Environmental Geology

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Environmental Geology
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What is Environmental Geology?

• Geologic Hazards
• (earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc.)
• Geologic Resources
• (metals, stone, fossil fuels, water, etc.)
• Waste Disposal
• (sewage, solid waste, hazardous materials)

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Text and Website

• Pipkin Trent's - Geology and the Environment

• Website http//www.geologyeducation.com

Link
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Fuels
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Resource Estimate - Calculation

• 100 acres
• x 5 feet thick
• 500 acre-feet
• x 1,800 tons / acre foot
• 900,000 tons of coal
• x .50 recovery rate for deep (.90 for
  surface)
• 450,000 tons of coal for deep (810,000 for
  surface)

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Three Weeks of Earthquakes
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Earthquake Anatomy
Epicenter
Fault
Focus
Seismic Waves
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Magnitude Scales

• Used for news reports
• Related to the amount of energy released
• Require a seismograph
• One magnitude per earthquake

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Richter Magnitude

• -3 -2 -1 0 1 2
  3 4 5 6 7 8 9
  10 11

architectural damage
structural damage
total destruction
"instrument earthquakes"
"felt"
Greater than about 9 - unlikely (rocks can't
store that much energy)
Each step on the scale is 10x the ground motion
/ 33x the energy
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Earth's Six Water Reservoirs
Oceans
97.54
- - -
1.81
- - -
Glaciers
Ground Water
0.63
98.4
1.4
0.009
Fresh Lakes / Streams
Salty Lakes / Streams
0.007
- - -
0.001
0.2
Atmosphere
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Hydrologic Cycle
Transpiration
Precipitation
Infiltration
Evaporation
Runoff
Percolation
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Stream Gauge Operation

• Automatic monitoring of stream
• Reporting by satellite, radio, or
• telephone
• Rapid response in emergencies
• Continuous historical record
• Tioga River at Mansfield

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