NATURAL RESOURCES

Resources
 What are resources?
 A resource is a source or supply from which a
benefit is produced and that has some utility.
 Example: Land, Minerals Soil, Water, Energy,
Food etc.
 Types of resources:
 Natural resources
 Man-made resources
 Human resources

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Natural Resources
 What are natural resources?
 The natural resources may be defined as any
material given to us by nature which can be
transformed in a way that it becomes more
valuable and useful.
 Types of natural resources:
 Non-renewable resources
 Renewable resources

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Renewable and Non-renewable Resources

 What are renewable resources?

 The resources which are renewed
or replenished fast or have
unlimited source.
 Example: Water, air, biomass,
solar energy etc.
 What are non-renewable resources?
 The resources which can not be
renewed or replenished.
 Example: Fossil fuels, Nuclear
power, Minerals etc.

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Some natural resources to be discussed

Forest Resource
Land Resource

Water Resource Energy Resource

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Land as a resource
 The study of soils in their natural environment is called “pedology”.
 Land is a renewable but limited resource
 Problems related to land resource
 Reaching the carrying capacity
 Population density
 Improper land-use planning
 Saltwater intrusion
 Land degradation
 Soil erosion

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Land Degradation
 Causes
 Natural causes
 Heavy rainfall
 High speed winds
 Natural disasters: earthquake, landslide, flood, draught
 Expansion of desert
 Anthropogenic causes
 Mining
 Urbanization
 Deforestation
 Overgrazing
 Water logging
 Construction of dams
 Extensive use of fertilizers
 Dumping of industrial and municipal wastes

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Soil
 Soil is a dynamic natural body capable of supporting a
vegetative cover. It is composed largely of weathered rocks,
water, oxygen and organic materials.
 Soil formation
 Processes
 Physical weathering
 Chemical weathering
 Biological weathering
 Factors
 Parent material
 Living organisms
 Climate
 Topography
 Time

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial
materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms.
Weathering occurs in situ (on site, with little or no movement), and so is distinct from 
erosion, which involves the transport of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, 
snow, wind, waves and gravity.

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 What is physical weathering?
•Swiftly moving water. Rapidly moving water can lift, for short periods of time,
rocks from the stream bottom. When these rocks drop, they collide with other
rocks, breaking tiny pieces off.
•Ice wedging. Ice wedging causes many rocks to break. ...
•Plant roots. Plant roots can grow in cracks.

Chemical Weathering These factors cause

elements to break down and dissolve or
create new materials. There are five types
of chemical weathering: carbonation,
hydrolysis, oxidation, acidification, and
lichens (living organisms).

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Soil
 Soil profile

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Soil
 Functions of soil
 Facilitates nutrient cycle
 Food and other biomass production
 Stores water and regulates water supply
 Regulates the emission of trace gases
 Filter ground water
 Degrades pollutants
 Biological habitat
 Source of clay
 Platform for man-made structures: buildings, highways

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Soil Erosion
 Types
 Normal erosion or geologic erosion
 Accelerated or Anthropogenic erosion
 Causes
 Climatic agents
 Water induced erosion
o Splash erosion
o Sheet erosion
o Rill erosion
o Gully erosion
o Slip erosion
o Stream bank erosion
 Wind induced erosion
o Suspension
o Saltation
o Surface creep
 Biotic agents

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 a rill is a shallow channel (no more than a few tens of
centimetres deep) cut into soil by the erosive action of
flowing water. Similar but smaller incised channels are
known as microrills; larger incised channels are known as
gullies.
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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
  Slip erosion is a natural disaster that causes the land of a
higher area to slip and fall on a lower surface. It is a mass
movement or slope movement by which soil, rock, etc move
downslope mainly under the force of gravity

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
Suspension—tiny particles less than 0.1 mm in diameter can
be moved into the air by saltation, forming dust storms when
taken further upwards by turbulence

Surface creep wind erosion results in these larger particles

moving only a few metres. Saltation—occurs among middle-
sized soil particles that range from 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm in
diameter. Such particles are light enough to be lifted off the
surface, but are too large to become suspended.

Surface creep—in a wind erosion event,

large particles ranging from 0.5 mm to 2
mm in diameter, are rolled across the
soil surface. 

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Soil Erosion
 Effects
 Decreased productivity of
land
 Desertification of land
 Deposition of soil in water
bodies
 Reduction of agricultural
land in river banks

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Soil Erosion
 Control
 Conservational till farming
 Stubble mulching
 Contour farming
 contour bunding
 Construction of check dams
 Terracing
 Strip cropping
 Alley cropping (Agro-
forestry)
 Wind breaks

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Conservation tillage is any method of soil cultivation that leaves the previous year’s
crop residue (such as corn stalks or wheat stubble) on fields before and after planting
the next crop to reduce soil erosion and runoff, as well as other benefits such as
carbon sequestration.

Stubble-mulching refers to leaving the stubble or crop residue essentially in place

on the land as a surface cover during a fallow period. Stubble-mulching can
prevent soil erosion from wind or water and conserve soil moisture.

Contour farming is farming with row patterns that run nearly level around the hill
-- not up and down the hill.

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
Contour bunding is a land management practice for marginal, sloping, and hilly land
where the soil productivity is very low. It involves the placement of lines of stones
along the natural rises of a landscape. This technique helps to capture and hold
rainfall before it can become runoff. It also inhibits wind erosion by keeping the soil
heavy and moist.

Check dams are dams built across channels or gullies to reduce the rate of intensive
flow, monitor and trap sediments, increase channel permeability, increase
vegetation, reduce flood peak discharge

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
Terracing is an agricultural practice that suggests rearranging farmlands or
turning hills into farmlands by constructing specific ridged platforms. 

Strip cropping suggests planting several cultures in

strips alternated in crop rotation. It is a regular practice
on sloped lands to control soil erosion.

Alley cropping is defined as the planting of rows of trees and/or shrubs to

create alleys within which agricultural or horticultural crops are produced

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows
of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from
the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted
in hedgerows around the edges of fields on farms.

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Conventional tillage VS Conservation tillage

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Wind Breaks

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Desertification
 Types
 Moderate (10 - 25%)
 Severe (25 – 50%)
 Very severe (more than 50%)
 Causes
 Natural causes
 Very low rain fall
 Excessive evaporation
 Vast difference in diurnal temperature
 High salinity
 Anthropogenic causes
 Deforestation
 Overgrazing
 Conversion of pasture into arable land
 Excessive use of fertilizer

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Desertification
 Effects
 Rapid soil erosion
 Poor soil quality
 Unfavorable climate
 Low water table, salty and hard water
 Endangered human and animal life
 Economic and human cost

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Desertification
 Control
 Large scale plantation
 Sustainable agricultural practices
 Development of pasture land and controlling
overgrazing
 Development of water catchment
 Rainwater harvesting

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Mining
 Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or
other geological materials from the Earth

Opencast Mining Underground Mining

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Mining
 Effects of Mining

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in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.
 Thank You

This PPT should be used as reference only. Reading books (mentioned

in syllabus) is mandatory for the preparation of the examinations.