Module 1: MATTER, ENERGY and LIFE ELEMENTS OF LIFE

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING - Ecology is defined as the scientific study of relationships
between organisms and their environment
As defined in the book Environmental Science: A Global - It is essential in ecology to understand the function of
Concern 12th Edition, environment is from the French nutrients and energy in a system that is where they come
environner which means to encircle or surround. Environment from and where they go.
can be defined in two: - We can understand life based on the movement of matter
and energy that is from living organisms to ecosystem.
- The circumstances or conditions that surround an
- The foundations of organisms are the carbon-based
organism or group of organisms, or
(organic) compounds.
- The complex of social or cultural conditions that affect an
individual or community. Matter
What is Environmental Science? - Everything that takes up space and has mass.
- Four states of matter are: Solid, Liquid, Gas and
- The systematic study of our environment and our proper
Plasma
place in it.
- Water is the best example of matter as it can be in solid
- A highly interdisciplinary that integrates natural sciences,
(ice), liquid (drinking water), or gas (water vapor).
social sciences, and humanities in a broad, holistic study
of the world around us. Solid to Gas: Sublimation Gas to Solid: Deposition
- Mission-oriented because it seeks new, valid, contextual
knowledge about the natural world and our impacts on it. Solid to Liquid: Melting Liquid to Solid: Freezing
- With this, we are able to learn about the problems we
Liquid to Gas: Evaporation Gas to Liquid: Condensation
have created with the environment and take responsibility
of our actions. - Examples of plasma are sun, lightning and very hot
- Environmental science makes us: flames. It occurs when matter is intensely heated that
o Aware and appreciate the natural and built causes electron released and particles are ionized
environment; (electrically charged). (Ex.: solar wind, aurora,
o Knowledgeable of natural systems and ecological fluorescent light and natural fireball)
concepts;
o Understand the current environmental issues; and Conservation of Matter
o Able to use critical-thinking and problem-solving
skills on environmental issues. “Matter is neither created nor destroyed, rather, it is recycled
over and over again.”
What is Environmental Engineering?
- It may happen that the molecules making up a body may
Environmental engineering is a branch of engineering that aims contain atoms that once were part of the body of a
to improve the quality of environment and promotes protection dinosaur.
of people from adverse environmental effects like pollution. - Since chemical elements are used and reused by living
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mission of organisms it is possible that they contain atoms that were
environmental engineers is to improve recycling, waste part of many smaller prehistoric organisms.
disposal, public health, and water and air pollution control - As defined matter does not disappear, it just goes
(Lucas, 2014). somewhere.

History of Environmental Engineering (Vesilind, Morgan, & How does Conservation of Matter apply to Environmental
Heine, 2010) Science?

From the beginning of civilization, environmental engineers Conservation of Matter explains that the components of
provided clean water and managed wastes as it was necessary environmental systems are intricately connected that is all
whenever people congregated in organized settlements. In the matter comes from somewhere, and all waste goes somewhere.
ancient cities, the availability of a reliable water supply became Like for example, when we throw away our wastes, they don’t
a defensive necessity. The so called engineers of antiquity were really go “away,” they just go somewhere else, to stay there for
the builders of wells and aqueducts. They were also the people a while and then move on.
who built the city walls and moats, as well as the catapults and
other engines of war. During mid-1700s, the term “civil Elements
engineering” was born as engineers who built facilities for the
- Substances that cannot be broken down into simpler
civilian population began to distinguish themselves from the
forms by ordinary chemical reactions.
engineers primarily engaged in matters of warfare. In the
- There are 122 known elements, 92 are natural and 30 are
formative years of the United States, engineers were mostly self-
created under special conditions. All has distinct
educated or were trained at the newly formed United States
chemical characteristics.
Military Academy.
- Four Elements responsible for more than 96% of the
With the arrival of industrialization, unsanitary conditions in the mass of most living organisms: OXYGEN, CARBON,
cities were unbelievably great due to the lack of water and waste HYDROGEN & NITROGEN.
management. Though, there was no public outcry until they
Atoms
found out that water carry diseases. From then on, the civil
engineers were also tasked to make sure the water would not - Smallest particles that exhibit the characteristics of an
be a vector for disease transmission. In the late 19th century, element.
the major objective was to eliminate the waterborne disease. - Atoms consists positively charged protons, negatively
Public health became a primary concern of the civil engineers charged electrons, and electrically neutral neutrons.
as they were entrusted with providing water supplies to the - Protons and neutrons have approximately the same
population centers. The civil engineers who were concerned mass and they are clustered in the nucleus in the center
with the drainage of cities and the provision of clean water of the atom.
supplies became public health engineers (in Britain) and - Electrons are smaller compare to the other particles.
sanitary engineers (in the United States). They orbit the nucleus at the speed of light.
- Atomic number is the characteristic number of protons
per atom.
- Atomic mass is the sum of protons and neutrons.
 - Isotopes are forms of an element that differ in atomic - Enzymes are a special class of proteins that carry out all
mass. Example: Oxygen can have one or two extra the chemical reactions required to create various
neutrons, making them the isotopes 17O or 18O, instead structures. They also provide energy and materials to
of the normal 16O. carry out cell functions, dispose of wastes, and perform
- Compounds are substances composed of different kinds other functions of life at the cellular level. Enzymes are
of atoms. Example: Sodium Chloride (NaCl). molecular catalyst because they regulate chemical
- Molecules are a pair or group of atoms that can exist as reactions without being used up or inactivated in the
a single unit. Example: Molecular oxygen (O2) process.
- Metabolism is the multitude of enzymatic reactions
Ions performed by an organism.
- When atoms gain or lose electrons, it acquires a negative ENERGY
or positive electrical charge.
- Charged atoms are called ions. - The ability to do work, such as moving matter over a
- 2 types of Ion: distance or causing a heat transfer between two objects
o Anions - Negatively charged ions. Example: at different temperatures.
Chlorine (Cl) readily gains electrons, forming - It is measured in units of heat (calories) or work (joules).
chlorine ions (Cl−). - Types of Energy
o Cations - Positively charged. Example: A hydrogen o Kinetic Energy - energy contained in moving object
(H) atom can give up its sole electron to become a o Potential Energy - stored energy that is dormant but
hydrogen ion (H+). available for use.
- Acids are substances that readily give up hydrogen ions o Chemical Energy - stored in the food that you eat
in water. and the gasoline that you put into your car
- Bases are substances that readily bond with H+ ions. o Heat - the energy that can be transferred between
- pH describes the strength of an acid and base. objects of different temperature.
- Units of Energy
o One joule (J) is the work done when one kg is
accelerated at one meter per second per second.
o One calorie is the amount of energy needed to heat
one gram of pure water one degree Celsius
o A calorie can also be measured as 4.184 J.

Thermodynamics

- A study that deals with the transfer of energy in natural

processes.
- It deals with the rates of flow and the transformation of
energy from one form or quality to another.
- First law of thermodynamics
o States that energy is conserved. It is neither created
nor destroyed under normal conditions.
o Example: Energy may be transformed from the
energy in chemical bond to heat energy, but the total
amount does not change.
Organic Compounds - Second law of thermodynamics
o States that, with each successive energy transfer or
- The chains and rings of carbon atoms form the skeletons transformation in a system, less energy is available
of organic compounds. As defined above, organic to do work. Energy is degraded to lower-quality
compounds are the foundation of living organisms. forms, or it dissipates and is lost, as it is used.
- Four major categories of organic compounds in living o Example: When you drive a car the chemical energy
things: of the gas is degraded to kinetic energy and heat,
o Lipids (including fats and oils) which dissipates, eventually, to space.
o Carbohydrates (including sugars, starches, and o Application of second law of thermodynamics to
cellulose) organisms and biological systems: Organisms are
o Proteins (composed of chains of subunits called organized structurally and metabolically. To maintain
amino acids) these processes, constant care, maintenance and
o Nucleic acids (complex organic substance present supply of energy is required to keep up the
in living cells, especially DNA or RNA) organization. When energy is used by a cell to do
- Nucleotides carry information between cells, tissues, and work, some of that energy is dissipated or lost as
organs and the sources of intracellular energy. heat. If cellular energy supplies are interrupted or
Nucleotides form long chains called ribonucleic acid depleted, the result is death.
(RNA) or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that are essential
for storing and expressing genetic information. ENERGY FOR LIFE
- Four kinds of nucleotides that occur in DNA: adenine,
- Organisms such as blind shrimp, giant tubeworms,
guanine, cytosine, and thymine.
strange crabs, and bizarre clams (extremophiles -
Cells organisms that have been discovered on Earth that
survive in environments that were once thought not to be
- Minute compartments within which the processes of life able to sustain life) that live in sunless ecosystems (deep
are carried out. ocean floor) get energy through chemosynthesis.
- All living organisms are composed of cells. - Chemosynthesis is the process in which bacteria use
- Bacteria, some algae, and protozoa are single celled chemical bonds between inorganic elements, such as
organisms. hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or hydrogen gas (H2), to provide
- Higher organisms have many cells, usually with many energy for synthesis of organic molecules.
different cell varieties. A human being is composed of
several trillion cells of about two hundred distinct types. Solar Energy - essential to life.
- Animal Cell: centrosome and lysosomes present
- Plant Cell: has no centrosome and lysosomes but has cell
wall, chloroplasts and other specialized plastids.
Two reasons why: - Carnivores – flesh eaters, e.g. lion, hyena, caracal, wolf,
etc.
1. The sun provides warmth. Most organisms survive within - Omnivores – eat both plant and animal matter, e.g. man
a relatively narrow temperature range.
a. Above 40 degrees Celsius, most biomolecules begin Scavengers - Organisms that clean up dead carcasses of larger
to break down or become distorted and animals such as crows, jackals, and vultures.
nonfunctional.
Detritivores - Consume litter, debris, and dung such as ants
b. At low temperatures (near 0 degree Celsius), some
and beetles.
chemical reactions of metabolism occur too slowly to
enable organisms to grow and reproduce. Decomposer - Organisms that complete the final breakdown
c. The Earth's water and atmosphere help to moderate, and recycling of organic materials such as fungi and bacteria.
maintain, and distribute the sun's heat.
2. Almost all organisms on the Earth's surface depend on These microorganisms are second in importance to producers
solar radiation for life-sustaining energy. This is captured because without their activity nutrients would remain locked-up
by green plants, algae, and some bacteria in a process in the organic compounds of dead organisms and discarded
called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis converts radiant body wastes, rather than being made available to successive
energy into high-quality chemical energy in the bonds generations of organisms.
that hold together organic molecules.
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
Plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to produce
Definition
sugars and other organic molecules. Consumers use oxygen
and break down sugars during cellular respiration. Plants also - A graphical representation of the relationship between
carry out respiration, but during the day, if light, water, and CO different organisms in an ecosystem.
2 are available, they have a net production of O 2 and - The trophic levels are represented by bars that make up
carbohydrates. the pyramid.
- The flow of energy in the pyramid moves up. It starts with
FROM SPECIES TO ECOSYSTEM
the primary producers at the bottom, followed by the
- Ecology – the scientific study of relationships between primary consumers, then secondary consumers, and so
organisms and their environment. on.
- Species – refers to all organisms of the same kind that - The height of the bars are all be the same, it varies in
are genetically similar enough to breed in nature and width of each bar as it is based on the quantity of the
produce live, fertile offspring. aspect being measured.
- Population – consists of all the members of a species
Types of Ecological Pyramid
living in a given area at the same time.
- Biological Community – All of the populations living and 1. Pyramid of numbers - Presents the number of
interacting in a particular area. organisms in each trophic level without any consideration
- Ecosystem – (Ecological system) is composed of a for their size. Unit: number of organisms.
biological community and its physical environment. The 2. Pyramid of biomass
environment includes: - Presents the total mass of organisms at each trophic
o Abiotic factors - nonliving components such as level.
climate, water, minerals, and sunlight - This type of pyramid is largest at the bottom and gets
o Biotic factors – examples are organisms and their smaller going up, but exceptions do exist.
products (secretions, wastes, and remains) and - The biomass of one trophic level is calculated by
effects in a given area. multiplying the number of individuals in the trophic level
by the average mass of one individual in a particular
Productivity
area.
- One of the major properties of an ecosystem. - Unit: g/m2 or Kg/m-2.
- The amount of biomass (biological matter) produced in a
given area during a given period of time. 3. Pyramid of productivity
- Two types of productivity: - Presents the total amount of energy present at each
o Primary Productivity – e.g. photosynthesis, trophic level, as well as the loss of energy between
because it is the basis for almost all other growth in trophic levels.
an ecosystem. - The most widely used type of ecological pyramid.
o Secondary Productivity - manufacture of biomass Unlike the two other types, this can never be largest at
by organisms that eat plants the apex and smallest at the bottom.
- A given ecosystem may have very high total productivity, - It’s an important type of ecological pyramid because it
but if decomposers decompose organic material as examines the flow of energy in an ecosystem over time.
rapidly as it is formed, the net primary productivity will be - Unit: J/m2 ·yr1
low.
MATERIAL CYCLES
Food Chain - A linked feeding series.
- The water cycle distributes water among atmosphere,
Food Web - Interconnection of individual food chains. biosphere, surface, and groundwater.
- Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are among the
Trophic Level essential elements that also move through biological,
atmospheric, and earth systems (biogeochemical
- From the Greek trophe which means “food”. cycles).
- An organism’s feeding status in an ecosystem. - Earth is the only planet in our solar system that provides
Producers - Organisms that photosynthesize, mainly green a suitable environment for life as we know it.
plants and algae. - Maintenance of these conditions requires a constant
recycling of materials between the biotic (living) and
Consumers – organisms that consumes the chemical energy abiotic (nonliving) components of ecosystems.
harnessed by the producers.
Hydrologic Cycle
- Herbivores – plant eaters, e.g. goat, cow, horse,
grasshopper, etc. - The path of water through our environment.
- The most familiar material cycle.
 - Water is responsible for metabolic processes within cells, Nitrogen Cycle
for maintaining the flows of key nutrients through
ecosystem and for global-scale distribution of heat and - Nitrogen gas molecules (N2) make up 78% of our
energy. atmosphere.
- Plants rely on bacteria living in soils, in plant tissues, or
Evaporation - As water is heated by the sun, surface in aquatic systems to capture N2. These nitrogen fixing
molecules become sufficiently energized to break free of the bacteria have proteins that can break N2 bonds.
attractive force binding them together, and then evaporate - Of the many nitrogen compounds, only nitrate (NO3) and
and rise as invisible vapor in the atmosphere. ammonium (NH4) can be used directly by plants. These
are the sources of nitrogen for forming amino acids, the
Transpiration - Water vapor is also emitted from plant leaves building blocks for complex organic compounds such as
by a process called transpiration. Every day an actively proteins.
growing plant transpires 5 to 10 times as much water as it can - Where oxygen is available, bacteria may combine
hold at once. ammonia (NH3) with oxygen to form nitrous oxide (N2O),
nitric oxide (NO), nitrite (NO2), or nitrate (NO3).
Condensation - As water vapor rises, it cools and eventually - In oxygen-poor conditions, such as in streambed
condenses, usually on tiny particles of dust in the air. When it sediments, saturated soils, or wetlands, denitrifying
condenses it becomes a liquid again or turns directly into a bacteria may remove oxygen from nitrate to form
solid (ice, hail or snow). These water particles then collect and gaseous compounds, especially nitrous oxide or nitrogen
form clouds. gas. Conversion to these gaseous forms is known as
denitrification (important in removing nitrogen from
Precipitation - Precipitation in the form of rain, snow and hail aquatic systems that suffer from eutrophication).
comes from clouds. Clouds move around the world, propelled - Nitrogen moves through the food web as organism die,
by air currents. For instance, when they rise over mountain decompose, or are consumed.
ranges, they cool, becoming so saturated with water that - Decomposers, fungi and bacteria, release ammonia and
water begins to fall as rain, snow or hail, depending on the ammonium ions, which then are available for nitrite
temperature of the surrounding air. formation.
- Organisms also release proteins when plants shed their
Runoff - Excessive rain or snowmelt can produce overland leaves, needles, flowers, fruits, and cones; or when
flow to creeks and ditches. Runoff is visible flow of water in animals shed hair, feathers, skin, exoskeletons, pupal
rivers, creeks and lakes as the water stored in the basin drains cases, and silk, excrement, or urine, all of which are rich
out. in nitrogen.
- Urinary wastes are especially high in nitrogen because
Percolation - Some of the precipitation and snow melt moves they contain the detoxified wastes of protein metabolism.
downwards percolates or infiltrates through cracks, joints and
Common forms of Nitrogen
pores in soil and rocks until it reaches the water table where
it becomes groundwater. NAME CHARACTERISTICS
Nitrogen Gas (N2) Makes up 78% of atmosphere; can
Groundwater - Subterranean water is held in cracks and pore be fixed by bacteria, cyanobacteria,
spaces. Depending on the geology, the groundwater can flow some marine algae.
to support streams. It can also be tapped by wells. Some Ammonia (NH3) Gaseous form; corrosive; common
groundwater is very old and may have been there for agricultural fertilizer that bonds with
thousands of years. H+ to form NH4.
Ammonium (NH4) Directly usable by plants; positive
Water table - The water table is the level at which water charge helps adhere to clays in soils.
stands in a shallow well. Nitrite (NO2) Ion with negative electrical charge; a
step in nitrification process
Carbon Cycles (conversion of NH4 to NO3); toxic to
plants; usually present temporarily or
The carbon cycle begins with the intake of carbon dioxide by in low quantities.
photosynthetic organisms. Carbon (and hydrogen and oxygen) Nitrate (NO3) Directly usable by plants; products of
atoms are incorporated into sugar molecules during nitrification.
photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is eventually released during Organic Nitrogen Diverse compounds, such as
respiration, closing the cycle. The carbon cycle is of special proteins; must be converted to NH4
interest because biological accumulation and release of carbon for use by plants. Organic to
inorganic transition is mineralization.
is a major factor in climate regulation.
Nitrogen Oxides Various combinations such as NO2
Carbon Cycle Steps (Roy & Ladefoged) (NOx) (nitrogen dioxide), NO (nitric oxide),
and N2O (nitrous oxide); fuel
Step 1: Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide from combustion in vehicles and industry
respiration (breathing) and combustion (burning). produces most NOx; rainfall washes
NOx into soils and waterways. NO2
Step 2: Carbon dioxide is absorbed by producers (life forms that and N2 also result from denitrification
make their own food e.g. plants) to make carbohydrates in by bacteria.
photosynthesis. These producers then put off oxygen.

Step 3: Animals feed on the plants. Thus, passing the carbon Phosphorus Cycle
compounds along the food chain. Most of the carbon these
- Phosphorus is the most important among the many
animals consume however is exhaled as carbon dioxide. This is
elements released to ecosystem from rock formations
through the process of respiration. The animals and plants then
because it is often limited in supply.
eventually die.
- Phosphorus is an essential component of all cells.
Step 4: The dead organisms (dead animals and plants) are Compounds containing this element store and release a
eaten by decomposers in the ground. The carbon that was in great deal of energy, so phosphorus-compounds, such
their bodies is then returned to the atmosphere as carbon as ATP, are primary participants in energy-transfer
dioxide. In some circumstances the process of decomposition is reactions in cells.
prevented. The decomposed plants and animals may then be - Phosphorus is also a key component of proteins,
available as fossil fuel in the future for combustion. enzymes, and tissues.
 - Low levels of phosphorus limit plant growth. Abundant Critical Factor
phosphorus stimulates lush plant and algal growth,
making it a major water pollutant. - According to the chemist Justus von Liebig (1840), the
- Phosphorus cycle is really a one-way path. This is single factor in shortest supply relative to demand is the
because phosphorus has no atmospheric form, in which critical factor determining where a species lives.
it can quickly recirculate. - Temperature, moisture level, nutrient supply, soil and
- Phosphorus travels gradually downstream, as it is water chemistry, living space, and other environmental
leached from rocks and minerals, taken up by the food factors must be at appropriate levels for organisms to
web, and eventually released into water bodies that persist.
deliver it to the ocean. Tolerance Limits
- Phosphorus cycles repeatedly through the food web, as
inorganic phosphorus is taken up by plants, incorporated - Ecologist Victor Shelford (1877-1968) expanded
into organic molecules, and passed on to consumers. Liebig’s principle.
- Though phosphorus washes down river to the ocean, - He stated that each environmental factor has both
where it accumulates in ocean sediments. Over geologic minimum and maximum levels, called tolerance limits,
time, these deposits can be uplifted end exposed, so they beyond which particular species cannot survive or is
become available to terrestrial life again. unable to reproduce.
- The phosphate use for detergents and fertilizers today - The single factor closest to these survival limits is the
are mined from exposed ocean sediments millions of critical factor that limits where a particular organism can
years old. live.
- In some species, tolerance limits affect the distribution of
young differently than they affect adults.
Module 2: EVOLUTION, BIOLOGICAL Ecological Niche
COMMUNITIES, AND SPECIES INTERACTIONS
- Habitat – the place or set of environmental conditions in
EVOLUTION PRODUCES SPECIES DIVERSITY which a particular organism lives.
- Ecological Niche – describes both the role played by a
We know that each species adapts the environment where it species in a biological community and the set of
lives. Examples are polar bears living in sunless, super-cold environmental factors that determine its distribution.
arctic winter and saguaro cactus surviving the blistering - Charles Elton (1900-1991) – British Ecologist who
temperature and dryness of the desert. defined the concept of niche in 1927. According to him,
Adaptation each species had a role in a community of species, and
the niche defined its way of obtaining food, the
- One of the most important concepts in biology. relationships it had with other species, and the services it
- The acquisition of traits that allow a species to survive in provided to its community.
its environment. - G. E. Hutchinson (1903–1991) – The American
limnologist who, thirty years later, proposed a more
2 ways of using the term “Adapt” biophysical definition of niche. According to him, every
species exists within a range of physical and chemical
1. Acclimation – When an individual organism can respond conditions such as temperature, light levels, acidity,
immediately to a changing environment. humidity, or salinity. It also exists within a set of biological
Example: Keeping a house plant indoors all winter and interactions such as predators and prey present,
then put it out in full sunlight in the spring. The leaves defenses, or nutritional resources available.
become damaged or the plant may grow new leaves with - Generalists – species that tolerate a wide range of
thicker cuticles and denser pigments that block the sun’s conditions or exploit a wide range of resources. Example:
rays. Although the capacity to acclimate is inherited, Species that thrive in broad variety of environments such
houseplants in each generation must develop their own as weedy species or pests (rats, cockroaches, or
protective leaf epidermis. dandelions).
2. Genetic traits - passed from generation to generation - Specialists – species that have a narrow ecological
and allow a species to live more successfully in its niche. Examples are Giant Panda and Giant Saguaro.
environment. This process of adaptation to environment
is explained by the theory of evolution. Speciation
o Evolution – the basic idea is that species change
- Speciation
over generations because individuals compete for
o The development of a new species.
scarce resources.
o Natural Selection – the process of better-selected o As a population becomes more adapted to its
ecological niche, it may develop specialized or
individuals passing their traits to the next generation.
o Mutations – changes to the DNA coding sequence distinctive traits that eventually differentiate it entirely
from its biological cousins.
of individuals that occurs occasionally, and the
changed sequences are inherited by offspring. 2 kinds of speciation:
Limiting Factors of Species - Allopatric Speciation – speciation that occurs when
populations are geographically separated.
Pressure and influence to fitness of an individual and their
o Geographic Isolation – when the habitat are far
offspring are exerted by factors such as environmental. With
enough apart that population were genetically
this, species have limitations in where they can live. These
isolated; they couldn’t interbreed with populations on
limiting factors are:
the other habitat.
1. Physiological stress due to inappropriate levels of some - Sympatric Speciation – speciation that occurs within
critical environmental factor, such as moisture, light, one geographic area.
temperature, pH, or specific nutrients. o Behavioral Isolation – when two identical species
live in similar habitats but have different mating calls.
2. Competition with other species 3
This difference is enough to prevent interbreeding.
3. Predation, including parasitism and disease 4
4. Luck. - Directional Selection – the shift toward one extreme of
a trait.
Taxonomy Keystone Species

- The study of types of organisms and their relationships. - Plays a critical role in a biological community that is out
- With this, organisms can be traced which common of proportion to its abundance.
ancestors they have descended. - Thought to be the top predators like lions, wolves, and
tigers that limited herbivore abundance and reduced the
Binomials herbivory of plants.
- also called Scientific or Latin Name - Scientists now recognize that less-conspicuous species
- Identify and describe species using Latin or Latinized also play keystone roles.
nouns and adjectives, or names of people or places.
- Scientists communicate using scientific names instead COMMUNITY PROPERTIES
of common names like lion, dandelion, or ant to avoid
- Productivity is a measure of biological activity.
confusion.
- Abundance and diversity measure the number and
SPECIES INTERACTIONS variety of organisms.
- Resilience and stability make communities resistant to
- Competition leads to resource allocation. disturbance.
- Predation is an important type of selective pressure.
- Symbiosis benefits both species involved. Primary Productivity

Competition - The rate of biomass production.

- An indication of the rate of solar energy conversion to
- A type of antagonistic relationship within a biological chemical energy.
community. - The energy left after respiration is net primary production.
- Organisms compete for resources that are in limited
supply such as energy and matter in usable forms, living Abundance and Diversity
space, and specific sites to carry out life’s activities.
- Abundance is an expression of the total number of
- Competition shapes a species population and biological
organisms in a biological community.
community by causing individuals and species to shift
- Diversity is a measure of the number of different species,
their focus from one segment of a resource type to
ecological niches, or genetic variation present.
another.
- The abundance of a particular species often is inversely
Types of competition:
related to the total diversity of the community.
o Intraspecific competition – competition among
- Communities with a very large number of species often
members of the same species.
have only a few members of any given species in a
o Interspecific competition – competition between
particular area.
members of different species.
- Diversity decreases but abundance within species
Predator increases as we go from the equator toward the poles.

- Any organism that feeds directly on another living Ecological Structure

organism, whether or not this kills the prey.
- Ecological structure refers to patterns of spatial
- Herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, which feed on
distribution of individuals and populations within a
live prey, are predators.
community, as well as the relation of a particular
- Predation is a powerful but complex influence on species
community to its surroundings.
populations in communities.
- At the local level, even in a relatively homogeneous
Predation affects: environment, individuals in a single population can be
distributed randomly, clumped together, or in highly
1. All stages in the life cycles of predator and prey regular patterns.
species. - In randomly arranged populations, individuals live
2. Many specialized food-obtaining mechanisms. wherever resources are available.
3. The evolutionary adjustments in behavior and body - Ordered patterns may be determined by the physical
characteristics that help prey avoid being eaten and environment but are more often the result of biological
help predators more efficiently catch their prey. competition.

Symbiosis Resilience and Stability

- Two or more species live intimately together, with their - Many biological communities tend to remain relatively
fates linked. stable and constant over time.
- Symbiotic relationships often enhance the survival of - Robert MacArthur (1955) - a graduate student at Yale,
one or both partners. proposed that the more complex and interconnected a
community is, the more stable and resilient it will be in the
Types of Symbiosis: face of disturbance.
o Mutualism – type of symbiosis in which both Three kinds of stability or resiliency in ecosystems:
members’ benefits. (e.g. Dogs and Humans)
o Commensalism – type of symbiosis in which one 1. Constancy – lack of fluctuations in composition or
member clearly benefits and the other apparently is functions
neither benefited nor harmed. (e.g. a spider building 2. Inertia - resistance to perturbations
a web on a tree) 3. Renewal - ability to repair damage after disturbance
o Parasitism – a form predation may also be
considered symbiosis because of the dependency of Edges and Boundaries
the parasite on its host. (fleas and mosquitoes feed
- The boundary between one habitat and its neighbors is
on blood from other organisms
an important aspect of community structure. These
o Endosymbiosis – one species living inside another
relationships are called edge effects.
one. (e.g. Protozoans that live inside termites and
- The edge of a patch of habitat is sometime relatively
help them digest wood)
sharp and distinct.
o Ectosymbiosis – one species living on the surface
- In moving from a woodland patch into a grassland or
of the other species. (e.g. Lice that feed on the skin,
cultivated field, you sense a dramatic change from the
blood, or oil secretions of the host)
 cool, dark, quiet forest interior to the windy, sunny, Module 3: BIOMES
warmer, open space of the meadow.
- In other cases, one habitat type intergrades very Biomes - General type of communities with similar climate
gradually into another, so there is no distinct border. conditions, growth patterns, and vegetation types.
- Ecotones are what the ecologists call the boundaries
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES
between adjacent communities.
- Closed Community - a community that is sharply - Characteristics of biological communities vary with
divided from its neighbors. temperature, precipitation, and latitude.
- Open Community - a community with gradual or - Hot, humid regions generally have greater biological
indistinct boundaries over which many species cross. productivity than cold or dry regions.
*Often this distinction is a matter of degree or perception. - Climate graphs are used to describe and compare
precipitation and temperature in different biomes.
DYNAMIC AND CHANGING COMMUNITIES
- Temperature and precipitation are the most important
- Some biological communities are dependent on periodic determinants in biome distribution on land.
disturbance. - If the general temperature range and precipitation level is
- Introduced species can cause profound community known, the kind of biological community likely to occur
change. there can be predicted in the absence of human
disturbance.
Ecological Succession - Vertical zonation occurs as vegetation type change
rapidly from warm and dry to cold and wet as you go up
- Climax Community is the community that developed
a mountain.
last and lasted the longest.
- Ecological Succession is the history of community Tropical Moist Forests
development. When a succession occurs, organisms
occupy a site and change the environmental conditions. Kinds of Moist Tropical Forests
2 kinds of succession:
- Cloud Forests – are found high in the mountains
1. Primary succession - Land that is bare of soil (a
where fog and mist keep vegetation wet all the time.
sandbar, mudslide, rock face, and volcanic flow) is
- Tropical rainforests – occur where rainfall is
colonized by living organisms where none lived
abundant – more than 200 cm (80 in) per year – and
before.
temperatures are warm to hot year-round.
2. Secondary succession - When an existing
community is disturbed, a new one develops from The soil of these tropical moist forest types tends to be old, thin,
the biological legacy of the old. acidic, and nutrient-poor, yet an enormous number of species
can be present. For example, it has been estimated that there
- Ecological development or facilitation - In both kinds are millions of insect species in the canopy of tropical rain-
of succession, when organisms change the environment forests. And it is believed that one-half to two-thirds of all species
by modifying soil, light levels, food supplies, and of terrestrial plants and insects live in tropical forests.
microclimate, the change permits new species to
colonize and eventually replace the previous species. Tropical rainforests are located along the equator of continents
- Pioneer species - In primary succession on land, the first such as South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Many can
colonists (microbes, mosses, and lichens) that can also be found in Sumatra and New Guinea. The best-known
withstand a harsh environment with few resources. tropical rainforests are: The Amazon (Brazil), El Yunque (Puerto
Rico), The Congo (Africa). Tropical rainforests are usually
Disturbance located on the eastern coastline with warmer ocean currents,
ranging between 20 and 35 degrees of latitude, but extending
- Any force that disrupts the established patterns of
only about 15 degrees equatorward and 40 degrees poleward
species diversity and abundance, community structure,
(Francis, 2019).
or community properties.
- Disturbances on earth: landslides, mudslides, hailstorms, Tropical Seasonal Forests
earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves,
wildfires, and volcanoes. - Drought-tolerant forests that look brown and dormant in
- Animals can cause disturbance too. the dry season but burst into vivid green during rainy
- Disturbance-adapted species - species that can months.
survive periodic disturbance (survive fires underground, - Often called Dry Tropical Forests because they are dry
or resist the flames, and then reseed quickly after fires). much of the year; however, there must be some periodic
rain to support tree growth.
Introduced Species - Many of the trees and shrubs in a seasonal forest are
drought-deciduous: they lose their leaves and cease
- Continuous introduction of new community members and
growing when no water is available.
the disappearance of previously existing species are
- Seasonal forests are often open woodlands that grade
requirements of succession.
into savannas.
- New species move in as conditions become suitable;
others die or move out as the community changes. Tropical Savannas and Grasslands
- New species can be introduced after a stable community
already has become established. Some of them cannot - Grasslands - also known as prairies or steppes; receive
compete with existing species and fail to become between 25 and 75 cm of rain per year.
established. Others are able to fit into and become part - Savannas - extensive grasslands w/ occasional or
of the community, defining new ecological niches. patches of trees; typically tropical w/ 50-150 cm of rain
- If an introduced species preys upon or competes more per year.
successfully with one or more populations that are native - Like tropical seasonal forests, most tropical savannas
to the community, the entire nature of the community can and grasslands have a rainy season, but generally the
be altered. rains are less abundant or less dependable than in a
forest.
- During dry seasons, fires can sweep across grassland,
killing off young trees and keeping the landscape open.
- Savannas and grassland plants have many adaptations
to survive drought, heat, and fires.
 - Grazing pressure from domestic livestock is an important are known as temperate rainforest, a cool, rainy forest
threat to both the plants and the animals of tropical often enshrouded in fog.
grasslands and savannas.
The Coniferous Forest is the largest terrestrial biome,
Desert found in the northern parts of Europe, North America and
Asia.
- Occur where precipitation is rare and unpredictable,
usually with less than 30 cm of rain per year. Boreal Forest
- Their vegetation is sparse, but it can be surprisingly
diverse, and most desert plants and animals are highly - Or Northern Forests
adapted to survive long droughts and extreme heat, and - Lie between about 50° and 60° north.
many can survive extreme cold. - Mountainous areas at lower latitudes may also have
- Desert is more vulnerable, sparse, slow-growing many characteristics and species of the boreal forest.
vegetation is quickly damaged by off-road vehicles. - Dominant trees are pines, hemlocks, spruce, cedar, and
- Desert soils recover slowly. fir.
- Desert is also vulnerable to overgrazing. - Some deciduous trees are also present, such as maples,
- In Africa’s vast Sahel (southern edge of the Sahara birch, aspen, and alder.
Desert), livestock are destroying much of the plant cover. - These forests are slow-growing because of the cold
Bare, dry soil becomes drifting sand, and restabilization temperatures and a short frost-free growing season, but
is extremely difficult. they are still expansive resources.
- The extreme, ragged edge of the boreal forest, where
Temperate Grasslands forest gradually gives way to open tundra, is known by its
Russian name, Taiga.
- As in tropical latitudes, temperate (mid-latitude)
grasslands occur where there is enough rain to support Tundra
abundant grass but not enough for forests.
- Most grassland is a complex, diverse mix of grasses and - A treeless landscape that occurs at high latitudes or on
flowering herbaceous plants, generally known as forbs. mountaintops, has a growing season of only two or three
- Deep roots help plants in temperate grasslands and months, and it may have frost any month of the year.
savannas survive drought, fire, and extreme heat and - A variant of grasslands because it has no trees
cold. These roots, together with an annual winter - Very cold desert because water is unavailable (frozen)
accumulation of dead leaves on the surface, produce most of the year.
thick, organic-rich soils in temperate grasslands.
Arctic Tundra - An expansive biome that has low productivity
Temperate Shrublands because it has a short growing season. During midsummer,
24-hour sunshine supports a burst of plant growth and an
- Evergreen shrubs with small, leathery, sclerophyllous explosion of insect life.
(hard, waxy) leaves form dense thickets.
- Scrub oaks, drought-resistant pines, or other small trees Alpine Tundra - Occurring on a near mountain top, has
often cluster in sheltered valleys. Periodic fires burn environmental conditions and vegetation similar to arctic
fiercely in this fuel-rich plant assemblage and are a major tundra. These areas have a short, intense growing season.
factor in plant succession. Many alpine tundra plants also have deep pigmentation and
- In California, this landscape is called chaparral, Spanish leathery leaves to protect against the strong ultraviolet light in
for “thicket”. the thin mountain atmosphere.
- These areas are inhabited by drought-tolerant animals MARINE ECOSYSTEM
such as jackrabbits, kangaroo rats, mule deer,
chipmunks, lizards, and many bird species. - Vary mainly with depth, temperature, and salinity.
- Very similar landscapes are found along the - Coral reefs and estuaries are among the world’s most
Mediterranean coast as well as southwestern Australia, productive and diverse ecosystem.
central Chile, and South Africa. - Vertical stratification is a key feature of aquatic
ecosystems, mainly because light decreases rapidly with
Temperate Forests
depth, and communities below the photic zone (light
Deciduous Forests zone, often reaching about 20 m deep) must rely on
energy sources other than photosynthesis to persist.
- Broadleaf forests occur throughout the world where Temperature also decreases with depth.
rainfall is plentiful. - Deep ocean species often grow slowly in part because
- In mid latitudes, these forests are deciduous and lose metabolism is reduced in cold conditions.
their leaves in winter. - Temperature also affects the amount of oxygen and other
- At lower latitudes, broadleaf forests may be evergreen elements that can be absorbed in water.
or drought-deciduous. - Phytoplankton are microscopic floating algae that carry
- Can re-grow quickly because they occupy moist, on photosynthesis in pelagic ecosystem
moderate climates. - Zooplanktons are small, weakly swimming animals that
feed on phytoplankton.
Temperate deciduous forests are located primarily in the
eastern half of the United States, Canada, Europe, parts of Ocean Systems based on depth and proximity to shore:
Russia, Chile and Japan. This biome is in the mild zone of
the Northern hemisphere - Benthic – communities occur on the bottom.
- Pelagic zone – (from “sea” in Greek) are the water
Coniferous Forests column.
- Epipelagic zone – (epi = on top) has photosynthetic
- Grow in a wide range of temperature and moisture organisms. Below this are the mesopelagic (meso =
conditions. medium), and bathypelagic (bathos = deep) zones.
- Often they occur where moisture is limited: in cold - Deepest layers: Abyssal Zone (to 4,000 m) and Hadal
climates, moisture is unavailable (frozen) in winter; hot Zone (deeper than 6,000 m).
climates may have seasonal drought; sandy soils hold - Littoral Zones – shorelines.
little moisture, and they are often occupied by conifers. - Intertidal Zone – area exposed by low tides.
- Provide most wood products in North America.
- Coniferous forests of the Pacific coast grow in
extremely wet conditions. The wettest coastal forests
Coastal Zones - Researchers from the environmental group Conservation
International have attempted to map the extent of human
Coral Reefs – are among the best-known marine ecosystems disturbance of the natural world.
because of their extraordinary biological productivity and their - The greatest impacts have been in Europe, parts of Asia,
diverse and beautiful organisms. North and Central America, and islands such as
Madagascar, New Zealand, Java, Sumatra, and those in
Mangroves – are trees that grow in salt water. They occur along
the Caribbean.
calm, shallow, tropical coastlines around the world. Mangrove
forests or swamps help stabilize shorelines, and they are also
critical nurseries for fish, shrimp, and other commercial species.
Module 4: GEOLOGY, EARTH RESOURCES, AND
Estuaries – are bays where rivers empty into the sea, mixing
CLIMATE CHANGE
fresh water with salt water.
EARTH PROCESSES
Salt marshes – shallow wetlands flooded regularly or
occasionally with seawater, occur on shallow coastlines, - We may face geological hazards of one type or another,
including estuaries. but think of it, we also benefit from the earth’s geological
resources.
Tide Pools – are depressions in a rocky shoreline that are
- All of us share a responsibility for the environmental and
flooded at high tide but retain some water at low tide. These
social devastation that often results from mining and
areas remain rocky where wave action prevents most plant
drilling.
growth or sediment (mud) accumulation.
- Fortunately, there are many promising solutions to
Barrier Islands – are low, narrow, sandy islands that form to reduce these costs, including recycling and alternative
parallel to a coastline. They occur where the continental shelf is materials. However, it is up to us how we will deal with it.
shallow and rivers or coastal currents provide a steady source - Geological products that you might be wearing now:
of sediments. o plastics, including glasses and synthetic fabric, are
made from oil;
FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS o iron, copper, and aluminum mines produced snaps
and zippers and the screws in glasses;
- Vary according to depth and light penetration, which o silver, gold, and diamond mines produced jewelry.
control size and types of vegetation.
- Often small but they are disproportionately important in Earth
biodiversity
- Earth is a dynamic planet and constantly changing
Freshwater Lakes structure.
- The earth is a layered sphere.
- Like marine environments, have distinct vertical zones. - Layers of Earth:
Vertical Zones o Core, or interior, is composed of a dense, intensely
hot mass of metal, mostly iron, thousands of
- Benthos – the bottom, occupied by a variety of snails, kilometers in diameter. Solid in the center but more
burrowing worms, fish and other organisms. fluid in the outer core, this immense mass generates
- Epilimnion – a warmer upper layer that is mixed by the magnetic field that envelops the earth.
wind and warmed by the sun. o Mantle is surrounding the molten outer core. It is a
- Hypolimnion – below the epilimnion. A colder, deeper hot, pliable layer of rock. The mantle is much less
layer that is not mixed. dense than the core because it contains a high
- Thermocline – Sharp temperature boundary. concentration of lighter elements, such as oxygen,
- Mesolimnion – below thermocline, the water is much silicon, and magnesium.
colder. o Crust is the cool, lightweight, brittle rock outermost
layer of the earth. The crust below oceans is
Wetlands - Shallow ecosystems in which the land surface is relatively thin (8–15 km), is dense, and young (less
saturated or submerged at least part of the year. than 200 million years old) because of constant
recycling. Crust under continents is relatively thick
- Have vegetation that is adapted to grow under saturated
(25–75 km) and light, and as old as 3.8 billion years,
conditions.
with new material being added continually. It also is
Swamps - Also known as wooded wetlands predominantly granitic, while oceanic crust is mainly
dense basaltic rock.
- Wetlands with trees.
PLATE TECTONICS
Marshes - Wetlands without trees.
- In 1855, Antonio Snider went so far as to publish a
Bogs - Areas of saturated ground, and usually the ground are sketch showing how the two continents could fit together,
composed of deep layers of accumulated, undecayed jigsaw-puzzle fashion. Such reconstructions gave rise to
vegetation known as peat. the bold suggestion that perhaps these continents had
once been part of the same landmass, which had later
Fens - Similar to bogs except that they are mainly fed by broken up.
groundwater, so that they have mineral-rich water and specially - Climatologist Alfred Wegener was struck not only by the
adapted plant species. matching coastlines, but by geologic evidence from the
HUMAN DISTURBANCE continents.
- Sedimentary rocks may preserve evidence of the ancient
- Humans have become dominant organisms over most of climate of the time and place in which the sediments were
the earth, damaging or disturbing more than half of the deposited. Such evidence shows that the climate in many
world’s terrestrial ecosystems to some extent. places has varied widely through time.
- By some estimates, humans preempt about 40 percent of - There are evidences of extensive glaciation in places
the net terrestrial primary productivity of the biosphere now located in the tropics, in parts of Australia, southern
either by consuming it directly, by interfering with its Africa, and South America.
production or use, or by altering the species composition - There are desert sand deposits in the rocks of regions
or physical processes of human-dominated ecosystems. that now have moist, temperate climates and the remains
- Conversion of natural habitat to human uses is the largest of jungle plants in now-cool places.
single cause of biodiversity losses.
 - There are coal deposits in Antarctica, even though coal - Recognition of the existence of the plastic asthenosphere
deposits form from the remains of a lush growth of land made plate motions more plausible, but it did not prove
plants. that they had occurred.
- Sedimentary rocks also preserve fossil remains of
ancient life. Some plants and animals, long extinct, seem Locating Plate Boundaries
to have lived only in a few very restricted areas, which
- The distribution of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
now are widely separated geographically on different
indicates that these phenomena are far from uniformly
continents.
distributed over the earth.
- One example is the fossil plant Glossopteris, remains of
- They are, for the most part, concentrated in belts or linear
which are found in limited areas of widely separated
chains. This is consistent with the idea that the rigid shell
lands including India, southern Africa, and even
of lithosphere is cracked in places, broken up into pieces,
Antarctica. The fossils of a small reptile, Mesosaurus,
or plates.
are similarly dispersed across two continents. The
- The volcanoes and earthquakes are concentrated at the
distribution of these fossils was, in fact, part of the
boundaries of these lithospheric plates, where plates
evidence Wegener cited to support his continental-drift
jostle or scrape against each other.
hypothesis.
- Fewer than a dozen very large lithospheric plates have
- The idea of continental drift provided a way out of the
been identified; as research continues, many smaller
quandary. The organism may have lived in a single,
ones have been recognized in addition.
geographically restricted area, and the rocks in which its
remains are now found subsequently were separated and Type of Plate Boundaries
moved in several different directions by drifting
continents. Different things happen at the boundaries between two
- Wegener began to publish his ideas in 1912 and lithospheric plates, depending in part on the relative motions of
continued to do so for nearly two decades. He proposed the plates, and in part on whether continental or oceanic
that all the continental landmasses had once formed a lithosphere is at the edge of each plate where they meet.
single supercontinent, Pangaea (Greek for “all lands”),
Divergent Plate Boundaries
which had then split apart, the modern continents moving
to their present positions via a process called - Divergent plate boundary, lithospheric plates move
continental drift. apart.
- However, most people, scientists and nonscientists alike, - The release of pressure facilitates some melting in the
had difficulty visualizing how something as massive as a asthenosphere, and magma wells up from the
continent could possibly “drift” around on a solid earth, or asthenosphere, its passage made easier by deep
why it should do so. In other words, no mechanism for fractures formed by the tensional stresses.
moving continents was apparent. - A great deal of volcanic activity thus occurs at divergent
- Continental “drift” turned out to be just one consequence plate boundaries.
of processes encompassed by a broader theory known - In addition, the pulling-apart of the plates of lithosphere
as plate tectonics. results in earthquakes along these boundaries.
- Tectonics is the study of large scale movement and - Seafloor spreading ridges are the most common type
deformation of the earth’s outer layers. of divergent boundary worldwide, and it is already noted
- Plate tectonics relates such deformation to the the formation of new oceanic lithosphere at these ridges.
existence and movement of rigid “plates” over a weaker, - CONTINENTS can be rifted apart, too, and in fact most
more plastic layer in the earth’s upper mantle. ocean basins are believed to have originated through
Outer Zone of the Earth continental rifting. The process may be initiated either by
tensional forces pulling the plates apart, or by rising hot
Lithosphere asthenosphere along the rift zone.
- If the continental rifting continues, a new ocean basin will
- The earth’s crust and uppermost mantle are somewhat form between the pieces of the continent as shown in
brittle and elastic. Together they make up the outer solid above figure. This is happening now in northeast Africa,
layer of the earth called the lithosphere, from the Greek where three rift zones meet in what is called a triple
word lithos, meaning “rock.” junction.
- The lithosphere varies in thickness from place to place on
the earth. Convergent Plate Boundaries
- It is thinnest underneath the oceans, where it extends to
- Convergent plate boundary plates are moving toward
a depth of about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles).
each other.
- The lithosphere under the continents is both thicker on
- What happens depends on what sort of lithosphere is at
average than is oceanic lithosphere, and more variable in
the leading edge of each plate; one may have ocean-
thickness, extending in places to about 250 kilometers
ocean, ocean-continent or continent-continent
(over 150 miles).
convergence.
Asthenosphere - Continental crust is relatively low in density, so
continental lithosphere is therefore buoyant with respect
- The layer below the lithosphere is the asthenosphere, to the dense, iron rich mantle, and it tends to “float” on
which derives its name from the Greek word asthenes, the asthenosphere.
meaning “without strength.” - Oceanic crust is more similar in density to the underlying
- The asthenosphere extends to an average depth of about asthenosphere, so oceanic lithosphere is less buoyant
300 kilometers (close to 200 miles) in the mantle. and more easily forced down into the asthenosphere as
- Its lack of strength or rigidity results from a combination plates move together.
of high temperatures and moderate confining pressures - Most commonly, oceanic lithosphere is at the leading
that allows the rock to flow plastically under stress. edge of one or both of the converging plates.
- Below the asthenosphere, as pressures increase faster - One plate of oceanic lithosphere may be pushed under
than temperatures with depth, the mantle again becomes the other plate and descend into the asthenosphere.
more rigid and elastic. - This type of plate boundary, where one plate is carried
- The asthenosphere was discovered by studying the down below (subducted beneath) another, is called a
behavior seismic waves from earthquakes. Its presence subduction zone.
makes the concept of continental drift more plausible. - The nature of subduction zones can be demonstrated in
many ways, a key one of which involves earthquake
depths.
 - The subduction zones of the world balance the seafloor - The famous San Andreas Fault in California is an
equation. example of a transform fault.
- If new oceanic lithosphere is constantly being created at
spreading ridges, an equal amount must be destroyed ROCKS AND MINERALS
somewhere, or the earth would simply keep getting
Mineral
bigger. This “excess” sea floor is consumed in subduction
zones. - A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic, solid
- The subducted plate is heated by the hot asthenosphere. element or compound with a definite chemical
Fluids are released from it into the overlying mantle; composition and a regular internal crystal structure.
some of it may become hot enough to melt; the dense, - Naturally occurring, as distinguished from synthetic,
cold residue eventually breaks off and sinks deeper into means that minerals do not include the thousands of
the mantle. chemical substances invented by humans.
- At the spreading ridges, other melts rise, cool, and - Inorganic, means not produced solely by living
crystallize to make new sea floor. organisms or by biological processes.  Solid means that
- So, in a sense, the oceanic lithosphere is constantly the ice of a glacier is a mineral, but liquid water is not.
being recycled, which explains why few very ancient - Chemically, minerals may consist either of one element—
seafloor rocks are known. like diamonds, which are pure carbon—or they may be
- Volcanoes form where molten material rises up through compounds of two or more elements.
the overlying plate to the surface. - Minerals are crystalline, at least on the microscopic scale.
- At an ocean-ocean convergence, the result is commonly - Crystalline materials are solids in which the atoms or
a line of volcanic islands, an island arc. ions are arranged in regular, repeating patterns.
- The great stresses involved in convergence and
subduction give rise to numerous earthquakes. Identifying Characteristics of Minerals
- The bulk of mountain building, and its associated volcanic
and earthquake activity, is related to subduction zones. - The two fundamental characteristics of a mineral that
- Parts of the world near or above modern subduction together distinguish it from all other minerals are its
zones are therefore prone to both volcanic and chemical composition and its crystal structure.
earthquake activity. These include the Andes region of - No two minerals are identical in both respects, though
South America, western Central America, parts of the they may be the same in one. For example, diamond and
northwest United States and Canada, the Aleutian graphite (the “lead” in a lead pencil) are chemically the
Islands, China, Japan, and much of the rim of the Pacific same—both are made up of pure carbon. Their physical
Ocean basin. properties, however, are vastly different because of the
- Only rarely is a bit of sea floor caught up in a continent differences in their internal crystalline structures.
during convergence and preserved. - A mineral’s composition and crystal structure can usually
- Most often, the sea floor in a zone of convergence is be determined only by using sophisticated laboratory
subducted and destroyed. equipment.
- All continents are part of moving plates, sooner or later - Many minerals share similar external forms, and the
they all are inevitably transported to a convergent same mineral may show different external forms, though
boundary, as leading oceanic lithosphere is consumed. it will always have the same internal structure.
- If there is also continental lithosphere on the plate being Types of Minerals
subducted at an oceancontinent convergent boundary,
consumption of the subducting plate will eventually bring 1. SILICATES
the continental masses together. - Two most common elements in the earth’s crust are
- The two landmasses collide, crumple, and deform. One silicon and oxygen.
may partially override the other, but the buoyancy of - Silicate group is the largest compositional group of
continental lithosphere ensures that neither sinks deep minerals, all of which are compounds containing silicon
into the mantle, and a very large thickness of continent and oxygen, and most of which contain other elements
may result. as well.
- Earthquakes are frequent during continent-continent - This group of minerals is so large that it is subdivided
collision as a consequence of the large stresses involved on the basis of crystal structure, by the ways in which
in the process. The extreme height of the Himalaya the silicon and oxygen atoms are linked together.
Mountains is attributed to just this sort of collision. - The basic building block of all silicates is a tetrahedral
- India was not always a part of the Asian continent. arrangement of four oxygen atoms (anions) around the
Paleomagnetic evidence indicates that it drifted much smaller silicon cation.
northward over tens of millions of years until it “ran into” - In different silicate minerals, these silica tetrahedral
Asia and the Himalayas were built up in the process. may be linked into chains, sheets, or three-dimensional
- In fact, many major mountain ranges worldwide represent frameworks by the sharing of oxygen atoms.
sites of sustained plate convergence in the past, and - Some of the physical properties of silicates and other
much of the western portion of North America consists of minerals are closely related to their crystal structures
bits of continental lithosphere “pasted onto” the continent
in this way. Silicate Minerals

Transform Boundaries - Quartz - probably the best known silicate.

Compositionally, it is the simplest, containing only
- A close look at a mid-ocean spreading ridge reveals that silicon and oxygen. It is a framework silicate, with silica
it is not a continuous rift thousands of kilometers long. tetrahedral linked in three dimensions, which helps
Rather, ridges consist of many short segments slightly make it relatively hard and weathering resistant. Quartz
OFFSET from one another. is found in a variety of rocks and soils. Commercially,
- The offset is a special kind of fault, or break in the the most common use of pure quartz is in the
lithosphere, known as a transform fault. manufacture of glass, which also consists mostly of
- The opposite sides of a transform fault belong to two silicon and oxygen. Quartz-rich sand and gravel are
different plates, and these are moving in opposite used in very large quantities in construction.
directions. - Feldspars - The most abundant group of minerals in
- As the plates scrape past each other, earthquakes occur the crust is a set of chemically similar minerals known
along the transform fault. Transform faults may also collectively as the feldspars. They are composed of
occur between a trench (subduction zone) and a silicon, oxygen, aluminum, and either sodium,
spreading ridge, or between two trenches, but these are potassium, or calcium, or some combination of these
less common.
 three. These common minerals are made from o Formation: If a magma remains well below the surface
elements abundant in the crust. They are used during cooling, it cools relatively slowly, insulated by
extensively in the manufacture of ceramics. overlying rock and soil. It may take hundreds of
- Ferromagnesian - The general term used to describe thousands of years or more to crystallize completely.
those silicates—usually dark-colored (black, brown, or Under these conditions, the crystals have ample time
green)— that contain iron and/or magnesium, with or to form and to grow very large, and the rock eventually
without additional elements. formed has mineral grains large enough to be seen
- Olivine is simple ferromagnesian mineral, is a major individually with the naked eye.
constituent of earth’s mantle; gem-quality olivines from o Granite is probably the most widely known example of
mantle-derived volcanic rocks are the semiprecious a plutonic rock. Compositionally, typical granite
gem peridot. consists principally of quartz and feldspars, and it
- Micas are another group of several silicate minerals usually contains some ferromagnesian minerals or
with similar physical properties, compositions, and other silicates. The proportions and compositions of
crystal structures. Micas are sheet silicates, built on an these constituent minerals may vary, but all granites
atomic scale of stacked-up sheets of linked silicon and show the coarse, interlocking crystals characteristic of
oxygen atoms. Because the bonds between sheets are a plutonic rock. Much of the mass of the continents
relatively weak, the sheets can easily be broken apart consists of granite or of rock of granitic composition.
- Clays are another family within the sheet silicates; in - Volcanic
clays, the sheets tend to slide past each other, a o A magma that flows out on the earth’s surface while
characteristic that contributes to the slippery feel of still wholly or partly molten is called lava. Lava is a
many clays and related minerals. Clays are somewhat common product of volcanic eruptions, and the term
unusual among the silicates in that their structures can volcanic is given to an igneous rock formed at or close
absorb or lose water, depending on how wet conditions to the earth’s surface.
are. Clays also have important uses, especially in o Magmas that crystallize very near the surface cool
making ceramics and in building materials. Other clays more rapidly. There is less time during crystallization
are useful as lubricants in the muds used to cool the for large crystals to form from the magma, so volcanic
drill bits in oil-drilling rigs. rocks are typically fine-grained, with most crystals too
small to be distinguished with the naked eye.
2. NONSILICATES o In extreme cases, where cooling occurs very fast, even
- Each nonsilicate mineral group is defined by some tiny crystals may not form before the magma solidifies,
chemical constituent or characteristic that all members and its atoms are frozen in a disordered state. The
of the group have in common. Most often, the common resulting clear, noncrystalline solid is a natural glass,
component is the same negatively charged ion or obsidian.
group of atoms. o The most common volcanic rock is basalt, a dark rock
rich in ferromagnesian minerals and feldspar. The
Rocks ocean floor consists largely of basalt.
o Occasionally, a melt begins to crystallize slowly at
- A rock is a solid, cohesive aggregate of one or more
depth, growing some large crystals, and then is
minerals, or mineral materials.
subjected to rapid cooling (following a volcanic
- This means that a rock consists of many individual
eruption, for instance). This results in coarse crystals
mineral grains (crystals)—not necessarily all of the same
in a fine grained groundmass, porphyry.
mineral—or crystals plus glass, which are firmly held
together in a solid mass.
2. SEDIMENTS & SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
- The properties of rocks are important in determining their
- Sediments are loose, unconsolidated accumulations
suitability for particular applications, such as for
of mineral or rock particles that have been transported
construction materials or for the base of a building
by wind, water, or ice, or shifted under the influence of
foundation.
gravity, and redeposited.
- Each rock also contains within it a record of at least a part
- Beach sand is a kind of sediment; so is the mud on a
of its history, in the nature of its minerals and in the way
river bottom. Soil is a mixture of mineral sediment and
the mineral grains fit together.
organic matter.
- The three broad categories of rocks— igneous,
- Most sediments originate, directly or indirectly, through
sedimentary, and metamorphic — are distinguished by
the weathering of preexisting rocks—either by physical
the processes of their formation.
breakup into finer and finer fragments, or by solution,
- There is no single sample of rock that has remained
followed by precipitation of crystals out of solution.
unchanged since the earth formed. Therefore, when a
- The physical properties of sediments and soils bear on
rock is described as being of a particular type, or gives it
a broad range of environmental problems, from the
a specific rock name, it is important to realize that it is
stability of slopes and building foundations, to the
described in the form it has most recently taken, the
selection of optimal waste-disposal sites, to how
results of the most recent processes acting on it.
readily water drains away after a rainstorm and
Categories of Rocks therefore how likely that rain is to produce a flood.
- When sediments are compacted or cemented together
1. IGNEOUS ROCK into a solid, cohesive mass, they become sedimentary
- An igneous rock is a rock formed by the solidification rocks. Sedimentary rocks formed at low temperatures.
and crystallization of a cooling magma. - The set of processes by which sediments are
- Igneous is derived from the Latin term ignis, meaning transformed into rock is collectively described as
“fire.” lithification (from the Greek word lithos, meaning
- Magma is the name given to naturally occurring hot, “stone”). The resulting rock is generally more compact
molten rock material. Silicates are the most common and denser, as well as more cohesive, than the original
minerals, so magmas are usually rich in silica. They also sediment.
contain some dissolved water and gases and generally - Sedimentary rocks are formed at or near the earth’s
have some solid crystals suspended in the melt. surface, at temperatures close to ordinary surface
temperatures. They are subdivided into two groups—
Examples of Igneous Rock
clastic and chemical.
- Plutonic Igneous Rock
Clastic sedimentary rocks
o The name is derived from Pluto, the Greek god of the
lower world. - From the Greek word klastos, meaning “broken”
 - Formed from the products of the mechanical breakup - The temperatures required to form metamorphic rocks
of other rocks. are not as high as the temperatures at which the rocks
- Natural processes continually attack rocks exposed at would melt.
the surface. Rain and waves pound them, windblown - Heat and pressure commonly cause the minerals in the
dust scrapes them, frost and tree roots crack them— rock to recrystallize. The original minerals may form
these and other processes are all part of the physical larger crystals that perhaps interlock more tightly than
weathering of rocks. before.
- In consequence, rocks are broken up into smaller and - An important source of pressure is simply burial under
smaller pieces and ultimately, perhaps, into individual many kilometers of overlying rock. - One source of
mineral grains. The resultant rock and mineral elevated temperatures is the fact that temperatures
fragments may be transported by wind, water, or ice, increase with depth in the earth.
and accumulate as sediments in streams, lakes, - When hot magma formed at depth rises to shallower
oceans, deserts, or soils. levels in the crust, it heats the adjacent, cooler rocks,
- Later geologic processes can cause these sediments and they may be metamorphosed; this is contact
to become lithified. Burial under the weight of more metamorphism.
sediments may pack the loose particles so tightly that - Metamorphism can also result from the stresses and
they hold firmly together in a cohesive mass. heating to which rocks are subject during mountain
- Except with very fine-grained sediments, compaction building or plate-tectonic movement. Such
alone is rarely enough to transform the sediment into metamorphism on a large scale, not localized around a
rock. Water seeping slowly through rocks and magma body, is regional metamorphism.
sediments underground also carries dissolved - Any kind of preexisting rock can be metamorphosed.
minerals, which may precipitate out of solution to bind Some names of metamorphic rocks suggest what the
the sediment particles together with a natural mineral earlier rock may have been.
cement.
- Clastic sedimentary rocks are most often named on the Some Metamorphic Rocks:
basis of the average size of the particles that form the
- Metaconglomerate and metavolcanic describe,
rock.
respectively, a metamorphosed conglomerate and a
o Sandstone, is a rock composed of sand-sized
metamorphosed volcanic rock.
sediment particles, 16 to 2 millimeters (0.002 to 0.08
- Quartzite is a quartz-rich metamorphic rock, often
inches) in diameter.
formed from a very quartz-rich sandstone.
o Shale is made up of finer-grained sediments, and
- Marble is metamorphosed limestone in which the
the individual grains cannot be seen in the rock with
individual calcite grains have recrystallized and
the naked eye.
become tightly interlocking.
o Conglomerate is a relatively coarse-grained rock,
- Some metamorphic-rock names indicate only the
with fragments above 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) in
rock’s current composition, with no particular
diameter, and sometimes much larger.
implication of what it was before. A common example
- Regardless of grain size, clastic sedimentary rocks
is amphibolite, which can be used for any
tend to have, relatively, considerable pore space
metamorphic rock rich in amphibole. It might have
between grains. This is a logical consequence of the
been derived from a sedimentary, metamorphic, or
way in which these rocks form, by the piling up of
igneous rock of appropriate chemical composition; the
preexisting rock and mineral grains. Also, as sediment
presence of abundant metamorphic amphibole
particles are transported by water or other agents, they
indicates moderately intense metamorphism, not the
may become more rounded and thus not pack together
previous rock type.
very tightly or interlock as do the mineral grains in an
- In a rock subjected to directed stress, minerals that
igneous rock. Many clastic sedimentary rocks are
form elongated or platy crystals may line up parallel to
therefore not particularly strong structurally, unless
each other. The resultant texture is described as
they have been extensively cemented.
foliation, from the Latin for “leaf”. Slate is
Chemical sedimentary rocks metamorphosed shale that has developed foliation
under stress. The resulting rock tends to break along
- Form not from mechanical breakup and transport of the foliation planes, parallel to the alignment of those
fragments, but from crystals formed by precipitation or minerals, and this characteristic makes it easy to break
growth from solution. up into slabs for flagstones.
- Examples of chemical sedimentary rocks: - The same characteristic is observed in schist, a
o Limestone, composed mostly of calcite (calcium coarser-grained, mica-rich metamorphic rock in which
carbonate). The chemical sediment that makes the mica flakes are similarly oriented.
limestone may be deposited from fresh or salt water; - In other metamorphic rocks, different minerals may be
under favorable chemical conditions, thick limestone concentrated in irregular bands, often with darker,
beds, perhaps hundreds of meters thick, may form. ferromagnesian-rich bands alternating with light bands
o Rock salt, made up of the mineral halite, which is the rich in feldspar and quartz. Such a rock is called gneiss
mineral name for ordinary table salt (sodium chloride). (pronounced “nice”).
A salt deposit may form when a body of salt water is - It should be evident from the descriptions of the major
isolated from an ocean and dries up. rock types and how they form those rocks of any type
- Some chemical sediments have a large biological can be transformed into rocks of another type or into
contribution. A sequence of sedimentary rocks may another distinct rock of the same general type through
include layers of organic sediments, carbon-rich the appropriate geologic processes.
remains of living organisms; coal is an important - Sandstone may be weathered until it breaks up; its
example, derived from the remains of land plants that fragments may then be transported, redeposited, and
flourished and died in swamps. lithified to form another sedimentary rock. It might
instead be deeply buried, heated, and compressed,
3. METAMORPHIC ROCKS which could transform it into the metamorphic rock
- The name metamorphic comes from the Greek for quartzite; or it could be heated until some or all of it
“changed form.” melted, and from that melt, an igneous rock could be
- A metamorphic rock is one that has formed from formed.
another, preexisting rock that was subjected to heat - Most interactions of people with the rock cycle involve
and/or pressure. the sedimentary and volcanic components of the cycle.
 The rock cycle—a schematic view. Basically, a variety of - Durable, highly valuable, and easily portable, gemstones
geologic processes can transform any rock into a new rock and precious metals have long been a way to store and
of the same or a different class. The geologic environment transport wealth. Unfortunately, these valuable materials
is not static; it is constantly changing. The full picture, too, also have bankrolled despots, criminal gangs, and
is more complex: any type of rock may be found at the terrorism in many countries.
earth’s surface, and weathered; though the melts that form - Sand and gravel production comprise by far the greatest
volcanic rocks are created at depth, the melts crystallize volume and dollar value of all nonmetal mineral
into rock near the surface; and so on. resources and a far greater volume than all metal ores.
Sand and gravel are used mainly in brick and concrete
An ocean-continent convergence zone illustrates some of construction and paving, as loose road filler, and for
the many ways in which plate tectonic activity transforms sandblasting.
rocks. For example, continents erode, producing sediment - High-purity silica sand is our source of glass. These
to make sedimentary rocks; asthenosphere melts to make materials usually are retrieved from surface pit mines and
magma to form new igneous rock, as it also does at quarries, where they were deposited by glaciers, winds,
spreading ridges. Regional metamorphism can result from or ancient oceans.
heating and increased pressure associated with deep
burial, heat from magmatic activity, and the compressive ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF RESOURCE EXTRACTION
stress of convergence; close to shallow magma bodies,
contact metamorphism may also occur. No rocks are - Mining and purifying all these resources can have severe
preserved indefinitely; all are caught up in this cycle of environmental and social consequences.
continuous change. - The most obvious effect of mining is often the disturbance
or removal of the land surface. Farther-reaching effects,
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY though, include air and water pollution.
- Pollution from chemical and sediment runoff is a major
- Mineralogists have identified some 4,400 different problem in many local watersheds.
mineral species than on any of our neighboring planets. - Gold and other metals are often found in sulfide ores.
- The processes of plate tectonics and the rock cycle on When these minerals are exposed to air and water, they
this planet have gradually concentrated uncommon produce sulfuric acid, which is highly mobile and strongly
elements and allowed them to crystallize into new acidic.
minerals. - Vast quantities of ore must be crushed and washed to
- Most of Earth’s minerals are oxides, but there was little extract metals.
free oxygen in the atmosphere until it was released by - After using water in ore processing, much of the water
photosynthetic organisms, thus triggering evolution of our contains sulfuric acid, arsenic, heavy metals, and other
great variety of minerals. contaminants. Mine runoff leaking into lakes and streams
- Economic mineralogy is the study of resources that are damages or destroys aquatic ecosystems.
valuable for manufacturing and are, therefore, an
important part of domestic and international commerce. Serious Environmental Impacts of Mining
- Most economic minerals are metal bearing ores,
minerals with unusually high concentrations of metals. - An ancient method of accumulating gold, diamonds, and
- Metals have been so important in human affairs that coal is placer mining, in which pure nuggets are washed
major epochs of human history are commonly known by from stream sediments. Since the California gold rush of
their dominant materials and the technology involved in 1849, placer miners have used water cannons to blast
using those materials (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, away hillsides. This method, which chokes stream
etc.). ecosystems with sediment, is still used in Alaska,
- The mining, processing and distribution of these Canada, and many other regions.
materials have broad implications for both our culture and - Another ancient, and much more dangerous, method is
our environment. underground mining. Mine tunnels occasionally
- Most economically valuable crustal resources exist collapse, and natural gas in coal mines can explode.
everywhere in small amounts; the important thing is to Water seeping into mine shafts also dissolves toxic
find them concentrated in economically recoverable minerals. Contaminated water seeps into groundwater; it
levels. is also pumped to the surface, where it enters streams
- Below is a table showing the primary uses of some major and lakes.
metals consumed in the United States. - In underground coal mines, another major environmental
risk is fires. Hundreds of coal mines smolder in the United
Metals States, China, Russia, India, South Africa, and Europe.
The inaccessibility and size of these fires make many
- The metals consumed in greatest quantity by world impossible to extinguish or control. China, which depends
industry include iron (740 million metric tons annually), on coal for much of its heating and electricity, has
aluminum (40 million metric tons), manganese (22.4 hundreds of smoldering mine fires; one has been burning
million metric tons), copper and chromium (8 million for 400 years. Toxic fumes, explosive methane, and other
metric tons each), and nickel (0.7 million metric tons). hazardous emissions are also released from these fires.
- Most of these metals are consumed in the United States, - Open-pit mines are used to extract massive beds of
Japan, and Europe, in that order. metal ores and other minerals. The size of modern open
- The largest sources are China, Australia, Russia, pits can be hard to comprehend.
Canada, and the United States. To some extent the - Half the coal used in the United States comes from
abundance of ores in these countries is simply a matter surface or strip mines. Because coal is often found in
of land area, but Africa has relatively little metal ore. expansive, horizontal beds, the entire land surface can
- The rapid growth of green technologies, such as be stripped away to cheaply and quickly expose the coal.
renewable energy and electric vehicles, has made a The overburden, or surface material, is placed back into
group of rare earth metals especially important. Worries the mine, but usually in long ridges called spoil banks.
about impending shortages of these minerals complicate Spoil banks are very susceptible to erosion and chemical
future developments in this sector. weathering. Because the spoil banks have no topsoil (the
complex organic mixture that supports vegetation),
Nonmetals
revegetation occurs very slowly.
- Nonmetal minerals are a broad class that covers - Over mountaintop removal, a coal mining method
resources from silicate minerals (gemstones, mica, talc, mainly practiced in Appalachia. Long, sinuous ridge-tops
and asbestos) to sand, gravel, salts, limestone, and soils. are removed by giant mining machines to expose
horizontal beds of coal (See below figure). Up to 215 m
 (700 ft) of ridge-top is pulverized and dumped into - In automobile production, steel is being replaced by
adjacent river valleys. The debris can be laden with polymers, aluminum, ceramics, and new, high
selenium, arsenic, coal, and other toxic substances. technology alloys. All of these reduce vehicle weight and
- The Mineral Policy Center in Washington, D.C., cost while increasing fuel efficiency.
estimates that 19,000 km (12,000 mi) of rivers and - Electronics and communications (telephone) technology,
streams in the United States are contaminated by mine once major consumers of copper and aluminum, now use
drainage. Because of the volatile prices of metals and ultrahigh-purity glass cables to transmit pulses of light,
coal, many mining companies have gone bankrupt before instead of metal wires carrying electron pulses.
restoring mine sites, leaving the public responsible for
cleanup. GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS

Processing Ores’ Negative Impact - Earthquakes are sudden movements in the earth’s crust
that occur along faults (planes of weakness) where one
- Smelting or roasting ore to release metals—is a major rock mass slides past another one, as was the case along
source of air pollution. One of the most notorious the Enriquillo– Plantain Garden Fault in Haiti.
examples of ecological devastation from smelting is a - Tsunamis are giant sea waves triggered by earthquakes
wasteland near Ducktown, Tennessee. or landslides. The name is derived from the Japanese for
- Heap-leach extraction, which is often used to get metals “harbor wave,” because the waves often are noticed only
from low-grade ore, has a high potential for when they approach shore. Tsunamis can be more
environmental contamination. A cyanide solution sprayed damaging than the earthquakes that create them. The
on a large pile of ore to dissolve gold can leak into surface tsunami that struck the coast of Japan on March 11,
or ground water. 2011, for example, was triggered by a magnitude 9.0
underwater earthquake about 72 km (45 mi) out to sea.
CONSERVATION OF GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES - Volcanoes and undersea magma vents produce much of
the earth’s crust. Volcanoes have also been an ever-
- Conservation offers great potential for extending our
present threat to human populations. One of the most
supplies of economic minerals and reducing the effects
famous historic volcanic eruptions was that of Mount
of mining and processing.
Vesuvius in southern Italy, which buried the cities of
- The advantages of conservation are also significant:
Herculaneum and Pompeii in A.D. 79.
o Less waste to dispose of
- Gravity constantly pulls downward on every material
o Less land lost to mining
everywhere on earth, causing a variety of phenomena
o Less consumption of money, energy, and water
collectively termed mass wasting or mass movement, in
resources.
which geological materials are moved downslope from
Recycling one place to another. The resulting movement is often
slow and subtle, but some slope processes such as
- Recycling is slowly increasing as raw materials become rockslides, avalanches, and land slumping can be swift,
more scarce and wastes become more plentiful. dangerous, and very obvious.
- Recycling waste aluminum, such as beverage cans, on - Landslide is a general term for rapid downslope
the other hand, consumes one-twentieth of the energy of movement of soil or rock.
extracting new aluminum. Today nearly two-thirds of all - Floods are normal events that cause damage when
aluminum beverage cans in the United States are people get in the way. As rivers carve and shape the
recycled, up from only 15 percent 20 years ago. The high landscape, they build broad floodplains, level expanses
value of aluminum scrap ($650 a ton versus $60 for steel, that are periodically inundated. Many cities have been
$200 for plastic, $50 for glass, and $30 for paperboard) built on these flat, fertile plains, which are both good for
gives consumers plenty of incentive to deliver their cans agriculture and convenient to the river. When floods
for collection. Recycling is so rapid and effective that half occur irregularly, people develop a false sense of
of all the aluminum cans now on a grocer’s shelf will be security. But eventually most floodplains do flood.
made into another can within two months. - Beach erosion occurs on all sandy shorelines because
- Platinum, the catalyst in automobile catalytic exhaust the motion of the waves is constantly redistributing sand
converters, is valuable enough to be regularly retrieved and other sediments. One of the world’s longest and most
and recycled from used cars. spectacular sand beaches runs down the Atlantic Coast
- Other metals commonly recycled are gold, silver, of North America from New England to Florida and
copper, lead, iron, and steel. The latter four are readily around the Gulf of Mexico. Much of this beach lies on
available in a pure and massive form, including copper some 350 long, thin barrier islands that stand between
pipes, lead batteries, and steel and iron auto parts. Gold the mainland and the open sea.
and silver are valuable enough to warrant recovery, even
through more difficult means. CLIMATE CHANGE
- A new type of mill subsisting entirely on a readily
Weather and Climate
available supply of scrap/waste steel and iron is a
growing industry. Minimills, which remelt and reshape Weather - refers to atmospheric conditions that occur locally
scrap iron and steel, are smaller and cheaper to operate over short periods of time— from minutes to hours or days.
than traditional integrated mills that perform every Familiar examples include rain, snow, clouds, winds, floods or
process from preparing raw ore to finishing iron and steel thunderstorms.
products
Climate - refers to the long-term regional or even global average
New Materials of temperature, humidity and rainfall patterns over seasons,
years or decades.
- Mineral and metal consumption can be reduced by new
materials or new technologies developed to replace Greenhouse Effect
traditional uses.
- Bronze replaced stone technology and iron replaced - Warming that result when the atmosphere traps heat
bronze. radiating from Earth toward space.
- The introduction of plastic pipe has decreased our - Gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect
consumption of copper, lead, and steel pipes. include:
- The development of fiber-optic technology and o Water vapour
satellite communication reduces the need for copper o Carbon Dioxide
telephone wires. o Methane
o Nitrous Oxide
 o Chlorofluorocarbons
- The consequences of changing the natural atmospheric
greenhouse are difficult to predict, but certain effects are:
o On average, Earth will become warmer. Some
regions may welcome warmer temperatures, but
others may not.
o Warmer conditions will probably lead to more
evaporation and precipitation overall, but individual
regions will vary, some becoming wetter and others
dryer.
o A stronger greenhouse effect will warm the oceans
and partially melt glaciers and other ice, increasing
sea level. Ocean water also will expand if it warms,
contributing further to sea level rise.
o Some crops and other plants may respond favorably
to increase atmospheric CO2, growing more
vigorously and using water more efficiently. At the
same time, higher temperatures and shifting climate
patterns may change the areas where crops grow
best and affect the makeup of natural plant
communities.

Global Warming

- The long-term heating of Earth’s climate system

observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850
and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel
burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas
levels in Earth’s atmosphere.
- Since the pre-industrial period, human activities are
estimated to have increased Earth’s global average
temperature by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees
Fahrenheit), a number that is currently increasing by 0.2
degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade.
Most of the current warming trend is extremely likely
(greater than 95 percent probability) the result of human
activity since the 1950s and is proceeding at an
unprecedented rate over decades to millennia.

Climate Change

- A long-term change in the average weather patterns that

have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global
climates.
- Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the early 20th
century are primarily driven by human activities,
particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases
heattrapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s
atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface
temperature. These human-produced temperature
increases are commonly referred to as global warming.
- Natural processes can also contribute to climate change,
including internal variability (e.g., cyclical ocean patterns
like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation)
and external forcing (e.g., volcanic activity, changes in
the Sun’s energy output, and variations in Earth’s orbit).

- Evidence of climate change key indicators:

o global land and ocean temperature increases
o rising sea levels
o ice loss at Earth’s poles and in mountain glaciers
o frequency and severity changes in extreme weather
such as hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires, droughts,
floods and precipitation
o cloud and vegetation cover changes

- Future Effects of Climate Change

o Change Will Continue Through This Century and
Beyond
o Frost-free Season (and Growing Season) will
Lengthen
o Changes in Precipitation Patterns
o More Droughts and Heat Waves
o Hurricanes Will Become Stronger and More Intense
o Sea Level Will Rise 1-8 feet by 2100
o Arctic Likely to Become Ice-Free