Environmental Management: 5014
CONTENT OVERVIEW
THE SYLLABUS IS DIVIDED INTO NINE TOPICS WHICH HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO DEVELOP AN
UNDERSTANDING OF BOTH THE NATURAL AND THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT:
1 ROCKS AND MINERALS AND THEIR EXPLOITATION
2 ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
3 AGRICULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
4 WATER AND ITS MANAGEMENT
5 OCEANS AND FISHERIES
6 MANAGING NATURAL HAZARDS
7 THE ATMOSPHERE AND HUMAN ACTIVITIES
8 HUMAN POPULATION
9 NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN ACTIVITIES
Assessment overview
Assessment overview
FIND CAIE SYLLABUS AND PAST PAPER BY
CLICKING THE FOLLOWING LINKS:
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-uppersecondary/cambridg
e-o-level/
https://papers.xtremepape.rs/CAIE/O%20Level/
ROCKS AND MINERALS AND THEIR
EXPLOITATION
Rocks and Minerals
Rock: the dry solid part of the earth's surface, or any large piece of this that sticks up out of
the ground or the sea:
Mineral: A mineral as "a naturally occurring inorganic element or compound having an
orderly internal structure and characteristic chemical composition, crystal form, and
physical properties."
Minerals differ from rocks, which are naturally occurring solids composed of one or more
minerals. Rocks do not have a distinctive chemical composition or crystal structure. The
earth science definition, however, is not always used to define minerals.
Structure of the Earth
Earth is composed of four distinct layers. They are, from
deepest to shallowest, the inner core, the outer core, the
mantle and the crust. Except for the crust, no one has
ever explored these layers in person. In fact, the deepest
humans have ever drilled is just over 12 kilometers (7.6
miles). And even that took 20 years.
Earth’s Layers
WATCH A VIDEO RELATED TO EARTH’S
STRUCTURE
INNER CORE
This solid metal ball has a radius of 1,220 kilometers (758 miles),
or about three-quarters that of the moon. It’s located some
6,400 to 5,180 kilometers (4,000 to 3,220 miles) beneath Earth’s
surface. Extremely dense, it’s made mostly of iron and nickel. It’s
also intensely hot: Temperatures sizzle at 5,400° Celsius (9,800°
Fahrenheit). That’s almost as hot as the surface of the sun.
OUTER CORE
This part of the core is also made from iron and nickel, just in liquid form.
The outer core, about 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) thick, is mostly
composed of liquid iron and nickel. The outer core is very hot, between
4,500° and 5,500° Celsius (8,132° and 9,932° Fahrenheit).
The liquid metal of the outer core has very low viscosity, meaning it is
easily deformed and malleable. It is the site of violent convection.
The churning metal of the outer core creates and sustains Earth’s magnetic
field.
MANTLE ( ASTENOSPHERE &
LITHOSPHERE
At close to 3,000 kilometers (1,865 miles) thick, this is Earth’s thickest layer. It starts a mere
30 kilometers (18.6 miles) beneath the surface. Made mostly of iron, magnesium and silicon,
it is dense, hot and semi-solid (think caramel candy).
Near its upper edges, somewhere between about 100 and 200 kilometers (62 to 124 miles)
underground, the mantle’s temperature reaches the melting point of rock. Indeed, it forms a
layer of partially melted rock known as the asthenosphere (As-THEEN-oh-sfeer). Geologists
believe this weak, hot, slippery part of the mantle is what Earth’s tectonic plates ride upon
and slide across.
The mantle’s outermost zone is relatively cool and rigid. It behaves more like the crust above
it. Together, this uppermost part of the mantle layer and the crust are known as the
lithosphere.
THE CRUST
Earth’s crust is like the shell of a hard-boiled egg. It is extremely thin, cold and
brittle compared to what lies below it. The crust is made of relatively light
elements, especially silica, aluminum and oxygen. It’s also highly variable in its
thickness. Under the oceans (and Hawaiian Islands), it may be as little as 5
kilometers (3.1 miles) thick. Beneath the continents, the crust may be 30 to
70 kilometers (18.6 to 43.5 miles) thick.
Along with the upper zone of the mantle, the crust is broken into big pieces,
like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. These are known as tectonic plates. These move
slowly — at just 3 to 5 centimeters (1.2 to 2 inches) per year.
TYPES OF ROCKS
Igneous rocks (derived from the Latin word for fire) are formed when molten hot material cools
and solidifies. Igneous rocks can also be made a couple of different ways. When they are
formed inside of the earth, they are called intrusive, or plutonic, igneous rocks. If they are
formed outside or on top of Earth’s crust, they are called extrusive, or volcanic, igneous rocks.
Granite and diorite are examples of common intrusive rocks. They have a coarse texture with
large mineral grains, indicating that they spent thousands or millions of years cooling down
inside the earth, a time course that allowed large mineral crystals to grow.
Alternatively, rocks like basalt and obsidian have very small grains and a relatively fine texture.
This happens because when magma erupts into lava, it cools more quickly than it would if it
stayed inside the earth, giving crystals less time to form. Obsidian cools into volcanic glass so
quickly when ejected that the grains are impossible to see with the naked eye.
SEDIMENTARY ROCK
Sedimentary rocks are formed by the weathering of existing rocks at the Earth’s
surface, the accumulation and fossilization of living material, or the precipitation
od dissolved materials out of solution in water. Weathering processes release
small mineral particles that accumulate to form sediment. Over time, the layers
of sediments build up to forms sedimentary rock.
The sediments include different-sized mineral particles. The smallest particles
are clays. Followed by silt and then sand.
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
Metamorphic rocks are created from existing rocks when the heat
or pressure or both ,causes changes in the rock crystals without
melting the existing rock. The existing rock therefore changes in
structure, becoming a metamorphic rock. The change in structure
can be chemical or physical or both.
Watch a video
Searching for minerals
Prospecting: It is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a
territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is
also known as fossicking.
Remote Sensing: Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about objects
or areas from a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites.
Seismic survey: Another method used to identify the mineral ores present in rock is
geophysics. A serious of vibration (seismic waves are sent through the Earth’s surface. The
vibration create shock waves that travel down into the rock layers and are reflected back to
the sensors on the surface. The shock waves depending on what minerals are present in the
rock.
Prospecting or Fossicking
Seismic Survey
Methods of Extraction
Surface Mining ( Open Cast or Open Pit, Strip Mining, Quarrying,
Moutaintop Mining)
Sub- surface Mining or Under ground Mining ( Adit Mining and
Shaft Mining)
Open Cast or Open Pit Mining
Mountaintop Mining
Quarrying
Adit Mining
Adit Mining
Shaft Mining
Factors affecting the viability of
Minerals
Read page# 10-11 of Gary Skinner
Read Page# 8-9 of John Pllister
Impact of Rock and Mineral
Extraction
Read page# 12-16 of John Plistter
Read Gary Skinner
