HUMAN IMPACT ON THE LITHOSPHERE

WHY IS THE LITHOSPHERE IMPORTANT?

Provides land/space on which to live

Provides necessary resources required for

survival, like food and fuel

OVER TIME…

Hunter-GatherersObtained food by hunting and gathering plants

Agricultural revolution – 10,000 years ago, started collecting seeds, etc

Industrial Revolution – middle of 1700sWater/animal muscle – coal and oil

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Machinery made farming, work, etc more efficient.

Cheap transportation over great distances

Materials such as plastic, pesticides, and fertilizers developed

RESOURCES

Natural resource – natural material used by humans

Renewable resource – can be replaced quickly with natural processes

Non-renewable resource – forms at a much slower rate (fossil fuels)

POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION

Developed nations 75 percent of world’s resources, 20%

population = more waste

Ecological Footprint – productive area of Earth needed to support one person in a particular country.

4 MAJOR PRACTICES THAT AFFECT QUALITY OF

LITHOSPHERE

Deforestation

Agriculture

Urbanization

Mining

DEFORESTATION Forests are cut down for the purpose of

building and agriculture

Removing plants increases the rate of erosion,because the plant roots no longer secure thesoil in one place

Deforestation

The removal of forests (rain, deciduous, etc.)• Less carbon pulled from atmosphere

• Less oxygen produced

• Increase water runoff!!

• Decrease in biological diversity• Bio-diversity down 30% in past 40 years

Deforestation

URBANIZATION

Increasing population has led to the need for

more land space for homes, resulting in use of

more natural resources and limiting availability

of farmland.

Urbanization

• Physical growth of urban areas as result of rural

migration

• Currently more people living in urban areas than

rural areas (first time in history)

Urbanization

Environmental Effects

•Heat Islands – solar radiation reflected by

buildings, asphalt, etc

•Makes location hotter than surrounding areas

•Extra solar radiation not being used (plants,

water, etc)

Urbanization

Environmental Effects

•More people = more waste/trash

•Less plant life to clean air (increase air

pollution)

•Acid rain – Decrease in pH of rain due to

pollution

URBANIZATION

Environmental Effects

• Increase of impermeable surfaces• Water and other materials cannot pass

through

• Leads to increased run off and flooding

AGRICULTURE In addition to losing soil by

deforestation, we alsolose tons of topsoil eachyear through agriculture

Topsoil is the upper,outermost layer of soil,usually the top 2 inches. Ithas the highest amount oforganic matter andmicroorganisms, and iswhere plants obtain mostof their nutrients

AGRICULTURE

Traditional agriculture techniques, like plowing,

remove topsoil and require replanting each

year. The United States alone loses almost 3

tons of topsoil per acre per year.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Preserving fertile topsoil is essential to feeding

the world’s rapidly growing population. This

can be done through:

(1) Windbreaks

(2) Terracing hillsides

(3) Contour plowing

(4) Crop rotation

WINDBREAKS

Windbreaks are located along crop field borders

or within the field itself

How do windbreaks help to reduce erosion rates?

TERRACING HILLSIDES

Terracing is the building of wide flat rows of

terraces on mountainside and hillsides. The

terraces look like big staircases. They hold

rainwater so that it will not wash away the soil.

CONTOUR PLOWING Instead of plowing up and down, farmers plow

across a slope. In this way, the soil forms a ridge that slows down the flow of water, so soil is not carried away.

CROP ROTATION

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series

of different types of crops in the same area in

back to back seasons. It maintains a balance

of nutrients in the soil.

EFFECT OF DEVELOPMENT ON SHORELINE

Construction along the shoreline increases the

rate of erosion beyond the already high rate of

erosion experienced along shorelines due to

the ocean.

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SHORELINE

STRUCTURES

Structures can be built to protect a coast from

erosion or to prevent movement of sand along

a beach:

Groins

Breakwaters

Seawalls

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: GROINS

Groins are barriers built at right angles to the

beach to trap sand that is moving parallel to

the shore. Groins are built to maintain or widen

beaches that are losing sand.

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: BREAKWATERS

Breakwaters are built parallel to the shoreline

off the coast to limit the force of oncoming

waves.

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SEAWALLS

Structure designed to

prevent impact of tides

and waves on property,

built directly along the

shoreline.

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: BEACH

NOURISHMENT

Beach nourishment projects add large

quantities of sand to the beach system. It is an

attempt to stabilize shorelines without adding

protective features.

EFFECT OF DEVELOPMENT ON MOUNTAINSIDES

Construction along mountainsides can

decrease the stability of the land, allowing for a

greater rate of erosion. Mass movements (ex:

rockslides) are more probable.

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SLOPE REVETMENT

Screen mesh (called slope revetment) draped over a steep slope keeps loosened rocks from entering roadways.

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: RETAINING WALLS

Human activities or natural processes can removesome soil from the base of a slope, making theremaining upper part of the slope less stable andmore prone to mass movement. Construction of aretaining wall can support the upper part of aslope.

ARTIFICIAL STABILIZATION: SLOPE VEGETATION

While harvesting trees, leave enough mature

trees to anchor the slope and protect soil from

excessive erosion due to runoff.

FOSSIL FUELS

Remains of ancient organisms that changed into coal, oil, or natural gasSupply is limited

Environmental consequences

FOSSIL FUEL FORMATION

Coal – plants in swamps hundreds of millions of years agoSediments compressed plant remains

Oil/natural gas – decay of tiny marine organisms compressed and heated

COAL

57% of electric production in US formed by coal

Obtained by underground mines and/or mountain removal

DRILLING

Oil pumped from the ground; crude oil

Fuels, chemicals, plastics – petroleum products

45% of world’s commercial energy use

MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINING

Subsurface mining – ore deposits that are usually 50 meters or more beneath Earth’s surface

Surface Mining – ore deposits located close to Earth’s surface.

MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINING

Surface miningSurface coal mining

Quarrying

Solar Evaporation

Mountaintop Removal

MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINING

Undersea mining Land mining is cheaper

Deep water makes processes difficult

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Energy needs increased surface mining

Reclaiming land and returning it to previous state is a requirement

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Air and noise pollution Dust created by mining and loading/unloading

Machine causes noise pollution and damage nearby structures

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Water ContaminationWater picks up and dissolves toxic substances

(arsenic)

Sulfur and water – diluted sulfuric acidAcid Mine Drainage - AMD

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Displacement of WildlifeStripping of plant life

Animals leave area

New ecosystem created after

Destroy river and sea bottoms

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Erosion and SedimentationSediments find way into streams

Choke stream life

Degrades water quality

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Soil DegradationDeeper soil layers added to top

Decreases richness of original soil

Subsidence (sink holes)Sinking of regions of ground

with no horizontal movementhttp://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/0

1/man-goes-missing-in-florida-when-

bedroom-falls-into-sinkhole/

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Underground Mine Fires Last decades and even centuries

Australian fire – 2,000 Years!!!!!

Gas and smoke emitted

MINING REGULATION AND RECLAMATION

Must comply with Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Act, and Endangered Species Act

Reclamation – returning land to original or better state after mining