NATURAL RESOURCES

• petroleum (oil) - composed of hydrocarbons
• petroleum - highly flammable liquid
• natural gas - flammable gas mixture conisisting of methane
• it is the cleanest fossil fuel

  natural gas
• geothermal energy - natural heat of earth
• geothermal gradient - rate at which temperature increases with depth
• magma - molten rock underneath the suface of earth
• minerals - naturally occurring inorganic solid substances that are composed of ions and molecules bonded together
• crystalline - ions and molecules of a mineral arranged in a regular network
• rocks - naturally formed aggregates of minerals
• enumerate 3 types of rocks

  1. igneous - formed from the solidification of lava
  2. metamorphic - form from preexisting rocks
  3. sedimentary - form from fragments of older rocks o ions dissolved in water
• earth materials - naturally occurring resources found on earth
• soil - when rock fragments created by weathering are altered by biological processes
• erosion - transport of soil and sediments
• weathering - breakdown of rocks into smaller pieces due to physical, chemical or biological agents
• deposition - particles fall out of the transporting medium and settle on a surface
• water pollutants - disease-causing microorganisms
• oligotrophic - freshwater environments that are clear but have low biological productivity
• eutrophic - nutrient-rich waters
• algal blooms - influx of nutrients together with an increase in temperature and more sunlight penetrating the water
• dinoflagellates - blooms of microscopic algae
• minamata disease - mercury poisoning from eating fish contaminated with mercury
• sedimentation - water carries sedinemnts to rivers and other bodies of water
• siltation - increased concentration of sediments on the bottom of bodies of water
• thermal pollution - sudden increase or decrease in water temperature
• blast fishing - uses dynamite and results in killing of fish
• coral reefs - nursing ground for fishes
• janitor fish - originally imported by fish hobbyists, now found in many aquariums
• ways to contaminate oil

  1. oil may be pumped into another ship
  2. dispersants applied to oil slick
  3. burn the oil