Surface coal mining in the Appalachian has contributed to the destruction of over 500 mountain tops. In addition, it has led to the clearance of over 1 million acres of forests and contributed to the degradation or permanent loss of over 12000 miles of streams crucial to the Appalachia watershed from 1985- 2001.

The Appalachian region is rich in coal and fish. Zinc, lead, potash, salt, asbestos, copper and gold are mined in the Appalachian region.

Coal is mined in Appalachia by both surface and underground mining techniques. Surface coal mining methods in the steep terrain of the central Appalachian coalfields include mountaintop removal, contour, area and highwall mining.

Appalachian Orogen A great variety of minerals can be found there, particularly asbestos, zinc and lead. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, respectively, are home to potash and gypsum formations, and salt deposits are scattered throughout the region.

Switzerland

Since silicon (Si) and oxygen (O) are the most abundant elements in the crust by mass, it makes sense for silicates (e.g., feldspar, quartz, and garnet) to be some of the most common minerals in the Earth’s crust and to also be found throughout the West.

Of great industrial importance are the large deposits of copper, zinc, lead, molybdenum, and uranium found in this western region, as well as smaller deposits of tungsten, chromite, manganese, and other minerals.

Essential minerals — that is, those necessary for human health — are classified into two equally important groups: major minerals and trace minerals. The major minerals, which are used and stored in large quantities in the body, are calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur.

Groundwater leaches ore minerals and deposits them in areas near the water table, concentrating the minerals so ore can be mined. Among the many valuable metallic minerals found in deserts are deposits of gold, silver, iron, lead-zinc ore and uranium in the southwestern deserts of the United States and Australia.

Oil and gas result mostly from the rapid burial of dead microorganisms in environments where oxygen is so scarce that they do not decompose. Because the basins have constricted water circulation, they also have lower oxygen levels than the open ocean.

Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night put strains on the rocks which consequently break in pieces. Rocks are smoothed down, and the wind sorts sand into uniform deposits. The grains end up as level sheets of sand or are piled high in billowing sand dunes.

The following are ten of the most dangerous animals that can be found in the desert.

• Wild Dogs.
• Cougar.
• Inland Taipan.
• Ostrich.
• Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.
• Killer Bees.
• Desert Horned Viper.
• Arizona Bark Scorpion.

Most experts agree that a desert is an area of land that receives no more than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of precipitation a year. The amount of evaporation in a desert often greatly exceeds the annual rainfall. In all deserts, there is little water available for plants and other organisms.

Some interesting facts about these deserts are mentioned below:

• Antarctic – 5.5 million square miles.
• Arctic – 5.4 million square miles.
• Sahara – 3.5 million square miles.
• Arabian – 1.0 million square miles.
• Gobi – 0.5 million square miles.
• Patagonian – 0.26 million square miles.
• Great Victoria – 0.25 million square miles.

Borneo