100 chapt05 lecture

8/9/2019 100 Chapt05 Lecture

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The Geography of

Natural Resources

Chapter 5


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What Is a Natural Resource?

Anything from nature that people use and

value

Not naturally occurring depends uponcultural perception


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Resource Characteristics Defined bycultural values

What is used and valued by people

Cultural knowledge and awareness of possible value


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Resource Characteristics Defined byavailable technology

Ability to find, extract, move , process and use the

material


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Resource Characteristics Defined byeconomics

Cost anddemand

Demand price versus resource costs

Cost of use versus cost of alternatives


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Natural Resources Nonrenewable resources

Nonliving materials -- metals

Finite in supply

Fossil fuels Natural gas, oil, coal

Renewable resources Living

Infinite, inexhaustible Replaced continually

Air, wind, water, solar


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Fig. 5.3


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Energy Quality and

Efficiency

Energy quality ability of energy to do

useful work

Energy efficiency energy input versus

energy output


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Energy Resources

Fossil fuels

Synthetic fuels

Nuclear fuels Renewable fuels


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Fig. 5.5


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Fossil

Fuels

Oil,natural gas, coal

Stored energy created over millions ofyears of

decay of plants and animals

Nonrenewable why?

Environmental pollution

Main energy source for U.S. and world


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Oil

2/3 of oil reserves inMiddle East

Middle East -- #1 in oil exports, oil production

and oil reserves North America andEurope have highest per

capita oil consumption rates (3/4)

Very flexible in its uses

Relatively easy and cheap to move

Nonrenewable; pollution problems


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Fig. 5.6


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Fig. 5.7


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Fig. 5.8


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Natural Gas Efficient, versatile, burns cleanly

Mostly for industrial and residential heating

Flows easily and cheaply by pipeline Liquefiednatural gas (LNG)

Liquefied by refrigeration for storage or transport

Russia and the Middle East contain2/3 of the

worlds proved reserves


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Fig. 5.12


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Fig. 5.11


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Coal Very large world supplies

China and the U.S. are dominant producers

Electric powergeneration, coke for steelproduction, home heating and cooking

Bulky andnot as easily transported as oil

Environmentallydirty

Dirty to handle

Lots of pollution


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Fig. 5.9


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SyntheticF

uels Oil shale

Sedimentary rock rich in organic material (kerogen)

Extracted and converted into a crude oil bydistillation

Enormous world reserves

Rich deposits in Green River Formation (CO, UT,WY)

Tar sand

Sand and sandstone saturated with heavy oil

Mined, crushed, and heated to extract petroleum

Majordeposits inAlberta

Monetary and environmental costs

Inefficient andnonrenewable


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Fig. 5.13


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Fig. 5.14a


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NuclearEnergy

Nuclear fission

Controlled splitting of a uranium atom to release

energy

About 20% of electricity in the U.S.

No new plants ordered in the U.S. since 1979

High costs, safety concerns, lack of safe storage for

radioactive waste, potential terrorist targets,nonrenewable

Nuclear fusion Combining atoms of hydrogen to release energy

Technological problems

Tremendous potential if overcome - renewable


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Fig. 5.15


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F

ig. 5.16


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Renewable Energy Resources

Biomass fuels

Solar energy

Hydropower Wind power


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Biomass Fuels

Energy from organic material produced byplants, animals, or microorganisms

Wood Source of most biomass energy

Key source of energy indeveloping countries

Ethanol Alcohol produced from plants

Brazil: ethanol derived from sugarcane U.S.: most ethanol derived from corn

Waste Fermenting crop residues, animal and human refuse


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Hydropower

Flowing waterdrives turbines

Location-specific

About 7% of electricity in the U.S. Vast majority of electricity in Pacific Northwest

Environmental and social costs

Reservoirs flood land, alter streamflow patterns,

trap silt Displacement of people,disruption of ecosystems


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Fig. 5.18


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SolarEnergy

Inexhaustible andnonpolluting

Ultimate origin of most forms of utilized energy

Chiefdrawback: diffuse and intermittent Hot water and space heating

Electricitygeneration

Converting solar energy into thermal energy

Photovoltaic (PV) cells Convert solar energydirectly into electrical energy


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Fig. 5.20


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Wind Power

Windmills can turn turbines directly,do not use

any fuel, can be built rather quickly

Technological advances indesign

Lowered cost of electricitygeneration

California dominateddevelopment in 1980s

Since then,growth in other states andEurope

Chiefdisadvantage: unreliable and intermittent Aesthetic impact, hazard to birds


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Fig. 5.22a


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Soil

Dynamic, porous layer of mineral and organicmatter

Formed by physical and chemical decomposition

of rock material anddecay of organic matter Principal components of soil Rocks and rock particles

Humus

Organisms

Water from rainfall

Air


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Soil Characteristics

5 factors that affect soil properties

Climate

Parent material

Biological activity Topography

Time

Soil horizons Layers of substances found in soils


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Community Succession

Succession

Climax Community


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Major Vegetation Regions

Forest

Tropical rainforest

Temperate (midlatitude) forests

Broadleafversus needleleafforests

Deciduous versus evergreen (coniferous)


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Fig. 5.38


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Tropical Rain Forests

Millions of acres are cleared everyyear

Brazil has the largest area of tropical rain forests

One of the highest rates of clearing

Policy ofdeveloping the AmazonBasin

Global concerns about clearing tropical forests

Oxygen and carbon balance

Contribution to air pollution and climate change Loss of biological diversity


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Major Vegetation Regions

Forest

Tropical rainforest

Temperate (midlatitude) forests

Broadleafversus needleleafforests

Deciduous versus evergreen (coniferous)

Grassland savanna, prairie, steppe

Pyrophytes Desert - xerophytes


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