1. Overview of Environmental Geology

2. The Earth System

3. Environmental Geology
Geology – the study of the earth, its materials and their properties, its internal and external physical, chemical, and biological properties, and its history

4. Environmental Geology
Environment – anything, living or nonliving, that surrounds and influences living organisms

5. Environmental Geology
Environmental Geology – the application of geology to environmental concerns

6. Environmental Geology
Geologic processes affect every inhabitant of Earth
Earthquakes
Floods
Landslides
Volcanoes

7. Environmental Geology
Geologic processes operate on multiple time scales
Slow geological processes
Formation of minerals
Evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere
Fast geological processes
Earthquakes
Landslides

8. 1994 Los Angeles Earthquake

9. Environmental Geology
Humans depend on material resources from the Earth
Minerals
Metals
Energy
Soil
Water

10. Human Population Growth

11. Environmental Geology
Concepts in environmental geology
The Earth System
The Earth is unique
The Earth is a closed system
Energy flows through the system
Matter cycles through the system
Geologic processes and humans operate on different time scales

12. The Earth System

13. The Earth System

14. Components of the Earth System

15. Environmental Geology
Concepts in environmental geology
Hazardous Processes
Hazardous processes have always existed
Risk is a characteristic of the human-Earth system relationship

16. Environmental Geology
Concepts in environmental geology
Earth Resources
We are fundamentally dependent on Earth’s resources for the conduct of modern society
Resources are limited
Earth’s resources can be managed properly

17. Types of Resources

18. Environmental Geology
Concepts in environmental geology
Waste
Human activities generate waste – we do not throw anything “away”
Human activities can alter the Earth System
Dam building
Urbanization
Agriculture
Deforestation
Natural resource extraction

19. Environmental Geology
Concepts in environmental geology
The Human-Earth System Relationship
Managing the Earth System involves managing human behavior

20. Environmental Geology
The scope of environmental geology
Earth Materials
Minerals, rocks
Internal Processes
Volcanoes
Earthquakes

21. Environmental Geology
The scope of environmental geology
External Processes
Water
Wind
Ice

22. Environmental Geology
The scope of environmental geology
Resources
Groundwater
Surface water
Metals
Soils
Energy
Fossil fuels
Non-fuel minerals

23. Per Capita Energy Demand

24. Solar Energy

25. Natural Gas

26. Oil Pumpjack

27. Aluminum Ore