminate a river during dredging?

Muddy sediments

A quarry also could be called?

Open pits

How can surface mining completely transform ecosystems even after reclamation?

Removing soil strips away plant life causing animals to leave.

Reclamation is the process of?

Returning land to its original condition after mining is complete

The ________________ regulates the release of hazardous substances into the air, soil, and water by mining?

The Comprehensive Response Compensation and Liability Act

The _____________ sets standards to maximize the surface effects of coal mining on the environment.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamaiton Act of 1977 (SMCRA)

What is reclamation?

The process of returning land to its original condition after mining is complete.

The first step in surface coal mining is?

The soil covering the area to be mined is removed and set aside.

how must soil be handled during surface coal mining to minimize environmental damage?

The top layer of soil must be removed and set aside, then placed back on top after mining, so it is not contaminated with soil beneath.

What is one property that may be used to distinguish metal from non metal?

electrical conductivity

Dredging stream beds may be an effective technique for mining.

gold

Placer deposits are surface material deposits that have concentrated by?

movement of wind and water

How are ore deposits know as veins formed?

veins of minerals are formed when the minerals crystallize out of hydrothermal solutions that have worked into rock fractures.

A collapse of _______________ can lead to subsidence.

Pillars that have been left standing in mines

The layer of impurities on top of molten metal that Forms during smelting is called?

Slag

From whom must mining companies obtain permits before mining a site?

State and federal environmental agencies