Geology and Natural Resourcesgy

Brought to you by:g y yWestern Michigan University Department of GeosciencesDepartment of Geosciences

andThe Michigan Geological Repository for

Research and Education’sK-12 Outreach Program – Core Kids

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Geologists wear many hats.

Lots of geologists studyLots of geologists study natural resources.

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Geology and NaturalGeology and Natural Resources

What do geologists do?What is under Michigan?How did it get there?Why study Michigan geology?

Michigan’s geological natural resources.

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JMA WMU-MGRRE Core Kids

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Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE)Research and Education (MGRRE)

Department of GeosciencesCollege of Arts & Sciencesg

Western Michigan UniversityWMU-MGRRE Core Kids

Bring them to the repository to keep them safe and dry…

Drill down into the earth and Bring up “core samples"…

Study themto learn aboutth k dthe rocks underMichiganWMU-MGRRE Core Kids

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What is underneathWhat is underneath our feet in Michigan?

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How do geologists How do geologists look beneath thelook beneath thelook beneath the look beneath the surface to find out?surface to find out?

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How did the rocks How did the rocks under Michigan getunder Michigan getunder Michigan get under Michigan get there?there?

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Long ago, Michigan was an ocean basin!Ancient Corals

Found in Michigan

How do we know?

We have

Living Corals in the Bahamas

fossilized coral and other marine

l t dplants and animals in the rocks beneathrocks beneath our feet!

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Tropical Coral Reef (Bahamas)

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Geologists study today’s environments to find out what the earth was like in the past. What they learn about the past

M d S di t D iti

p y pand present helps us to plan for the future.

Ancient Deposition in the Michigan Basin

Modern Sediment Deposition In the Bahamas

100 miles100 miles

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S i l fSuccessive layers of rock record ancient environments.

Geologists study rock samples and data fromsamples and data from beneath the surface and construct a t ti hi lstratigraphic column

describing the geologic history of the area.y

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Citation to be added

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From “Under Michigan” by Charles Barker, 2005used with permission

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WMU-MGRRE Core Kids

Why do we study the rocks fromunderneath Michigan? Why do wecare what is in the rock?care what is in the rock?

Think………..

What is in the rockWhat is in the rockthat we use every day?that we use every day?

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What Is Under Michigan?

What are some examples of the natural resources found in Michigan’s rocks?resources found in Michigan s rocks?

Water for Oil for Natural gasdrinking, washingand cooking

gasoline andmaking plastics

for heatingour homes

MineralsIron, Copper,

others WMU-MGRRE Core Kids

Minerals

I h i i k dIn the wintertime, trucks spreada mineral on the roads in Michigan a mineral on the roads in Michigan to make it safer to drive.

Do you know what this mineral is?mineral is?

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HALITEHALITEl k also know as

SALTSALTWMU-MGRRE Core Kids

From “Under Michigan” by Charles Barker, 2005used with permission

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Detroit Salt Minewww detroitsalt comwww.detroitsalt.com

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How did layers of salt getHow d d layers of salt getinto the rocks under Michigan?

From http://www.saltinstitute.org/mich-1.htmlWMU-MGRRE Core Kids

Evaporate Evaporitep

Halite is an evaporite mineral

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WMU-MGRRE Core Kids

Virtually every city, county, and municipality has a storehouse of Michigan salt to be used on roads a storehouse of Michigan salt, to be used on roads in winter. This one is a small storage shed of saltfor the Meridian Mall in Okemos for the Meridian Mall in Okemos.

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Halite is found in layers and coal is found in layerscoal is found in layers.

What about water, oil and natural gas?What about water, o l and natural gas?

Where are liquids and gases found?Where are liquids and gases found?

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What Is Under Michigan?Name

Natural GasWhere are these natural resources found?

Are they in underground rivers, lakes and pools?WMU-MGRRE Core Kids

What Is Under Michigan?Name

Natural Gas

Or could they be inside theOr, could they be inside the rocks?

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Fi t h d di t kFirst, where do sedimentary rocks come from?

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Fi t h d di t kFirst, where do sedimentary rocks come from?

SEDIMENTS!SEDIMENTS!

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ExperimentWhat happens to water or oil that

ppp

is poured on top of sediments?

What do you think will happen?What do you think will happen?Will the water pool on top?

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What happens to those sedimentsover millions of years?over millions of years?

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They turn into sedimentary rocks!

sandstoneMicroscopic viewof sandstone

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What Is Under Michigan?Name

Rocks Have Holes?Sedimentary rocks are made when sediments are buried and cement

together over many millions of years.

Just like there is space between grains of sand and sediment on a beachJust like there is space between grains of sand and sediment on a beach, there can also be space between sediment grains after they have turned

to rock. These spaces are called “pores”.

Some of these spaces can be filled with the remains of algae andtiny animals that turn into oil over many millions of years. The oil

then fills the “pore space ”then fills the pore space.

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What is the answer to our question?Are oil, water and natural gas found

in underground rivers, lakes and pools?

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NONOWater, oil and natural gas are in the

pore spaces between grains within rocks The jobpore spaces between grains within rocks. The job of many geologists is to find and recover these

natural resourcesnatural resources.

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“Porous” rocks have pore spaces that can be filled with water, salt

water, oil or natural gas.water, oil or natural gas.

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If those pore spaces are connected t th th t li id fltogether so that liquid or gas can flow through the rock, the rocks are called “permeable”, and we can extract the

resource.

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How do geologists measure permeability?

We measure permeability in the field and in the laboratory with a permeameter. This model is a portable “minipermeameter”. Gas is forced into a rock sample and then measurements of how fastrock sample and then measurements of how fast the gas travels through the rock are sent to the computer. WMU-MGRRE Core Kids

In the classroom We measure bili i bi l !permeability using a bicycle pump!

Experiment

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Porous and permeable rocks are critical for storing water, oil and natural gas and even theand natural gas, and even the pore space itself is a natural

resource.

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We can also push gas back into the p grocks below us and push out oil or salt water that is in the pore spaces.water that is in the pore spaces.

• This means that we could put unwanted “greenhouse gases” into the ground instead of releasing them into the atmosphere.

•This procedure is called carbon dioxide sequestration.

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q

Everything we have and Everything we have and everything we use comes y gfrom our natural resources.

Most of the natural resources we use E th M t i ls min ls t are Earth Materials – minerals, water,

oil and natural gas.

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What Is Under Michigan?

Natural Resources !

What other geologic natural resources do we use use every day?resources do we use use every day?

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Ready for a game?Ready for a game?

• Where in the world do we use that?Where in the world do we use that?• With a partner, think of as many uses for

the rock or mineral listed as you canthe rock or mineral listed as you can.

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