GL 2101 Geologi Fisik

Geologic Resources

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Types of Geologic Resources
• Energy resources – petroleum (oil and natural gas), coal,
uranium, geothermal resources
• Metals – iron, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, gold, silver, platinum
• Non-metallic resources – sand and gravel, limestone, building
stone, salt, sulfur, gems, gypsum, phosphates, groundwater, etc.

Renewable Resources – replenished by natural processes fast

enough that people can use them continuously
Nonrenewable Resources – form very slowly and are extracted and
used must faster than they can be renewed naturally.

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 Reserves and Resources
Resource – the total amount of any
given geologic material of potential
economic interest, discovered and
undiscovered

Reserves – discovered deposits of

geologic resources that can be
extracted economically and legally
under present conditions

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Nonrenewable Energy
1) Coal
a sedimentary rock that forms from the
compaction of plant material that has not
completely decayed
• Peat: unconsolidated plant material
• Lignite (brown coal): soft and crumbly
• Sub-bituminous and bituminous (soft
coal): black and dusty, burns with a
smoky flame, is commonly strip mined
• Anthracite (hard coal): shiny and dust-
free, burns with a smokeless flame, low
level metamorphic rock
• 20% of energy supply in the USA
• USA has about 27% of world’s coal
reserves

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Nonrenewable Energy
1) Coal Lignite (brown coal)

Peat

bituminous Anthracite (hard coal)

Nonrenewable Energy
1) Coal
• Peat: unconsolidated plant material
• Lignite (brown coal): soft and crumbly
• Sub-bituminous and bituminous (soft coal): black and dusty, burns with a smoky flame, is commonly
strip mined
• Anthracite (hard coal): shiny and dust-free, burns with a smokeless flame, low level metamorphic rock

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Nonrenewable Energy Oil traps

2) Petroleum and Natural Gas

Oil and natural gas, occurs in underground
pools and requires:
• Source rock rich in organic matter
• Reservoir rock in which it can be stored and
transmitted (e.g., sandstone)
• Structural (or Oil) trap, a set of conditions
holding rock in reservoir rock and preventing
migration
• Deep burial and sufficient time to cook the
oil and gas out of the organic matter

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 Nonrenewable Energy Petroleum and Natural Gas
A) Remains of organisms collect on the
B) The “oil window” between 2,000 and 4,500 meters
sea floor and are buried by sediment
(6,500–13,000 feet) according to the geothermal gradient

C) Accumulation of petroleum into reservoirs

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 Major types of
petroleum traps

In all cases,
impermeable rock
encloses or caps
the petroleum

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Nonrenewable Energy
Petroleum and Natural Gas
Nonrenewable Energy
Petroleum and Natural Gas

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Nonrenewable Energy
Oil Shale
3) Coal Bed Methane : methane gas
trapped within the coal
4) Heavy Crude and Oil Sands : dense,
viscous petroleum
5) Oil Shale : black or brown shale with
high solid organic matter content from
which oil can be extracted by distillation
6) Uranium : uraninite (pitchblende)
deposits used to power nuclear power
generators

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 Renewable Energy Sources
1) Geothermal Energy – Heat energy from beneath the Earth’s
surface
2) Solar Energy – uses photovoltaic cells to generate electricity
3) Wind Power – use of wind turbines to generate electricity
4) Hydroelectric power – use of falling water to turn a turbine and
generate electricity; provides about 2.8% of U.S. energy needs, is
renewable and non-polluting

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Renewable Energy Sources
5) Tidal Power – use of tidal changes to spin turbines and generate electricity
6) Wave Power – captures the energy of waves to generate electricity; mostly
experimental technology
7) Biofuels – fuels derived from biologic (recently dead) matter such as ethanol
and vegetable oil
 Metallic Resources
Metal ores – naturally occurring metallic materials that
can be profitably mined

Ores Formed by Igneous Processes

• Crystal Settling - early forming minerals settle to
the bottom of a cooling magma body

• Hydrothermal Fluids – most important source of

metallic ore deposits other than iron and aluminum
1) Contact metamorphic deposits
2) Hydrothermal veins – narrow ore bodies along joints and
faults
3) Disseminated deposits
4) Hot-spring deposits

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Metallic Resources
Ores Formed by Surface Processes
1. Chemical Precipitation in Layers
E.g., Banded Iron, Manganese
and Copper Ores
2. Placer Deposits – concentration of
mineral deposits by stream
processes
E.g., Gold, platinum, diamonds
and other gemstones
3. Concentration by Weathering
E.g., Aluminum Ore - Bauxite

Banded Iron Ore Deposits

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Mining
Mining – can be done at Earth’s surface or underground;
metals mined include iron, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc,
silver, gold and many others
• Strip Mining
• Open-pit Mining
• Placer Mining - Panning, Sluice boxes, Hydraulic
• Underground/bedrock mining

Negative environmental effects of mining

Tailings piles, surface scars, land subsidence, and acid
mine drainage can be minimized

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Nonmetallic Resources
• Construction materials – sand, gravel,
limestone, and gypsum

• Fertilizers and Evaporites –

phosphate, nitrate, and potassium
compounds; rock salt, gypsum, sulfur,
asbestos

• Other Nonmetallics
• Gemstones – diamonds, rubies,
emeralds
• Asbestos, glass sand, fluorite,
diatomite, graphite

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Resources, The Environment, and Sustainability

Demand for resources is likely going to increase as world population

grows
Extraction and transportation of resources has an enormous
environmental impact
• Leaving enormous holes in the ground
• Removing whole mountain tops
• Massive Oil spills
• Release of Greenhouse gases
The challenge is to find the right balance between mining,
environmental protection and reducing consumption and
increasing recycling

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