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Chapter 15
Geology and
Nonrenewable Mineral
Resources
Core Case Study: The
Nanotechnology Revolution
 Nanotechnology
uses science and
engineering to create materials out of
atoms and molecules at the scale of less
than 100 nanometers.

Little environmental harm:
• Does not use renewable resources.

Potential biological concerns.
• Can move through cell membranes:
Figure 15-1
GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
 The
earth is made up of a core, mantle, and
crust and is constantly changing as a result
of processes taking place on and below its
surface.
 The earth’s interior consists of:



Core: innermost zone with solid inner core and
molten outer core that is extremely hot.
Mantle: solid rock with a rigid outer part
(asthenosphere) that is melted pliable rock.
Crust: Outermost zone which underlies the
continents.
GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
 Major
features of the earth’s crust and upper
mantle.
Figure 15-2
Spreading
center
Collision between
two continents
Subduction
zone
Continental
crust
Oceanic
crust
Ocean
trench
Oceanic
crust
Continental
crust
Material cools Cold dense
as it reaches material falls
the outer back through
mantle
mantle
Hot
Mantle
material
convection
rising
cell
through
the
mantle
Two plates move
towards each other.
One is subducted
back into the mantle
on a falling convection
current.
Mantle
Hot outer
core Inner
core
Fig. 15-3, p. 337
GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
 Huge
volumes of heated and molten rack
moving around the earth’s interior form
massive solid plates that move extremely
slowly across the earth’s surface.

Tectonic plates: huge rigid plates that are
moved with convection cells or currents by
floating on magma or molten rock.
The Earth’s Major Tectonic Plates
Figure 15-4
The Earth’s Major Tectonic Plates
 The
extremely slow movements of these
plates cause them to grind into one another
at convergent plate boundaries, move apart
at divergent plate boundaries and slide past
at transform plate boundaries.
Figure 15-4
Fig. 15-4, p. 338
JUAN DE
FUCA PLATE
EURASIAN PLATE
NORTH
AMERICAN
PLATE
ANATOLIAN
PLATE
CARIBBEAN
PLATE
ARABIAN
AFRICAN PLATE
PLATE
PACIFIC
PLATE
SOUTH
AMERICAN
NAZCA PLATE
PLATE
SOMALIAN
SUBPLATE
CHINA
SUBPLATE
PHILIPPINE
PLATE
INDIAAUSTRALIAN
PLATE
ANTARCTIC PLATE
Divergent plate
boundaries
Convergent plate
boundaries
Transform
faults
Fig. 15-4a, p. 338
GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
 The
San
Andreas Fault is
an example of a
transform fault.
Figure 15-5
Wearing Down and Building Up the
Earth’s Surface
 Weathering
is
an external
process that
wears the
earth’s
surface
down.
Figure 15-6
Parent material
(rock)
Biological
weathering
(tree roots and
lichens)
Chemical
weathering
(water, acids,
and gases)
Particles of parent material
Physical weathering
(wind, rain, thermal
expansion and
contraction, water
freezing)
Fig. 15-6, p. 340
MINERALS, ROCKS, AND THE
ROCK CYCLE
 The
earth’s crust consists of solid inorganic
elements and compounds called minerals
that can sometimes be used as resources.

Mineral resource: is 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.
General Classification of
Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
 The
U.S. Geological Survey classifies
mineral resources into four major categories:




Identified: known location, quantity, and quality
or existence known based on direct evidence and
measurements.
Undiscovered: potential supplies that are
assumed to exist.
Reserves: identified resources that can be
extracted profitably.
Other: undiscovered or identified resources not
classified as reserves
General Classification of
Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
 Examples
are
fossil fuels (coal,
oil), metallic
minerals (copper,
iron), and
nonmetallic
minerals (sand,
gravel).
Figure 15-7
Reserves
Other
resources
Economical
Identified
Not economical
Decreasing cost of extraction
Undiscovered
Decreasing certainty
Known
Existence
Fig. 15-7, p. 341
GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
 Deposits
of nonrenewable mineral resources
in the earth’s crust vary in their abundance
and distribution.
 A very slow chemical cycle recycles three
types of rock found in the earth’s crust:



Sedimentary rock (sandstone, limestone).
Metamorphic rock (slate, marble, quartzite).
Igneous rock (granite, pumice, basalt).
Rock Cycle
Figure 15-8
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF
USING MINERAL RESOURCES
 The
extraction, processing, and use of
mineral resources has a large environmental
impact.
Figure 15-9
Natural Capital Degradation
Extracting, Processing, and Using Nonrenewable Mineral and Energy Resources
Steps
Environmental effects
Mining
Disturbed land; mining
accidents; health hazards,
mine waste dumping, oil
spills and blowouts; noise;
ugliness; heat
Exploration,
extraction
Processing
Use
Solid wastes; radioactive
material; air, water, and
soil pollution; noise;
safety and health
hazards; ugliness; heat
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
Transportation,
purification,
manufacturing
Fig. 15-10, p. 344
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF
USING MINERAL RESOURCES
 Minerals
are removed through a variety of
methods that vary widely in their costs, safety
factors, and levels of environmental harm.
 A variety of methods are used based on
mineral depth.


Surface mining: shallow deposits are removed.
Subsurface mining: deep deposits are removed.
Open-pit Mining
 Machines
dig
holes and
remove ores,
sand, gravel,
and stone.
 Toxic
groundwater can
accumulate at
the bottom.
Figure 15-11
Area Strip Mining
 Earth
movers
strips away
overburden, and
giant shovels
removes mineral
deposit.
 Often leaves highly
erodible hills of
rubble called spoil
banks.
Figure 15-12
Contour Strip Mining
 Used
on hilly or
mountainous
terrain.
 Unless the land is
restored, a wall of
dirt is left in front
of a highly
erodible bank
called a highwall.
Figure 15-13
Mountaintop Removal
 Machinery
removes the tops
of mountains to
expose coal.
 The resulting
waste rock and dirt
are dumped into
the streams and
valleys below.
Figure 15-14
Mining Impacts
 Metal
ores are
smelted or treated
with (potentially toxic)
chemicals to extract
the desired metal.
Figure 15-15
Environmental Costs of Mining
 Mining
operation requires that the habitat
above the deposit be destroyed (Clear cutting
forests, removing native vegetation)
 Streams and rivers are clouded by sediment
 75 % of all solid waste comes from mining
operations
 Acid Rain production due to mining
U.S. Mining Laws
 Surface
Mining Control & Reclamation Act of
1977
 Requires that mined land be restored to its
pre-mining state.
 Includes disposal of all mining waste
 Re-contouring the land as closely as possible
and replanting native vegetation
SUPPLIES OF MINERAL
RESOURCES
 The
future supply of a resource depends on
its affordable supply and how rapidly that
supply is used.
 A rising price for a scarce mineral resource
can increase supplies and encourage more
efficient use.
SUPPLIES OF MINERAL
RESOURCES
 Depletion
curves
for a renewable
resource using
three sets of
assumptions.

Dashed vertical
lines represent
times when 80%
depletion occurs.
Figure 15-16
Production
A
Mine, use, throw away;
no new discoveries;
rising prices
Recycle; increase reserves
by improved mining
technology, higher prices,
and new discoveries
B
Recycle, reuse,
reduce consumption;
increase reserves by
improved mining
technology, higher
prices, and new
discoveries
C
Present Depletion Depletion Depletion
time A
time B
time C
Time
Fig. 15-16, p. 348
SUPPLIES OF MINERAL
RESOURCES
 New
technologies can increase the mining of
low-grade ores at affordable prices, but
harmful environmental effects can limit this
approach.
 Most minerals in seawater and on the deep
ocean floor cost too much to extract, and
there are squabbles over who owns them.
Getting More Minerals from the
Ocean
 Hydrothermal
deposits form when
mineral-rich
superheated water
shoots out of vents
in solidified magma
on the ocean floor.
Figure 15-17
Black
smoker
White
smoker
Sulfide
deposits
Magma
White
crab
White clam
Tube
worms
Fig. 15-17, p. 350
USING MINERAL RESOURCES
MORE SUSTAINABLY
 Scientists
and engineers are developing new
types of materials as substitutes for many
metals.
 Recycling valuable and scarce metals saves
money and has a lower environmental impact
then mining and extracting them from their
ores.
Solutions
Sustainable Use of Nonrenewable Minerals
• Do not waste mineral resources.
• Recycle and reuse 60–80% of mineral resources.
• Include the harmful environmental costs of
mining and processing minerals in the prices
of items (full-cost pricing).
• Reduce subsidies for mining mineral resources.
• Increase subsidies for recycling, reuse, and
finding less environmentally harmful substitutes.
• Redesign manufacturing processes to use less
mineral resources and to produce less pollution
and waste.
• Have the mineral-based wastes of one
manufacturing process become the raw
materials for other processes.
• Sell services instead of things.
• Slow population growth.
Fig. 15-18, p. 351
Case Study:
The Ecoindustrial Revolution
 Growing
signs point to an ecoindustrial
revolution taking place over the next 50
years.
 The goal is to redesign industrial
manufacturing processes to mimic how
nature deals with wastes.

Industries can interact in complex resource
exchange webs in which wastes from
manufacturer become raw materials for another.
Case Study:
The Ecoindustrial Revolution
Figure 15-19