Chapter 11

Why have some open pit mines been declared Superfund sites?

The waters in the pit become highly acidic and contain high levels of toxic metals.

Subsurface mining is used extensively in the extraction of ________.

coal, phosphate, diamonds, gold

Plate tectonic movement results from ________.

convective movements of rock in the underlying mantle

Which of the following are responsible for the formation of some of the world's highest mountains?

convergent plate boundaries

The bar graph indicates that all of the metals shown will ________.

eventually no longer be available, even with current technological capabilities

Volcanoes are created when lava cools and accumulates over time. What type of rock are volcanoes made of?

igneous rock

Volcanoes are formed ________.

in subduction zones or in rift valleys

Sustainable minerals use and longer projected lifetimes for scarce minerals can be achieved with all of the following, except ________.

increasing demand and lowering prices for products using these minerals

The formation of rock through compaction and cementation is termed __________.

lithification

The effect of rising rates of consumption of metals will ________.

make prices higher as nations complete for limited resources

Which of these materials is NOT currently mined from the ocean floor?

manganese nodules

What is the downslope movement of soil and rock due to gravity?

mass wasting

If a mineral is opaque, lustrous, malleable, and can conduct heat and electricity, it is a(n) ________.

metal

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a divergent boundary that bisects the entire Atlantic Ocean. What is produced at this and other mid-ocean ridges?

new oceanic crust

Most metals, such as iron and copper, do not occur in a pure state in Earth's crust, but occur within ________.

ores

Which of the following does NOT define a mineral?

organic compound

Another conclusion drawn from the bar graph is that ________.

our collective use of metal resources is presently unsustainable

The dwindling supplies of rare strategic metals such as indium, tantalum, and platinum may be extended if we rigorously ________.

recycle existing supplies

All of the following could be sensible appointments for the UN Council, except perhaps ________.

representatives of banking, marketing and corporate law from developed nations

This mining technique is utilized to get at shallow, horizontal deposits of minerals close to the surface.

strip mining

Coal mining involves which two of the following mining techniques?

strip mining and subsurface mining

Earth's mantle ________.

surrounds the core as a thick, elastic rock formation

Minerals are components of ________.

the lithosphere

Mine tailings are __________.

the remains of ore after most of the metals have been removed

The lithosphere consists of ________.

the uppermost mantle and the continental and oceanic crust

The Pacific "ring of fire" is a volcanic area where ________.

there are many earthquakes and active plate boundaries

Which of the following can help humans mitigate the negative impact of floods?

zoning laws to reduce building in flood zones

Drag the terms on the left to the appropriate blanks on the right.

1. Mineral extraction by removing 100 vertical meters from hill and mountain tops --Mountaintop removal Mining 2. Excavating a giant hole in the landscape to remove widely spread mineral deposits --Open Pit Mining 3. Sifting through sand and silt in riverbeds for minerals using a sluice with running water --Place Mining 4. Tunneling deep underground to extract minerals --Subsurface Mining 5. Surface layers are removed to expose and extract horizontal mineral deposits --Strip Mining 6. Restoration of mined areas to pre-mining conditions --Reclamation 7. Dissolves and extracts resources via a narrow borehole --Solution Mining

Tantalum from African coltan is used primarily for the manufacture of ________.

electronics: cell phones, computers, digital cameras

As in the mining of coltan in Congo, coal mining in Appalachia has produced issues of ________.

environmental damage and social and economic injustice

When magma or lava cools, the result is ________.

igneous rock

Which type of mining generates "overburden" as a byproduct of the mining process?

strip mining

What sort of far-reaching, even global, environmental impact can result from the eruption of especially large volcanoes?

the cooling of Earth's surface due to ash and emissions in the atmosphere, which block sunlight

Which of the following U.S. states would be least likely to be affected by a tsunami?

Kansas

Strip mining, subsurface mining, and solution mining all take place in which "sphere" of the planet?

Lithosphere

Within which of the following layers of Earth does plate tectonic movement occur?

Lithosphere

What type of rock results when rock is exposed to great pressure and high temperatures lower than the rock's melting point?

Metamorphic

A naturally occurring solid chemical element with a distinct composition and a crystalline structure is a(n) ________.

Mineral

Acid drainage does not normally occur in areas before mines are built but tends to happen after the mine has been in operation for many years. What causes acid drainage?

Mining exposes unweathered rock surfaces that react with water and the atmosphere to generate acids.

Tantalum is needed for mobile phones, and the Congo is a major supplier of this metal. Which of these is true of how mining for tantalum has occurred in the Congo?

Profits from tantalum mining have helped fuel a war that has killed more than 5 million people.

The relationship between recycling, economics, and energy consumption is demonstrated in the case of aluminum, where ________.

95% of the energy expended to mine and produce items from virgin ore is saved by recycling

Which of these is NOT a use for materials mined from Earth?

All of the above come from mined materials.

What is an alloy?

An alloy is a combination of a metal with another metal or nonmetal substance that has been melted and fused together.

During the formation of sedimentary rock layers, sediments accumulate over time, leading to __________ of the layers.

Compaction

Can you identify characteristics of Earth's interior layers?

Inner Core --Composed mostly of solid metal Outer Core --Composed of molten metal Lower Mantle --Thick layer of dense rock surrounding the core Upper Mantle --Contains the asthenosphere just below the crust Crust --Thin rock layer at Earth's surface

What is the mechanism behind the movement of Earth's tectonic plates?

Intense heat from deep within the Earth generates convection.

Drag each description to the appropriate bin.

STRIP MINING: --used to extract resources that are near the surface --destroys large areas of wildlife habitat --overburden is removed from mining site SUBSURFACE MINING: --safety requires good ventilation systems --used to extract resources that are deep underground --one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States BOTH: --used to extract coal --generates acid drainage

Both fossils and fossil fuels are found in __________ rock layers.

Sedimentary

One of the steps in processing some metals is smelting. What does smelting do for a metal?

Smelting allows us to alter the properties of a metal to suit particular needs.

Earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides can displace large volumes of water in the ocean and trigger which of the following natural disasters?

Tsunamis

If a significant amount of extrusive igneous rock is found in an area, one would expect to also find evidence of _________ in the area.

Volcanoes

Which of the following areas would experience the most devastation after an earthquake?

a marsh-like environment that was filled with landfill in order to build a city

Drag the labels to their correct location on the diagram of the Rock cycle. Use blue labels to identify types of rock, and pink labels to identify the processes that transform them.

a. Magma and lava b. Cooling and solidification c. Igneous rock d. Compaction and cementation e. Sedimentary rock f. Metamorphic rock

Many types of mining, such as for coal and copper, produce a specific type of water pollution called ________.

acid drainage

Which of these leads to uncertainty in our ability to predict how long a mineral resource will last?

all of the above

Electronic waste, or e-waste, consists of discarded cell phones, computers, and other electronic products and is increasing rapidly. Recycling e-waste is essential because ________.

all of the above are correct

Earthquakes are likely to occur ________.

along tectonic plate boundaries where there is movement

Sedimentary rock is formed ________.

as sediment materials are pressed together and infiltrated by minerals

This bar graph tells us that ________.

at current rates of consumption, most metals will become scarcer and costlier

Most of the miners are likely to be local villagers supervised by Afghan mining engineers. Compensation for workers should be ________.

at or above the local Afghan wage with the corporate employer guaranteeing food, adequate housing, medical care, and security

Where do large-scale strike-slip faults, which cut through the entire lithosphere, occur?

at transform plate boundaries

Match the words in the left-hand column to the appropriate blank in the sentences in the right-hand column. Use each word only once.

1. The slowly increasing distance between South America and Africa is due to . --Seafloor spreading 2. Old Faithful Geyser at Yellowstone National Park in the United States acquires its energy from a . --Hot spot 3. Layered exposed by erosion can be seen when looking at the Grand Canyon in the United States. --Sedimentary Rock 4. Australia is composed of relatively old and thick . --Continental Crust 5. The extremely deep ocean Marianas Trench is a result of . --Subduction 6. found in the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe is composed of dense and relatively young rock. --Seafloor Crust 7. The earthquakes that occur in Southern California generally occur above a --Fault

Which of the following correctly represents the basic layers of Earth from the innermost to the outermost?

core, mantle, crust

Tsunamis are caused by ________.

displacement of sea water by volcanoes, earthquakes or coastal landslides

At ________ plate boundaries, tectonic plates are pushed away from each other when magma rises to the surface, creating new crust.

divergent