Chapter 14 + 21 Flashcards
Mineral
Subsatnce that occurs naturally in the earths crust as a crystalline solid
Resource
Products that we can extract and produce at an affordable cost
Reserve
Identified resources that we can extract the mineral at a profit
Ore
Whole rock with the metal and the unneeded parts as well
Overburden
The soil or rock that is covering a useful mineral deposit
Spoils
Piles of waste (everything) that are not needed after extraction.
Tailings
Pile of waste after removing metals from the rock (less material than spoils)
Gangue
Piece of waste that is removed from the metal. They make up tailings.
Open-pit mining
Dig big holes in the ground and search for useful material.
Strip Mining
Destroying the rock above a seam of useful material that are found in large horizontal beds
Contour mining
Cutting terraces into the sides of hills and then removing the overburden to extract the minerals
Mountaintop Removal
Large machines called draglines remove the top of mountains to expose seams of coal.
Subsurface mining
Underground materials are extracted through tunnels and shafts.
Surface mining
Removing all vegetations and rock and overburden to expose seams of minerals
Richter Scale
Measures the energy of an earthquake through a logarithm of the amplitude of waves. Therefore, it increases 10 times each number.
Where is Igneous Rock found?
Continental and oceanic crust (lithospere)
Mid-ocean ridge
Where is sedimentary rock found?
Under the sea in shells
On the continent through weathering and erosion
Where is metamorphic rock found?
Found in trenches and is formed by pressure
How many pounds of minerals does an American use per day?
38,000 lbs
Strategic Metal Resources
Manganese, cobalt, chromium, platinum
4 Countries who produce gold
Canada, US, Russia and China
Smelting
Using heat or chemical solvents to extract metals from the ores.
Economically depleted
When a mineral costs more to extract than it would to sell
Depletion time
The time it takes to use up a certain proportion (usually 80%) of the reserves of a mineral at a given rate of use. New technology, recycling, and raising prices all lengthen the depletion time
US General Mining Law of 1872
Allows anybody to claim a piece of land for mining but they have to promise they will spend $500 to imporve it for mineral development. You must then pay $120 per year for each 20-acre parcel of land
Solutions to Nonrenewable Resources
Do not waste mineral resources
Recycle and reuse 60-80% of mineral resources
Include the environmental costs of minerals in the costs of those items
Reduce mining subsidies
What % of the population are we and what % of the waste do we make?
4.5% of the pop. and 33% of waste
How many pounds of waste do we use per person per year? What percent is industrial and what percent is municipal?
We use 97,000 lbs per person per year and 98.5% is from industrial and the other 1.5% is from municipal waste.
What percent of waste goes to municipal landfills, what percent gets recycled and what percent goes to incinerators?
56% municipal landfills
26% recycling and composting
17% incinerators
Problems with landfills
Leaching
Methane
No decomposition
No buildings on top of them
How can we improve landfills?
Leachate collection
Groundwater monitoring
Clay/plastic liner/cap
What percent of the 98.5% of industrial waste is divided into mining, agriculture and industry?
Mining is 76%
Agriculture is 13%
Industry 9.5%
What contributes the most amount of waste for municipal solid waste?
Paper and cardboard
Integrated Waste Management
First priority (Primary prevention): change in industrial production to use less harmful products Second priority (Secondary prevention): Reuse, repair, recycle, compost Last priority (Management): Treat waste, incinerate it, landfills
6 way to reduce resource use/waste
- Redesign manufacturing processes and products to use less material and energy
- Develop products that are easy to repair, reuse, recycle, etc.
- Eliminate packaging
- Charge people for their waste
- Require companies to take back their products after used such as electronics
- Restructure urban systems to use mass transit
Primary or closed loop Recycling
Materials are recycled to make the same products.
Secondary Recycling
Waste materials are recycled into different products.
How much waste is created to make one computer chip?
About 630 times it own weight
What are two key questions to ask when recycling?
Is the stuff actually getting recycled? Are companies buying stuff that is being recycled?
What percent of waste does the US recycle?
33%
Materials recovery facility
Machines and workers who separate waste to recover valuable materials within
Source Separation
When homes and corporations themselves separate the materials instead of MRFs
How much of the world’s industrialized tree harvest is used to make paper?
55%
Why does it make sense to recycle paper?
It uses 64% less energy and produces 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution.
What percent of plastics do the US recycle? Why?
4% because the resins in the plastics are hard to breakdown and separate.
3 pros and cons of recycling
Pros: reduces energy and mineral use and air/water pollution, reduces greenhouse gases, reduces solid waste
Cons: Can cost more than burying it, reduces profits for landfills and source separation is inconvenient for some.
What are WTEs? Explain.
Waste-to-energy Incinerators: Incinerates trash to create energy, then burns some and brings the rest to a landfill.
3 Pros and Cons of WTEs
Pros: reduces trash, produces energy, concentrates hazardous substances into ash
Cons: expensive to build, produces a hazardous waste, emits some CO2
3 Pros and cons of sanitary landfills
Pros: Low operating costs, can handle large amounts of waste, filled land can be reused
Cons: Noise, traffic and dust, greenhouse gases, encourages waste production
What are the three levels of priorities in dealing with hazardous waste?
- Produce less hazardous waste
- Convert to less hazardous or nonhazardous substances (decomposition, incineration, thermal treatment, dilution)
- Put in perpetual storage
Where does 70% of our e-waste end up?
CHINA
How much e-waste was recycled and how much was sent overseas?
18% was recycled and 80% was sent overseas
Physical and Chemical Detoxification of Hazardous Wastes
Physical: filter and separate and then store
Chemical: use chemical reactions to convert toxins to be non-hazardous
Bioremediation
Bacteria and enzymes destroy or convert toxic substances
Phytoremediation
Natural or genetically engineered plants that absorb, filter and remove contaminants from polluted soil and water
Surface impoundments
Pools or retention ponds that hold hazardous wastes.
Deep-well disposal
Hazardous wastes are pumped into porous rocks that are far beneath aquifers.
Plasma Arc
Burns the material (hotter than the surface of the sun) into glassy material in order to encapsulate the toxins
RCRA
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act: EPA sets standards for the managements of several types of hazardous waste. Use a cradle-to-grave system to keep track of waste from point of generation and disposal site.
CERCLA
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act: Identify Superfund sites and clean them up.
NIMBY, NIABY, NOPE
NIMBY: NOT IN MY BACKYARD
NIABY: NOT IN ANYONES BACKYARD
NOPE: NOT ON PLANET EARTH
What are POP’s and how pervasive are they on the planet?
Persistent Organic Pollutants: Identifies 12 widely used contaminants. They have cause many countries to ban them.
Biomimicry
The science and art of discovering and using natural principles to help solve humna probelms.
Brownfield
Abandoned industrial site that hasn’t been cleaned up
What percent of brownfields are old landfills?
41%
What percent of hazardous wastes are covered by the cradle to grave method?
5%
Subduction
When two plates converge and one slides under the other into the maybe. This process creates volcanoes that rise from the mantle as rock
Difference between weathering and erosion
Weathering does not involve movement and erosion does.
What are the three kinds of weathering? Explain each.
Mechanical - changes the rock to a smaller piece. Still same composition
Chemical weathering - changes in chemical composition
Biological weathering - weathering resulting from the action of organic materials. Not a process of its own
What is mass wasting and what are some examples?
When rock and soil move down a slope (mudslide).
Creeps, landslides, flows, slump and falls
Rhizofiltration
Roots of plants such as sunflowers dangling roots on ponds or in greenhouses can absorb pollutants
Phytostabilization
Plants such as willow trees and poplars can absorb chemicals and keep them from reaching groundwater or nearby surface water
Phytodegradation
Plants such as polars can absorb toxic organic chemicals and break them down into less harmful compounds which they store and release slowly into the air
Phytoextraction
Roots of plants such as Indian mustard can absorb toxic metals such as lead and arsenic and others and store them in their leaves. Plants can then be recycled or harvested and incinerated
