1. NOTES: CA ENERGY & resources (CA4-CA5, 26.1-26.2)

2. California’s beginnings:
CA’s socioeconomic history is closely tied with it’s geological history
CA is #1 in underground resources that contribute to the US economy
For those resources to “come out” and be harvested, they first have to be exposed somehow . .

3. California “Exposed” :
Glaciers exposed many layers of rocks and minerals that would have normally gone undiscovered by carving
Fluid erosion (wind and water) transported many weathered rocks and minerals to lower elevations
Faulting and folding by plate tectonics is a force capable of turning over great chunks of rock and soil quickly
Mining by humans manually exposed underground rocks and minerals.

4. What drew miners to california :
PLACER DEPOSITS: Eroded gold flakes and nuggets that were sorted by size and brought down by runoff
Gold pieces were easily found in a delta area, since the waterways formed a triangular “alluvial fan” and evenly spread out sediments.

5. The “mother lode”
LODE DEPOSITS were big Quartz veins filled with Gold inside the earth
These were discovered by miners who were mining manually, using underground tunneling or hydraulic mining techniques.

6. Which type of deposit was depleted first? Why?

7. Modern CA underground resources are:
Gravel and stone (from rock quarries) = Sierras and Foothills
Boron (from sedimentary rock mixed with volcanic ash) = Central Valley and Foothills
Portland Cement = (processed from sedimentary limestone) = Central Valley and Foothills

8. California ALSO HAS IT’s OWN ENERGY ResourceS
Oil has to come from
oceanic sediments being
compacted over time
Therefore, it is normally
found near old or extinct
Plate boundaries
It is considered a
“fossil fuel”
CA is the 4th largest oil
Producer in the US!

9. Water , Crude Oil, and Natural Gas are all found together underground in pockets where rock layers have bent upwards (anticline) into a pocket,
The gas is on top, the oil in the middle, and water on the bottom because of density.

10. A section of layers that has been separated from it’s original location by faulting is called a “trap”.
Where it leaks onto the surface by itself is called a “seep”
Ca uses 58% of it’s OWN OIL, but imports 84% of it’s gas

11. SHALE… FOR FOSSIL FUEL REPLACEMENT?
There are great deposits of the sedimentary rock, Shale, in Monterey and other coastal areas.
Shale can absorbs lots of Oil (Hydrocarbons) because it resembles pressed powder.
People knew about
Shale even in the
1600’s, for tanning
Leather and dying
Fabrics.

12. CONTROVERSY:
We could potentially get about 2.6 billion barrels of oil from oil shale!
“FRACKING” is hydraulic fracturing of shale, or using high pressure water, sand, and chemicals to crack/break into oil shale to get the fuel out.
Communities in these areas are concerned about the environmental impact of this process.

13. CA is sitting on a plate boundary, and ALSO has access to geothermal energy
This energy is generated by underground water heated by the mantle
This type of energy accounts for about 4-5% of CA total energy supply
The plants are located mainly in the North Bay Area along the San Andreas Fault..

14. For each of the following RESOURCES, state “renewable” or “non”… WHY?
Fossil Fuels like oil
Boron
Portland Cement
Geothermal energy
Gold
Gravel