APES chapters 14 & 15

summarize graphene

- Graphene is one of the world's thinnest and strongest materials. -It is also a good conductor of electricity and conducts heat better than any known material. -The use of graphene could revolutionize the electric car industry by leading to the production of batteries that can be recharged 10 times faster and hold 10 times more power than current car batteries. -some scientists contend that use of graphene will change the world more than any technological development since the invention of the silicon chip. -Graphene is made from very high purity and expensive graphite. - Rice University chemists, led by James M. Tour, found ways to make large sheets of high-quality graphene from inexpensive materials found in garbage and from dog feces

explain smelting. summarize the harmful environmental effects of removing metals from ores.

- Process in which a desired metal is separated from the other elements in an ore mineral. -smelters emit enormous quantities of air pollutant, including sulfur dioxide and suspended toxic particles, which damage vegetation and acidify soils in the surrounding area. -Smelters also cause water pollution and produce liquid and solid hazardous wastes that require safe disposal. -ead smelting is the world's second most toxic industry after the recycling of lead-acid batteries.

summarize ways we can increase sustainability of mineral resource use.

- Some analysts believe that even if supplies of key minerals become too expensive or too scarce due to unsustainable use, human ingenuity will find substitutes -They point to the current materials revolution in which silicon and other materials are replacing some metals for common uses. -They also point out the possibilities of finding substitutes for scarce minerals through nanotechnology, as well as through other emerging technologies.

Summarize the various strategies for dealing with radioactive wastes.

- can be processed to remove radioactive plutonium, which can then be used as nuclear fuel, thus closing the nuclear fuel cycle -This reprocessing reduces the storage time for the remaining wastes from up to 240,000 years to about 10,000 years. -we could shoot our intensely radioactive wastes into space or into the sun. -deep burial in an underground repository is the safest and cheapest way to store high-level radioactive wastes for thousands of years.

Explain the basics of fusion and its possible future impact on our energy economy. Summarize thorium reactors.

- nuclear fusion=a nuclear change at the atomic level in which the nuclei of two isotopes of a light element such as hydrogen are forced together at extremely high temperatures until they fuse to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy in the process - there would be no risk of a meltdown or of a release of large amounts of radioactive materials, and little risk of the additional spread of nuclear weapons. -Fusion power might also be used to destroy toxic wastes and to supply electricity for desalinating water and for decomposing water to produce hydrogen fuel as a very clean-burning energy source. -supposed to produce enough electricity to run the air conditioners in a small city for a few minutes. -Thorium reactors= a type of molten salt reactor. supplies the nuclear fuel in the form of a molten salt mixture

summarize the core case study about US Oil and Gas Supplies that leads off the chapter.

- since 2008, U.S. oil production has increased somewhat, largely because high oil prices and improved drilling and extraction technology have made it profitable to extract oil that is dispersed and tightly held in dense formations of shale rock. - if oil production increases as projected and oil prices remain at $50 a barrel or higher, the United States could become the world's largest oil producer, probably sometime before 2020. -uch a boom in domestic oil production would create large numbers of jobs, stimulate the U.S. economy, and reduce the country's expensive dependence on imported oil. - natural gas drilling and production have also increased dramatically -By 2011, this growing supply had led to sharply lower U.S. natural gas prices and made the United States the world's leading natural gas producer. - natural gas could displace environmentally harmful coal as the country's largest source of electricity within three to four decades. two major problems: 1) -the large-scale removal of natural gas and oil held tightly in shale rock requires huge amounts of water and also produces heavily polluted wastewater. -could contaminate shallow aquifers that feed many drinking water wells, as well as deep aquifers 2)-by burning more carbon-containing oil, natural gas, and coal, we will continue to release growing quantities of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere faster than they can be removed by the carbon cycle

Summarize the nuclear accident, caused by tsunami, in Fukushima Japan.

-A huge wave of seawater washed over the nuclear plant's protective seawalls and knocked out the circuits and backup diesel generators of the emergency core cooling systems for three of the reactors. -explosions blew the roofs off three of the reactor buildings and released radioactivity into the atmosphere and nearby coastal waters -people within 30 kilometers (19 miles) were urged to evacuate. -More than 110,000 people left their homes, and some areas that now still contain high radiation levels will likely remain unsafe to occupy for up to 20 years. four key human-related factors contributed to this: (1) failure of the utility company to develop worst-case scenarios that would have helped speed up their reaction to the crisis, (2) the fact that the plant's protective seawalls were not built high enough to withstand huge tsunami waves in this well-known earthquake zone, (3) design flaws that exposed the emergency core cooling system controls and backup generators to flooding and that failed to protect the spent-fuel rod storage pools from the damages they suffered, and (4) a too-cozy relationship between nuclear plant owners and the government's nuclear regulatory officials.

What is the US Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). summarize arguments about oil reserves from ANWR.

-ANWR protects intact ecosystems and vibrant arctic life -if global consumption of conventional light oil continues to grow at about 2% per year, then ANWR would meet the worlds demand for 1-5 months and US demand for 7-24 months -ANWRs oil is a tiny fraction of projected US demand for oil -we must expand global proven crude oil reserves by an amount equal to saudi arabias current reserves every 7 years

explain what happens when a volcano erupts.

-An active volcano occurs where magma rising in a plume through the lithosphere reaches the earth's surface through a central vent or a long crack, called a fissure -Magma that reaches the earth's surface is called lava and often builds into a cone. -releasing large chunks of lava rock, glowing hot ash, liquid lava, and gases into the environment -Eruptions can be extremely destructive, causing loss of life and obliterating ecosystems and human communities. - They can result in the formation of majestic mountains and lakes such as Crater Lake and the weathering of lava contributes to fertile soils. -eventually to form islands that have become favorable for human settlement.

How do we/might we help certain energy resources to compete in the marketplace? Should we be doing this? Explain your reasoning.

-An energy resource with a low or negative net energy yield can have a hard time competing in the marketplace with other energy alternatives that have medium to high net energy yields unless it receives financial support from the government (taxpayers) or other outside sources. Such financial support is generally referred to as a subsidy, and providing it is called subsidizing. -governments throughout the world heavily subsidize nuclear power to make it available to consumers at an affordable price. Such subsidies help to hide the true cost of the nuclear power fuel cycle and thus violate the full-cost pricing principle of sustainability

how does price relate to the supply and demand for a given mineral? what variables determine market prices for mineral resources?

-An increase in the price of a scarce mineral resource can often lead to increased supplies and can encourage more efficient use, but there are limits to this effect -According to standard economic theory, in a competitive market system when a resource becomes scarce, its price rises. -This can encourage exploration for new deposits, stimulate development of better mining technology, and make it profitable to mine lower-grade ores. -It can also encourage a search for substitutes and promote resource conservation.

describe each of the three types of rocks, explain how each type is formed, and provide a specific example of each.

-Based on the way it forms, rock is placed in three broad classes: sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic. - Sedimentary rock: is made of sediments—dead plant and animal remains and tiny particles of weathered and eroded rocks. These sediments are transported by water, wind, or gravity to downstream, downwind, downhill, or underwater sites. There they are deposited in layers that accumulate over time. Eventually, the increasing weight and pressure on the underlying layers convert the sedimentary layers into rock. Ex) sandstone and shale, dolomite and limestone, lignite and bituminous coal - Igneous rock forms below or on the earth's surface under intense heat and pressure when magma wells up from the earth's mantle and then cools and hardens. Examples include granite and lava rock - Metamorphic rock forms when an existing rock is subjected to high temperatures , high pressures, chemically active fluids, or a combination of these agents. Examples include slate and marble

How do we use coal? Today? Historically?

-Coal is burned in power plants to generate about 45% of the world's electricity, according to the International Energy Agency. -Coal is also burned in industrial plants to make steel, cement, and other products.

Summarize the harmful environmental effects of mining.

-Every metal product has a life cycle that includes mining the mineral, processing it, manufacturing the product, and disposal or recycling of the product. -process makes use of large amounts of energy and water, and results in pollution and waste -impacts of mining are determined partly by the ore's percentage of metal content, or grade. -The more accessible higher-grade ores are usually exploited first. -Mining lower-grade ores takes more money, energy, water, and other resources, and leads to more land disruption, mining waste, and pollution.

explanation of the basic cause of earthquakes.

-Forces inside the earth's mantle put tremendous stress on rock within the crust. -Such stresses can be great enough to cause sudden breakage and shifting of the rock, producing a fault, or fracture in the earth's crust

Describe specifically how crude oil is fractionated, or refined, into a variety of fuels and other materials. What specific products are derived from oil?

-It is transported to a refinery by pipeline, truck, rail, or ship where it is heated to separate it into various fuels and other components with different boiling points in a complex process called refining -process requires an input of high-quality energy and decreases the net energy yield of oil -petrochemicals, are used as raw materials to make industrial organic chemicals, cleaning fluids, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fibers, paints, medicines, cosmetics, ice cream, and many other products.

explain the various types of coal.

-Peat (Not a coal): partially decayed plant matter in swamps & bogs; low heat content. -Lignite (Brown coal): low heat content; low sulfur content; limited supplies in most areas -Bituminous (soft coal): extensively used as a fuel because of its heat content and large supplies; normally has a high sulfur content -Anthracite (hard coal): highly desirable fuel because of its high heat content and low sulfur content; supplies are limited in most areas

magnitude

-Scientists measure the severity of an earthquake by the magnitude of its seismic waves. -The magnitude is a measure of ground motion caused by the earthquake, as indicated by the amplitude, or size of the seismic waves

Summarize the case study about rare-earth metals that leads off the chapter.

-The 17 rare-earth metals, also called rare earths, include scandium, yttrium, and 15 lanthanide chemical elements such as lanthanum -these elements and their compounds are very important for a number of widely used technologies. -Rare earths are used to make liquid crystal display flat screens for computers and television sets, energy-efficient compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs, solar cells, fiber-optic cables, cell phones, and digital cameras. -They are also important in the manufacture of batteries and motors for electric and hybrid-electric cars, catalytic converters in car exhaust systems, jet engines, and the powerful magnets in wind turbine generators. -Rare earths also go into missile guidance systems, smart bombs, aircraft electronics, and satellites. -Without affordable supplies of these metals, industrialized nations could not develop the current versions of cleaner energy technology and other high-tech products that will be major sources of economic growth and profits during this century.

Explain specifically how the fission reaction is used to produce electricity. How does this compare to a coal-fired electrical plant?

-The fuel for a reactor is made from uranium ore - ore must be enriched to increase the concentration of its fissionable uranium-235 by 1-5%. -processed into small pellets of uranium dioxide. -contains the energy equivalent of about a ton of coal -pellets are packed into closed pipes, called fuel rods - to be placed in the core of a reactor.

why is the term "rock cycle" used?

-The interaction of physical and chemical processes that change the earth's rocks from one type to another is called the rock cycle -Rocks are recycled over millions of years by three processes—erosion, melting, and metamorphism—which produce sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks - rocks are broken down, melted, fused together into new forms by heat and pressure, cooled, and sometimes recrystallized within the earth's interior and crust. -The rock cycle is the slowest of the earth's cyclic processes and plays a major role in forming concentrated deposits of the nonrenewable mineral resources that we use.

What is OPEC? Why might it be said that OPEC controls world oil prices?

-The purpose of OPEC for members is to "coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing -The 12 countries that make up the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have about 72% of the world's proven crude oil reserves and thus are likely to control most of the world's oil supplies for many years to come. Today, OPEC's members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

explain the concept of economic depletion for a mineral resource. when a resource becomes economically depleted, what choices do we have?

-a mineral becomes economically depleted when it costs more than it is worth to find, extract, transport, and process the remaining deposits -At that point, there are five choices: recycle or reuse existing supplies, waste less, use less, find a substitute, or do without.

seismic waves

-energy that has accumulated over time is released in the form of vibrations, called seismic waves, that move in all directions through the surrounding rock=earthquake

Where are the world's supplies concentrated?

-is often found in deposits lying above deposits of conventional oil. It also exists in tightly held deposits in shale rock and can be extracted through horizontal drilling and fracking. In the United States and many other countries, natural gas is distributed to users by a large network of underground pipelines. -the world's three largest producers of natural gas were the United States (with 20% of global total production), Russia (19%), and Canada (5%).

Summarize the environmental costs of the use of conventional oil.

-land disruption, greenhouse gas emissions, and other forms of air pollution, water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. - burning oil or any carbon-containing fossil fuel releases the greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. -this has been warming the atmosphere and will contribute to projected climate change during this century. - accounts for 43% of global emissions, which have been increasing rapidly - oil producers are turning to oil that is buried deep underground in sensitive areas and under the ocean floor in certain coastal areas. -going to these harder-to-reach deposits greatly increases the risk of severe environmental degradation.

summarize the case study, "the real cost of gold".

-mining companies dig up massive amounts of rock containing only small concentrations of gold. -At about 90% of the world's gold mines, the mineral is extracted with the use of a solution of highly toxic cyanide salts sprayed onto piles of crushed rock. -The solution reacts with the gold and then drains off the rocks, pulling some gold with it, into settling ponds -After the solution is recirculated a number of times, the gold is removed from the ponds. -Until sunlight breaks down the cyanide, it is extremely toxic to birds and mammals drawn to these ponds in search of water. -The ponds can also leak or overflow, which poses threats to underground drinking water supplies and to fish and other forms of life in nearby lakes and streams. -After extracting the gold from a mine, some mining companies have declared bankruptcy. -This has allowed them to walk away from cleaning up their mining operations, leaving behind large amounts of cyanide-laden water in leaky holding ponds -millions of poverty-stricken miners have streamed into tropical forests in search of gold and this influx has increased greatly since 2001 when the price of gold began rising sharply. -As a result, illegal deforestation to make way for mines has also increased rapidly in parts of the Amazon Basin. -These miners use toxic mercury illegally to separate gold from its ore, and they heat the mixture of gold and mercury to vaporize the mercury and leave the gold, causing dangerous air and water pollution. -Many of these miners and villagers near their mines then inhale toxic mercury, drink polluted water, and eat fish contaminated with mercury.

Summarize the case study about fracking in the US.

-natural gas has leaked from loose pipe fittings and faulty cement seals in natural gas well bore holes, as well as from pipelines and cutoff valves used to deliver natural gas. -Drinking water contaminated by natural gas can catch fire, and some home owners have had to install expensive systems to remove the natural gas to prevent explosions. Without increased monitoring and regulation of the entire natural gas production process, including fracking, the greatly increased production of natural gas (and oil) from shale rock could have several harmful environmental effects: -Fracking requires enormous volumes of water. -Fracking fluids can contain several potentially hazardous chemicals that are used to reduce friction, inhibit corrosion, and stop bacterial growth. -Because fracking requires a special type of sand, some areas of the country, especially western Wisconsin, are seeing a boom in the mining of this sand. -one of the major causes of hundreds of small earthquakes in 13 states has been the shifting of bedrock resulting from the high-pressure injection of large amounts of wastewater from fracking and other industrial activities into deep underground storage wells. -estimated that emissions of climate-changing and from the entire process for supplying and burning natural gas from shale rock are higher than those from supplying and burning conventional natural gas and coal.... -Producers maintain that fracking is necessary for exploiting natural gas from shale deposits at an affordable cost. -Producers also argue that no groundwater contamination directly due to fracking has ever been recorded, mostly because the fracking takes place far below drinking water aquifers. -people who rely on aquifers and streams for their drinking water in areas affected by the boom in shale gas production have little protection against pollution of their water supplies resulting from natural gas production. -people who live near fracking operations must put up with around-the-clock noise and air pollution from drilling equipment, diesel engines, trucks hauling sand, and explosions set off each time a well is fracked.

What is clean coal?

-since 2008, US coal and electric utility industries have mounted a highly effective, well-financed publicity campaign built around the notion of clean coal -we can burn more cleanly by adding costly air-pollutant-control devices to power plants

Why has nuclear power not grown in the US?

-the intensely radioactive waste storage pools and dry casks at 68 nuclear power plants in 31 U.S. states are especially vulnerable to sabotage or terrorist attack because they lie outside of the heavily protected reactor containment buildings. - a government team of mock terrorists runs a test "attack" about every 3 years to test their security. -eight of the roughly 100 attempts to breach security at U.S. nuclear plants were successful. - in the United States, many millions of people live near aboveground spent-fuel storage sites. -critics have been calling for the construction of much more secure structures to protect spent-fuel storage pools and dry casks and for moving more of the wastes from pools to casks. -charge that this has not been done because it would add billions of dollars to the already high cost of electricity produced by the nuclear power fuel cycle.

what is net energy? why is it critical in the evaluation of any energy resource?

-the total amount of high-quality energy available from an energy source minus the high-quality energy needed to make the energy available -net energy is like the net profit earned by a business after it deducts its expenses

summarize nanotechnology

-uses science and engineering to manipulate and create materials out of atoms and molecules at the ultra-small scale of less than 100 nanometers. -At the nanometer level, conventional materials have unconventional and unexpected properties. -nanomaterials are used in more than 1,300 consumer products and the number is growing rapidly. - A new one-atom-thick nanotextile material that can conduct electricity could be incorporated into clothing, and this could allow you to charge your cell phone or start your laptop by plugging it into your jeans or your tee shirt. -reduce the need to mine many materials. -require less material and energy and reduce waste production. -remove industrial pollutants in contaminated air, soil, and groundwater. -The main problem is the serious concerns about the possible harmful health effects of nanotechnology on humans. -more chemically reactive and potentially more toxic to humans and other animals than are conventional materials composed of much larger particles. -We know far too little about these and other and risks at a time when the use of untested, unregulated, and unlabeled nanoparticles is growing rapidly. we need to take three steps before unleashing nanotechnology: -greatly increase research on the potential harmful health effects of nanoparticles. -develop guidelines and regulations for controlling its growing applications until we know more about the potentially harmful effects of this new technology. -require labeling of all products containing nanoparticles.

fault

A fault is a crack in the Earth's crust. Typically, faults are associated with, or form, the boundaries between Earth's tectonic plates. In an active fault, the pieces of the Earth's crust along a fault move over time. The moving rocks can cause earthquakes.

mineral resource

A mineral resource is the concentration of materials that are of economic interest in or on the crust of the Earth. Almost all minerals found on Earth are used in one way or another for economic benefit. Examples of minerals include gold, gravel, sand, aluminum, copper, limestone, clay and diamond.

divergent plates

A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from magma that rises to the Earth's surface between the two plates.

explain tsunami

A tsunami is a series of large waves generated when part of the ocean floor suddenly rises or drops. Most large tsunamis are caused when certain types of faults in the ocean floor move up or down as a result of a large underwater earthquake. Other causes are landslides generated by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

What are the specific pros and cons of using coal?

Advantages: -ample supplies in many countries -medium to high net energy yield -low cost when environmental costs are not included Disadvantages: -severe land disturbance and water pollution -fine particle and toxic mercury emissions threaten human health -emits large amounts of CO2 and other air pollutants when produced and burned

Summarize the pros and cons of the use of oil.

Advantages: -ample supply for several decades -net energy yield is medium but decreasing -low land disruption -efficient distribution system Disadvantages: -water pollution from oil spills & leaks -environmental costs not included in market price -releases CO2 and other air pollutants when burned -vulnerable to international supply interrupts

Summarize the pros and cons of using nuclear power.

Advantages: -low environmental impact (w/o accidents) -emits 1/6 as much CO2 as coal -low risk of accidents in modern plants Disadvantages: -low net energy yield -high overall cost -produces long-lived, harmful radioactive wastes -promotes spread of nuclear weapons

What are the specific pros and cons of the use of NG?

Advantages: -ample supplies -versatile fuel -medium net energy yield -emits less CO2 and other air pollutants than other fossil fuels when burned Disadvantages: -low net energy yield for LNG -production and delivery may emit more CO2 and CH4 per unit of energy produced than coal -fracking uses and pollutes large volumes of water -potential groundwater pollution from fracking

strip mining

Form of surface mining in which bulldozers, power shovels, or stripping wheels remove large chunks of the earth's surface in strips.

contour strip mining

Form of surface mining used on hilly or mountainous terrain. A power shovel cuts a series of terraces into the side of a hill. An earthmover removes the overburden, and a power shovel extracts the coal. The overburden from each new terrace is dumped onto the one below.

Explain fracking.

Freeing oil or natural gas that is tightly held in rock deposits by using perforated drilling well tubes with explosive charges to create fissures in rock and then using high pressure pumps to shoot a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into the well to hold the rock fractures open and release the oil or natural gas, which flows back to the surface along with a mixture of water, sand, fracking chemicals, and other chemicals (some of them hazardous) that are released from the rock.

Explain the concept of nuclear fuel cycle.

Includes the mining of uranium, processing and enriching the uranium to make nuclear fuel, using it in the reactor, safely storing the resulting highly radioactive wastes for thousands of years until their radioactivity falls to safe levels, and retiring the highly radioactive nuclear plant by taking it apart and storing its high- and moderate-level radioactive material safely for thousands of years.

Crust

It consists of the continental crust, which underlies the continents (including the continental shelves extending into the oceans), and the oceanic crust, which underlies the ocean basins and makes up 71% of the earth's crust.

Overburden

Layer of soil and rock overlying a mineral deposit. Surface mining removes this layer.

how might mining low grade ores effect mineral supplies? Pros, cons?

Low grade ores: -we can increase supplies of some minerals by extracting them from lower-grade ores. -They point to the development of new earth-moving equipment, improved techniques for removing impurities from ores, and other technological advances in mineral extraction and processing that can make lower-grade ores accessible, sometimes at lower costs. -it requires mining and processing larger volumes of ore, which takes more energy and costs more. -Another factor is the dwindling supplies of freshwater needed for the mining and processing of some minerals, especially in arid and semiarid areas. -A third limiting factor is the growing environmental impacts of land disruption, along with waste material and pollution produced during mining and processing -we can improve mining technology and reduce its environmental impact is to use a biological approach, sometimes called biomining

high grade ore

Ore containing a large amount of a desired mineral.

low grade ore

Ore containing a small amount of a desired mineral.

open pit mining

Removing minerals such as gravel, sand, and metal ores by digging them out of the earth's surface and leaving an open pit behind.

subduction

Subduction is a geological process that takes place at convergent boundaries of tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and is forced or sinks due to gravity into the mantle. Regions where this process occurs are known as subduction zones.

contrast surface with subsurface mining.

Surface mining: Removing soil, subsoil, and other strata and then extracting a mineral deposit found fairly close to the earth's surface. Subsurface mining: Extraction of a metal ore or fuel resource such as coal from a deep underground deposit.

Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

Three Mile Island: -a cooling malfunction caused part of the core to melt in the #2 reactor -was destroyed -radioactive gas was released after accident, but not enough to cause any dose BG levels to local residents Chernobyl: -a reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine, that exploded and nearly melted down in 1986, due to a combination of poor reactor design and human operator error. -The explosion and the radiation released over a large area killed a number of people and contaminated a vast area of land with long-lasting radioactive fallout in what is viewed as the world's worst nuclear power plant accident. -However, within a few years, the containment structure began to crumble, due to the corrosive nature of the radiation inside the damaged reactor, and to leak radioactive wastes.

mountain top removal

Type of surface mining that uses explosives, massive power shovels, and large machines called draglines to remove the top of a mountain and expose seams of coal underneath a mountain.

spoils

Unwanted rock and other waste materials produced when a material is removed from the earth's surface or subsurface by mining, dredging, quarrying, or excavation.

Describe the concept of a chain reaction. Why would fission reactions be useful to produce electricity?

a chain reaction refers to a process in which neutrons released in fission produce an additional fission in at least one further nucleus. this nucleus in turn produces neutrons, and the process repeats -To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power, we must know how a nuclear power plant and its accompanying nuclear fuel cycle work. -What makes a nuclear power plant complex and costly is the use of a controlled nuclear fission reaction to provide the heat.

convergent plates

a convergent boundary, also known as a destructive plate boundary (because of subduction), is an actively deforming region where two (or more) tectonic plates or fragments of the lithosphere move toward one another and collide.

What, specifically, is natural gas?

a mixture of gases of which 50-90% is methane . It also contains smaller amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbons such as propane and butane , and small amounts of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide .

What is coal?

a solid fossil fuel formed from the remains of land plants that were buried 300-400 million years ago and exposed to intense heat and pressure over millions of years

Plate Tectonics

a theory explaining the structure of the earths crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle.

Mantle

a zone made mostly of solid rock that can be soft and pliable at very high temperatures. The outermost part of the mantle is solid rock

how might mining ocean floors effect mineral supplies? Pros, cons?

ocean floors: -Most of the chemical elements and compounds found in seawater occur in such low concentrations that recovering these mineral resources takes more energy and money than they are worth. -only magnesium, bromine, and sodium chloride are abundant enough to be extracted profitably from seawater. -On the other hand, in sediments along the shallow continental shelf and adjacent shorelines, there are significant deposits of minerals such as sand, gravel, phosphates, copper, iron, tungsten, silver, titanium, platinum, and diamonds. -Because of the rapidly rising prices of many of these metals, there is growing interest in deep-sea mining. -Some analysts say that seafloor mining is less environmentally harmful than mining on land. However, marine biologists are concerned that the sediment stirred up by such mining could harm or kill organisms that feed by filtering seawater.

ore

rock that contains a large enough concentration of a particular mineral—often a metal—to make it profitable for mining and processing.

Describe the recovery of oil from tar sands, and oil shale. What are the pros and cons of these resources?

tar sands/oil sands-mixture of clay, sand, water, & a combustible organic material called bitumen--a thick, sticky, warlike heavy oil with a high sulfur content Advantages: -large potential supplies -easily transported within and between countries -efficient distribution system in place Disadvantages: -low net energy yield -releases CO2 and other air pollutants when produced and burned -severe land disruption and high water use

Define fission.

the action of dividing or splitting something into two or more parts

Core

the earth's innermost zone. It is extremely hot and has a solid inner part, surrounded by a thick layer of molten rock, or hot liquid rock, and semisolid material.

epicenter

the point on the earths surface vertically above the focus point in the crust where a seismic rupture begins

lithosphere

the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

explain how a coal fired power plant generates electricity.

this power plant burns pulverized coal to boil water and produce steam that spins a turbine to produce electricity

What, again specifically, do we use NG for?

widely used for cooking, heating space and water, and industrial purposes, including production of most of the world's nitrogen fertilizer. It can also be used as a fuel for cars and trucks and for natural gas turbines used to produce electricity in power plants.