Chapter 19. Chapter 19: Mineral Resources
What geologic forces help shape the planet and the rocks and minerals in the Earth's crust?
Guiding Question 19.2
What geologic forces help shape the planet and the rocks and minerals in the Earth's crust?
Why You Should Care
The Earth beneath our feet is a dynamic system. Geology studies the motions and effects of the forces that move the solid and liquid layers within the Earth. Near the surface, the rock of the asthenosphere is solid and forms continent-wide sheets called tectonic plates. Just as boiling water creates convection bubbles, the molten core pushes these plates to perform an intricate dance as they slide against other tectonic plates. Gravity crushes deeper layers and forces solid rock to rearrange its structure under great pressure. These motions pull up matter from deeper layers and force other shallow layers down. The asthenosphere is shallow enough for us to dig and mine our minerals.
Farther down in the mantle, oceans of molten rock melt and rearrange the chemical makeup of minerals by stripping and recombining atoms to form new minerals. These may eventually be pushed upward and solidify into the crust. Deeper still is the core, with regions of intense pressure and heat. This region is too hot and too deep for metals and minerals to form, but its actions power and shape the layers above.
Test Your Vocabulary
Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sections of the Earth's crust that float above the magma layer. | |
| A naturally occurring chemical compound that exists as a solid with a predicatable, three-dimensional, repeating structure. | |
| The study of the structure of the Earth and the processes that shaped it in the past and today. |
1.
Which layer of the Earth contains ores that are accessible to mining?
| A. |
| B. |
| C. |
| D. |
Activity results are being submitted...