Earth’s many natural resources, including oil, water, soil, minerals, wind, and sunlight,
are unevenly distributed on Earth’s surface. In other words, resources are concentrated
in specific places because of the processes by which they form. For example, fossil fuels
found today were formed by different geologic processes.
Each process took place in a certain location under specific conditions. For example, most of the coal we use today
formed where tropical swamps existed millions of years ago. However, salt deposits
formed where seawater entered a shallow bay.
As the water evaporated, dissolved materials were left behind and layers of minerals, such as salt, formed. Because many geologic processes occur over millions of years, resources formed in these ways tend to
be nonrenewable.
Some resources, such as wind and sunlight, are renewable. However, these resources are also limited in their distribution. Geologic processes can also move and change resources. Therefore, not all natural
resources are found where they first formed. For example, rocks containing gold can be
uplifted and exposed at Earth’s surface.
Weathering breaks rock down into small pieces of sediment, and erosion carries the sediment away. As a result, gold can be found in streams downhill from the rock where it came from. Geologic processes can also change
resources.
For example, calcite, a mineral used in medicine and building materials, can be dissolved by water and then deposited in a new form in a different location.
