Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Geology
Most of this region rests on a distinct tectonic plate, the
Indian Plate (the northerly portion of the Indo-Australian
Plate), and is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain
barriers.
Earth as a Layered
Sphere
Core: Interior of the earth; composed of a dense,
intensely hot mass of metal that is thousands of
kilometers in diameter; contains metal
Surrounding the core is the mantle: Less dense than
the core; contains oxygen, nitrogen, magnesium
Outermost layer of earth is the crust: cool,
lightweight, outermost layer of the earths surface
that floats on the soft underlying layers- where the
seafloor and continents are
Tectonic Processes
The upper layer of the mantle has convection currents
that break the overlying crust in huge blocks called
Tectonic Plates: Huge blocks of the earths crust that
slide around slowly, pulling apart (diverge) to open
new ocean basins or crashing into each other
(converge) to create new, larger landmasses
When an oceanic plate collides with a continental
landmass, the continental plate will ride up over the
seafloor.
Continents drift together giant landmass (i.e.
Pangaea)
IGNEOUS ROCK
SEDIMENTARY ROCK
METAMORPHIC
ROCK
Weathering
Mechanical weathering is the physical
breakup of rocks into smaller pieces without
changing the chemical composition.
Chemical weathering is the selective removal
or alteration of specific components that
leads to weakening and disintegration of the
rock
Environmental Effects
of Resource Extraction
Mining and purifying all of the mineral resources can
have severe environmental and social consequences
Can affect water quality: i.e. sulfuric acid is produced
when gold and other metals are mined from sulfide
ores- DANGEROUS
Chemical substances can contaminate lakes and
streams
Mining
Placer mining- washing out metals deposited in the gravel of
streambeds (i.e. gold) destroys streambeds but fills the water
with suspended solids that smother aquatic life
Other types of mining: open-pit mining, strip mining, and
underground mining
Processing Ores
Metals are extracted from ores by heating or with
chemical solvents- releases large quantities of toxic
materials
Smelting: roasting ore to release metals; major source
of air pollution
Heap-Leach Extraction: piling crushed ore in huge
heaps and spraying it with a dilute alakine-cyanide
solution; large water pollutant
Geologic Hazards
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and
landslides and other catastrophic events, though rare,
have shaped the earth significantly
Volcanoes
Volcanoes and undersea magma vents produce much of the
earths crust but release large volumes of ash and dust into the
air can block sunlight
Ring of Fire- seismic activity and active volcanoes around the
edge of the Pacific Ocean
More than 500 million people live in the danger zone around
volcanoes
Nuees ardentes (glowing clouds) are deadly, denser than air
mixtures of hot gases and ash like those that inundated Pompeii
Mudslides are also dangerous
Landslides
Mass wasting: geological materials are moved down
slope from one place to another
i.e. Rockslides and avalanches
Over $1 billion in property damage is done every year by
landslides in the U.S.
Thank you