Across
- 2. mechanical breakdown of rocks and minerals
- 5. the removal of strips of soil and rock to expose the underlying ore
- 7. concentratied accumulations of minerals from which economically valuable materials can be extracted
- 8. miners remove the entire top of a mountain with explosives
- 9. proportion of soil bases to soil acids
- 10. the underlying rock material from which its inorganic components are derived
- 13. the process of looking for metals and precious stones in river sediments
- 14. mining that occurs below the surface of the Earth
- 15. horizontal layers with distinct physical features such as color or texture
- 16. the known quantity of a resource that can be economically recovered
- 17. the removal of a large volume of material, extraction of the resource, and return of the unwanted material
Down
- 1. the breakdown of rocks and minerals by chemical reactions, the dissolving of chemical elements from rocks, or both these processes
- 3. the physical removal of rock fragments from a landscape or ecosystem
- 4. the average concentration of an element in Earth's crust
- 6. the ability of a particular soil to adsorb and release cations
- 7. mining technique that creates a large visible pit or hole in the ground
- 11. elements with properties that allow them to conduct electricity and heat energy to perform other important function
- 12. precipitation high in sulfuric acid and nitric acid from reactions between water vapor and sulfur oxides in the atmosphere
- 14. the loss of some or all of the ability of soils to support plant growth