Economic Geography

Unit 4 – Primary Resource Activities

The Nature of Resources (p. 132)A resource refers to available assets, or sources of wealth, that benefit and fulfill the needs of a community. There are three types of resources we will study:• Natural resource: any naturally occurring material which humans

choose to use (e.g.: fish stocks, oil reserves, trees, land).• Capital resource: any resource designed by society to further the

creation of wealth (e.g.: machinery, factories, buildings, equipment, money).

• Human resource: human labour or any other human ability applied to the fulfillment of human needs (e.g.: skilled workers, educated workers).

What makes a natural material a resource?

The material must satisfy all three of the following conditions:

1. Need or want for the material: e.g.: people desire gold for its aesthetic value (beauty). However, people don't desire tungsten but they desire the incandescent lights produced from tungsten.

2. Technological Development: A culture must have technological capabilities to extract and develop the natural material

3. Profitability: A culture must be able to make a profit from the material.

• All three of these conditions must be met; If one has not been satisfied then the material is not a resource.

• For example, we may have the technology to develop snails as a food source, but if there is no need or want for snails in Newfoundland then we cannot consider snails useful and therefore not a resource.

How Culture Affects Resources

Sea Urchins were not a resource in Newfoundland (we did not eat or use them). However, in South East Asia sea urchins are a desired food source. Asia had the "want", so we have developed the harvesting "technology" because the demand was there. It is "profitable" due to inexpensive technology and high demand.

CASE STUDY: Changing the Use of a Resource (p. 133)

• As human needs and wants change, so can materials that are considered suitable as resources.

• A resource can also take on differing uses.Read the case study on p. 133-134 and complete question #5.

THE SYSTEMS MODEL AND AGRICULTURE (p. 144)

The systems model refers to a way of looking at any resource we collect (i.e.: the system) and recognizing that there are inputs, processes, and outputs involved in the development of that resource.

• Inputs: things put into the system. E.G.: in farming the human inputs would include labour, capital (money), equipment, fertilizer and irrigation systems, whereas natural inputs would include rain, sunshine, heat and soil type.

• Outputs: things that are produced by the system. E.G.: in cattle farming the outputs could include beef and raw hide whereas vegetable farm outputs could include carrots, potatoes and cabbage.

• Processes: procedures that occur in the system to convert the inputs to outputs. E.G.: in vegetable farming the processes would include, sowing seed, watering, fertilizing, weeding, aerating, and harvesting. When looking at processes it is also important to consider: the division of labour, the spatial movement of people and animals, how the crops are planted, etc.

Agricultural Activities

• Agriculture is the use of land for the purpose of growing crops as a food source. Though there are many different types of agriculture, they can be classified based on similar characteristics:

• Agriculture classified by purpose:– Commercial farming involves the production of food for sale.– Subsistence farming involves the personal production of food to feed a

family.• The large wheat farms of the prairies would be commercial, while aunt

Sally's vegetable garden in the back yard would be subsistence.

Agricultural Activities

• Agriculture classified by land used:– Extensive agriculture uses large tracts of inexpensive land in

unpopulated areas– Intensive agriculture normally uses smaller tracts of land in more

densely populated areas. • Cattle farming in western Canada would be extensive, while dairy

farming in the Goulds (near St. John’s) would be more intensive.

Examples of Agricultural Methods

• Shifting cultivation is another form of extensive agriculture. Planting crops in a region until fertility diminishes and then moving to a fresh area to plant means there must be lots of land available. Sometimes “slash and burn” is used to add fertility to plots of land.

• Terracing is farming a series of steps, often bordered by small walls, on a hillside. The practice may arise from a lack of level land or from an attempt to reduce soil erosion. This can increase available arable land in areas where this is lacking.

• Nomadic herding is similar to shifting agriculture in that it involves moving from place to place with an extensive use of land, but differs in that nomadic herding involves the raising of cattle, sheep or other herding animals.

• Agribusiness is a form of commercial farming. It is run by large corporations that are self-sufficient, providing their own inputs and processing their own outputs.

What is this visual saying about the purpose and effects of agribusiness?

CASE STUDYS

“Shifting Cultivation in Borneo”, p. 149“Plantation Farming in Hawaii”, p. 152

Complete “Comparison of Farming Operations” Activity.

FOREST RESOURCES (p. 162)Climatic Factors That Affect Forest Development• Precipitation/Temperature

– Forests require a large amount of water. Consequently, one of the greatest factors that determine whether a forest will grow in a region is amount of precipitation.

– E.G.: tropical areas with high rainfall have tropical rain forests. Tropical areas that have intermittent rainfall have savannahs because there is not enough water to support trees and a forest.

• Seasons– Temperate regions of the world often have deciduous trees to help them deal

with the lack of water availability in winter. Some regions have dry seasons and they have deciduous trees even though it does not get "cold."

– The type of trees and forest present in a region is determined by the climate. Trees have adapted to climate just as animals have. The needle leaf trees of the coniferous forests are adapted to deal with winter and lack of available water. Both the tropical regions of the world and the subarctic regions of the world have evergreen trees.

Climatic Factors That Affect Forest Development• Diversity

– Colder regions tend to have less biodiversity, while tropical regions tend to have greater biodiversity. The same is true of trees. Tropical forests tend to be a blend of many different species, while coniferous forests tend to be pure stands of one type of tree.

DEFORESTATION (p. 163)• Deforestation – the conversion of forested land to other uses.

– This is by far the most severe and complex threat to our forest resources.– Reasons for deforestation include:

• More land is required for agriculture• Overpopulation can lead to a greater area needed for settlements/housing• Discovery of mineral deposits on forested land• Hydroelectric power developments require land for flooding and dam-

building

LAND-COVER CLASS % OF LAND, 1980 % OF LAND, 1990

Forest 54.5 51.3

Settled land, large-scale cattle ranching, hydroelectric 27.5 30.1

Shrubs and subsistence farming 10.0 10.1

Fragmented forest 5.7 5.8

Long-fallow shifting cultivation 1.8 2.0

Agricultural and forest plantations 0.5 0.7

Latin America• clearing the forests for

hydroelectric projects to provide electricity to an increasing number of people.

• large scale cattle ranches and urbanization

Africa• forests are being

cleared to make room for subsistence farming to support the growing population.

Asia• A growing population

means that more forest is cleared for housing and for agricultural land to feed the people.

***Complete #s 1-6, p. 163***

TREE HARVESTING (p. 165)• The great demand for forest products (pulp wood paper, lumber, etc.)

exerted by today’s modern society means our harvesting of trees is continuous and potentially devastating to the environment.

• Some environmentalist groups call for reduced harvesting to lessen negative impacts to natural systems, while members of the logging industry defend their practices on the basis of needed economic development.

Three tree harvesting methods…

1. Clearcutting– A form of forest harvesting that

removes all trees from an area greater than 40 ha. Profitable trees and undesired trees alike are cleared and the land is left uncovered.

ADVANTAGES? DISADVANTAGES?

• Fastest• Most economical (less

labour/time)• Least dangerous

(machines do much of the work)

• Leaves behind a poor looking landscape.

• Ecosystem has difficult time recovering.

• Soil is defenseless to erosion.

• Wildlife habitats are disturbed.

Three tree harvesting methods…

2. Strip-cutting– A variation on clear cutting where

strips of forest 20-100 m wide are cleared, leaving about 1 or 2 ha of trees in between.

ADVANTAGES?

• Less ecological disruption than clear cutting

• Some habitat is preserved• Soil erosion is less severe• Forest can regenerate

naturally without human help

DISADVANTAGES?

• Requires a larger section of forest to produce the same amount of yield.

• Disruption to ecosystem is still significant

• Roads must be maintained to access areas for future cutting

Three tree harvesting methods…

3. Selective Cutting– A form of forest harvesting that removes only mature trees and

leaves the other trees in place. Immature trees, undesired species and underbrush is all left intact.

ADVANTAGES? DISADVANTAGES?

• Leaves the biggest portion of the forest intact

• Causes the least ecological disruption

• Ensures young trees and new tree growth is possible

• Most expensive method (time consuming/labour intensive)

• Yields are lower• Care must be taken to

avoid damaging unharvested trees

• Roads must be maintained longer to keep harvesting trees as they mature

CASE STUDY

Read “Tree Harvesting in Various Ecosystems”, p. 166, and complete the accompanying worksheet.

STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY• Sustainability refers to the practice of ensuring that a resource

remains plentiful and profitable for use by future generations.• Consider the uses humans have for forests and the methods we use

to harvest them.• What strategies can we use to ensure sustainability of this

resource?• In terms of a systems model approach we can…

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTPUTS

• provide seedlings for replanting

• contribute to healthy soils• use controlled burns to aid

in forest reproduction in some ecosystems (boreal forest)

• improve road construction • choose less damaging

harvesting techniques • make use of environmental

protection actions (conservation, government policy)

• reduce losses (use all of the tree)

• reduce our heavy reliance on forest products

• recycle materials and paper

• use alternate building supplies and materials

ENERGY FROM THE OCEANS (p. 182)• Our whole way of life depends largely on the

availability of energy:– Public works (roads, schools, hospitals, etc.)– Transportation systems– Communication systems– Leisure pursuits– Industrial activities

• Though the sources of such energy are many, fossil fuels (coal and petroleum) are primarily used today.

• Petroleum (oil) is valued so highly for several reasons:1. Produces large amounts of heat power per unit of

mass2. Easy to store and move about (good for

transportation needs)3. It can be refined into other products (e.g.:

gasoline, chemical fertilizers, plastics)

HOW OIL DEPOSIS WERE FORMED (p. 182)• Millions of years ago plants and animals of the oceans died and

settled on the ocean floor. While large organisms contributed to the oil it was often the mass of small and microscopic organisms that contributed the bulk of the carbon for oil.

• Over many thousands of years bacterial action and extreme pressure from layers of sediment converted the organic matter to oil and gas. The extreme pressure came from the continuous build up of sediment. The pressure created tremendous amounts of heat which helped the process along.

• The oil moved within the soil and oil reserves formed when non-porous rock lay above porous rock. Oil seeps up through the porous rock and is trapped by the non-porous rock.

• VIDEO – Formation of Reservoir Rock

Four Common Oil and Natural Gas Traps

Four Common Oil and Natural Gas TrapsThe four types of oil reserves all have a nonporous rock cap and a porous rock source. The porous rock allows the oil to seep into the cavity and the nonporous rock prevents the oil from leaving.

1. Fold Trap: the up fold or anticline in the layers of the earth's crust form the reservoir.

2. Fault Trap: the vertical movement of the earth's crust forms a v-shaped reservoir.

3. Salt Dome Trap: The salt dome forms an up-fold in the earth's crust not unlike the anticline caused by tectonic forces.

4. Stratigraphic trap: has a former limestone reef as its porous rock feeding the reservoir.

FINDING OIL AND GAS RESERVES (p. 183)• There are a number of steps involved in the finding of offshore oil and

gas reserves: 1. Ships tow sound emitters and hydrophones along the ocean.

Different rock layers reflect sound differently and these devices record this information.

2. Computers convert the sound data into 3D pictures of the ocean’s rock layers. Scientists use these images to determine the most likely location of oil.

3. “Wild cat” wells are drilled to test for oil: – if they strike oil then delineating wells are drilled to determine the

size of the reservoir – if they miss oil then the core samples are examined for evidence

of oil• VIDEO – Seismic 3D Imaging

***Complete #s 1-6b , pp. 183-184***

FACTORS AFFECTING OIL RECOVERYWhat are some physical/natural factors that can affect whether or not oil will be extracted from the ocean floor?

• Ocean related factors include; 1) Ocean Depth 2) Ocean currents 3) Icebergs & pack ice

• Climate/weather related factors include; 1) Wind speeds 2) Storms

• Oil Related factors include; 1) size of the reserve 2) Oil quality

• Environmental protection factors; Preventing oil spills. Other resources like fish stocks, marine mammals, and spawning grounds would be affected in the event of an oil spill.

What are some human factors that can affect whether or not oil will be extracted from the ocean floor?

• Worker Safety; How safe can the drill rig and production platform be for the workers?

• Financial Factors include: – cost of inputs like building a rig to withstand icebergs, building a rig to

drill at great depths or building a production platform that can withstand hurricane winds;

– cost of processes like transporting the oil from off-shore to land, maintaining the platform's equipment, and pressurizing the reserve

– price of oil which is set by world markets and determines if enough money is recovered from the oil to exceed the cost of production.

• The decision whether to drill or not often comes down to the question: will the cost of overcoming the all other factors be offset by the price oil can be sold for and make the venture financially viable?

DRILLING TECHNOLOGIES (p.185)There are four types of modern offshore oil drilling rigs:

Submersible• Limited to ocean depths of 20 m. For this reason they are limited to

continental shelves, relatively close to shore.• The rigs are floated as they are towed to the drill site. Once in

position ballast tanks are flooded until columns rest on ocean floor.

Jack-Up Rigs• Limited to a maximum ocean depth of 100 m.• The jack-up is similar to the submersible in that it rests on the ocean

floor. However its steel legs (not columns) rest on ocean floor and can be extended for varying depths.

Semi Submersible Anchored Rigs• Float on the ocean. Because they are anchored to the ocean floor

they are limited to a maximum ocean depth of 200 meters.• The rigs are built on land which is flooded upon completion so the rig

floats. Then the rig is towed to the drill site. Water is pumped in and out of Ballast tanks to help stability along with anchor lines. Oil is stored in pontoons until shipped on-shore.

Semi Submersible-Dynamically Positioned • Able to drill outside the continental shelf. However, they are still

limited to a maximum ocean depth of 2000 meters.• Towed to the drill site. Water is pumped in and out of Ballast tanks to

help stability but there are no anchor lines. Dynamic means changing or moving, i.e.: thrusters position the rig over the drill site. Like the Anchored rigs oil is stored in pontoons until shipped on-shore.

Directional Drilling• Figure 11.5 on page 187 of your text.• This technique allows drill companies to reduce movement from one

small oil pocket to the next. It also increases the drill holes exposure to source (porous) rock.

CASE STUDY

Read “Hibernia Oil – A New Addition to the Oil Patch”, p. 187-191, and complete the accompanying worksheet.

FOOD FROM THE OCEANS (p. 198)• Fish is a highly recommended food item because it is rich in protein. About

80% of fish harvested comes from ocean waters.• Globally, fish accounts for only 16% of protein consumed by humans. This

does not reflect the true importance of fish as a food source:– In areas where extensive farmland for livestock is not plentiful, fish provide a

great percentage of our diet. This varies across the globe.

Which areas rely the most on fish as a source of protein?

• Far East• Africa• Parts of Asia

Why do you think North America has such a low reliance on fish protein compared to the global average?

LOCATION OF FISH STOCKS (p. 199)

Where do most fishing activities occur?Answer: Along the oceans continental shelves.

• Most fishing grounds are found on continental shelves – the shallow (parts of the oceans near the edges of continents.

• This pattern occurs for two reasons:

1. The shallow waters of the self make harvesting more cost effective. The fish have to be landed on shore for human use so the regions closer to shore are fished most profitably.

2. Most of the fish exists on the continental shelves. The shallow waters of the shelf promote plankton production, which serves as the base of the marine food web including fish.• Shallow water ensures enough light for phytoplankton and effective

circulation of nutrients due to ocean currents.

QUESTIONS & CASE STUDY

Task #1 - *Complete #s 3-7 pp. 201-203*

Task #2 - Read “Japan and the Fishery”, p. 203-204, and complete the accompanying worksheet.

ISSUES AFFECTING FISHERIES MANAGEMENTOcean PollutionSource of Ocean Pollution Description

Oil • In addition to large spills, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil quietly end up in the seas every year, mostly from non-accidental sources (maintenance procedures, dumping, etc.)

Toxic Material • Industrial, agricultural, household cleaning, gardening, and automotive products regularly end up in water. About 65,000 chemicals are used commercially in the U.S. today, with about 1,000 new ones added each year. Only about 300 have been extensively tested for toxicity

Dangerous Debris • Substances like plastics end up in the sea and pose hazards to marine life. Animals drown or strangle from getting tangled in discarded or lost fishing gear, or suffer and even die from eating plastics and other garbage.

Potential Resource Use • For thousands of years humans have viewed oceans as vast dumps for domestic, municipal, and industrial garbage. The enormous deep-sea resources will undoubtedly attract more miners in the future, as easy-to-reach deposits on land are depleted.

Technology and Fishing Activity (205-207)

• Complete the activity sheet, “Technology and the Fishery”

Impact of New Catch Technology on the Environment• Factory freezer trawlers (p. 207) have likely had the most significant

and negative impact on fish stocks: – Highly efficient at catching fish which greatly reduces the population &

reproduction. Large diesel engines, echo sounding equipment, onboard freezers, and GPS navigation contribute to their efficiency.

– Destruction of the ocean floor by trawls/draggers eliminates good spawning locations for fish. Furthermore it disperses eggs, making fertilization more difficult.

– By-catch is often discarded. Some regulations require ships to return with low levels of by-catch.

– Traveling great distances and being able to stay at sea for long periods allows trawlers from all over the world to congregate in good fishing areas. This puts added pressure on the fish stock.

Comparison size of a modern super trawler

ISSUES IN A SUSTAINABLE FISHERY (p. 209)• A sustainable fishery requires

controlling the quantity and quality of resource use. An understanding of the complexity and interconnectedness of ecosystems and how we affect them are crucial.

• We must understand the stresses that fish stocks face (our need and the extent of harvesting). As populations increase, so will the need for fish as a food source.

• Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): many maritime countries have extended their legal jurisdiction to 320km from their coasts. This gives them more control over licenses and fish stocks. Policing of these areas is required to stop illegal foreign fishing.

CASE STUDY

Task #1 - Read “Empty Nets”, p. 211, and complete the accompanying worksheet.

Task # 2 – *Complete #s 16, 17, & 18 on p. 212*

Excerpt from “Empty Nets” by Jim Payne

Here's to the plant worker, toils on shore,And waits for the fishermen to catch a few more;And then pack it up for the grocery store,Till it ends up on somebody's table.How can they feed multitudes with fishes so small?How can they feed families with no fish at all?Get down on your knees for a miracle call,But we'll stick to it for as long as we're able.

Those empty nets, 'cause that's what he gets,When you're out on the water no time for regrets;Those empty nets that's what he gets,How's a poor fishermen to pay off his debts,When he goes out each morning to haul empty nets?

Strategies for a Sustainable Fishery• From a systems model perspective we can work towards a

sustainable fishery by:

1. Inputs:– increase efforts in aquaculture– develop fishing technologies that reduce by-catch

2. Processes:– increase policing of EEZs– reduce pollution (oil, toxins, other waste)– focus on other species to take stress off threatened species.– focus on marine conservation

3. Outputs:– process by-catch for human use