The Distribution of Earth's Resources

The Distribution of Earth's Resources

Week 16: Reading Science

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Earth contains a huge variety of natural resources. However, these resources are becoming more precious as the years pass by. This is mainly due to the overuse of some resources by humans. Recently people have come to the conclusion that they must protect Earth’s natural treasures to make sure they will be available for future generations; therefore, many scientists are now conducting research to look for new ways to save these resources and more efficient ways to take care of our planet.

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Some of the natural resources that we use are renewable, such as trees, air, and water. These resources can be renewed or replaced by nature in a timely manner. Other resources produced by Earth are nonrenewable. Nonrenewable resources are natural resources that cannot be replaced once they have been used. These resources include minerals and fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. Let’s take a look at three different areas of the United States where nonrenewable resources can be found.

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Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park is a public park where people can look for diamonds and keep the ones they find. The first diamond was found in this area in 1906 by a farmer who owned the land at that time. Over the years, hundreds of diamonds have been found. The diamond-bearing soil in the park is plowed regularly to bring diamonds close to the surface. The diamonds people have found range in size from as small as a match head to larger than a fingernail.

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The diamonds found in the park formed millions of years ago hundreds of miles under Earth’s surface. They developed in Earth’s mantle where there is a huge amount of pressure. Temperatures there can reach up to 4,000 degrees. The heat and pressure can change carbon into diamonds. Geologists believe the diamonds reached Earth’s surface when volcanoes erupted.

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The High Plains aquifer is one of the largest groundwater stores in the world. It lies under the entire state of Nebraska and parts of Colorado, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming. People in these states have been taking water from the aquifer for many years.

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The High Plains aquifer developed as the result of wind, water, and a very large tectonic plate crash about 65 million years ago. These plates formed what we know today as the Rocky Mountains. As the mountains began pushing upward, wind and water began weathering the peaks. This left sediment that rivers and streams carried eastward. The water and sediment slowly built up to form the High Plains aquifer.

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The High Plains aquifer ranges in thickness from a few feet deep to 1,000 feet deep. In some places, there is gravel that allows room for water to sit in between the rocks. In other places, the aquifer is tightly packed with sand, which holds less water than the gravel.

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Since the 1940s, 88 trillion gallons of water have been extracted from the High Plains aquifer. The water is mainly used on farms that grow grains to feed millions of people. Water does make its way back into the aquifer. However, it is a much slower process than the rate at which people are pumping it out. It would take nearly 6,000 years of rainfall to replace what has been taken out of the aquifer.

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The Gulf of Mexico is home to hundreds of oil wells, drilled into the ground below the ocean. Oil and other fossil fuels formed more than 290 million years ago. Plants that lived millions of years ago used energy from the Sun to produce their own food just like modern plants. Some of the Sun’s energy was stored in the plants as chemical energy. Animals that ate the plants stored that energy in their cells.

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When these ancient plants and animals died, not all of the remains decomposed. Some remains settled to the bottom of the swamp, lake, sea, or ocean where they lived. Layers of sandy sediments piled up on top of the buried remains. More dead organisms and sediments built up into more layers. Over millions of years, the layers of sediments were pressed and cemented together to form solid rock. The remains of the dead organisms were trapped between the layers of rock. Heat and pressure gradually changed the remains into fossil fuelscoal, oil, and natural gas.

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Coal is burned to produce heat and electricity. It formed in swamps from decaying plant matter called peat. Oil and natural gas formed from ancient plants and animals that died and fell to the bottom of seas and oceans. Natural gas is used to heat our homes and cook our food. Oil is mainly used in transportation.

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The Gulf of Mexico is a major spot for finding these fossil fuels, especially natural gas and oil. However, great care must be taken when finding and extracting these resources from the ocean floor. If just one mistake is made, the fossil fuels can be wasted at the expense of fish, birds, and people.

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Diamonds, aquifers, and fossil fuels are still forming today. However, they take millions of years to form. People continue to use them faster than nature can replace them. Nonrenewable resources like these can be used up, making them unavailable for future generations.

Multiple Choice

Which statement best supports the main ideas in the selection?

• Fossil fuels should no longer be used, and alternate forms of energy should be found to take care of our Earth.

• Earth’ resources are limited due to overconsumption by humans as well as the length of time needed for Earth to replace these resources.

• Groundwater is essential to all people on Earth because it is how everyone gets their water and how plants get water to grow.

• People should use more renewable resources due to the fact that Earth can quickly replace them.

Multiple Choice

Diamonds form from which Earth element?

• Minerals

• Heat

• Pressure

• Carbon

Multiple Choice

The Gulf of Mexico is to oil as-

• Earth is to the moon.

• Arkansas is to diamonds.

• Dinosaurs are to fossil fuels.

• Nebraska is to the atmosphere.

Multiple Choice

What is another term for extract?

• To copy

• To separate or obtain

• To pull or draw out

• To keep

Multiple Choice

Fossil Fuels formed over millions of years because extreme heat and pressure were applied to-

• remains of organisms trapped between rock layers.

• underground aquifers.

• bacteria living underground.

• minerals becoming fossilized.