How fuels and minerals formed, and why they are where they are
Grade 9 Science Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Coal ranks (EIA)
Rank Carbon lignite 25% to 35% subbituminous 35% to 45% bituminous 45% to 86% anthracite 86% to 97% Using the EIA table, by how many percentage points does anthracite's lowest carbon share exceed lignite's highest, by Bo's math?
- 62 percentage points
- 51 percentage points
- 121 percentage points
- 11 percentage points
USGS: to count as coal, rock must hold less than 50% ash-forming mineral matter. Which sample is coal (model data): 40% or 60% mineral matter, by Esme's reading?
- The 40% sample
- Neither sample
- The 60% sample
- Both, since any dark rock counts as coal
Use this
A rock cross-section with oil in sandstone pores.
Which rock would make a good oil reservoir, by Luz's reading (EIA)?
- A solid, dense granite with no open spaces between its crystals
- A living peat swamp
- A layer of fresh lava
- A sedimentary rock with many tiny connected spaces
Why are oil and gas usually found in sedimentary rock, by Milo's reading (EIA)?
- They formed from remains buried in sediment layers
- They fall as rain
- They form inside cooling magma deep under the volcanoes
- They form in a few years under lakes
Use this
A volcanic arc above a subduction zone with ore below.
USGS: porphyry ore forms 1 to 4 km deep, above source magma likely 8 to 10 km or more down. Using 10 km, how far below the shallowest ore is the magma, by Noah's math?
- About 40 km
- About 9 km
- About 4 km
- About 11 km
A model map shows a line of old volcanoes along a coast above a trench. Where should a geologist first look for porphyry copper, by Pia's reading?
- On the flat abyssal plain offshore
- In a coal swamp inland
- Near the old volcanic arc above the subduction zone
- In a desert dune field
USGS: some porphyry deposits formed after subduction ended, in collision zones. What does that show, by Ren's reading?
- They form in swamps
- Most form above subduction zones, but not each one
- They form far from plate boundaries
- They form in a few years
Table, How resources form (USGS, EIA), with columns Resource, Starts as, Forms where
Coal, swamp plants (peat), buried swamps; oil, tiny sea life such as diatoms, buried sea-floor sediments; natural gas, buried plant and animal remains, with oil, in shale pores, in coal beds; porphyry copper, fluids from cooling magma, arcs above subduction zones.
Using the table, which resource starts as tiny sea life, by Tala's reading?
- Peat
- Coal
- Porphyry copper
- Oil
Using the table, which resource forms from fluids of cooling magma, by Zee's reading?
- Coal
- Porphyry copper
- Oil
- Natural gas
Why are fuels and ores unevenly spread around Earth, by Ari's reading?
- They formed at random in a single year
- They formed where people live today
- They each form at plate boundaries
- Each needs certain conditions: swamps, buried sea sediments or arc magmas