Geology, Minerals, and Mining

Question 1

Lithosphere

Answer 1

solid outer shell

Question 2

Rock cycle

Answer 2

minerals are heated, melted, cooled, broken down, and reassembled

Question 3

Sedimentary rock

Answer 3

Formed when rock is weathered

Lithified

Plate tectonics

Question 4

Types of Sedimentary rock

Answer 4

Shale- clay sized sediments

Sandstone- sand sized sediments

Conglomerates- pebble sized

Limestone- carbonates from the ocean, settle on the bottom

Question 5

Igneous rock

Answer 5

Melted rock that cools (magma, lava)

Poorly buffered (unable to resist changes in pH) → susceptible to acid rain

Question 6

Types of Igneous rock

Answer 6

Granite- large coarse grain, from magma, light color (quartz and feldspar)

Basalt small fine grain, from lava, dark color (olivine, magnetite

Question 7

Metamorphic rock

Answer 7

Preexisting rock exposed to intense heat and pressure

Good buffer

Convergent boundary

Question 8

Types of Metamorphic rock

Answer 8

Marble- limestone exposed, Minerals don’t align in rows

Gneiss- displays bands of materials

Question 9

Extraction methods

Answer 9

Strip mining

Subsurface mining

More hazardous to miners

Open pit mining

Placer mining (deposits are associated with rivers)

Solution mining

Dissolving rock in place and extracting minerals

Question 10

Impacts of mineral extraction

Answer 10

Tailings: unusable material

Acid mine drainage: runoff

Overburden: (from mountaintop removal) deposited into valleys creating acid mine drainage

Intensifies erosion

increasing the frequency of mudslides and flash flooding

“black lung” disease

Cave collapses

Placer mining requires large amounts of water and damages the waterways where it occurs.

Question 11

General mining act of 1872

Answer 11

Encourages tragedy of the commons

Question 12

Surface mining and reclamation act of 1977

Answer 12

Surface coal mining