Summary Grade 11 IEB Geography - Resources and Sustainability

Key Words:
- Resources: any material or product that people find useful.
- Infrastructure: the services and amenities needed for productivity.
- Natural Resources: any material that comes from the earth.
- Human Resources: people who operate mines, factories and farms.
- Manufactured Resources: things that people have made and which help to produce goods.
- Financial Resources: is capital needed to open and run mines and factories.


THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 Towns, cities, infrastructure and factories are often the place where resources are available.
 These industries are where heavy/bulky resources such as coal and logs are.
 These industries often stay in place even though the resources may have run out and
continue to grow.


THE EXPLOITATION AND DEPLETION OF RESOURCES

 Renewable resources: is energy that can be renewed like solar, wind, water.
 Non-renewable Resources: cannot be replaced when they have been used like coal or oil.

 Why are natural resources being depleted and degraded?
- Greedy businesses over-exploit resources to maximise profits in the shortest period.
- Gaps in our understanding of the natural processes involved.
- Population pressures on the resources. The rapid growth of the worlds population has
seriously depleted some resources.


SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF RESOURCES

 Sustainability: a process of change in which exploitation of resources meets current human
needs and will not endanger the meeting of human needs.

 Non-sustainability is being made worse by two growing problems:
- An increase in population, particularly in underdeveloped and developing countries.
- Increasing stress of natural resources and processes because of climate change.

 Successful ways of achieving sustainability are:
- Developing technologies which can be used and afforded by local people: solar cookers
that are inexpensive and affordable. Also, free people from collecting firewood every day.
- Using natural resources without damaging the natural environment: producing materials
that are better suited for their use. Using the sun to cook instead of wood.
- Educating rural people in affordable ways: this improves productivity on their farms and
limits debt.

, HOW SOILS ARE FORMED
 Soil is the thin upper layer of the earth’s crust. It is made of:
 Minerals: weathered over time from the underlying parent bedrock
 Organic Matter: comes from decaying plant and animal remains.
 Micro-organisms: the tiny organisms in soil that help to add plant and animals remains
into the soil in the form of humus.
 Organism: any living thing. All plants and animals are organisms.
 Biota: living organisms, like plants, animals, insects, fungi and bacteria.
 Humus: the organic material in soil. Humus is made up of remains of plants and animals.




Humus
Topsoil
often rich in humus
and minerals.
Subsoil
poor in humus,
rich in minerals.

Weathered rock
fragments
little or no plant
or animal life.

bedrock




 Two factors also play a role in formation of soil:
 Climate: temperature and precipitation affect rate of weathering of bedrock. Hot, wet
climate = fast weathering of rock, growth of dense vegetation and micro-organisms.
Cold, dry climate = poorer and thinner soils.
 Time: solid take very long to form and develop. Moist parts of South Africa = 12 000 - 20
000 years to develop solid that is deep enough to farm. Soil can be destroyed very
quickly due to poor farming methods.



SOIL AS A RESOURCE
 Earth’s most precious resource.
 Nourishes the plants that give food to humans and animals.
 We must learn to conserve soil.