3.1.2 Nonrenewable Resources

Objectives

• recognize the importance of many nonrenewable resources

• explain the processes required to form nonrenewable resources

• examine how people use nonrenewable resources in their daily lives

• climate

• nonrenewable resource

• weathering

Prerequisite Vocab

• fossil fuel

New Vocab

energy source formed from dead organisms

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Fossil Fuel

Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources that have formed deep within the Earth over millions of years. These resources are extracted from the ground and burned to produce energy.

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Fossil Fuels

Photosynthesis and Fossil Fuels

Plants use photosynthesis to convert light energy into chemical energy. This chemical energy remains stored in plants even after it is converted into fossil fuels. This means that the energy released from burning coal, oil, and natural gas originally came from the sun.

• fossils that form coal are found on land

• sediment layers build up on the dead organisms

• heat and pressure slowly convert the organic remains into coal

​​Coal Formation

• many fossils that form oil and natural gas originate in areas that were once oceans

• sediment builds up and alters the organic remains with extreme heat and pressure

Oil and Gas Formation

Minerals

Minerals are naturally occurring substances found in the ground. Earth's minerals are the components that form rocks. Minerals appear individually as single minerals, or rocks may be composed of various minerals.

• Gold, silver, aluminum, copper, and iron

• good conductivity that make them useful for heat and electricity

Metallic Minerals

• used in their raw unaltered state or as components for other materials

• ex. halite in the form of table salt, limestone, sand, gravel, and clay

Nonmetallic Minerals

• high temperatures that melt rock into magma and lava

Extreme Conditions

• formed as Earth's tectonic plates move around and collide.

High Pressure

• when mineral-rich solutions, such as ocean water, evaporate it leaves behind mineral crystals, such as salt

Evaporation

Soil

Soil is a foundational component of agriculture. It is a mixture of rock and mineral particles, decayed organic material, air, and water. Without good soil, humans would be unable to produce the food necessary for survival.

However, soil is a type of nonrenewable resource. Soil is considered a nonrenewable resource because of the time it takes to develop into usable means, such as growing crops.

A significant component of soil is fragmented pieces of rock and minerals. Weathering takes a long time to build enough soil for plants to grow.

Weathering

A climate's characteristics, such as temperature and rainfall, impact how quickly soil forms. In areas where soil forms slower, soil depletion has a much longer impact.

Climate

• forms over thousands of years.

• rises to the surface over millions of years.

• It breaks down into soil layers

Bedrock