Environmental geology

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Oil well in Tsaidam Oil well in Tsaidam.jpg
Oil well in Tsaidam

Environmental geology, like hydrogeology, is an applied science concerned with the practical application of the principles of geology in the solving of environmental problems created by man. It is a multidisciplinary field that is closely related to engineering geology and, to a lesser extent, to environmental geography. [1] Each of these fields involves the study of the interaction of humans with the geologic environment, including the biosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and to some extent the atmosphere. In other words, environmental geology is the application of geological information to solve conflicts, minimizing possible adverse environmental degradation, or maximizing possible advantageous conditions resulting from the use of natural and modified environment. With an increasing world population and industrialization, the natural environment and resources are under high strain which puts them at the forefront of world issues. Environmental geology is on the rise with these issues as solutions are found by utilizing it. [2]

Contents

Environmental geology in relation to other fields

Hydrogeology

Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust. Environmental geology is applied in this field as environmental problems are created in groundwater pollution due to mining, agriculture, and other human activities. Pollution is the impairment of groundwater by heat, bacteria, or chemicals. The greatest contributors to groundwater pollution are surface sources such as fertilizers, leaking sewers, polluted streams, and mining/mineral wastes. [3] Environmental geology approaches the groundwater pollution problem by creating objectives when monitoring.

These objectives include:

Soil Science

Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth. Environmental geology is applied in this field as soil scientists raise concerns on soil preservation and arable land with the world increasing population, increasing per capita food consumption, and land degradation. These environmental problems are attacked and reduced with environmental geology by using soil surveys. [4] These surveys assess the properties of soils and are of use in geologic mapping, rural and urban land planning, especially in terms of agriculture and forestry. Soil surveys are essential parts of land use planning and mapping as they provide insight on agricultural land usage. Soil surveys provide information on optimum cropping systems and soil management so less land degradation is done and agriculture provides its optimum yield for the increasing per capita food consumption. [1]

Soil survey investigations include:

Focuses

Environmental geology includes

Environmental geology is often applied to some well known environmental issues including population growth, mining, diminishing resources, and global land use. [5]

Mining

Since the Stone Age, when humans began mining for flint, they have been dependent on this practice, and the dependency on minerals continues to increase as society evolves. One of the downsides of mining is that it is restricted to areas where minerals are present and economically viable. Mining duration is also restrained as mineral resources are finite, so when a deposit is exhausted, mining in that location comes to an end. [1] Although modern mining and mineral activities utilize many ways to reduce negative environmental impacts, accidental releases can occur and the appropriate mitigation and prevention practices were not common in historical practices. Potentially harmful metals, other deposit constituents, and mineral processing chemicals or byproducts can contaminate the surrounding environment due to these situations. [6] Some common environmental impacts of mining are rock displacements that allow fine dust particles to seep into surface waters, the defacement of the local landscape, and the large amounts of waste with some being chemically reactive. [7] Ultimately, the impact that mining has on the environment is determined by many factors such as the size of the operation and the type of mining. Environmental geology has reduced the negative environmental impacts of mining as it has been used in litigation toward mining. In some countries like Brazil [8] and Australia [9] for example, it is decreed by law that sites must undergo rehabilitation after a mining operation has ceased. Prior to any mining, an assessment is also necessary to analyze the potential environmental impacts. Another measure taken is that an environmental management program must be produced to show how the mine will operate. Land planning is an important aspect in deciding whether a site is suitable for mining but some environmental degradation is inevitable. Environmental Geology continues to lower the amount of negative effects that mining has on the natural environment. [1]

Recycling

Nonrenewable resources are only one type of resource with the other two being potentially renewable and perpetual. Nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels and metals, are finite, and therefore cannot be replenished during human lifetime, but are being depleted at a high rate. Due to their importance in many economies, this creates an issue as the world keeps developing the technologies used to exploit these resources. Some important roles of these nonrenewable resources are to heat homes, fuel cars, and build infrastructure. Environmental geology has been used to approach this issue with the sustainable development of recycling and reusing. [10] Recycling is the process of collecting recyclable consumer and industrial materials and products and then sorting them so they can be processed into raw materials with the intention of then using the raw materials to create new products. [11] Recycling and reusing can be done on an individual scale as well as an industrial scale. These practices maximize the usage of resources as much as possible all while minimizing waste. They also manage the industrial and domestic waste disposal as they reduce the amount of waste discharged into the global environment. [12]

Reusing and recycling include:

Environmental geology's approach to the decline of nonrenewable resources along with high amounts of waste polluting the Earth has been to reduce wasteful usage and recycle when possible.

Land use

This is an example of a simple land use map. This shows the land usage of West Newton in southeast Minnesota along the Mississippi River as of April 2021. West Newton Land Use Map 2021.jpg
This is an example of a simple land use map. This shows the land usage of West Newton in southeast Minnesota along the Mississippi River as of April 2021.

Planning out the usage of land is important to reduce the risk of natural hazards on humans and their infrastructure, but mostly to reduce negative human impact on the natural environment. The land, water, air, materials, and energy use are all critically impacted by human settlement and resource production. [13] New sites must be found for mining, waste disposal, and industrial sites as these are all parts of an industrial society. Suitable sites are often difficult to find and get approval for as they must be shown to have barriers so contaminants are prevented from entering the environment.

Site investigation in land use planning often includes at least two phases, an orientating investigation and a detailed investigation. The information in an orientating investigation is obtained through maps and other archived data. The information in a detailed investigation is obtained through a reconnaissance survey in the field and by reviewing the historic land use.

The orientating investigation includes:

The detailed investigation includes: [2]

Environmental geology includes both the monitorization and planning of land use. Land use maps are made to represent current land use along with possible future uses. Land maps like the one shown can be used to reduce human settlement in areas with potential natural hazards such as floods, geological instability, wildfires, etc. [13] In the land map shown it can be seen that there is a margin of trees and vegetation between the settlements and Mississippi River to reduce the risk of flood damage as the Mississippi Rivers water levels change.

Further reading

Some books and peer-reviewed journals in the field are:

See also

Related Research Articles

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Resource depletion is the consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources. The use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion. The value of a resource is a direct result of its availability in nature and the cost of extracting the resource. The more a resource is depleted the more the value of the resource increases. There are several types of resource depletion, the most known being: Aquifer depletion, deforestation, mining for fossil fuels and minerals, pollution or contamination of resources, slash-and-burn agricultural practices, soil erosion, and overconsumption, excessive or unnecessary use of resources.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial waste</span> Waste produced by industrial activity or manufacturing processes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groundwater</span> Water located beneath the ground surface

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water pollution</span> Contamination of water bodies

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soil contamination</span> Pollution of land by human-made chemicals or other alteration

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This is a glossary of environmental science.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental effects of mining</span> Environmental problems from uncontrolled mining

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water pollution in the United States</span> Overview of water pollution in the United States of America

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bell, F (1998). Environmental geology : Principles and practice. Oxford ; Malden, Mass. : Blackwell Science. ISBN   0632061367.
  2. 1 2 Knödel, K; Lange, G; Voigt, H.G. (2007). Environmental geology : handbook of field methods and case studies. Berlin ; New York: Springer. ISBN   978-3-540-74669-0.
  3. ↑ Lerner, David N.; Harris, Bob (2009-12-01). "The relationship between land use and groundwater resources and quality". Land Use Policy. Land Use Futures. 26: S265–S273. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.09.005. ISSN   0264-8377.
  4. ↑ Brevik, Eric C.; Miller, Bradley A. (2015). "The Use of Soil Surveys to Aid in Geologic Mapping with an Emphasis on the Eastern and Midwestern United States". Soil Horizons. 56 (4): 0. doi:10.2136/sh15-01-0001. ISSN   2163-2812.
  5. ↑ McConnell, Robert; Abel, Daniel (2014). Environmental geology today. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN   978-1449684877.
  6. ↑ Plumlee, G.S. (22 April 2021). "The environmental geochemistry of mineral deposits". Journal of Geochemical Exploration.
  7. ↑ Zobrist, Jürg (22 April 2021). "Mining and the environment". Environmental Science and Pollution Research International. 20 (11): 7487–7489. doi: 10.1007/s11356-013-1990-5 . PMID   23975705. S2CID   31497017 – via SpringerLINK Contemporary.
  8. ↑ Gastauer, Markus; Souza Filho, Pedro Walfir Martins; Ramos, Silvio Junio; Caldeira, Cecílio Frois; Silva, Joyce Reis; Siqueira, José Oswaldo; Furtini Neto, Antonio Eduardo (2019-01-01). "Mine land rehabilitation in Brazil: Goals and techniques in the context of legal requirements". Ambio. 48 (1): 74–88. doi:10.1007/s13280-018-1053-8. ISSN   1654-7209. PMC   6297110 . PMID   29644620.
  9. ↑ Nichols, Owen G.; Nichols, Flora M. (5 August 2003). "Long-Term Trends in Faunal Recolonization After Bauxite Mining in the Jarrah Forest of Southwestern Australia". Restoration Ecology. 11 (3): 261–272. doi:10.1046/j.1526-100X.2003.00190.x. ISSN   1061-2971. S2CID   86244786.
  10. ↑ Merritts, D; De Wet, A; Menking, K (1998). Environmental Geology: An Earth System Science Approach. W. H. Freeman. ISBN   9780716728344.
  11. ↑ Jorgensen, Finn (2019). Recycling. 9780262355810: MIT Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. ↑ Harada, T (22 April 2021). "The Role of Resource Recycling". Nonrenewable Resources. 2 (3): 247–255. doi:10.1007/BF02257918. S2CID   129436641.
  13. 1 2 Randolph, J (2004). Environmental land use planning and management. Island Press. ISBN   9781559639484.
  14. ↑ "Environmental Earth Sciences". Springer. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  15. ↑ LaMoreaux, James (2019). Environmental geology. New York, NY: Springer. ISBN   9781493987870.
  16. ↑ Foley, D (2009). Investigations in Environmental Geology. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall. ISBN   9780131420649.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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