Water quality tests

 

1. Nitrates- The test on nitrates is performed to see how many nitrates is in the water. Nitrates are a primary plant nutrient. Howver, excess nitrates causes algae bloom which decreeses the water quality.                                                                                                                                        
2. Ph- Ph is the measure of hydrogen in a sample. Most organisims live between 5.5 to 9.5  
3. Conductivity- Conductivity is trhe waters ability to conduct electricity, it shows how much dissolved salt is in a sample
4.   
   Turbidity- Referes to water clarity, it helps see how much "junk" is floating in the water.  
5. DOC- (dissolved Oxygen content) This is the most important thing to test for the more oxyegen the better, organisms need to breath too. the colder the water the more oxygen per ppm.
6. 
   Temperature- Most aquatic live between 0-32 celcious. Rapid change in temperature can cause the organisms to stress. Plus the warmer the water the less DOC
 
7. Alkalinity- is the waters ability to nutrilize acids, if the water is unable to do this then the water will be come acidic and stress the organisms and possible kill them.  
8. E. Coli- E. Coli is an indicator species and is from the intestines of warm bodied organisms. Most strains or harmless, however, they can indicate that other harmful pathogens are present.  

 

Anti mountaintop removal

     Most people believe that mountaintop removal is a horrid thing that is defacing mother earth. Some of the problems that local communities have with this method of mining include, but not limited to, water, air, and noise pollution. All of these types of pollution can lead t o serious medical problems that could even result in death. Blasting can be harmful to the surrounding communities and has even been known to kill. The harmful dust and coal particles that are in the air can then stay suspended in the air for days harming the miners and the community. The dust goes into the lungs which leads to upper respiratory problems which can harm people for the rest of there live. MTR also forces some to move from their homes, the blasting sites can be to close, or they move to try and save their health.

     When mine companies blast the MRT sites then the compacted becomes loose and the dirt cannot go back from where they got it. The over lay then goes into a valley and fills in streams and kills the natural flora and fauna. The companies claim to reclaim the land, but if it is even done the right way the mountain can never be the same. The biodiversity of the location is destroyed and will more than likely never return. So as you can see the mountaintop removal is not good for anyone involved, it hurts the environment and people, no good can come from this unless you are lining your pockets.







 anti MTR site

Favoring Mountaintop Mining

 

 

 

Mountaintop removal has it's pros and cons. Most
people don't believe in the pros, however, there are a few out there. Moutaintop removal provides well paying jobs for the miner that work in them. Surface mining is also cheeper to do than under ground mining, making it cheeper for the customers.















Mountaintop removal is also safer than under ground mining methods because there is less risk of cave ins and being trapped.














 Mountain top removal can also help communities economically by turning mountains into usable land for development, typically for golf courses or schools.






Pro mountaintop removal website

Coal Camp in WV, Osage

Osage, WV is located in Monongalia County, accross from Morgantown. The current population of the town is 365, the majority of which are white, about 35 African Americans, and 4 Hispanics. When the mine was in operation the owners were Brady-Warner Coal Corp. or Osage Coal Co. The mine is located in the Faremount coalfield.

Surface Mining

The three types of surface mining include, Strip mining, contour mining, and mountaintop removal. Stip mining is used when the coal seam is close to the surface and the top soild is stripped away to reach the coal underneith.Contour mining follows the contour of the terrain leaving terraces in the side of the mountain. Mountaintop removal is the most contreversal. The top of the mountain is removed to reach the horizontal coal seam underneath.  The advantages of surface mining are; it is more cost efficient than other mining methods, mine explosion are more rare, workers are less likely to die from toxic fumes, therefore more safer then underground mining methods. Disadvantages include:  overburden being placed in lower elevations and filles in "holes" or valleys, which completely changes the terrain. This effects the habitats of the regional flora and fauna,destroying the surrounding ecosystems. Surface mining also contributes to noise, water, and air pollution, which is harmful to everyone involved.

CIte used for research

Coal Formation

     Coal formation is a process that takes millions of years and only a few to mine. Coal is actually vegetation that has been smothered in a swamp like condition for years that could not decompose due to the lack of oxygen. This is the formation of what we call peat. As time goes on due to the pressure on top,the peat slowly turns it into Lignite, which is a soft brown coal. From there the pressure turns the lignite into Bituminous, then into Anthracite. As time goes on and the pressure continues to grow greater and greater the coal becomes harder and can burn at higher heat due to the lack of oxygen and the abundance of CO2. From there we use the coal to gather natural gasses used to produce energy, the leftover product is know as coke.

Analyzing Graphs

To conclude, the AOT function stays pretty close to the temperature level recorded by the earth science classes. AOT  increases and decreases in the same pattern as the temperatures recorded in November and December. However the percent transmission, does not closely resemble the temperature for the month. The percent transmission follows the same type of function, but moves with much greater difference such as 11/28/2012, the temperature slightly increases, but the percentage drastically increases.  P.s. Your vitriolic humor keeps my day interesting and the smart people in top.