Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
The word resource means a source of supply. The natural resources include water, air, soil, minerals, coal, forests, crops
and wildlife are examples. All the resources are classified based on quantity, quality, re-usability, mens activity and
availability.
Resources are materials that can be used to satisfy human needs.
1. Exhaustible Resources: These resources have limited supply on the earth and liable to be exhausted if used
indiscriminately.
These resources are of two types.
A. Renewable resources: These resources have the capacity to reappear themselves by quick recycling with a
reasonable span of time. Eg: forests, wildlife.
B. Non-renewable resources: Resources that exist in a fixed quantity in earths crust are called nonrenewable
resources. These resources lack the ability of recycling and replacement. Eg: minerals, fossil fuels etc..
A few mineral resources which occur in the earths crust namely copper, aluminum, mercury, gold etc..,
minerals of asbestos, clay and mica are considered as non-renewable resources.
Fossil fuels are derived from organic matter that accumulated during hundreds of millions of years of
early bio-geological history. (Carboniferous Cycle)
2. Inexhaustible Resources: These resources are present in unlimited quantity in the nature and they are not likely
to be exhausted by human activities
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by humanity, in a natural form.
is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems.
are materials and components (something that can be used) that can be found within the environment
Some natural resources such as sunlight and air can be found everywhere, and are known as ubiquitous resources.
Most resources only occur in small sporadic areas, and are referred to as localized resources.
few resources that are considered inexhaustible (will not run out in foreseeable future) these are solar radiation,
geothermal energy, and air (though access to clean air may not be)
Classification of Natural Resources
1. Based on Origin:
2. Biotic Resources
3. Resources obtained from the biosphere
Classification of Natural Resources Based on Basis of Origin
a. Biotic Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere (living and organic material), such
as forests and animals, and the materials that can be obtained from them. Fossil fuels such
as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they are formed from decayed organic matter.
b. Abiotic Abiotic resources are those that come from non-living, non-organic material. Examples of abiotic
resources include land, fresh water, air and heavy metals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver
The geological processes are caused for the formation of the minerals over millions of years ago in the earths
crust.
Minerals are generally localized in occurrence and the deposits are very sporadic in distribution.
Mineral resources are non-renewable and the mineral /ore is extracted by the process of mining.
Much risk is involved in mining process because of high temperature, pressure variations, fire hazards and lack of
ventilation in mines.
Environmental effects: Mineral extraction and processing in mines involves a negative impact on environment. Mining
process involves removal of over burden of soil, ore extraction & transportation, crushing & grinding of ore, water
treatment of ore, and storage of waste material
As a result of these activities cause
Environments
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mining often causes ground subsidence which results in tilting of buildings, cracks in houses, buckling of roads, bending
of rail tracks etc.
Exploration process before a mining involves, geochemical, geophysical surveys drilling activities which causes for air
pollution, noise pollution etc.. In addition, disturbance of all vegetation ( flora ) and fauna ( animals ) from that a region.
Remedial measures: Atmospheric pollution due to mining and associated activities can be minimized by planning and
using dust extractors, by optimizing the blast design, maintenance of roads and sprinkling of water for easy movement of
dumpers, by using eco generators ( sound proof ), proper maintenance of equipment and the machines not only minimize
the air pollution but also the noise generation.
In any country, the growth and development of industry depends on the availability and quality of deposits of minerals of
economic importance.
Mineral resources can be classified under three main types.
4. metallic, gold and silver ; haematite and magnetite (iron) ; Cuprite ( copper) ; Laterite ( aluminum)
5. nonmetallic sand ( quartz ), garnet ; steatite (talc); muscovite ( mica )
6. atomic minerals. Pitchblende (Uranium, Thorium ).
The geological processes are caused for the formation of the minerals over million of years ago in the earths
crust.
Minerals are generally localized in occurrence and the deposits are very sporadic in distribution.
Mineral resources are non renewable and the mineral /ore is extracted by the process of mining.
Much risk is involved in mining process because of high temperature, pressure variations, fire hazards and
lack of ventilation in mines.
Minerals are used in a large number of ways for domestic, industrial, commercial sectors etc Generation of
energy by using coal ( lignite / anthracite ) ; uranium,
gold, silver, platinum, diamond are used in jewellery.
Copper, aluminum etc are used as cables for transmission of power.
Some of the minerals are used in ayurvedam as medicine.
1. Gold is reputed to strengthen the heart muscle and increase energy and stamina. By placing a piece of gold
(devoid of stones) into 1000 ml of water and boiling it until reduced to 500 ml. Historical dose used gold ash
of 10 mcg/day or gold water of 1 tsp 3x/day.
2. Silver is a very important healing substance due to its cooling and antiseptic properties. It is most useful for
treating Vata and Pitta especially conditions involving weakness, and some of chronic fevers. It is also used
for gastritis, inflammatory of the intestines. Historical dose used silver ash of 10-30 mcg/day or silver water
of 1 tsp 3x/day.
3. Copper was used to treat conditions of excess kapha (primarily) and vata (secondarily). Historical dose used:
copper ash: 10-30 mcg/day or copper water: 1 tsp 3x/day
Properties of Minerals
Different minerals are often defined by the set of properties described below:
1. Luster - Luster describes how well a mineral reflects light. Examples of luster include glassy, metallic,
brilliant, and dull.
2. Hardness - The hardness describes how easy it is to scratch the surface of a mineral. Scientists often use the
Moh's scale to describe hardness. Using the Moh's scale, a "1" is the softest mineral and a "10" is the
hardest. One example of hardness is diamond. Diamond has a hardness of 10 because it is the hardest of all
the minerals.
3. Streak - Streak is the color of the mineral in powdered form. One way to determine the streak is to rub the
mineral across a rough hard surface like a tile.
4. Cleavage - Cleavage describes how a mineral breaks up into pieces. Some minerals break up into small
cubes while others may break up into thin sheets.
5. Specific Gravity (SG) - The specific gravity measures the density of the mineral. It is measured in
comparison to water where water has a specific gravity of 1. For example, pyrite has a specific gravity of 5
and quartz has a specific gravity of 2.7.
6. Color - Although color is often used to describe a mineral, it sometimes isn't the best way to tell one mineral
from another as one type of mineral can come in several different colors. Environmental effects : Mineral
extraction and processing in mines involves a negative impact on environment. Mining process involves removal
of over burden of soil, ore extraction & transportation, crushing & grinding of ore, water treatment of ore, storage
of waste material
Mining often causes ground subsidence which results in tilting of buildings, cracks in houses, buckling of roads, bending
of rail tracks etc.
Exploration process before a mining involves, geochemical, geophysical surveys drilling activities which causes for air
pollution, noise pollution etc.. In addition, disturbance of all vegetation ( flora ) and fauna ( animals ) from that a region.
Remedial measures: Atmospheric pollution due to mining and associated activities can be minimized by planning and
using dust extractors, by optimizing the blast design, maintenance of roads and sprinkling of water for easy movement of
dumpers, by using eco generators ( sound proof ), proper maintenance of equipment and the machines not only minimize
the air pollution but also the noise generation.
The word "igneous" comes from the Latin word "ignis" which means "of fire."
Ores are rocks that include minerals that have important elements such as metals like gold and silver.
Marble is a metamorphic rock formed when limestone is exposed to high heat and pressure within the Earth.
Space Rocks
There are actually some rocks that come from space called meteorites. They may have different elements or mineral make
up than a typical earth rock. Typically they are made up mostly of iron.
Major Types of ROCKS.
1. Igneous Rocks - form when magma (molten rock inside the Earth) or lava (molten rock that has erupted onto the
surface of Earth) cools either at or below Earth's surface. Refered to as extrusive or volcanic rock
2. Sedimentary Rocks - form by the compaction of sediments, like gravel, sand, silt or clay (Figure 4.5). Sediments may
include fragments of other rocks that have been worn down into small pieces, materials made by a living organism
or organic materials, or chemical precipitates, which are the solid materials left behind after a liquid evaporates. For
example, if a glass of salt water is left in the sun, the water will eventually evaporate, but salt crystals will remain behind
as precipitates in the bottom of the glass.
2 types of sedimentary rocks
a. detrital sedimentary rocks are accumulations of detritus
1. Melted rock or magma is sent to the earth's surface by a volcano. It cools and forms an igneous rock.
2. Next the weather, or a river, and other events will slowly break up this rock into small pieces of sediment.
3.
As
sediment
builds
up
and
hardens
over
years,
a
sedimentary
rock
is
formed.
4. Slowly this sediment rock will get covered with other rocks and end up deep in the Earth's crust.
5. When the pressure and heat get high enough, the sedimentary rock will metamorphose into a metamorphic rock and the
cycle
will
start
over
again.
One thing to note is that rocks don't need to follow this specific cycle. They may change from one type to another and
back again in practically any order.