Ethanol and gasoline

Comparison and contrast


     One of the biggest debates in the environmental arena concerns the future of energy. In particular ethanol versus gasoline and the impact they have in the world at large. Both of these fuels seem to have pros and cons when it comes to the political debate and up to now, gasoline seems to be the winner. However, the support for ethanol is gathering momentum so it would seem gasoline is on borrowed time in the ethanol vs gasoline debate.     You'll have probably noticed how gas prices fluctuate constantly these days and it is easy to see how gasoline impacts a countries infrastructure. Wars have been fought by nations to gain more control over the oil supply industry. So going down the ethanol route would seem like a great idea, however, some environmentalists are showing concerns about the effects this will have if farmers start to grow for the ethanol fuel industry. Some reports as stating that this would create a substantial increase in staple foods like bread. It seems we should all pay more attention to the ethanol vs gasoline debate and the possible outcome.
Environmental studies and concerns show there are many differences between ethanol versus gasoline. There is absolutely no question that the use of fossil fuels as created many environmental concerns. There are figures and studies that show that fossil fuels are America's biggest polluter. The use of fossil fuel produces most of the pollutants such as reactive organic gases, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides that are prevalent in most US cities today, and for this reason, there have been many products to counteract this problem. Ethanol is one such oxygenate product, another is MTBE or methyl tertiary butyl ether, however, MTBE is considered to be a possible human carcinogen and water pollutant.When looking at the ethanol versus gasoline issues, it is probably important to know that fuel ethanol can be used as an addictive to gas or on its own. Using ethanol mixed with gas or on its own makes a big difference to the amount of pollution to the environment. Using ethanol can reduce the levels of carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30%. Furthermore, it can reduced VOC exhaust emissions by 12% and PM emissions by more than 25 percent. MTBE is slowly being replaced by ethanol, and unlike MTBE ethanol is non-toxic, biodegradable, water-soluble and generally less harmful.      One thing for sure, with the rising oil prices, pollution, and global warming the ethanol versus gasoline debate needs to be solved very quickly.http://www.ecoholistic.com/ethanol/ethanol-fuel/ethanol-versus-gasoline.html 

	Pros	Cons
Ethanol	·         More ecology	·         a substantial increase in staple foods like bread
Gasoline	·         stable oil price	·         the use of fossil fuels as created many environmental concerns

Rocks Classification 

Classification 

   There are three major classes of rocks, igneous ,sedimentary, and metamorphic , with the following attributes:

     

    IGNEOUS ROCKS:  form by crystallization from molten or partially material, called magma.  Magma comes mainly from two places where it is formed, (1) in the asthenosphere and (2) in the base of the crust above subducting lithosphere at a convergent plate boundary.  There are two subclasses of igneous rock, VOLCANIC (sometime called EXTRUSIVE), and PLUTONIC (sometimes called INTRUSIVE).

 
    VOLCANIC ROCKS form at the Earth's surface.  They cool and crystallized from magma which has spilled out onto the surface at a volcano.  At the surface, the magma is more familiarly known as LAVA.

    PLUTONIC ROCKS form from magma that cools and crystallizes beneath the Earth's surface.  In a sense, this is the portion of the magma that never makes it to the surface.  For the plutonic rock to become exposed at the surface, it must be tectonically uplifted and the overlying material must be removed by erosion.

     SEDIMENTARY ROCKS form from material that has accumulated on the Earth's surface.  The general term for the process of accumulation is DEPOSITION.  The material consists of the products of weathering and erosion, and other materials available at the surface of the Earth, such as organic material.  The process by which this otherwise unconsolidated material becomes solidified into rock is variously referred to LITHIFICATION (literally turned into rock), DIAGENESIS or CEMENTATION.  Like volcanic rocks, some sedimentary rocks are "lithified" right at the surface, for instance by direct precipitation from sea water.  Other sedimentary rocks, like plutonic igneous rocks, are "lithified" below the surface, when they are buried under the weight of overlying sediment.  And like the plutonic rocks, sedimentary rocks which were lithified below the surface only become exposed at the surface by tectonic uplift and erosion of the overlying material.

      METAMORPHIC ROCKS form when a sedimentary or igneous rock is exposed to high pressure, high temperature, or both, deep below the surface of the Earth.  The process,METAMORPHISM, produces fundamental changes in the mineralogy and texture of the rock.  The original rock, prior to metamorphism, is referred to as the PROTOLITH.  The protolith can be either an igneous rock or a sedimentary rock, as just indicated.  The protolith could also be a previously metamorphosed rock.  Ultimately however, if you go far enough back into the history of a metamorphic rock you would find that the first protolith was either a sedimentary or igneous rock.  Because all metamorphic rocks form below the surface, for them to become exposed at the surface, they must undergo tectonic uplift and removal of the overlying material by erosion

http://www.appstate.edu/~abbottrn/rck-id/

Nuclear radiation effects on humans 

Cause and effects

• nausea
• vomiting
• headache
• some loss of white blood cells

   

   Doses of 300 rems or more cause temporary hair loss, but also more significant internal harm, including damage to nerve cells and the cells that line the digestive tract. Severe loss of white blood cells, which are the body's main defense against infection, makes radiation victims highly vulnerable to disease. Radiation also reduces production of blood platelets, which aid blood clotting, so victims of radiation sickness are also vulnerable to hemorrhaging. Half of all people exposed to 450 rems die, and doses of 800 rems or more are always fatal. Besides the symptoms mentioned above, these people also suffer from fever and diarrhea. As of yet, there is no effective treatment--so death occurs within two to fourteen days.

   In time, for survivors, diseases such as leukemia (cancer of the blood), lung cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and cancers of other organs can appear due to the radiation received.

http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/radiation_effects_body.html

  

Rock cycle

Process

 Did you know that rocks are constantly being recycled? Recycle means to take something old and change into something new. So some of these old rocks that have been around for more than four billion years are being changed into different rocks. Of course, that doesn't happen over night. It takes millions of years. To better understand how this happens, let's take a journey through the rock cycle.

    

    First, our journey begins in the mantle. Here we see some red hot magma that is being pushed up towards the crust. Some of this magma creeps into the cracks of the volcano; while, the rest is forced out of the top of the volcano. Once the magma is out of the volcano, it is called lava. The lava cools and forms igneous rocks.

    Then some of the igneous rocks roll down the mountains formed by the volcanoes and eventually end up in the ocean. As they roll, bits and pieces of the igneous rocks are broken and formsediments. Layer after layer of sediments are pressed and cemented together formingsedimentary rocks.

    Some of the sedimentary rocks on the very bottom get hot because of the pressure and change to metamorphic rock. When the metamorphic rock is buried deeper, it gets hotter and melts. Once again, it becomes magma and may eventually be pushed up and out of a volcano. 

The rock cycle begins all over again!

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002289/cycle.html

Graphic:
 

What is a tsunami and an earthquake?

What is a tsunami and an earthquake?

Earthquake and Tsunamis 


Definition:

•     An earthquake is the shaking of the earth that occurs after pieces of the crust of the Earth suddenly shift.  The term earthquake describes the sudden slip on a fault and includes the ground shaking and radiating seismic energy that is caused by the slip.  Volcanic activity, or other geologic processes, may cause stress changes in the earth that can also result in an earthquake.   Earthquakes can occur anywhere in the world although some areas of the globe are more likely to experience an earthquake than others.  Earthquakes occur in all types of weather, in all climate zones, in all seasons of the year, and at any time of day making it impossible to predict with any certainty when an earthquake is likely to occur.   The best seismologists (scientists who study earthquakes) can do is to look at the historical record of earthquake activity for any geographical area and use this data to calculate the probability of an earthquake occurring in the future.  Earthquake prediction is still in the future. 

•     A tsunami is a series of sea waves that can be caused by earthquakes or landslides at or beneath the sea floor.  The displacement of the sea floor that occurs during certain large submarine earthquakes and landslides causes displacement of large volumes of the sea water above it producing large, fast moving waves.  When a coast line experiences a tsunami it can be due to an earthquake near the coast or due to a quake occurring in a distant part of the ocean.  Coastal areas may experience little or no damage from an earthquake but can be devastated by the resulting tsunami.

http://seps.mgd-colo.peak.org/earthquakes_and_tsunamis.htm

            GLOSSARY 

•       Crust: is the sheathing  covers the mantle and is the earth's hard outer shell, the surface on which we are living.

•       Seismograph: Earthquakes generate seismic waves which can be detected which a sensitive instrument called a seismograph

•  Seismic: subject to or caused by an earthquake or earth vibration

•  Landslides: A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. ..

•  Shaking: the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements.

•       Geologic:  is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. // a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks