AP Enviro - Soil and Mining
Food Production
Biodiversity loss: loss and degradation of grasslands, forests, and wetlands, fish kills from pesticide runoff, killing wild predators to protect livestock, loss of genetic diversity of wild crop strains replaced by monoculture Soil: erosion, loss of fertility, salinization, water logging, desertification Water: water waste, aquifer depletion, runoff and flooding from cleared land, sediment pollution from erosion, fish death from pesticide runoff, surface and groundwater pollution from pesticides/fertilizers, over fertilization of lakes Air pollution: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions from use of inorganic fertilizers, belching of methane by cattle, pollution from pesticide sprays Human health: nitrates in drinking water, pesticide residue in water, food, air, contamination of drinking and swimming water with disease from livestock waste, bacterial contamination
Strip Cropping
involves planting alternating strips of a row crop (corn or cotton) and another crop that completely covers the soil (grass) cover crop traps soil that erodes from the ow crop and reduces water runoff
Soil Conservation
involves using a variety of ways to reduce soil erosion and restore soil fertility, mostly by keeping the soil covered with vegetation
Sand
large particles with high permeability for water or air gritty feeling mostly silicon dioxide used to make glass, bricks, concrete for construction of roads and buildings
Tailings
large piles of solid waste formed by gangue
Food Security Act
AKA Farm Act farmers receive a subsidy for taking highly erodible land out of production and replanting it with soil saving grass or trees for 10-15 years cut soil losses on US cropland by 40% but effective soil conservation only practiced on 1/2 of US agricultural land
Physical Weathering
AKA mechanical weathering a large rock is broken down into smaller fragments win, rain, thermal expansion and contraction, water freezing frost wedging
Wind Breaks
AKA shelter belts trees planted around crop fields to reduce wind erosion hep retain soil moisture, supply wood for fuel, increase crop productivity, provide habitats for birds, pest eating and pollinating insects and other animals
Cyanide Heap Extraction
a chemical used to remove metals from ores cheap enough to allow mining companies to level entire mountains containing low grade gold ore used to separate 85% of gold from gold ore sprayed on ore and as it percolates through, the cyanide reacts with and removes gold toxic to birds and mamas leach pads and collection ponds can leak or overflow
Integrated Pest Management
a component of sustainable agriculture that is used to control pests each crop and its pests are evaluated as parts of an ecological system farmers develop control program that uses combination of cultivation, biological, and chemical approaches at specific times biological methods (natural predators, parasites, disease organisms), and cultivation controls (large machines and vacuums) aim is to reduce crop damage crops moved from field to field to disrupt pest infestations no long lived pesticides can reduce pest control costs without reducing yields or food quality, reduce inputs of fertilizer, and irrigation water, slow development of genetic resistance Disadvantages: requires expert knowledge about the pests, high initial costs, use is hindered by government subsidies for normal pesticides
Iron
a component of the hemoglobin that transports oxygen in the blood too little causes anemia - fatigue, makes infection more likely, increases women's chances of dying of hemorrhage during birth
Mineral Resource
a concentration of naturally occurring material in or on the earth's crust that can be extracted and processed into useful materials at an affordable cost fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), metallic minerals, nonmetallic minerals (sand, gravel, limestone) take a long time to produce, so nonrenewable four categories: identified resources (known location, quantity, and quality), undiscovered resources (potential supplies, unknown locations), reserves (identified resources from which mineral can be extracted profitably), other resources (undiscovered resources and identified resources not classified as reserves)
Soil Profile
a cross sectional view of the horizons in a soil
Traditional Intensive Agriculture
a form of agriculture in which farmers increase their inputs of human and draft animal labor, fertilizer, and water to obtain a higher yield per area of cultivated land produce enough food to feed their families and to sell
Traditional Subsistence Agriculture
a form of agriculture that uses mostly human labor and draft animals to produce only enough crops or livestock for a farm family's survival
Conservation Tillage Farming
a form of farming that uses special tillers and planting machines that disturb the soil as little as possible while planting crops increases crop yields, raises soil carbon content, and lowers use of water, pesticides, and tractor fuel requires costly machinery, worked better in certain areas, more useful with only some crops
Plantation Agriculture
a form of industrialized agriculture that is used primarily in tropical developing countries involves growing cash crops (bananas, soybeans, sugar cane, cocoa, peanuts, vegetables, and coffee) on large monoculture plantations mostly for sale in developed countries increases yield but decreases biodiversity
Polyculture
a form of interplanting int hick many different plants are planted together crops mature at different times, provide food throughout the year, and keep soil covered to reduce erosion from wind and water less need for fertilizer and water because root systems at different depths in the soil capture nutrients and moisture efficiently few insecticides and herbicides needed produces higher yields per hectare of land than high input monoculture
Agroforestry
a form of interplanting that grows crops and trees together AKA alley cropping reduces soil erosion from wind and water trees provide shade, which reduces water loss through evaporation trees provide fruit, fuelwood, and trimmings that can be used as mulch
Polyvarietal Cultivation
a form of interplanting that involves planting a plot with several genetic varieties of the same crop
Intercropping
a form of interplanting that involves planting two or more different crops that are grown at the same time on a plot Example: planting carbohydrate rich grain that uses soil nitrogen and a nitrogen fixing plant (legume) that puts it back
Golden Rice
a genetically modified form of rice that contains more beta carotene (that can be converted into Vitamin A) created by transferring two genes from a daffodil and one from a soil bacterium developed for poverty stricken areas to provide enough vitamin A to prevent blindness and death critics see it as a play to soften consumer opposition to GMOs might be too expensive controversy over how much beta carotene can be converted to Vitamin A
Copper
a good conductor of electricity used for electrical and communications wiring
Limestone
a nonmetallic mineral made of mostly calcium carbonate crushed to make road rock, concrete, cement
Gravel
a nonmetallic mineral used for roadbeds and to make concrete
Aluminum
a nonrenewable metal mineral resource used for packaging and beverage cans structural material in motor vehicles, aircraft, and buildings
Ore
a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a particular mineral (often a metal) that the rock can be mined and processed to extract the desired mineral high grade - contains large amount of mineral (exploited first) low grade - contains smaller amount of mineral (greater environmental impact, takes more money and materials to exploit it, increases land disruption, mining waste, pollution) two parts - desired metal and waste material (gangue)
Rock
a solid combination of one or more minerals that is part of earth's curst most consists of combinations of tow or more minerals three categories based on formation - igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic
Fish Farming
a type of aquaculture that involves cultivating fish in a controlled environment (coastal or inland pond, lake, reservoir, rice paddy) and harvesting them when they reach the desired size
Fish Ranching
a type of aquaculture that involves holding anadromous species (salmon) that live part of their lives in fresh water and part in saltwater, inactivity for the first few years of their lives the fish are then released and adults are harvested when they return to spawn
Rill Erosion
a type of erosion that occurs hen fast-flowing little rivulets of surface water make small channels int eh soil
Gully Erosion
a type of erosion that occurs when rivulets of fast flowing water join together to cut wider and deeper ditches or gullies usually happens on steep slopes where all or most of vegetation has been removed
Sheet Erosion
a type of erosion that occurs when surface water or wind peel off fairly thin sheets or layers of soil topsoil disappears evenly, so it may not be noticeable until all or most of the topsoil is gone
Green Manure
a type of organic fertilizer consists of freshly cut or growing green vegetation plowed into the soil to increase organic matter and humus available to the next crop
Compost
a type of organic fertilizer produced when microorganisms in soil break down organic matter (leaves, food wastes, paper, wood) in the presence of oxygen)
Animal Manure
a type of organic fertilizer the dung and urine of cattle, horses, poultry, and other farm animals improves soil structure, adds organic nitrogen, and stimulates beneficial soil bacteria and fungi
Contour Strip Mining
a type of strip mining that is sued on hilly or mountainous terrain power shovel cuts series of terraces into side of a hill earthmover removes overburden power shovel extents coal overburden from each new terrace is dumped onto one below wall of dirt is left in front of highly erodible bank of soil and rock (highwall) unless land is restored
Area Strip Mining
a type of strip mining used when the terrain is fairly flat earth mover strips away overburden, power shovel removes mineral deposit trench is filled with overburden and new cut is made parallel to previous one wavy series of highly erodible hills of rubble (spoil banks) - susceptible to chemical weathering and erosion, slow regrowth of vegetation because no topsoil
Mountaintop Removal
a type of surface mining in which explosives, tall shovels, and machinery (dragline) remove top of mountain and expose seams of coal underneath a mountain waste rock and dirt are dumped into streams and valleys below buries streams and increases flood hazards toxic waste water produced and stored in waste sludge dams that can overflow and collapse
Chemical Weathering
a type of weathering in which one or more chemical reactions slowly decompose rock most involves reactions of rock with oxygen, carbon dioxide, and moisture accelerated by high temperatures and rain water, acids, gases
Biological Weathering
a type of weathering in which rock or minerals are converted into smaller particles through the action of living things tree roots growing into and rubbing against soil physically break it into smaller pieces lichens living in rocks produce acids that chemically weather rocks
Terracing
a way to grow food on deep slopes without depleting topsoil converting steeply sloped land into a series of broad, nearly level terraces that run across the land's contours with short vertical jumps from one to another retains water for crops at each level and reduces soil erosion by controlling runoff
Salinization
accumulation of salts in soil that can eventually make the soil unable to support plant growth irrigation water is dilute solution of various salts that it picks up as the water flows through soil and rocks irrigation water not absorbed into the soil evaporates and leaves behind thin crust of salts in top soil caused by repeated annual applications of irrigation water in dry climates stunts crop growth, lowers crop yields, kills plants, ruins land most severe in Asia (China, India, Pakistan) affects 1/4 of irrigated crop land in US, reduced yields on 1/5 of world's irrigated crop land Prevention: reduce irrigation, switch to salt tolerant crops (barley, cotton, sugar beet) Cleanup: flush soil (expensive and wastes water), stop growing crops for 2-5 years, install underground drainage systems (expensive)
Industrialized Agriculture
aka high input agriculture uses large amounts of fossil fuel energy, water, commercial fertilizers, and pesticides to produce single crops (monoculture) and livestock animals for sale practiced on 1/4 of cropland in developed countries produces 4/5 of world's food in US, has transformed into agribusiness cattle live in feedlots or animal factories where they are fattened up and then slaughtered has a large net energy loss
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
an act that requires mining companies to restore most surface mined land by grading and replanting it most restoration is only partially successful and takes decades
Frost Wedging
an agent of mechanical weathering water collects in pores and cracks of rick, expands upon freezing, and splits off pieces of the rock causes potholes on streets
Mineral
an element or inorganic compound that occurs naturally and is solid with regular internal crystalline structure most are combinations of elements
Mass Wasting
an external process in which rock and soil masses become detached from underlying material and move downhill under influence of gravity rockslides, landslides, mud flows increased by clearing of trees and other vegetation on steep slopes
Animal Feedlots
an industrial method used to raise livestock Advantages: increased meat production, higher profits, less land use, reduced overgrazing, reduced soil erosion, help protect biodiversity Disadvantages: need large inputs of grain, fish meal, water, and fossil fuels, concentrate animal wastes that can pollute water, antibiotics can increase genetic resistance to microbes in humans many consider it inhumane to raise animals in crowded areas like these
Pest
any species that competes with us for food, invades lawns and garden, destroys wood in houses, spreads disease, invades ecosystems, or is a nuisance mostly controlled by natural enemies (spiders, wasps, parasites, disease organisms) - but disrupted by our actions of clearing forests, planting monoculture crops
Traditional Agriculture
consists of two types - subsistence agriculture and intensive agriculture together, are practiced by 2.7 billion people in developing countries and provide 1/5 of world's food supply on 3/4 of cultivated land many of these farmers practice interplanting
Pesticides
chemicals to kill or control populations of organisms we consider undesirable insecticides (kill insects by clogging airways, disrupting nerves and muscles, preventing reproduction) herbicides (kill weeds by disrupting metabolism and growth) fungicides (fungus killers) rodenticides (rat and mouse killers) not invented by humans, plant have used chemicals to kill other species first generation - mostly natural chemicals or botanicals borrowed from plants that had been defending themselves against insects eating them and herbivores grazing on them second generation - DDT, chemicals produced in the laboratory most is used to rid domestic pieces of land of pests, not just cropland either broad spectrum or narrow spectrum/selective vary in persistance (the amount of time in which they remain deadly in the environment) Advantages - save human lives, increase food supplies, increase profits for farmers, work fast and long shelf life, health risks are low compared with benefits when used properly, newer ones are safer and more effective than older ones Disadvantages - promote genetic resistance that lead to greater expense for farmers, kill natural pest enemies, create new pest species, pollute environment since they are mobile, harm wildlife (fish, birds, honeybees) and people
Hunger
chronic undernutrition suffered by people who cannot grow or buy enough food to meet their basic energy needs mostly those who live in developing countries likely to suffer from mental retardation and stunted growth and death from infectious diseases
Commercial Inorganic Fertilizer
commercially prepared mixture of plant nutrients applied to soil to restore soil fertility and increase crop yields relied on by farmers in developed countries active inorganic compounds that contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium account for 1/4 of world's crop yield can run off the land and pollute nearby bodies of water
Crust
composed of minerals and rocks continues to form in various places the sources of soil and elements that make up your body solid inorganic elements and compounds called minerals uneven distribution of nonrenewable mineral resources five nations supply most - US, Canada, Russia, South Africa, Australia
Organic Matter
concentrated in the first two layers of soil (O and A horizons) bacteria, fungi, earthworms, small insects bacteria and other decomposers break this down into simpler inorganic compounds soluble in water
Inorganic Material
concentrated in the lower two levels (B and C horizon) mostly broken down rock or parent material
Fisheries
concentrations of particular aquatic species suitable for commercial harvesting in a given ocean area or inland body of water projected decline in global marine fish catch in the future because of overfishing, coastal water pollution, loss of coastal wetlands most are being used at or above sustainability levels issue with overfishing because of government subsidies (fuel tax exemptions, price controls, low interest loans, grants for fishing gear)
Government Policies
control prices - keep food prices artificially low provide subsidies - subsidies and tax breaks to keep farmers in business and encourage them to increase food production (possibility of surpluses with good weather and high subsidies) let the market place decide - eliminate price controls and subsidies and let farmers and fishers respond to market demand without government interference
Malnutrition
deficiencies of protein, calories, and other key nutrients has been decrease in the number of people suffering from this world wide, but not substantial enough
Soil Texture
determined by the relative amounts of the different sizes and types of mineral particles
Iodine
essential for proper functioning of the thyroid gland (produced hormone that controls body's metabolism) found in seafood and crops in soil rich in it lack of it causes stunted growth, mental retardation, goiter (swollen thyroid that leads to deafness)
Steel
essential material used in buildings and motor vehicles mixture (alloy) of iron and other elements to give it certain properties
Food Security
every person in a given area has fail access to enough nutritious food to have an active and healthy life can be provided by government programs to help the poor help themselves, family planning, education, jobs, small loans depends on greatly reducing harmful environmental effects of agriculture or hunger and malnutrition may get worse one in six people are not getting enough to eat in developing countries to ensure this in the future: slow pop growth, reduce poverty, reduce topsoil erosion, halt desertification, eliminate overgrazing, stop the fall in water tables, protect cropland, reduce rate of global warming,
Subsurface Mining
extraction of a metal ore or fuel resource such as coal from a deep underground deposits dig deep vertical shaft and blast subsurface tunnels and chambers to reach deposit use machinery to remove and transport ore to surface disturbs less land and produces less waste material leaves resource in ground and is more dangerous and expensive cave ins, explosions, fires, disease (black lung)
Strip Mining
form of surface mining in which bulldozers, power shovels, stripping wheels remove large chunks of earth's surface in strips useful and economical for extracting mineral deposits that lie close to earth's surface in large horizontal beds
Ocean Minerals
found in seawater, sediments and deposits on the shallow continental shelf, hydrothermal ore deposits, potato shapes manganese rich nodules on deep ocean floor low concentrations of chemical elements - recovery takes more energy and money than it is worth disputes over ownership of resources in international waters could possibly cause less environmental harm than mining on land concerned that removing mineral deposits and dumping back can stir up sediments, destroy seafloor organisms, negatively impact poorly understood ocean food webs
External Processes
geologic changes based directly or indirectly on energy from the sun and on gravity rather than o heat in the earth's interior wear earth's surface down and produce landforms and environments formed by eroded topsoil, sand, and sediment
Soil Horizons
horizontal layers of mature soils, each with distinct text and composition that varies with different types of soil most have at least three
Depletion Time
how long it takes to use up a certain proportion (usually 80%) of the reserves of a mineral at a given rate of use shortest one assumes no recycling or reuse and no increase in reserves longer one assumes recycling will stretch existing reserves and that better mining technology, higher prices, and new discoveries increase reserves
Reserves
identified resources from which a useable nonrenewable mineral can be extracted profitably at current prices can increase when new deposits are found or when higher prices or improved mining technology make it profitable to extract deposits previous too expensive to extract
Organic Farming
improves soil fertility reduces soil erosion retains more water in soil during drought uses 30% less energy per unit of yield lowers CO2 emissions reduces water pollution from recycling livestock wastes eliminates pollution from pesticides increases biodiversity above and below ground benefits wildlife (bats and birds)
Agribusiness
in the US, giant multinational corporations control, grow, process, distribute, and sell food
Overburden
layers of soil and rock overlying a mineral deposit surface mining removes this layer
Strategic Metal Resources
manatees, cobalt, chromium, platinum essential for the country's economy and military strength used in automobiles, airplanes, satellites, weapons, home appliances
Silt
medium sized particles with average permeability for water or air smooth feeling, like flour
Economics of Nonrenewable Resources
mineral resource is cheap when its supply exceeds demand when it is scarce, the price rises, which can encourage exploration for new deposits, the development of better mining technology, and make it profitable to mien lower grade ores most mineral prices are kept artificially low because governments subsidize development of their domestic mineral resources
Natural Capital Degradation
mining (exploration, extraction) - disturbed land, mining accidents, health hazards, waste dumping, oil spills, blowouts, noise, ugliness, heat processing (transportation, purification, manufacturing) - solid wastes, radioactive material, air, water and soil pollution, noise, safety and health hazards, ugliness, heat use (transportation or transmission to individual user, eventual use and discarding) - noise, ugliness, thermal water pollution, pollution of air, water and soil, solid and radioactive wastes, safety and health hazards, heat
Sustainable Organic Agriculture
more - high yield polyculture, organic fertilizers, biological pest control, integrated pest management, efficient irrigation, perennial crops, crop rotation, water efficient crops, soil conservation, subsidies for sustainable farming and fishing less - soil erosion, soil salinization, aquifer depletion, overgrazing, overfishing, loss of biodiversity, loss of prime cropland, food waste, subsidies for unsustainable farming and fishing, population growth, poverty
Croplands
mostly produce grains and provide 77% of the world's food using 11% of the world's land area three types of grains (corn, wheat, rice) provide half of the calories people consume ecological services: help maintain water flow and soil infiltration, provide partial erosion protection, can build soil organic matter, store atmospheric carbon, provide wildlife habitat for some species economic services: food crops, fiber crops, crop genetic resources, jobs
Phosphate Salts
nonmetallic mineral mined and used in inorganic fertilizers and in detergents
Overnutrition
occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use and causes excess boy fat too many calories, too little exercise
Acid Mine Drainage
occurs when rainwater seeping through a mine or mine wastes carries sulfuric acid (aerobic bacteria act on iron sulfide minerals in spoils) to nearby streams and groundwater contaminates water supply and harms wildlife
Desertification
occurs when the productive potential drylands (arid or semiarid land) falls by 10% or more because of a combination of natural climate change that causes prolonged drought and human activities that reduce or degrade topsoil moderate, severe, or very severe extreme cases cause a desert, which can expand to fertile land accelerated by human activities 1/3 of world's land and 70% of all dry lands created 1930's dust bowl occurs in Nigeria and China causes: overgrazing, deforestation, erosion, salinization, soil compaction, natural climate change consequences: worsening drought, famine, economic losses, lower living standards, environmental refugees restoring land: planting trees and grasses that anchor soil handheld water, establishing wind breaks, growing trees and crops together
Famine
occurs when there is a severe shortage of food in an area accompanied by mass starvation, death, economic chaos, social disruption often lead to mass migrations usually caused by crop failures from sought, flooding, war
Gangue
one of the components of ore the waste material removed from ore and put into large piles of solid waste (tailings)
Crop Rotation
one way to reduce the depletion of nutrients in topsoil farmers plant areas or strips with nutrient depleting crops one year the next year, they plant the same areas with legumes whose root nodules add nitrogen to the soil reduces erosion by keeping soil covered with vegetation, help restore soil nutrients
Organic Fertilizer
organic material applied to cropland as a source of plant nutrients several types - animal manure, green manure, compost
Humus
partially decomposed bodies of dead plants and animals in the A horizon (top soil) fertile soil has lots of this
Controlling Pests
pesticides fool the pest (cultivation practices to fake out pest species - rotating crops, adjusting planting times) provide homes for pest enemies (increase polyculture to use plant diversity to reduce losses to pests) implant genetic resistant (GMOs) bring in natural enemies (biological control by importing natural predators, parasites, bacteria, and viruses to regulate pest populations) use insect perfumes (sex attractants - pheromones - can lure pests into traps or attract their natural predators into crop fields) bring in the hormones (hormones disrupt insect's normal life cycle and prevent from maturing and reproducing - but are difficult and costly to produce and can affect target's predators and other species) scald them (spray them with hot water) integrated pest management
Contour Farming
plowing and planting across the changing slope of land, rather then in straight lines, to help retain water and reduce soil erosion used when the ground has a significant some used to reduce soil erosion involves plowing and planting crops in rows across the slop of the land rather than up and down each row acts as a small dam to help hold soil and slow water runoff
Green Revolution
popular term for the introduction of scientifically bred or selected varieties of gran that, with adequate inputs of fertilizer and water, can greatly increase crop yields three steps - develop and plant monocultures of selectively bred or genetically engineered high yield varieties of key crops, produce high yields by using large inputs of fertilizer, pesticides or water, increase the number of crops grown per year on a plot of land through multiple cropping has increased crop yields in most developed countries there have been two of them led China and India to basically be self sufficient in food production issues - require high inputs of fertilizer and water, not affordable for subsistence farming, worlds population has grown faster than irrigated land
Rangelands and Pastures
produce meat, mostly from grazing livestock, and supply about 16% of the word's food using about 29% of the world's land
Aquaculture
raising fish and shellfish for food instead of going out and hunting and gathering them fastest growing type of food accounts for 1/3 of global production of fish and shellfish two types - fish farming and fish ranching dominated by raising herbivorous species (carp, catfish, tilapia, shellfish) Advantages: high efficiency, high yield in small volume of water, can reduce over harvesting of conventional fisheries, low fuel use, high profits, profits not tied to price of oil Disadvantages: needs large inputs of land, feed, water, large waste output, destroys mangrove forests and estuaries, uses grain to feed some species, dense populations vulnerable to disease, tanks too contaminated to use after 5 years, alien or genetically modified aquaculture species can escape and reduce populations of wild fish species, fish can be contaminated with toxins found on ocean bottoms More Sustainable: use less fishmeal food to reduce depletion of other fish, improve management of aquaculture wastes, reduce escape of aquaculture species into wild, restrict location of fish farms to reduce loss of mangrove forests and estuaries, farm some aquaculture species in deeply submerged cages to protect them from wave action and predators and allow dilution of wastes into the ocean, certify sustainable forms of aquaculture
Using Mineral Resources More Sustainably
recycling (has less environmental impacts than mining and processing metals from ores) reducing their use and waste and by finding substitutes include harmful environmental costs of mining and processing minerals in the price of items reduce subsidies for mining mineral resources increase subsidies for recycling, resume, and finding less environmentally harmful substitutes redesign manufacturing processes to use less mineral resource and produce less pollution/waste sell services instead of things slow population growth have mineral based wastes of one manufacturing process become the raw materials for other processes (biomimicry of food webs in natural ecosystem)
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 machines dig holes and remove ores, sand, and stone thick toxic soup of groundwater accumulates in pit and can pollute watersheds and damage wildlife
Surface Mining
removing soil, subsoil, and other state and then extracting a mineral deposit found fairly close to the earth's surface mechanized equipment strips away overburden of soil and rock and discards it as spoil (waste) extracts 90% of non fuel mineral and rock resources, 60% of coal by weight type used depends on resource being sought and local topography land can be restored, but it is expensive and not done in many countries most land ends up as permanent desert area strip mining, contour strip mining, mountain top removal, open pit mining
Smelting
roasting ores to release metals hit enormous quantitates of air pollutants (damage vegetation and acidify soils, waster pollution, liquid/solid hazardous wastes)
Igneous Rock
rock that forms below or on earth's surface when molten rock (magma) wells up from earth's upper mantle order crust, cools, and hardens granite and lava rock form bulk of earth's curst main source of metal and nonmetal mineral resources
Sedimentary Rock
rock that forms from sediment produced when existing rocks are weathered and eroded into small pieces, than transported by water, wind, or gravity to downstream, downwind, or downhill sites pressure and dissolved minerals seeping through layers of sediment crystallize and binds sediment pitches together to for this sandstone and shale, dolomite, limestone, lignite, bituminous coal
Metamorphic Rock
rock that forms when preexisting rock is subjected to high temperatures (which can cause partial melting), high pressures, chemically active fluids, or combination of these agents can reshape internal crystalline structure and physical properties and appearance anthracite, slav, marble
Water logging
saturation of soil with irrigation water or excessive precipitation so that the water table rises close to the surface farmers supply large amounts of irrigation water to leach salts deeper into soil but without adequate drainage, water accumulates underground and raises the water table saline water envelops deep roots, lowers their productivity and kills them
Mining Impacts
scarring and disrupting of land surface subsidence (collapse of land above underground mines) air and water pollution toxic laced mining wastes - can be blown and deposed elsewhere acid mine drainage produces more toxic emissions than any other industry
Mature Soils
soils that have developed over a long time arranged in series of horizontal layers - soil horizons
Oceanic Fisheries and Aquacultures
supply about 7% of the world's food
Life Cycle of Metal resource
surface mining, metal ore, separation of ore from gangue, smelting, melting metal, conversion to product, recycling back to smelting, discarding of product each step uses large amounts of energy and produces air and water pollution and huge amounts of crushed rock and solid waste the lower the grade, the greater the environmental impact
Loam Topsoil
the best suited for plant growth texture between extremes of crumbly and sponge feeling many of its particles clumped loosely together
Weathering
the breaking down of bedrock into broken down rock fragments and particles by physical, chemical, and biological processes to create soil
Infiltration
the downward movement of water through soil as water seeps down, it dissolves various minerals and organic matter in upper layers and carries them to lower layers (leaching)
Rock Cycle
the interaction of physical and chemical processes that changes rock from one type to another recycles earth's three types of rocks over millions of years, slowest of earth's cyclic processes concentrates planet's nonrenewable mineral resources that we depend on three processes - melting, erosion, metamorphism
C Horizon
the lowest layer parent material lies on base of unweathered parent material (bed rock) inorganic material
Soil Erosion
the movement of soil components, especially surface litter and topsoil, from one place to another by the action of wind or water lowers soil fertility (depletion of plant nutrients in topsoil) and can overload nearby bodies of water with eroded sediment (can kill fish and shellfish, clog irrigation ditches, boat channels, reservoirs, lakes) wind can remove soil in dry climate with flat land increases when soil holding grasses are destroyed (roots hold soil in place) from farming, logging, construction, overgrazing, off-road vehicle use soil is doing this faster than it is forming on more than 1/3 of the world's cropland and about 40% of US cropland can increase need for a country to import food and cause intense competition among countries for food damages of $375 billion a year loss of crop yields in one area may be offset by increased yields where the soil settles US reducing soil losses through planting crops without disturbing the soil and government sponsored soil conservation programs most caused by flowing streams and rain also caused by flown bodies of ice (glaciers)
Grade
the percentage of metal content in ore low or high
Interplanting
the practice of growing several crops on the same plot simultaneously practiced by traditional farmers reduces the chance of losing most or all of the year's food supply to pests, bad weather, and other misfortunes four types - polyvarietal cultivation, intercropping, agroforestry, polyculture
Leaching
the process in which various chemicals/nutrients in upper layers of soil are dissolved and carried to lower layers and, in some cases, to groundwater
A Horizon
the second layer topsoil layer, naturally renewable (15 to 20 cm) but slowly (hundreds of years to produce inch) porous mixture of the partially decomposed bodies of dead plants and animals (humus) and inorganic materials (clay, sand, silt) fertile soils have a thick layer of this with lots of humus hold water and nutrients taken up by plant roots soil moisture with dissolved inorganic nutrients is drawn up by roots of plants and transported through stems and into leaves color suggests how useful it is for growing crops - dark brown or black is rich in nitrogen and organic matter, grey or bright yellow or red are low in organic matter and need nitrogen enrichment
Pores
the spaces between the solid organic and inorganic particles contain varying levels of air (oxygen and nitrogen) and water number and volume of these spaces is determined by the size, shape and degree of clumping of soil particles
B Horizon
the third layer subsoil broken down rock, with varying levels of sand, silt, clay and gravel transported by water from A horizon inorganic material
O Horizon
the top layer surface litter layer freshly fallen undecpomposed or partially decomposed leaves, twigs, crop wastes, animal waste, fungi, organic materials brown or black
Agrobiodiversity
the world's genetic variety of animals and plants used to provide food increasing loss plant varieties once available to farmers no longer exist we are shrinking the world's genetic library needed to increase food yields only way to protect this is to protect representative ecosystems throughout the world from agriculture and other forms of development
Soil
thin covering over most land that is a complex mixture of eroded rock, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and living organisms (mostly microscopic decomposers) renewable resource, but slowly (forming 1 cm can take from 15 to hundreds of years) base of life on land helps cleanse water percolating downward through it helps decompose and recycle biodegradable wastes major component of earth's water recycling and water storage processes removes CO2 from atmosphere and stores it as carbon compounds mixture of clay, sand, silt
Livestock
two methods used to raise for human consumption -livestock graze on grass in unfenced rangelands and enclosed pastures =less environmentally destructive as long as grasslands are not overgrazed (eliminates effects from pesticides used to produce grain and soybeans and corn) -industrialized approach to raise pigs, chickens, cattle in densely packed feedlots by feeing them grain or meal produced from fish =get antibiotics in feed to protect against infections =anabolic steroids to promote rapid growth =helping to increase genetic resistance to widely used antibiotics for fighting disease in humans =one of the world's biggest consumers of water and oil =cattle and diary cows belch methane =endangers workers in meatpacking plants =lots of waste produced =perfect environment for organisms that cause illnesses to spread from livestock to humans (mad cow disease) poultry (chicken and fish) are more grain efficient than beef and pork
Spoils
unwanted rock and the waste materials produced when a material is removed from earth's surface or subsurface by mining, dredging, quarrying, and excavation
Platinum
used in electrical equipment and as a catalyst in industry ad in automobile pollution converters
Biomining
using bacteria, some genetically engineered, to remove desired metals from ores while leaving the surrounding environment undistributed reduces air pollution associated with smelting and water pollution associated with cyanides and mercury slow only economically feasible with low grade ores for which conventional techniques are too expensive
GMOs
using genetic engineering - splicing a gene from one species and transplanting it into the DNA of another species takes half as long as traditional crossbreeding, costs less, greater opportunities projected advantages: need less fertilizer, less water, more resistant to insects, disease, frost, drought, grow faster, can grow in slightly salty soils, less spoilage, better flavor, need less pesticides, tolerate higher levels of herbicides, higher yields projected disadvantages: irreversible and unpredictable genetic and ecological effects, harmful toxin from plant cell mutations, new allergens, lower nutrition, increased development of pesticide resistant insects and plant diseases, herbicide resistant weeds, harm beneficial insects, lower genetic diversity patent clams on these crops, too expensive for farmers controversy over labeling foods
Clay
very small particles with low permeability for water or air sticky feeling, clumps
Economically Depleted
when the costs of finding, extracting, transporting, and processing the remaining deposit of the mineral are worth than it is worth we never completely run out of any mineral, but this happens five choices after - recycle or rescue existing supplies, waste less, use less, find a substitute, or do without
