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Chapter 5: Patterns in Nature: Minerals

Geotours

Download Geotours.

Getting Started :

If you haven’t done it already, download Google Earth™ and install it on your computer.
If you haven’t done it already, download the Geotours.kmz file and save a copy to your desktop. (The Geotours.kmz file contains the Geotours for all chapters, so you only need to download this once!)
By downloading Geotours.kmz you acknowledge that it was created solely to accompany Steve Marshak's Earth: Portrait of a Planet and Essentials of Geology and is limited to use with only Steve Marshak's Earth: Portrait of a Planet and Essentials of Geology and may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means for any other purpose without the written permission of the publisher.
Double-click the Geotours.kmz file and Google Earth™ will open automatically.
In the left-hand sidebar you will see a Places menu, and in the Temporary Places folder you will see an EARTH_3e.kmz file. Double-click the file and you will see a list of Geotours for each chapter.
Then open the Geotour folder you want to explore! If you’d like to read more about the features of Geotours see Using Geotours, or go to our Helpful Resources section.

STOPS ON GEOTOUR 5: Diamond Mines

Kimberley, South Africa

See also Worksheet Problem 1
"What a Geologist Sees" Geofeatures: Two Diamond Mines and Tailings Pile

Mine near Yellowknife, Canada
Diamond Prospect, Diamantina, Brazil

See also Worksheet Problem 2

GEOTOUR 5 WORKSHEET

Diamonds fetch such a high price that prospectors seek them even in very remote areas. In the 1860s, attention focused on Kimberley, South Africa—at the time, a very remote area. More recently, deposits have been found in Arctic Canada.

Kimberley, South Africa
1. Diamond pipes tend to be very narrow relative to their height.

(a) Fly to Image G5.1. Using the Measuring Tool and the Hand Tool, determine the diameter and depth (in m) of the diamond mine visible in this image.

Using this information, estimate the minimum volume of material (in cubic meters) that has been removed by the mining operation. (Hint: Model the pit as a cylinder; i.e., volume = mine area × mine depth.)

A large dump truck holds about 30 cubic meters of debris. How many dump truck loads would be needed to transport the material that once filled this mine?

(b) Miners need to dispose of the excavated waste material, or tailings, from mining operations. Where did the miners pile the tailings extracted from the mine shown in Image G5.1 (choose one)? (Hint: If you tilt your image, you will be able to distinguish pits from piles more easily.)
• North
• South
• East
• West

Zoom to an elevation of about 12 to 15 km. How many pits and tailings piles are in the Kimberly area?

(c) Tailings may contain compounds that cause water contamination. Double-click on the placemark for Problem 1c, and you will fly to a nearby mine. Note the closely spaced ridges and troughs carved into the side of the tailings pile. These ridges and troughs were caused by runoff during heavy rains. What evidence supports the claim that this runoff has affected water quality in the adjacent lake?

Diamond Prospect, Diamantina, Brazil
2. Fly to Image G5.4 and zoom down to an elevation of 3 km. Tilt your image and change your viewing direction to get a sense of the relative positions of hills and valleys. Miners collect diamonds by panning sediments eroded from outcrops around the mine. If you wanted to pan sediments for diamonds, in which direction would you go relative to the mine? Assume that your first attempt is about 0.5 km from the mine.

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StudySpace: Chemistry 2e.