Turbidity
Definition: Deficiency or lack of clarity, (in this case, of the water).
Impact on Stream Health: Turbidity affects the amount of sunlight that reaches the
bottom of the stream. If the turbidity is high, not much sunlight reaches the plants and
organisms that thrive in the stream and they suffocate and die. With high turbidity, dissolved
oxygen increases and hardly anything can grow in the water, decreasing its biodiversity and
overall health.
Temperature
Definition: How warm or cool an object or surface is.
Impact on Stream Health: Temperature is an important measurement to make because
it helps to further understanding about dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity levels.
Temperature influences the amount and diversity of life in water. The aquatic growth process is
similar to the seasonal process that happens every spring in regions that experience four
seasons. There’s not much life and growth during the winter, but when spring comes, there is a
rapid growth rate to just about every living thing in the area. Therefore, water temperature
dictates the amount and type of species that live in a stream. A median temperature would be
ideal for the most diverse streams, but it depends on the type of species that are resident to
stream to determine its health. The temperature is necessary to measure in order to determine
what kind of species can live and thrive in a stream.
pH
Definition: The measurement of how acidic or basic a substance is according to the pH
scale.
Impact on Stream Health: In regards to stream health, pH measures the acidic content
of the water. pH strongly influences what organisms can live in a specific body of water and the
slightest change in pH could have severe effects on the quality of the water and its residents.
Some organisms, like salamanders, frogs and other amphibians, can be troubled by high pH
levels. Some streams may have a more unbalanced pH level because of human influences from
chemicals in mining materials and fertilizers. Overall, pH is necessary to measure because it can
identify the health of local organisms which can be used to determine a stream’s water quality.
Dissolved Oxygen
Definition: The amount of oxygen molecules dissolved in a body of water.
Impact on Stream Health: Much like temperature and pH, the dissolved oxygen
level shows what kind of organisms can live in a specific body of water. Conversely, the
types of organisms living in the water also determine the dissolved oxygen levels. A
good example of this would be plants photosynthesizing underwater and releasing
oxygen into the water, just as they would do if they were on land releasing oxygen into
the air. Dissolved oxygen is a very important measurement because it is a main factor in
almost all of the other measurements; nitrate samples, temperature readings, and the
health conditions of organisms living in the water, both flora and fauna (BMIs).
Therefore, dissolved oxygen levels tell us more than the amount of dissolved oxygen in
the water; it grants researchers more knowledge about the creek’s health overall in
many areas.
Nitrates
Definition: Inorganic form of the element nitrogen that is an essential nutrient
for the growth and reproduction of many algae and various aquatic flora.
Impact on Stream Health: Nitrates almost act as plant food. They provide “food”
for the plants and algae in the stream. Nitrates play an important role in the growth of
plants in a stream: if there isn’t much of a nitrate presence, the plants in the stream
won’t grow bigger because they can no longer grow or reproduce. However, if the
nitrate level is too high, eutrophication, or the process of enriching the water, occurs.
Eutrophication can happen when there is too much nitrogen and plants produce too
much, light struggles to reach the plants from the sun because the stream’s surface is
covered too much by plants and algae, and, eventually, the plants die due to lack of
sunlight. It is also an indicator of dissolved oxygen levels, which are important to know
when drawing conclusions about the stream’s health.
Conductivity
Definition: How well a body of water can conduct an electrical current.
Impact on Stream Health: Knowing the conductivity of a stream will help to
researchers understand the amount of total dissolved solids (or TDSs) that are floating
around. The more conductive a stream is, the more TDSs there are that could be
preventing further or less growth.
Alkalinity
Definition: Water’s ability to neutralize acids.
Impact on Stream Health: A stream’s alkalinity level is important to measure
because it’s related to pH measurements, which can help prove or disprove the stream’s
appropriate spot on the pH scale. Finding out the alkalinity level will help to answer the
question of, “how well can this stream keep a healthy balance of acid and base?”
because it show how well, or poorly, a body of water neutralizes to acids.
E-Coli
Definition: Indicator species that can be found in streams and inside of warm
blooded animals, including humans.
Impact on Stream Health: E-coli is can be a dangerous thing to mess around
with, but is has good potential in helping researchers find out a stream’s condition
through the point of view of a bug. E-coli itself isn’t too dangerous, but reveals other
serious health risks in other organisms.
Sean's Earth Science Blog
Monday, May 13, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Against Mountaintop Removal Blog
Mountaintop removal is a very controversial issue throughout
Appalachia. Even though money is made because of the coal mined from
mountaintop removal operations, it’s quite costly to the environment and all
who live in and around it.
The
most obvious issue with mountaintop removal is the damage done to the
environment. It hurts the local ecosystem, meaning it harms tiny insects, all
the way up to behemoth trees and animals. These resident species must move to
other habitats and adapt to a different environment.
Creeks
and streams can be destroyed by the overburden (or the unused part of the
mountain) and water supplies can be contaminated from the chemicals from runoff
mining operations.
In
order to access coal inside of mountains, mining operators have to blast the
top of the mountain off in order to reach the coal. Blasting can cause major
disturbances and potential damage to local homes or property and roads that may
come close to the mining site. The damage isn’t limited to the mining site and
its vicinity. The coal consumption process that mountaintop removal enables can
also harm the environment, such as coal dust that can cover roads, buildings
and surrounding foliage. Coal dust can also cause health related problems,
especially those with preexisting conditions like asthma. In more extreme
cases, miners who work in the mines for most of their lives can develop black
lung, which is caused by long exposure to coal dust.
Mountaintop
removal, though profitable and helpful for energy production, the environmental
and health effects are more harmful than the positive effects of energy
production and profit.
http://ilovemountains.org/
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Positive Aspects of Mountaintop Removal Mining
Mountaintop removal is a very controversial issue,
especially in the Appalachia regions. Even though disputed, mountaintop removal
can be beneficial for several reasons.
For
starters, mountaintop removal mining is safer and more efficient than other underground
mining techniques. Instead of sending miners inside of mountains that can
collapse, explode from the inside or even suffocate miners, mountaintop removal
mining stays on the outside of the mountain and retrieves it from the outside.
It’s also more efficient because it’s easier to transport the coal from outside
of the mine than extracting it underground and then moving it out. This
requires more time, equipment and ultimately, money.
It
seems that the biggest problem with mountaintop removal is the environmental
damage that is done to the mountain’s ecosystem. However, nature has been able
to adapt to any situation it’s been given and it happens every day. After the
operation, the companies in charge are required to restore the site as close to
its former state as possible. The illusion that coal companies care nothing for
the environment is not true. By law, they are supposed to do their best to
restore the mountain to its former glory and most of the companies make a very
conscious effort to do so.
For the
people who live in Appalachia, coal is their way of life. Without it, their
lives and communities would experience more unemployment and some towns may
even start to become abandoned as they have for the past fifty to sixty years.
Coal mining is essential for the prosperity of these people by providing funds
and making room for public buildings like libraries and schools. It also
provides tax revenue for businesses to come in and improve the area
economically.
Even
though the mountaintop removal process may be hard to look at and endure at the
beginning and middle stages, the results and effects of mountaintop removal
mining benefit many people throughout the region over long periods of time. The
mountaintops are restored to their former glory and the local communities
benefit economically from it.
Golf course on top of mountaintop removal site. |
Monday, April 8, 2013
Support for Miners Essay
Around the turn of the 20th
century, the Industrial Revolution and influx of immigration were dramatically
changing the lives of all Americans. The nation was growing and it demanded
more power. That’s where coal comes in. During this time, monopolies began to
sprout up and take any advantages possible to get ahead. The behavior and
reactions of the owners and miners exemplifies the tension the two groups had
with each other during this time period. The miners, in this situation, are who
I sympathize with because of the dangerous work conditions, poor treatment by
owners, and the lack of benefits they deserve in a very dangerous field of
work.
To
begin with, the safety and health conditions related to the average coal mine
in the early 20th century were inadequate at best. Perhaps the
technology wasn’t all there, but regardless, gas leaks, explosions and roof
falls were not unheard of in mining communities. One statistic claims that
1,000 miners died every year around the turn of the century. Coal mining also has
dangerous long-term effects. Black lung, a disease caused by long exposure to
coal dust, affected scores of miners and still does to this day.
Next,
owners did not treat their workers well, especially for the job miners had to
do every day for most of their lives. It’s even been said that donkeys were
more valuable than miners because donkeys cost more to replace than human
beings! Furthermore, owners did not lend an ear to the miners, unless force was
used. This is why strikes like the Anthracite coal strike in Pennsylvania and
the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado happened. Federal troops had to be called into
Pennsylvania to help calm things down and get a deal settled before the huge
demand for coal arrived with winter. The strike at Ludlow turned into more than
a peaceful demonstration: company guards, armed with machine guns, and miners
fought fiercely. In the end, when President Woodrow Wilson sent troops to the
scene, 40 people were dead, including women and children, and many others
wounded. Even though miners would win in the end of both strikes, they did not
come easily.
Finally,
miners received nothing besides their normal wages in any situation, including
worker’s compensation, sick days or vacation days. Benefits were not around
then. If a miner were to get injured on the job, which was common, he didn’t
receive extra money or time off to have medical treatment or recovery time. The
situation is the same if he was to fall ill and couldn’t work. If you didn’t
work, you didn’t get paid, no matter what the reason. The miners, who had one
of the most dangerous jobs in America at the time, had to start from square one
to be eligible for the benefits they deserved.
If someone
were to look back at the history of coal mining in the United States, he or she
would be very appreciative of the rights that workers in all fields can
appreciate today. Even though owners were in charge of their own company, the
workers were, and still are today, the force behind its business. This is
something that the monopolies and millionaires learned the hard way through
strikes and worsening public opinion. In the end, miners have played a huge
role in achieving the average worker in America the rights and liberties he or
she deserves.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Coal Camp Blog Post
Location/Coalfield
The site is located in the Winding Gulf coal field in
Wyoming County in southern West Virginia.
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, 1,559 people live in town. The town
has a good balance between older and younger residents, with the median age
being about 42 years old, but it leans more on the side of being an older
community.
Coal Companies in Town
-Whitesville A&S Coal Company
- Elite Consulting Company
Important Dates
-
1912: Mullens founded
-
1929: W.V. State Legislature grants a charter to
Mullens
-
Turn of the Century: Railroads are constructed
(Virginia Railway in 1909)
-
Virginia Railway merges with Norfolk and Western
Railway (later to be renamed Norfolk Southern)
-
1993: National Register of Historic Places lists
the Mullens Historic District.
-
2001: A flash flood devastates the community,
forcing many residents and business to leave the struggling town.
JFK on the campaign trail in Mullens, W.V. |
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Underground Mining Methods
Drift Mining
This type of mining is one of the earliest coal mining
techniques. Drift mining is done when the coal seam is at the same elevation as
the outside is so miners can simply enter the mine without having to go down
shafts. It can be used when the coal seam intersects the surface while the mine
layout follows a horizontal direction with the coal.
Advantages:
-
Cheapest
way to mine.
-
Doesn’t
demand much machinery.
-
Less
effort is needed to reach the coal.
Disadvantages:
-
Coal
located below the drift cannot be accessed using this method only.
-
Tunnels
could collapse and trap miners inside.
Simple Drift Mine Diagram |
Shaft Mining
When coal is not accessible through
drift mining, shaft mining is used. Shaft mining is used when coal is located
well below the surface and must be accessed by going deep underground,
sometimes 1000 feet or more. Working elevators are placed into shafts and extend
down to the same level as the coal seam. One shaft is used for the
transportation of miners and their equipment and the other is used for the
transferring of coal to the surface where it can be processed.
Shaft Mining Diagram |
Advantages:
-
Coal
found deeper in the Earth can be accessed.
-
Two
elevator system moves coal and miners separately, saving time.
Disadvantages:
-
Can
become expensive if coal is located deep in the earth.
-
Potentially
dangerous because exit requires an elevator.
Room and
Pillar Mining
Room and pillar mining is used after
shafts have been dug underground to transport miners to coal waiting to be
mined. Once the miners and their equipment reach the coal, pillars of soft,
bituminous coal hold up the roof of where the miners are working and the coal
around them is extracted. This is not a safe and effective way to mine; roof
falls are common due to the pillars “squeezing” and putting pressure on other
pillars and the roof can collapse. Half of the coal in the mine must be left
alone because it holds up the roof, making this mining method ineffective and
unsafe.
Room and Pillar Mine |
Advantages:
-
Manmade
pillars don’t need to be transported down to the mines.
-
Mining
areas can have a flat surface, making it easier to use machinery.
Disadvantages:
-
Dangerous
due to soft, coal pillars holding up immense amounts of pressure above the mine.
- Very inefficient; half of the coal must remain
unused to provide support for the roof.
Continuous
Mining
Continuous mining is a mining method
commonly used alongside drift and room and pillar mining with technological
innovation added in. Heavy machinery is used to greatly increase mining efficiency.
These machines are equipped with tungsten carbide teeth to capture many tons of
coal in a small amount of time. Along with the mining machines, conveyor belts
transfer the coal to its appropriate location after extraction. The
technological advances make continuous mining much more economical than the
traditional pick and shovel and donkey-pulled cart system.
Continous Mining Machine |
Advantages:
-
More
coal can be mined quicker with the use of the machines.
-
The
job only requires one miner to operate the machinery, saving the company money
and if an accident were to occur, only one miner could be harmed instead of
many.
Disadvantages:
-
Room
and pillar mining is still used in conjunction with continuous mining,
which still leaves potential danger for roof collapses.
-
Machinery
may be difficult to transport and upkeep in the mine, sometimes deep in the
earth.
Longwall
Mining
Longwall mining is the most productive mining technique. This
procedure uses a gargantuan machine that supports the roof above while steadily
collecting all of the coal in its path. When finished, the machine retreats and
the coal roof above falls. After the roof falls, the machine proceeds to pick
up the remaining coal from the roof and is transported out. This is the most
efficient way to mine due to all of the coal being mined, including the coal
above, and none being left behind for support like in room and pillar mining.
Longwall Mining Machine with hydraulic roof |
Advantages:
-
The
most productive way to mine; no coal is left behind and can be done in less time.
-
Danger
from roof falls are gone because of the machine’s hydraulic support system.
Disadvantages:
-
Large
machines are not always reliable and may break down on occasion.
-
Costs
to purchase and operate these machines may be out of range for some companies.
http://www.coalcampmemories.com/miningmethods.html
Friday, March 22, 2013
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