Minerals

Std : 10                     Geography study material

Minerals

1.      Define a mineral:- Homogenous naturally occurring substances with a definable internal structure.

2.      Geographers – Study distribution of minerals and associated economic activities.

3.      Geologist – Study formation of minerals, their age and physical and chemical composition.

4.      Formation of minerals or Occurrence of minerals

Igneous and Metamorphic rocks

Ø  In igneous and  metamorphic rocks minerals occur in cracks or joints.  Ex:Tin and Copper

Ø  Vains: Smaller occurrence of minerals.

Ø  Loads:Larger occurrence of minerals.

Sedimentary rocks

Ø  In sedimentary rocks minerals occur in beds or lay

Ø  Formed due to deposition

Ø  Ex: Coal formed under long periods under great heat and pressure.

Evaporation: Minerals like Gypsum, Potash, and Sodium were formed due to evaporation.

Decomposition: soluble constituents dissolved by the water and leaving the residual mass of weathered material. Ex: Bauxite

Placer Deposits: Certain minerals may occur as alluvial deposits in sands of valley floor. 

Ocean beds Contains minerals like Manganese.

5.      Rat hole mining

Some tribal community of north east involved in extraction of minerals.

They cut long narrow tunnel appears like Rat hole.

Ex: Coal mining in Jowai and Cherapunjee.

6.      Ferrous Minerals

Types of Iron ore

Magnetite: finest iron ore . upto 70% iron content. Excellent magnetic qualities.

Hematite: Industrial iron ore. 50% to 60% of iron content.

7.      Distribution of iron ore/ Major iron belts

Belts	State	Mines
Odisha –Jharkhand	Odisha -Jharkhand	Hematite – Badampahar mines in Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts.  Gua and Noamundi mines in Singbhum district.
Durg-Bastar- Chandrapur	Chattisgarh	Bailadila ranges in Bastar distict. Iron ore is exported to japan and south korea via vishakapatnam.
Bellary-Chitradurga – Chikmaglur- Tumkur	Karnataka	Kudremukh mines – iron ore is exported as slurry through a pipeline to port near Mangalore.
Maharashtra - Goa	Maharashtra	Not a high quality iron ore – Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.

8.      Manganese Nearly 10 kg of manganese is required to manufacture one tonne of steel.

It is also used in manufacturing of bleaching powder, insecticides and paints.

Odisha is the largest producer of Manganese.

9.      Non – Ferrous minerals

Ø  Copper: Melleable – ductile and good conductor electricity. Copper is mainly used in electrical cables, electronics and chemical industries.

Ø  Balaghat mines in Madhya Pradesh and Khetri mines in Rajasthan and Singbhum district of Jharkhand are the leading producers of copper.

10.  Bauxite:

Ø  Formed by the decomposition of wide variety of rocks rich in aluminium silicates.

Ø  It combines with metals such as iron.

Ø  good conductor of electricity.

Ø  Bauxite deposits are found in Amarkantak plateau, Maikal hills and the plateau of Bilaspur – Katni.

Ø  Odisha is the largest producer of Bauxite.

Ø  Panchpatmali deposits of Koraput district are the leading producer.

11.  Mica:

Ø  It can be split into thin sheets. Mica can be clear, black , green, red, yellow or brown. It has insulating properties. Indispensible in electric and electronic industries.

Ø  Mica deposits are found in Chota Nagpur plateau. Kodarma Gaya and Hazaribagh of Jharkhand is the leading producer.

Ø  Ajmer of Rajasthan and Nellore of Andhra Pradesh was the important producer.

12.  Limestone:

Ø  Lime stone is found in association with Calcium Corbonates or Magnesium carbonates.

Ø  It found in sedimentary rocks.

Ø  It is basic raw material for the cement industry.

13.  Killer industry –  Large number of workers die in mine hazards every year. Collapsing of roofs, fire  poisonous gas can cause death. Stricter safety regulations and implementation of environmental laws prevent mining from becoming a Killer industry

14.  Why Conservation of minerals is important?

Ø  The total volume of workable mineral deposit is only 1% of the earth crust.

Ø  Mineral formation takes millions of years.

Ø  The geological process of mineral formation are so slow but we consume very fast.

Ø  If we continue to extract minerals at this rate in near future extraction comes from greater depth. as depth increases the quality of minerals will also decline.

Ø  Production and consumption of minerals will also lead to pollution.

15.  Conventional energy sources	Non Conventional energy sources
Traditional mode of power generation	Modern mode of power
Thermal and Hydel power	Solar, Wind, Tidal, Geothermal, Biogas and Atomic power

16.  Coal

Formation: Coal is formed due to the compression of plant material over millions of years.

Types of coal:

Ø  Peat: - Decaying plants in swamps produce peat. Very low corban and high moisture.

Ø  Lignite:-Low carbon content, soft and high moisture content. In Neyveli in Tamilnadu lignite is used to generate power.

Ø  Bituminous:- Most popular and commercial coal. High grade coal. It is used for smelting of iron in blast furnaces.

Ø  Anthracite:-Highest quality hard coal.

17.  Occurrence of coal in India

Ø  Godwana coal deposits: Formed little over 200 million years. Found in Damodar valley ( West Bengal – Jharkhand)  Kharia, Raniganj and Bokaro are the important coal fields.

              Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys also contains coal deposits.

Ø  Tertiary coal: Found in North eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

18.  Which industries are called Nodal industries?

Petroleum refineries act as a nodal industry for synthetic textile, fertile and numerous chemical industries.

19.  Occurrences of Petroleum:

Ø  Most of the occurrences in India are associated with anticlines and fault traps formed in Tertiary age. Oil is trapped in crest of the up fold.

Ø  The oil bearing layer is a porous limestone or sandstone through which oil may flow.

Ø  The oil is also found in fault traps between porous and non porous rocks.

Ø  Gas being lighter usually occurs above the oil.

20.  Distribution of oil: 63% of production of petroleum from Mumbai High. 18% from Ankeleshwar of Gujarat, 13% from Digboi, Nagarbatia and Moran-Hugrijan of Assam.

21.  Natural gas

Ø  Natural gas is along with Petroleum.

Ø  Natural gas is considered an environment friendly fuel because of low carbon dioxide emissions.

Ø  Distribution: Krishna – Godavari basin, Mumbai High, Gulf of Cambay, Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Ø  The 1700 km long Hazira – Vijaipur – Jagdishpur pipelines links Mumbai high with the fertilizer power and industrial complexes.

Non conventional sources of power

22.  Nuclear Energy: It is obtained by altering the structure of atoms of radioactive minerals like Uranium and Thorium.

Ø  Uranium and Thorium are available in Jharkhand and Aravalli ranges of Rajasthan.

Ø  The Monosite sands of Kerala is rich in Thorium.

23.  Solar energy: India is tropical country.

Ø  India has enormous possibilities of tapping solar energy.

Ø  Photovoltaic technology converts sunlight directly into electricity.

Ø  If we establish the some big solar power plants which will minimize the use of firewood and dungcake in rural house hold.

Ø  It is a green energy, contribute more to environmental conservation.

24.  Wind energy: India has great potential of wind energy.

Ø  Largest wind farm cluster is located in Tamilnadu from Nagar koil to Madurai. Andhra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala have wind mills.

25.  Bio gas:

Ø  Decomposition of organic matter yields gas. Which has high thermal efficiency in comparison with kerosene, charcoal and dung cake.

Ø  Bio gas plants are set up at municipal, co operative and individual levels.

Ø  The plants using cattle dung are known as “Gobar gas plants”.

26.  Tidal energy: Oceanic tides can be used to generate electricity.

Ø  Floodgate dams are built across inlets. During high tide water flows into the inlet and gets trapped when the gate is closed. After the tide falls outside the flood gate the water retained by the floodgate flows back to the sea via a tunnel mounted with power generating turbine.

Ø  Distribution: Gulf of Kuchchh in Gujarat, Sundarban regions of West Bengal

27.  Geo Thermal Energy:

Ø  It refers generating electricity by using the heat from the interior.

Ø  Geothermal energy exist because of the earth grows progressively hotter with increasing depth.

Ø  Some places high temperature is found at shallow depth. Such placed underground water turns into steam.  This steam is used to drive turbines and generate electricity.

Ø  Distribution: Parvathi valley near manikaran in Himachal Pradesh and Puga valley in Ladakh.

28.  Conservation of Energy or Energy saved is energy produced

Ø  We have to adopt a cautious approach for the judicious use of our energy resources.

Ø  Using public vehicles, Switching off electricity when not in use, Using power saving devices and using non-conventional sources of energy.  

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