Earth's elements

[simple_gifts]

We live on the earth's crust which is about as thick as a skin of an apple. Practically speaking whatever we want to use needs to be acquired from there.

Wikipedia has some good stuff.

Earth Crust

As Clevy noted, the crust is being created and destroyed all the time, but it is done in 'geologic time' No one is relying on that to supply humanity with more resources.

 

[Nate1979]

One element that when used is lost is helium. It is so light it is lost out the atmosphere. It is created by very slow nuclear decay within the earth so it is somewhat replenished but maybe slower than it is used. It is a very precious resource that is often wasted for trivial uses.

 

[javacontour]

Do you know where the elements we have came from?

Planets don't make elements, stars do.

Stars, like the sun, are simply fusion reactors, fusing Hydrogen into Helium, and then Helium into other elements such as Lithium, Carbon, etc.

Everything below atomic number 103 is made in a star. When the star can no longer sustain a fusion reaction,it collapses and may explode, spewing these elements into space.

Does that mean we don't get more elements? Nope, meteors deliver more elements every day.

But the earth is not making them, save for the few man-made elements that we've made from our stock of atoms here on earth.

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Is this real?

If it is, the explanation is beyond your scope of knowledge.

The answer, in case you still want it: No, we are not producing minerals.



Dude, is the planet making more resources? I am not talking about alchemy.

 

[Nate1979]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
Do you know where the elements we have came from?

Planets don't make elements, stars do.

Stars, like the sun, are simply fusion reactors, fusing Hydrogen into Helium, and then Helium into other elements such as Lithium, Carbon, etc.

Everything below atomic number 103 is made in a star. When the star can no longer sustain a fusion reaction,it collapses and may explode, spewing these elements into space.

Does that mean we don't get more elements? Nope, meteors deliver more elements every day.

But the earth is not making them, save for the few man-made elements that we've made from our stock of atoms here on earth.

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Is this real?

If it is, the explanation is beyond your scope of knowledge.

The answer, in case you still want it: No, we are not producing minerals.



Dude, is the planet making more resources? I am not talking about alchemy.


As I pointed out right above helium is the exception as it is produced by radioactive decay inside the earth.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: BRZED
We can create many synthetic minerals, but of course not out of nowhere. Many precious stones are commonly synthetically made, ie, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, saphires. Often they are made for industrial use but also as jewelry. Cubic zirconia is a manmade creation that does not exist in nature. So, like Archimedes was hoping, lead to gold is possible, but not out of thin air and at great cost.


But you aren't equating the synthesis of diamonds and other minerals with an element, are you?

 

[Alfred_B]

The OP was asking about minerals.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
The OP was asking about minerals.


Glad you thought that was clear. From his wording (metals) and many of the subsequent responses I wasn't sure.

 

[Alfred_B]

Yeah, it's drifting everywhere -- the first post was about minerals.

I think the intent of the question is more about the natural resources available to us. Which would categorize in renewable and non-renewable resources. Etc., etc.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Are we reproducing minerals (like growing tree....renewable) or are we using the only supply?

Like, as in, we burn a drum of petroleum it may not be replenished soon. But what about metals and ores, fertilizers, chemicals-and other such stuff.

Like my canned goods. Do we just have to keep mining deeper into the Earth to get more (since we have probably taken most of the topsoil/low hanging fruit)?

Thanks

Overall, the total amount of any element -- iron, nickel, tin, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. -- is constant. What changes is the form that element is in.

As we mine more tin and make more cans, that tin hasn't left the earth -- but less of it is in ore and more of it is in the alloys that make up food cans.

Same thing with your petroleum example. The carbon and hydrogen that made up the petroleum are still around, except they're now locked up in carbon dioxide and water.

It's easy to extract tin from ore. It's not as easy to extract tin from food cans. Likewise, it's easy to make fuel and lubricants from petroleum, but MUCH harder (e.g. more energy-intensive) to get the same stuff from carbon dioxide and water.

A similar thing happens with water. When you pump it out of the ground to use it, eventually it returns to the environment. The problem is that it doesn't all go back where it came from. It takes a long time for water to cycle back into the water table, so if you pump it out too fast, you can still run out of easily usable water.

That's what "resource depletion" is all about. The elements are still there. They're just not in an easily usable form any more.

Hope that helps.



Dont forget that in New England they are killing steel with salts via rust formation.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Dont forget that in New England they are killing steel with salts via rust formation.


It's returning to the ground as an oxide. Nice and stable, you won't lose it now.