stag 3072 environmental geology - official portal of...

dwzwy-geologi-Jan2009 1

STAG 3072 Environmental Geology

Dr. Wan Zuhairi Wan Yaacob

Program Geologi

ukm

Konsep Asas Geologi Sekitaran


Konsep asas Geologi Sekitaran (Coates, 1981)

• 1. Manusia adalah agen perubahan geologi

• 2. Bumi adalah unik

• 3. Bumi adalah sistem kepada sistem

• 4. Bumi adalah sistem tertutup

• 5. Proses geologi dan aktiviti manusia beroperasi dalam skala masa yang berbeza

• 6. Risiko dicirikan oleh hubungan manusia-planet

• 7. Kita amat bergantung kepada sumber bumi

• 8. Sumber bumi adalah terhad

• 9. Sumber bumi boleh diurus secara “mapan”

• 10. Pengurusan alam sekitar bermakna mengurus sikap manusia – education

• 11. Pemuliharaan dan penjagaan adalah sebahagian dari hubungan manusia-bumi


• 1. Masalah utama alam sekitar akibat dari penambahan penduduk

• 2. Bumi adalah sistem tertutup

• 3. Bumi adalah habitat yang paling sesuai untuk kita dan sumber bumi adalah terhad

• 4. Proses fizikal bumi merubah landskap sepanjang masa geologi. Magnitud dan kekerapan proses ini bergantung kepada faktor perubahan samada secara tabii/buatan

• 5.Proses bumi adalah merbahaya kepada manusia. Bencana ini perlu dikenalpasti dan dielak dan kesan malapetaka ini dikurangkan.

LAPAN KONSEP ASAS GEOLOGI SEKITARAN

(Keller, E.A. 1992 )


Mount St. Helens

Sebelum Selepas

"Vancouver!

Vancouver! This is

it!"[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens


Konsep asas geologi sekitaran (samb.)

• 6. Perancangan guna-tanah dan guna-air mesti dipertingkatkan supaya seimbang di antara pertimbangan ekonomi dan variable yang kurang jelas/nyata spt aestetika (i.e. nilai; kecantikan)

• 7. Kesan guna-tanah adalah berbentuk kumulatif; dgn itu kita ada tangggung jawab kepada generasi yang akan datang

• 8. Komponen penting untuk alam sekitar ialah faktor geologi, pemahaman alam sekitar memerlukan pengetahuan yang luas tentang sains bumi dan disiplin yang berkaitan.


Fundamental concepts of Environmental

Geology(Keller, EA. 2000, eight edition)

• 1. Population growth• The number one environmental problem is

increase in human population.

• 2. Sustainability (mapan )• Sustainability is the environmental objective

• 3. Systems• Understanding the earth’s systems and their changes is

critical to solving environmental problems. The earth

itself is an open system with respect to energy, but

essentially a closed system with respect to materials


• 4. Limitation of resources• The earth is the only suitable habitat we have, and its

resources are limited

• 5. Uniformitarianism• The physical processes modifying our landscape today have

operated throughout much of geologic time. However, the magnitude and frequency of these processes are subject to natural and artificial induced change

• 6. Hazardous earth processes• There have always been earth processes that are hazardous

to people. These natural hazards must be recognized and avoided where possible and their threat to human life and property minimized.

• 7. Geology as a basic environmental science• The fundamental component of every person’s environment

is the geologic component, and understanding our environment requires broad-based comprehension and appreciation of the earth sciences and related disciplines.

• 8. Our obligation to the future• The effects of land use tend to be cumulative, and therefore

we have an obligation to those who follow us.


1. Population growth

• Gareth Harden :

• Population increases; impact increases; more resources

are needed.

• World population• 1830 – 1930: Human population doubled from 1b-2b

• 2000 : 6.2 billion people on earth; 6.6 billion (2007); Malaysia (27 M)

• Population bomb: exponential growth-very dynamic

process

• Human population increases 1.4% annually

• Problems:-• Pollution of ground and surface waters; hazardous waste; exposure

of people and human structures to natural hazards

Total environmental impact of population = product of impact per person

x the population


World population clock (17 Jan 2008):

6,647,371,170

World 6,753,860,103

00:35 GMT (EST+5) Jan 15, 2009

World 6,794,279,293

08:30 UTC (EST+5) Jan 04, 2010


One family, one child policy in China


"Please for the sake of your country,

use birth control.


200 million lives


Concept of exponential growth


• The present population is already over the comfortable carrying capacity for the planet.

• The role of education is paramount; greatest hope for population control

• Pessimistic scientists:• Population growth will take care of itself thru disease and

catastrophes (famine lack of food)

• Optimistic scientists:• Hope we will find better ways to control the population of

the world within the limits of our available resources, space and other environmental needs.

1. Population growth (cont…)


BUBONIC PLAGUE (BLACK DEATH)

A disease spread by rats that causes fever,

swellings on the body and usually death

25-30m

Bacterial disease plague caused by the

bacterium Yersinia pestis1340


• The World Commission on Environment and Development

defined sustainable development in 1987:

“Sustainable Development is a form

of progress that ensures human

development and that „meets the

needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own

needs”

2. Sustainability


+ Respecting the limits of

environment, resources

& biodiversity

+ Sustainable economy

(opportunity for all)

+ Polluter pays principle

+ Efficient resource use

+ tax (landfill tax; waste tax)

+ new tax structure to

encourage population control

and wise use of resources

+ Policy based on strong

scientific evidence

+ good governance

+ ensuring a strong,

healthy & just society

+Sistem sosial,

perundangan, politik dan

pelajaran


• A system:

– Any defined part of the universe that we select for study• Eg. A planet; a volcano; an ocean basin, river

• The Earth as a system

– A system with 4 parts• Atmosphere (air); hydrosphere (water); biosphere

(life); lithosphere (rock,soil); others:-humanosphere; oxysphere; cryosphere

• Responsible for the surface features of the earth

• Any change in magnitude/frequency of processes in one part causes changes in the other parts.

• “Principle of environmental unity”

3. Systems


KYOTO UNIVERSITY JAPAN


Mountain uplift

2. Precipitation (affect local hydrosphere)

Ocean

1 * Steeper slope (affect

lithosphere)

*erosion

*rate/types of sediments

Produced – types of rocks

created wind

“Principle of environmental unity”

3. Biosphere –

types of

animals/plants

with new

environment

(Everything affects everything else)

atmosphere


• Earth is not static; rather, it is dynamic• Material and energy are constantly changing

• OPEN system

• True with respect to energy

– earth receives energy from the sun and radiates

energy back into space

• Exchange of matter

– Meteors fall to earth, and small amount of earth

material escapes into space as gas

• Earth’s material is recycled within the

system• CLOSED system

• Water and rock cycles (analogous – space ship)

3. Systems (cont…)

::dwzwy::

EARTH & ITS SYSTEMS

• Earth Universe system– Sun

• source of earth’s energy

• Seasons: winter, summer, spring, autumn

– Moon: tides

• Atmosphere– 79% N2; 20% O2; 1% Argon,

other gases (CO2)

• Hydrosphere– Oceon, atmosphere, gwater,

rivers, lakes, swamps, glaciers

• Biosphere – Organisms

• Lithosphere / astenosphere

• Cryosphere


• FEEDBACK -- system response

– Two types of feedback

• NEGATIVE feedback: inducing the system to

approach steady state (GOOD)

– Eg. Erosion to river system steady state

• POSITIVE feedback: vicious cycle

– Eg. Offroad vehicle use high erosion rate


dwzwy-geologi-Jan2009 25Bayang-bayang

+ve?

-ve?

Growth Rate

• Exponential growth (slow to fast)

• 2 important measures:

– (1) the Growth Rate (%)

– (2) Doubling time


Doubling time

• Time for the quantity of whatever is

being measured to double

• Rule of thumb: 70 ÷ growth rate

• For example, given Canada's net

population growth of 0.9% in the year

2006, dividing 70 by 0.9 gives an

approximate doubling time of 78 years.

Thus if the growth rate remains constant,

Canada's population will double from its

current 33 million to 66 million by 2084.dwzwy-geologi-Jan2009 27


• Predicting changes in systems

– INPUT OUTPUT ANALYSIS• Method for analyzing change in open systems

• 3 types of change:--

• INPUT = OUTPUT– Steady state; not net change occurs

– EG: (1) University students

(2) Incoming solar radiation = outgoing radiation

• INPUT<OUTPUT– Use of resources such as fossil fuels or groundwater

– Fuel or water completely used up

• INPUT>OUTPUT– The stock will increase

– Buildup of heavy metals in lakes

– Pollution of soil and water




• AVERAGE RESIDENCE TIME (ART)

– is a measure of the time it takes for the total stock

or supply of the material to be cycled through a

system.

– ART = Total size of the stock

the average rate transfer through the

system

– Example:

• If a reservoir holds 100 million cubic meters (m3) of water

and both the average input and output are 1m3/sec.

• ART = 100 million m3

1m3/sec

= 100 million seconds (3.2 yrs)


Size of stock/pool

average rate of transfer

through the system


Masa purata yang diambil

oleh bahan-bahan untuk

bergerak dalam satu

kitaran sistem


4. Limitation of resources

• Two fundamental truths

– 1. the earth is indeed the only place to live

that is now accessible to us

– 2. our resources are limited, and while

some resources are renewable, many are

not.


• Two major views on natural resources

– 1. finding resources is not so much a problem

as is finding ways to use them

• Efficient and intelligent use of materials

• We know more about extracting minerals than we did

in the past

– Find new resources faster

– Mining lower grade of minerals

• Recycling of resources can help us meet the needs of

the future.

Old computer into gold


Smelting plant in Japan


Zinc (99.995%)


– 2. A finite definite limit resources cannot support an exponential growth of people forever. And we are in a resource crisis due to:--

• Improvements in medical technology contributing to over population

• Ever increasing gross national product based on obsolescence (design not to last long) and waste.

• The finite nature of the minerals

• Increased risk of damage to the environment as a result of overpopulation, waste, deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, overuse of resources (water, energy, soil, minerals, animals, forests)


Sumber

• Sumber mineral tak pernah habis tetapi

economically depleted• Kos mengekstrak dan penggunaan mineral yang tinggal

melebihi nilai ekonomi mineral berkenaan.

• Ada 6 pilihan untuk mengatasi masalah

sumber:--• Cari lagi (Carigali atau galicari) “petronas carigali”

• Recycle atau reuse

• Waste less

• Use less

• Cari bahan/teknologi ganti

• Tunggu berjuta-juta tahun untuk mendapatkan sumber

yang baru


Economically depleted = apabila 80% dari

kandungan mineral tersebut telah diekstrak keluar

dan digunakan. Kos bertambah untuk

mengeluarkan dan memproses mineral yang

masih tinggal (20%)


RESOURCE SNAKE

(Nilai Relatif Sumber Mineral )


Recycling

Ingot – solid piece of metal shaped like a brick


Wrong method of recycling !!! ????

“Kecurian kabel bukan saja dilakukan

golongan penagih tetapi orang awam

yang mampu mengaut pendapatan

lumayan hasil jualan tembaga yang

diperolehi dari kabel berkenaan,”katanya.

Difahamkan, harga pasaran bagi

tembaga yang dijual kini dikatakan

mencecah RM18 hingga RM20 sekilo

menyebabkan pihak berkenaan sanggup

berdepan risiko bagi mendapatkannya. “


5. Uniformitarianism

• The “present is the key to the past” • James Hutton

• 1785

• Fundamental concept of earth sciences

• The process that we observe today also

operated in the past

• The “present is the key to the future”• Effects of human activity on natural earth

processes

• Increase the frequency & magnitude


6. Hazardous earth processes

• People lives in dangerous area

• Earth processes cause loss of

life/property damage• Flooding; earthquakes; volcanic; landslides;

mudflows

• Earth scientists identified potentially

hazardous processes make info

available to planners/decision makers

avoiding/minimizing the threat to human

life/property


7. Geology as a basic environmental

science

• All geology can be considered environmental

• Be aware of contribution from other fields:– Biology, chemistry, env law, architecture, and

engineering, economic, etc.

• Strong interdisciplinary interest

• Most projects are complex• Physical; biological; human use & interest

• Physical factors -- geography; geologic processes; hydrologic processes; rock and soil types; climatology

• Biologic factors – nature of plant and animal; changes in biologic condition

• Human use and interest factors – land use, economics, aesthetics


Example

• The planning, construction, and operation of sanitary landfill site:--

– Physical factors:• Physical location, topographic; soil type & hydrologic

condition

– Biologic processes:• Decay of organic refuse; contamination to biologic

realm;

– Human interests:• Good engineering practice and compliance with laws

and regulations


8. Our obligation to the future

• Prehistoric people: minimum impact• Hunted Game !!!

• “Memburu dan kadang-kadang diburu”

• Agriculture / land-use / infrastructure development – maximum impact

• The effects of land use tend to be cumulative, and therefore we have an obligation to those who follow us (sustainable development).


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