Ch. 4 Mineral Resources
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____1.Which of the following is an example of a renewable resource?
a. / cotton / c. / natural gasb. / copper / d. / coal
____2.Renewable resources ____.
a. / can be replenished over months, years, or decadesb. / are all living resources
c. / have finite supplies that will one day be used up
d. / include iron, natural gas, and copper
____3.Which of the following is an example of a nonrenewable resource?
a. / cotton / c. / cattleb. / trees / d. / uranium
____4.Which of the following lists presents forms of coal in the correct order from the first stage of development to the last stage of development?
a. / peat, lignite, bituminous, anthraciteb. / bituminous, anthracite, peat, lignite
c. / anthracite, bituminous, lignite, peat
d. / peat, lignite, anthracite, bituminous
____5.Which of the following energy resources might replace dwindling petroleum supplies one day?
a. / coal and natural gas / c. / oil shale and tar sandsb. / tar sands and uranium / d. / wind and coal
____6.Which of the following alternative energy sources is NOT inexhaustible?
a. / tidal energy / c. / geothermal energyb. / solar energy / d. / wind energy
____7.Placer deposits form when ____.
a. / hot, metal-rich fluids cool undergroundb. / heavy eroded particles settle out of moving water
c. / organic matter is compressed over millions of years
d. / magma cools in underground chambers
____8.Vein deposits are usually produced by ____.
a. / cementation and compaction / c. / weatheringb. / hydrothermal solutions / d. / density sorting
____9.Which of the following is a nonmetallic mineral resource?
a. / wood / c. / ironb. / coal / d. / aggregate
____10.Which of the following nonmetallic mineral resources is used both as a building material and as an industrial mineral?
a. / sulfur / c. / graphiteb. / limestone / d. / corundum
____11.The advantages of solar energy include the fact that it is ____.
a. / nonrenewable / c. / expensiveb. / non-polluting / d. / absent at night
____12.Harnessing the sun’s energy to produce heat or electricity is ____.
a. / non-polluting / c. / possible only in coastal areasb. / inexpensive / d. / a major source of air pollution
____13.What is one of the drawbacks to the extensive use of solar energy?
a. / It is nonrenewable.b. / Necessary equipment and installation are expensive.
c. / It is available only at night.
d. / It produces toxic pollution.
____14.The fuel for nuclear fission in nuclear reactors is ____.
a. / petroleum / c. / hydrogenb. / carbon / d. / uranium
____15.It is estimated that, in the future, wind energy could produce what percentage of the nation’s demand for electricity?
a. / 80–85% / c. / 70–75%b. / 5–10% / d. / 25–30%
____16.Wind power generates ____.
a. / noise pollution / c. / water pollutionb. / air pollution / d. / soil pollution
____17.One problem with wind energy as a major source of electricity is ____.
a. / it is nonrenewableb. / it causes major air pollution
c. / it does not work during the night
d. / the expense of large tracts of land in populated areas
____18.Hydroelectric power is produced by ____.
a. / falling water that turns a turbineb. / tides that pour through a dam barrier
c. / hot water that comes from deep underground
d. / electric current that flows across a dam
____19.What is the source of geothermal energy?
a. / sunlight heating surface watersb. / the splitting of atoms to release energy
c. / natural underground reservoirs of steam and hot water
d. / very hot minerals deep underground
____20.How is tidal power harnessed?
a. / by building a dam across a swiftly flowing riverb. / by bombarding uranium nuclei with neutrons
c. / by building a dam across the mouth of a bay or an estuary in a coastal area
d. / by tapping into underground steam reservoirs
____21.What amount of Earth’s total water supply is usable fresh water?
a. / 25% / c. / 50%b. / less than 1% / d. / 75%
____22.What is the function of the atmosphere’s ozone layer?
a. / shields Earth from harmful solar radiationb. / provides the oxygen needed by human life
c. / protects Earth from the sun’s heat
d. / removes pollution from the atmosphere
____23.The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide helps to ____.
a. / deflect harmful radiation from spaceb. / increase precipitation in arid areas
c. / form clouds in the atmosphere
d. / maintain warmth near Earth’s surface
____24.In which decade were the first important laws passed to decrease water pollution?
a. / 1950s / c. / 1970sb. / 1960s / d. / 1980s
____25.The Clean Water Act ____.
a. / required pollution control devices on cars and power plantsb. / established National Ambient Air Quality Standards
c. / set maximum contaminant levels for pollutants in drinking water
d. / required industries to reduce or eliminate point source pollution in surface waters
____26.Cars with hybrid and electric motors ____.
a. / use more fuel than conventional carsb. / create less air pollution than conventional cars
c. / use solar panels for power
d. / are no longer produced
____27.What is the most important law passed to deal with air pollution?
a. / Clean Water Actb. / Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
c. / Clean Air Act
d. / Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
Completion
Complete each sentence or statement.
Word Bank
Fossil Fuel Vein Deposit Ore Deposit Tar Sand Non-renewable
28.A deposit from which minerals can be extracted profitably is called a(n) ______.
29.Fossil fuels are ______resources.
30.Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are ______.
31.______, a mixture of clay and sand with bitumen, could replace petroleum one day.
32.A(n) ______is a useful metallic mineral that can be mined at a profit.
33.A metal-rich accumulation of mineral matter that occurs along a fracture or bedding plane is called a(n) ______.
Ch. 4