Midterm 2 EPSC

Question 1

Slow down runoff flowing into river?

Answer 1

set up drainage basin= slow down water= allow sendiments settle

Question 2

remove contaminants?

Answer 2

turn drainage basin into artificial wetland
allow bacteria + plants to process some of the contaminants
if water lingers= slowly flow into storm sewers (minimal maintenance is required)

Question 3

Eutrophication

Answer 3

Dead zone

Question 4

Dead zone

Answer 4

area of the shallow ocean floor that has very low dissolved O2= due to the input nutrients from a river

Question 5

Nutrients

Answer 5

+ plankton = decay of this plankton depletes the o2. Without oxygen= marine animals cannot survive= eutrophication

Question 6

Conventional petroleum

Answer 6

formed from organic material produced in the ocean

Question 7

What happens transform organic material into an economic gas oil deposit?

Answer 7

organic matter in productive ocean zone is buried before decay. This organic material is heated to a specific T range, when it is converted into organic compounds of petroleum or methane (more heating)

Question 8

porosity and permeability

Answer 8

2 physical properties that largely control the amount and rate of groundwater movement through a rock

Question 9

porosity

Answer 9

percentage of the total volume of rock consisting of voids called pore spaces= space within a rock that is not filled with rock

Question 10

Permeability

Answer 10

the capacity of a rock to transmit fluids. High permeability material= water flows readily. Low permeability material = water flows slowly. Presence of fractures increase the permeability of shale (= better aquifer).

Question 11

EROI

Answer 11

energy return of investment

Question 12

Energy return of investment

Answer 12

energy obtained from a resource relative to the energy required to bring that resource to market (exploit it)
Or : Energy returns relative to the energy investment

Question 13

Whats the trend EROI ?

Answer 13

declining over time; easily obtainable energy sources have been depleted, and the new energy is more difficult to find and use.

Question 14

4 play elements required to make a conventional oil or gas deposit

Answer 14

1. source of rock
2. proper maturation (cooking) and migration
3. reservoir rock to store the petroleum
4. trap and seal to collect and hold the petroleum in the reservoir

Question 15

Conventional petroleum VS Bitumen (nature)

Answer 15

bitumen= lack short-chain volatile organics (makes conventional Petroleum liquid= high value compounds) + bitumen has higher concentration of sulfur

Question 16

How CP vs Bitumen extracted

Answer 16

Bitumen = must be mined and then sand extracted from the tar using heat or chemicals, or hot strem and chemicals injected into the buried sands to mobilize the bitumen 
CP= pumped (liquid)

Question 17

Expensive Bitumen vs CP

Answer 17

Added expenses for bitumen 1. energy to extract 2. processing and additives needed to make it liquid 3. refining and cracking needed to produce the high value fractions (gasoline)

Question 18

2 identical power plants; 1 Las Vegas/ 1 Mississippi river. Which most electricity?

Answer 18

Powerplant Las Vegas will have a hard time cooling the cold side of the plant. Mississippi river water effective at cooling. Lower T diff between reservoirs in Las Vegas plant = lower efficiency = less electricity is generated
(Th-Tc)/ Th = max thermodynamic efficiency possible

Question 19

low permeability?

Answer 19

grain boundaries are filled with cement = no place for natural gasses to fill in the pores= not relatable source of conventional natural gas

Question 20

what does fracking create?

Answer 20

FRacking creates permeability in a porous rock by fracturing the rock with high pressure water. Water ususaly contains sand to prop open the cracks, as well as other chemicals to dissolved cements, mobilize the hydrocarbons, or inhibit bacterial growth.

Question 21

potential prob of fracking?

Answer 21

seepage around borehole can contaminate aquifers or surface water, as can improper disposal of fracking fluid. Many holes are often drilled to fully exploit a deposit and an infrastructure need to be constructed to bring the gas to market, causing disruption of the surface environment. disposal of fracking fluids can also induce seismicity.

Question 22

environment in which peat and coal originate?

Answer 22

organic material for these deposits are produced in estuaries, swamps, marshes, and eutrophic lakes.

Question 23

When burn coal, components of the gas ?

Answer 23

flue gas components
Most coal was formed in a narrow window of time after woody plants evolved and diversified and before they were efficiently decomposed.

Question 24

co2

Answer 24

greenhouse gas, causes ocean acidification

Question 25

sulfur oxygen

Answer 25

smog, reflective absorptive aerosols, acid rain

Question 26

nitrogen oxides

Answer 26

smog, acid rain, watershed nutrients loading

Question 27

particulates

Answer 27

smog, absorptive aerosols, health hazard

Question 28

Mercury

Answer 28

neurological toxin that bioaccumulates

Question 29

Arsenic

Answer 29

Carcinogen, acute toxin

Question 30

atmospheric inversion

Answer 30

when T increases with altitude above the ground, making the air stable and stagnant.

Question 31

How does atm inversion increase pollution?

Answer 31

Stagnant air traps the usual polluants close to their source, preventing the air from mixing and diluting them.

Question 32

primary productivity

Answer 32

the measure of the amount of sunshine turned into organic material, primarily via chlorophyll photosynthesis.

Question 33

What limits or determines the amount of this primary productivity?

Answer 33

Ocean plankton generally are limited by the availability of trace nutrients; iron, phosphorus, sulfur, etc. They are not limited by water (like plants), sunshine, or Co2 availability.

Question 34

3 mechanisms or causes that result in areas of high primary productivity

Answer 34

1. ocean upwelling zones (coastal Peru)
   2.River discharge (Mississippi river delta)
2. wind blowing dust (west Sahara)
   All provide essential nutrients for growth (iron, sulfur, phosphorus)