This Week's

Natural resources Renewable resources Wildlife Soil Pedologist Weathering Weathering agent Erosion Nonrenewable resources Water Hydrologist Interception	Sheet flow Drainage basin Water budget Hydrograph Flooding Reservoir Porosity Permeability Aquifer Fossil fuels Coal Petroleum Natural gas	Minerals Ore Native element Pollution Primary pollutant Secondary pollutant Biodegradable Nonbiodegradable Domestic chemical Agricultural chemical Industrial chemical Oil spill Acid rain

Types of Resources:

Renewable

• Forests: (24 min)
• Wildlife:
• Soil: formed by the weathering of loose rock and mineral fragments at the surface of the Earth. A scientist who studies soil is a Pedologist. To understand soils, one must understand weathering:
  • Weathering the chemical decomposition or physical disintegration of rocks and minerals.
    • Physical weathering agents:
      • Frost wedging - water increases its volume by 9% when it freezes.
      • Wind
      • Thermal expansion
      • Tree roots
      • Animals
    • Chemical reactions:
      • Solution
      • Oxidation
      • Hydrolysis
  • Erosion the removal and transportation of materials on the Earth's surface. Erosion is a physical process facilitated by wind and water.

End Of Instruction practice test question #41

Nonrenewable

• Water: the hydrosphere of Earth is governed by the water cycle. As you know, the amount of water on Earth is constant, although its distribution is not. Even though impurities are left behind when water evaporates, the water cycle does not insure that clean water is always available. Scientists who study the management of Earth's water are known as Hydrologists.
  • Interception and Runoff: Earth intercepts precipitation, forming small puddles that overflow one into another, sheet flow, until the water reaches small channels marking the start of a river system. The area where all the precipitation is drained into a specific river is known as a drainage basin.
  • Water Budget: Drainage basins account for their water just as you account for your finances. Four terms are used to describe the variations of a water budget:
    • surplus is when precipitation exceeds evaporation/transpiration and the excess creates a stream.
    • usage occurs when evaporation/transpiration exceeds precipitation. The stream won't flow unless surplus water is available that was earlier stored in a reservoir.
    • deficiency exists when all the stored water is used and water must be imported.
    • recharge: is when precipitation again exceeds the loses and the deficiency is "paid back".
  • Discharge and Hydrographs: The volume of water flowing past a specific point in a river during a certain period is referred to as its discharge. A graph of discharge for an entire year is termed a hydrograph.
  • Flooding: The greater the discharge, the greater the depth of water in the channel. A flood results when a river channel is incapable of carrying all the water delivered to it.
  • Dams and Reservoirs: Dams can be built across river channels to capture excess water for later use. Some reservoirs are designed to produce a constant monthly flow downstream.
  • Porosity and Permeability: The amount of water the ground can contain is determined by the porosity of the rock strata. Rounded particles will have the largest pores because they do not fit as closely together. Intrusive igneous rock and most metamorphic rock have no pores, 0% porous. Some extrusive rock may be almost 50% porous. Sedimentary rock varies. Sandstone is 10% to 20%. Shale is highly porous, but the pores are so microscopic that water is prevented from entering or leaving easily.

    The ease with which water can pass through the subsurface is referred to as permeability. If a layer of rock is relatively porous and permeable, allowing water to move through it, it is called an aquifer.

  (24 min)

• Fossil Fuels: are the remains of or produced by things that have live on Earth in the past.

  

  • 90% of the U.S. fossil fuel reserves are coal (500 billion tons) - enough for 200 years. Sadly, coal is also a notorious fuel in regard to pollution. Burning ejects particles into the air, causes acid rain downwind of chimneys, and leaves fly ash residue. Gasification or liquification of coal may partially solve these problems, but not at a price that is presently viable.

    

  • The domestic petroleum industry is struggling to find oil as our reserves become depleted. Today, more than half of our oil is imported - a dangerous trend. The U.S. presently consumes 6.6 billion barrels of crude oil each year. Petroleum geologists estimate that the U.S. has 40 billion barrels of demonstrated (certain) oil reserves. There are an estimated 200 billion barrels of sub-economic reserves that might be discovered someday.

    Most of the world's oil reserves are located in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait. At the present rate of consumption, these reserves will last about 100 years.

  • U.S. consumption of natural gas is about 20 trillion cubic feet per year, with almost none being imported. The U.S. has about 200 trillion cubic feet of demonstrated natural gas reserves.

• Minerals: naturally occurring inorganic solids with a more or less definite chemical composition and an orderly structure. There are about 3000 minerals, classified into families based on the presence of certain atoms: silicates, sulfides, oxides, hydroxides, halides, and carbonates. A chemical assay of a mineral will reveal its composition:
  • Qualitative assays reveal the presence of substances.
  • Quantitative assays reveal the amounts of each substance.

  A few common minerals:

  • Quartz - SiO₂ - Impurities produce many colors of these 6-sided crystals.
  • Galena - PbS - Lead ore, forming cubic crystals.
  • Pyrite - FeS₂ - "Fool's gold" is an ore for iron and sulfur.
  • Magnetite - Fe₃O₄ - "Lodestone" is an ore for iron.
  • Fluorite - CaF₂ - Impurities produce many colors in this fluorine ore.
  • Calcite - CaCO₃ - Impurities produce many colors in this calcium ore.
  • Halite - NaCl - Forms clear, cubic crystals.
  • Gypsum - CaSO₄ . 2H₂O - Used for plaster and wallboard.
  • Corundum - Al₂O₃ Impurities produce many colors. Perfect red crystals are rubies and blue are shappires.

  While they are not classified as minerals, five native elements, gold, silver, copper, sulfur, and carbon, are found in an uncombined state in nature.

Energy Resources

There is no shortage of energy because energy cannot be destroyed, but there is a crisis in the fact that energy might not occur in the form we prefer and at a cost we can afford.

Energy that powers the Earth's volcanoes, earthquakes, and other interior processes originates mainly from nuclear decay and radioactive materials. Energy to power the Earth's surface processes originates in nuclear reactions on the Sun. These two sources and their conversions supply virtually all energy for society.

The three basic resources available near the surface of the Earth are:

1. traditional chemical sources
2. thermal sources
3. mechanical sources

Average Price of Gasoline in the U.S. Today

Chemical energy is so important that you should be aware of the following facts about it:

Energy Content and Costs of Various Fuels
Source	Measurement	Approximate Energy Content		Approximate Costs
Coal	tons	24 million BTU/ton	7000 Kw-hr/ton	$30 ton	$0.004/ Kw-hr
Natural Gas	cubic feet	1000 BTU/ft3	0.30 Kw-hr/ft3	$0.004/ft3	$0.13/ Kw-hr
Gasoline	gallon	132,00 BTU/gal	38.7 Kw-hr/gal	$1.00/gal	$0.026/ Kw-hr
Crude Oil	barrel (42 gal)	6 million BTU/bbl	1750 Kw-hr/bbl	$20 bbl	$0.011/ Kw-hr
Nuclear	tons of TNT	1 million kcal/ton	1160 Kw-hr/ton	into electricity	$0.08/ Kw-hr

(20 min)

(10 min)

Resource and Waste Management:

The United States is a material consumptive society with an enormous appetite, sometimes using more materials than most of the other nations of the world in total. This rapidly depletes our reserves and forces us to import materials from countries that have richer deposits. To add to our problems, the amount of trashfrom goods, packaging, and demolition, not to mention the by-products of mining, all of which may contain toxic ingredients, require disposal by isolation or dispersal into the environment in a safe way. Multiple use and recyclingare helpful, but the problem is still escalating. The only real solution must include less demand, either by reducing population or reducing needs.

Concept Understanding: Fill out this online opinion survey. Be prepared to discuss your answers in class. Take this online test. How well do you know water? Read this article about the question, "paper or plastic?" Why is neither a good choice and what should we do? Bitumen might be the first petroleum product used by man. List several uses early man found for bitumen. The modern petroleum industry came about because of consumer need for what product? The famous "first" oil well was drilled by "Colonel" E. L. Drake near Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. How deep was this well? What did Texas ranchers use oil for in the mid to late 1800's? What Native American tribe was the first to lease land for oil drilling in 1896? What were the years known as the "Black Gold Era" of petroleum in Oklahoma?

Research Links:

• Water Resources in Oklahoma - U.S. Geological Survey
• Earth Day - The Earth Day Network
• Earth's Water - U.S. Geological Survey
• Oklahoma Weather Graphics - U.S. Geological Survey
• Oklahoma Resources - Oklahoma Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Precious MetalsCopper Fact Sheet - Arizona Mining Association
• Uses of Copper - Arizona Mining Association
• All About Copper - The Copper Page
• World Resources - World Resources Institute
• Current News About Natural Resources - Natural Resources Defense Council
• Get the Facts on Recycling - An Interactive Learning Site
• Recycle City - An Interactive Learning Site
• Energy Efficiency - The EPA
• Energy Matters - A ThinkQuest Website
• Wind Power - A Danish website all about windmills
• Grand River Dam Authority Webpage
• Chevron Oil Company Webpage
• New Energy - National Renewable Energy Lab
• 15 Most Endangered Wild Lands - The Wilderness Society
• Geothermal Energy - Geo-Heat Center, Oregon Institute of Technology
• Watershed Education Information - Institute for Global Communications
• Hoover Dam - U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
• Wildlife Management - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Endangered Species - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Endangered Species - Environmental Education Link, EE-Link
• Save the Whales - A Political Action Site

Day 3 - 4

Pollution:
impurities producing an undesirable change in an ecosystem.

Is agricultural fertilizer a pollutant?

(20 min)

Types of pollutants: Biodegradable - subject to decay by microorganisms. Nonbiodegradable - cannot be decomposed by microorganisms. Primary pollutants - emitted directly into the environment. Secondary pollutants - result from some action of a primary pollutant.

Sources of Pollution: 1. Domestic Chemicals like Trichloroethylene Lead shot Lead sinkers 2. Agricultural Pesticides like DDT

Careers with the EPA

3. Industrial

• Industrial chemicals are part of many manufacturing processes.

• Oil Spills:

  Oil spills can be very spectacular. Crude oil is a sticky, dirty substance that is deadly to wildlife unlucky enough to be caught in it. Crude oil will float on water for quite some time. If the spill is small enough, it can be contained with floating booms and collected. Once it washes onto land, it is even harder to clean up.

• Acid Rain:

  Acid rain is produced by the burning of fossil fuels that have a high sulfur content. While any fossil fuel might have some sulfur, coal is the worst. Coal with a high sulfur content is much more common, therefore cheaper, than coal with a low sulfur content. The majority of the coal found in the northeast has a high sulfur content. It took years before the problem was recognized. Most coal burned in the U.S. today (such as the coal burned at the electric generating plant near Red Rock) is low-sulfur coal mined in the western states.

  Acid rain not only harms plants and animals, it also corrodes construction materials, such as metal and stone.
  

  The chemistry of acid rain is as follows:

  1. When fuels contain sulfur, combustion produces sulfur dioxide in addition to the normal carbon dioxide and water. A fuel containing sulfur is thiophene, C₄H₄S.
     C₄H₄S + 6O₂ SO₂ + 4CO₂ + 2H₂O
  2. Sulfur dioxide reacts with oxygen in the air to produce sulfur trioxide.
     2SO₂ + O₂ 2SO₃
  3. Sulfur trioxide combines with water in the air to produce aqueous sulfuric acid.
     SO₃ + H₂O H₂SO₄
  4. Sulfuric acid falls in rain and reacts to corrode iron.
     H₂SO₄ + 4Fe 4FeO + H₂S

• Check out the Top 20 Hazardous Substances.

Concept Understanding: Study these acid rain pages to answer the following questions. What is the pH of acid rain? What two acids are found in acid rain? What area of the United States has the greatest problem with acid rain? Why are some building more affected by acid rain than others? What's being done to reduce acid rain? Use the Environmental Defense Fund to answer the following: Who is the largest single "polluter" in Parker county? Where does Parker County rank out of Texas 254 counties in terms of agricultural pollutants? What air pollutant in Parker County poses the greatest risk for cancer? What percent of surface waters in Parker County have beneficial uses which are impaired or threatened? Name the three watersheds in Parker County. Do any of the watersheds have serious water quality problems? Are any sites in Parker County on the EPA's National Priority List of Superfund sites? Use this website to answer the following: What was the exact time and date that the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound? How much crude oil was spilled into the environment?   pictures Find out the rotton truth about garbage. How many million tons of municipal solid waste are produced by Americans each year? How much of that garbage is food? What accident in 1907 produced the first "paper" towels?

Research Links:

• National Fire Plan - USDA Forest Service
• Environmental Information - Environmental Protection Agency
• Air and Pollution - EPA Office of Air and Radiation
• Unified Air Toxics Website - EPA
• Garbage - An Interactive Learning Site
• Water Resources - U. S. Geological Survey
• The Dioxin Homepage - The EnviroLink Network
• Toxicology Information Briefs - EXTOXNET
• Global Warming - The EPA
• Global Warming Is Happening - EnviroWeb
• Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry - York University

The Earth is usually thought of as a "closed" system. This means that nothing enters or leaves the system. However, Earth looses vast amounts of heat daily by radiating it back into space. Happily, Earth also receives heat from the sun daily in the same way.

To be a pollutant, something must produce an undesirable change in an ecosystem. Agricultural fertilizers, when correctly used, replace minerals taken from the soil - not an undesirable thing. The only way fertilizers become pollutants is through the introduction of huge quantities into the environment through misuse or spills.