Geology
gy and Natural Resources
Brought
g to yyou by:
y
Western Michigan University
Department of Geosciences
and
The Michigan Geological Repository for
Research and Education’s
K-12 Outreach Program – Core Kids
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Geologists wear many hats.
Lots of geologists study
natural resources.
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Geology 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
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Michigan Geological Repository for
Research and Education (MGRRE)
Department of Geosciences
College
g of Arts & Sciences
Western Michigan University
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Drill down into the earth and
Bring up “core samples"…
Bring them to the repository
to keep them safe and dry…
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Study them
to learn about
th rocks
the
k under
d
Michigan
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What is underneath
our feet in Michigan?
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How do geologists
look beneath the
surface to find out?
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
How did the rocks
under Michigan get
there?
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Long ago, Michigan was an ocean basin!
Ancient Corals
Found in Michigan
How do we
know?
We have
fossilized coral
and other marine
plants
l t and
d
animals in the
rocks beneath
our feet!
Living Corals in the
Bahamas
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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 p
past. What they
y learn about the past
p
and present helps us to plan for the future.
Modern
M
d
Sediment
S di
t Deposition
D
iti
In the Bahamas
Ancient Deposition
in the Michigan Basin
100 miles
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Successive
S
i layers
l
off
rock record ancient
environments.
Geologists study rock
samples and data from
beneath the surface
and construct a
stratigraphic
t ti
hi column
l
describing the geologic
y of the area.
history
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Citation to be added
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From “Under Michigan”
by Charles Barker, 2005
used with permission
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Why do we study the rocks from
underneath Michigan? Why do we
care what is in the rock?
Think………..
What is in the rock
that we use every day?
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
What Is Under Michigan?
What are some examples of the natural
resources found in Michigan’s
Michigan s rocks?
Water for
drinking, washing
and cooking
Natural gas
Oil for
for heating
gasoline and
our homes
making
plastics Core Kids
WMU-MGRRE
Minerals
Iron, Copper,
others
Minerals
In the
I
h wintertime,
i
i
trucks
k spread
d
a mineral on the roads in Michigan
to make it safer to drive.
Do you know what this
mineral is?
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HALITE
also
l know
k
as
SALT
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From “Under Michigan”
by Charles Barker, 2005
used with permission
Detroit Salt Mine
www detroitsalt com
www.detroitsalt.com
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How did
d d layers of salt get
into the rocks under Michigan?
From http://www.saltinstitute.org/mich-1.html
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Core Kids
Evaporate
Evaporite
p
Halite is an evaporite mineral
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Virtually every city, county, and municipality has
a storehouse of Michigan salt,
salt to be used on roads
in winter. This one is a small storage shed of salt
for the Meridian Mall in Okemos.
Okemos
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Halite is found in layers and
coal is found in layers.
layers
What about water, o
oill and natural gas?
Where are liquids and gases found?
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
What Is Under Michigan?
Name
Natural Gas
Where 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 the
Or,
rocks?
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Fi t where
First,
h
do
d sedimentary
di
t
rocks
k come
from?
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Fi t where
First,
h
do
d sedimentary
di
t
rocks
k come
from?
SEDIMENTS!
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Experiment
p
What happens
pp
to water or oil that
is poured on top of sediments?
What do you think will happen?
Will the water pool on top?
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What happens to those sediments
over millions of years?
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They turn into sedimentary rocks!
sandstone
Microscopic view
of 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 beach
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 and
tiny animals that turn into oil over many millions of years. The oil
then fills the “pore
pore space.
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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NO
Water, oil and natural gas are in the
pore spaces between grains within rocks
rocks. The job
of many geologists is to find and recover these
natural resources.
resources
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“Porous” rocks have pore spaces
that can be filled with water, salt
water, oil or natural gas.
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If those pore spaces are connected
t
together
th so that
th t liquid
li id or gas can flow
fl
through the rock, the rocks are called
“permeable”, and we can extract the
resource.
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
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 fast
the gas travels through the rock are sent to the
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computer.
In the classroom We measure
permeability
bili using
i a bi
bicycle
l pump!!
Experiment
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Porous and permeable rocks
are critical for storing water, oil
and natural gas
gas, and even the
pore space itself is a natural
resource.
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We can also p
push g
gas back into the
rocks below us and push out oil or salt
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
q
carbon dioxide sequestration.
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
Everything we have and
everything
y
g we use comes
from our natural resources.
Most of the natural resources we use
are Earth
E th Materials
M t i ls – minerals,
min
ls water,
t
oil and natural gas.
WMU-MGRRE Core Kids
What Is Under Michigan?
Natural Resources !
What other geologic natural
resources do we use use every day?
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Ready for a game?
• Where in the world do we use that?
• With a partner, think of as many uses for
the rock or mineral listed as you can
can.
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