How coal is formed is quite an interesting topic. It started over millions of years ago in ancient swamps when vegetation and trees died and formed peat (it is where vegetation builds up and turns into a super messy pile of stuff). This peat was eventually covered with either dirt or sand. As the peat is covered and pressure the gas that the peat gives off starts to get trapped in the new forming coal. Several years the peat now turns to rock known as coal. As the planetary plates shift the coal moves and forms pockets and runs in the earth. Then people came along and found out how to harness is power. People had to get the coal out of the earth. One way they found out how to get it out was to dig it out of the underground tunnels to find where the coal runs. Another way to get the coal is to strip mine the coal this is where the miners remove huge amounts of dirt to get to the coal. Both of these mining techniques are extremely dangers.
In order to define the music of Appalachia, one must first define the area in which the Appalachians encompass. This mountainous area extends 1500 miles and covers an area that extends from Maine to Georgia. There are eighteen states which make up the Appalachians. According to most Europeans, they consider the Appalachians to be only the southeastern region of the United Stated. However, the Appalachians are actually a combined combination of states that include all eighteen states. During the 1920’s these areas were considered 1“Back Country” areas.
Before we ponder in the exquisite Appalachian cultural practices and beliefs, let us know more about its geographic region. “Appalachia is a 205,000-square-mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. It includes all of West Virginia and parts of 12 other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia” (The Appalachian Region paragraph 1) . Appalachia is the name of a Spanish empire that was drilling for gold and plunders (Williams 19). It is considered the second largest mountains of North America (Brescia 40). The Appalachian towns that include the mines have its own fascinating history. Appalachia is a place that you can visit in all seasons and each season has its unique spirit and mood. So, if you are seeking spring break, it would be a brilliant idea to visit the holy Appalachian Mountains to enjoy some refreshing outdoor entertainment and relaxation activities such as, fishing or eve...
The myths must be dispelled. First of all, coal is not a bountiful. It is a nonrenewable resource and, according to a United States Geologic Survey, it is only expected...
A machine known as a dragline then digs into the rock to reveal the coal, the machines hollow out the tiers of coal and dump millions of overburden, the previous mountaintops, into constricted nearby valleys, thereby producing valley fills. Coal companies have covered over 1,200 miles of biologically crucial Appalachian headwaters streams.
One major business of the Appalachian mountain range is the coal mining industry; the range is the second-highest supplier of coal in America (Wuerthner, 2008). A common method of coal-extraction, mountaintop removal, results in mountain peaks becoming plateaus. The use of 300 million pounds of an explosive, ammonium nitrate rich fuel allows miners to remove hundreds of feet off mountain peaks each day, making the underlying coal more accessible and thus the extraction more efficient (Reece, 2006 & Shnayerson, 2008). The proces...
The coal mining has several disadvantages which not only limited to carbon di oxide emission but also affect the land, water, human health and other species life. Underground and opencast mining both have their tremendous disadvantages for environment and the society. Underground mining requires fire blast which has lined up severe situations like human safety and environmental pollution. These activities are also responsible for the displacement of the human beings, animals and other species hence it will disturb the ecosystem. In 2006, 30 million people displace which was 50% higher than the year of 1991. The coal mining also requires large amount of water from the nearby source and this waste and contaminated water generally disposed to some river and land. These activities affect the normal drinking water, underground/surface water and the minerals of lands. The large scale excavations, removal of surface soil, dumping chemical wastes, creation of road, cutting of mountains etc. all these actions causing severe impact on the land. The land deforestation is one of the most severe problems because it’s also related to the local people and animals. Number of species and animals rapidly got endangered from the past few years because of such activities.
Valley Region of the Appalachian Mountains and Subsequent Karst Regions in the State of Virginia
The Appalachian population extends across thirteen states in the United States including: Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. These regions are divided into categories of Northern Appalachia, Central Appalachia and Southern Appalachia. West Virginia is the only state that is entirely within Appalachia.1 The environment these individuals encounter is within the mountains, valley and rivers with varying degrees. There are few cities within this culture and many still live in small communities.
All of Maine was once covered by glaciers, the last of which receded about 10,000 years ago. Because of the glaciers, much of Maine is covered with stones, boulders, and clays. Many of the hills and mountains have been rounded, lakes have been formed, and river courses have been changed. Although glaciers covered all of Maine, there are nevertheless substantial physiographic differences in the regions of the state. Maine can be divided into three major natural regions: the White Mountain section, the New England Upland, and the Seaboard Lowland. These three regions are part of the New England province, which in turn forms part of the Appalachian Region.
For example, Hydrofracking; What is hydrofracking? Gas industries use hydrofracking to extract natural gases from shale ground in order to power Americans homes. When gas industries hydrofrack, they dig ten-thousand feet into the mantle of the earth and turn perpendicular to the t into shale layers with cement and steel casing to prevent leaks. Then rupture the layer of sediment with high pressures of water, sand and a plethora of chemicals. Once the chemicals are saturated in the crevices of the drill site, they extract the excess fluid and then ship them to market.
...eral development and deposits in ways that is not high in environmental impact or harm.
Coal has a very negative impact on the environment, one of the main impacts on the environment is the actual process of extracting the coal from the ground. The two ways that coal is mined, underground and surface, both have different effects on the environment. The first way that coal is mined is by digging tunnels and creating mineshafts underground and then removing the coal from th...
Mountain top removal mining has been in practice since the 1960’s. In order to reach the coal around 400 to 500 feet of the mountain top is blasted off to expose the seam. All the excess material from blasting and bulldozing is piled up in the surrounding valleys and streams. The landscape is a pitiful sight resembling a moonscape. There are no trees, no wildlife, just rocks, dirt and mud. However, in 1983 the Federal Government took notice of environmentalist’s actions aga...
Mines pose a threat to the environment. They can degrade soil and water quality if left untreated. The United States Environmental protection Agency (USEPA)'s Region 9 assessment of state data states that there are approximately 420,000 abandoned mines in the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada with 13,242 of them being considered "abandoned mines with potential environmental hazard" (arizona.edu, 2008).