Exam 14: Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources

A(n) ____________________ is an element or inorganic compound that occurs naturally in the earth's crust as a solid with a regular internal crystalline structure.

Magma that manages to reach the surface of the earth is called ____________________.

Which of the following is not a part of the life cycle of a metal?

Minerals and rocks take a long time to form and are called

Use the Figure above to answer the following question(s). -What does the letter E represent?

The slowest of the earth's cyclic processes is the

When a resource has been economically depleted, we can do all of the following, except

The physical, chemical, and biological activities, part of the external geologic processes driven by energy from the sun, is called?

Most earthquakes occur near the center of a tectonic plate.

The United States has little or no reserves of four _______________ such as cobalt, chromium, manganese, and platinum, which are vital to the country's economic and military strength.

One way to improve mining technology and reduce its environmental impact is to use microorganisms that can breakdown rock material and extract minerals, a process called ____________________ mining.

Which of the following is true concerning the possible mining of the ocean floor?

The continents, riding on tectonic plates, have crashed together and separated several times during the earth's history.

When an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate the continental plate usually slides up and over the denser oceanic plate, pushing it down into the mantle, a process called

Reserves of minerals increase when new, profitable sources are identified, and when technologies make it profitable to extract deposits formerly considered too expensive to remove.

Waste soil and rock removed during surface mining is called

When an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide, the continental plate rides up over the denser oceanic plate, pushing the oceanic plate down in a process called _______________.

The environmental impact of mining depends on the percentage of metal content, or ____________________.

The place where an earthquake begins is called its

A mineral resource is a concentration of naturally occurring material from the earth's crust that can be extracted and processed into useful products at an ____________________.