CHAPTER 12GEOLOGY AND NONRENEWABLE MINERALS

MC
Gold is removed from the rock that contains it by a series of leaching operations that all
involve the use of
highly toxic cyanide salts

The spill of cyanide into the Tisza and Danube Rivers in 2000 could have been prevented if
the mining company had installed a stronger containment dam and a backup
settling pond to prevent leakage

In 2010, the worlds top gold producing countries were, in order

China, Australia, South Africa, United States and Russia

Which of the following is true?

A portion of the mantle is solid rock and a portion of it is molten.

The asthenosphere is
a zone of hot, partly melted rock, under the mantle, that has been compared to pizza
dough

The majority of earthquakes and volcanoes occur

along the edge of plate boundaries

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 Which of the following is true of the lithosphere?
It is a combination of crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle

The epicenter of an earthquake is located

on the earths surface directly above the focus of the earthquake

Tectonic plates can slide and grind past each other at a(n)
transform fault

The movement of tectonic plates is significant because it

predicts where earthquakes are likely to occur

One of the reasons the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean caused so much devastation and
death is
the lack of buoys or gauges in place to signal the danger to human settlements

Convection cells or currents

move large volumes of rock and heat within the earths mantle like giant conveyer
belts

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a mineral?

Organic

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 All of the following are broad classes of rock except
crystal

A friend of yours has granite counter tops installed in her kitchen, and asks you what you
know about this type of rock. A reasonable answer would be:
it is a type of igneous rock that is formed underground

The change of rocks from one type to another is known as

the rock cycle

Which of the following rocks is most likely to be formed from compacted shells and
skeletons?
limestone

Which of the following rocks is most likely to be formed from compacted plant remains?
coal

Lignite and bituminous coal are ____ rocks.

sedimentary

Heat and pressure convert

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 sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock

Slate and marble are ____ rocks.

Metamorphic

Mineral resources are best categorized as which of the following?

nonrenewable resources

The most widely used nonmetallic minerals are

sand and gravel

Surface mining techniques are used to extract ____% of the coal used in the United States.
60

Environmental impact would be greatest mining for ____ ore.

a low-grade

United States dependence on foreign countries for mineral resources other than oil could occur
in the future because of the emerging demand for
lithium for cell phone, laptop and electric car batteries

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 Fish populations in one area of Borneo have dropped by 70% due to
extracting gold from stream sediments using mercury

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency

mining has polluted about 40% of western watersheds

Mountaintop removal has been used extensively in the state of _____ where over _____ have
been removed.
West Virginia, 500

Metals such as gold, iron, and copper are often mined via this method.
open pit mining

Since the 1960s South Korea has imported iron and copper because
it exported large amounts of these nonrenewable minerals in the 1950s and since
then has not had enough to meet its own demands

Which of the following statements is false?

Market prices clearly reflect dwindling mineral supplies.

Advantages of using microorganisms for mining include all of the following except reduced
time to remove minerals

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 Which of the following is not a problem associated with extracting mineral resources from the
ocean?
There are no valuable mineral resources in the ocean.

As nonrenewable mineral resources are depleted, experts are particularly concerned about
manganese, cobalt, chromium, and platinum, which are
strategic metal resources

The rare earth elements that are considered extremely important for widely used modern
technologies include
scandium, yttrium and the 15 lanthanides

The U.S. General Mining Law of 1872 was in effect until

1995

Which statement best fits as a description of the U.S. General Mining Law of 1872?
All of these except land could be purchased at market price for purposes of
extracting minerals.

Which of the following is true of the current materials revolution that is occurring?
All of these answers are true.

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 Which of the following is NOT a method by which to achieve more sustainable use of
nonrenewable mineral resources?
Remove minerals faster so the mining processes do not pollute the air for as long a
time period.

Which of the following best describes a sustainable use of nonrenewable minerals?

reduce mining subsidies and recycle and reuse 60-80% of mineral resources

The Pollution Prevention Pays program was initiated by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing
(3M) in 1975. Which of the following are actions that have been taken by 3M as part of this program?
There has been less use of hazardous raw materials.

The term urban mine refers to

vast amounts of gold, platinum and rare earth metals found in electronic wastes

TF

Nonrenewable mineral resources renew over millions to billions of years.T

Mountaintop removal is more damaging to the environment than subsurface mining.T

The dirt wall left after contour mining is called a spoil.F

High risk zones for earthquakes and tsunamis are not well known, and so events like the recent
tsunami in Japan cannot be anticipated and preparations cannot be made in advance.F

Volcanoes are normally associated with transform faults.F

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Plate tectonics has helped to promote global biodiversity over geologic time.T

The 2000 leakage of a cyanide leaching pond in Romania that release toxic metals into the Danube and
Tisza Rivers was an entirely preventable event.T

Surface mining can result in deforestation.T

Important nonrenewable mineral resources in the Earth's crust are distributed relatively evenly across
the planet.F

The United States National Academy of Sciences says that the federal government is not doing enough
to evaluate potential risks from engineered nanomaterials.T

Underwater mountains or ridges usually form at the subduction zone, where two oceanic plates
collide.F

The San Andreas fault in California is an example of a transform fault.T

The amount of ground movement in a 5.0 earthquake is 20 times greater than in a 3.0 earthquake.F
Mangrove forests can be helpful in damping down the effects of tsunamis. However, coral reefs do not
have any beneficial role in the face of a tsunami.F

The worlds reserves of the strategic mineral tungsten are found in the United States and China, with
about half of the total located in each of the two countriesF

Slate and shale are types of sedimentary rock.F

The purpose of the 1872 U.S. General Mining Law was to encourage mineral exploration on public
lands and help develop the western territoriesT

Nanotechnologists envision that in the future garbage can be turned into edible food.T

COMPLETION

____________________ forms when a preexisting rock is subjected to high temperatures.

Metamorphic rock

Mining waste accounts for about ___________________of all U.S. solid waste.

three-fourths (or 75%)

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The inner portion of the mantle is the ____________________, a zone of hot, partly melted flowing
pliable rock.

asthenosphere

The external process that results in the breaking down of rocks into smaller particles is best described
as ____________________.

weathering

A(n) ____________________ is an element or inorganic compound that occurs naturally in the Earth's
crust.

mineral

A volcano is created when ____________________ rises in a plume through the lithosphere.

magma

The Richter scale measures the amplitude of ____________________.

seismic waves

So far ____________________ methods are economically feasible only with low-grade ores for which
conventional mining methods are too expensive.

biomining

Of the actions recommended for preserving our supply of nonrenewable metals and minerals, the one
that has the lowest environmental impact is to____________________.

reduce use

One of the environmental problems with gold mining is the leach ponds that contain
____________________.

cyanide

Earthquakes and volcanoes are caused by ____________________as they separate, collide, and slide
past one another.

tectonic plates

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Granite is a type of ____________________ rock.

igneous

Heating ores to release the metals they contain is called ____________________.

smelting

The slowest of the cycles that occur on earth is the ____________cycle.

rock

A ____________ _____________can be formed when two tectonic slide and grind past each other at a
fracture in the lithosphere.

transform fault

MATCHING

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Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

1.On the figure of the tectonic plates, choose the letter that represents the subduction zone. E
2.On the figure of the tectonic plates, choose the letter that represents the continental crust. B
3.On the figure of the tectonic plates, choose the letter that represents the asthenosphere. D
4.On the figure of the tectonic plates, choose the letter that represents the lithosphere. C
5.On the figure of the tectonic plates, choose the letter that represents the oceanic crust. A

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

6.On the figure of the earth's crust, choose the letter that represents cold dense materials falling
through the mantle. E
7.On the figure of the earth's crust, choose the letter that represents the continental crust. B

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 8.On the figure of the earth's crust, choose the letter that represents hot material rising through
the mantle. F
9.On the figure of the earth's crust, choose the letter that represents the oceanic crust. A
10.On the figure of the earth's crust, choose the letter that represents the inner core. C

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

11. Which area on the graphic represents an extinct volcano? E

12. Which area on the graphic represents solid lithosphere? A
13. Which area on the graphic represents the magma conduit? D
14. Which area on the graphic represents ash acid rain? C
15. Which area on the graphic represents the magma reservoir? B

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