• Level of study

    BAC +1

  • ECTS

    4 credits

  • Component

    Faculty of Science

Description

This course is designed to make first-year students aware of the issues surrounding the use, exploitation and management of the Earth's natural resources.

By way of introduction, an overview identifying the different types of these resources (energy, mineral, water) and the major associated issues (economic and environmental) will be presented.

Different types of resources will then be presented in three stages:

- The notion of mineral resources will be explored in depth by presenting the itinerary of chemical elements, from their creation in the Universe to their storage in the minerals that make up rocks and their use in the technologies employed in everyday life. This aspect will allow the introduction of basic notions in solid state chemistry and mineralogy, illustrated by mineralogy tutorials and practical exercises.

- The problem and the functioning of geological reservoirs trapping natural resources will be addressed by focusing on conventional energy resources (hydrocarbons) and future resources (underground storage of resources, geothermal energy).

- Finally, the major issues related to water resources in the world will be studied in depth. The global cycle of water on Earth will be presented and the essential notions allowing to understand the current major issues will be identified (definitions of an aquifer and a hydrosystem and the main types encountered, chemical interactions between water and rocks and illustration of processes centered on the chemistry of mineral and thermal waters).

Hourly volumes:

CM :18

TD :12

TP :6

 

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Objectives

This course aims first of all to make students aware of the issues associated with the management of the Earth's resources. It aims to show how the fields of geosciences, water sciences and chemistry have a strong role to play as disciplines that can respond to these major issues in the coming decades.

To better understand these issues, the student will have to acquire basic knowledge of the geological environments containing these resources: from the solid medium that contains the chemical elements to the geological massif that contains the fluid resources.

Open to students intending to study for the TEE degree, but also to students of the chemistry degree, this UE will aim, among other things, to show students the important place of chemistry and Earth and water sciences in the field of natural resources.

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Necessary pre-requisites

Knowledge control

Continuous control

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Syllabus

  • Synthetic description of the concepts covered in CM:

-CM1 and CM2: Introduction: what is a resource (natural, renewable, fossil). What are the major issues and problems associated with the use, exploitation and management of natural resources.

-CM3: Chemical elements: origins and distribution in the Earth

-CM4, CM5: minerals, entities that store mineral resources: definitions, structure, genesis. Examples on simple minerals and regional resources (galena, halite, etc...).

-CM6: Conference on an example of issues associated with a strategic resource (rare earths, hydrogen, etc...).

-CM7, CM8: Geological reservoirs: objects that store fluid resources. Conventional reservoirs for the illustration of conventional (hydrocarbons) and non-conventional resources. Geothermal energy and storage reservoirs (heat, gas, air) will be presented as future solutions using the "sustainable" potential of geological reservoirs.

-CM9: Water Resources and the Earth's Water Cycle

-CM10: Water resources issues in the world. Definition of a hydrosystem and major types of aquifers.

CM11: Issues around water quality: water chemistry and some examples of fluid-rock interactions.

CM12: Conclusion in the form of an integrative conference that will cover the concepts discussed in the EU, and that can provide a broader reflection on political, economic, environmental, etc. aspects.

  • Synthetic description of the TD sessions and number of hours associated with each session

-TD1 : Elements of mineralogy and crystallography, as an introduction to the 2 TP.

-TD2: composition of mineral/thermal waters

-TD3: rock texture, notions of porosity and hydraulic conductivity.

-TD4 : Integrative TD on an object involving a hydrosystem and different types of associated resources (drinking water, hot water, minerals, gas (He), energy (geothermal)). Example of the Pyrenean hydrothermal system of Thuès.

  • Synthetic description of the practical sessions and number of hours associated with each session

-TP1, TP2: practical work of mineralogy: basic elements of crystallography, illustration by the observation of natural crystallized solids (minerals). Work on a few minerals with very visible and educational characteristics (sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, silica) and on atomic structures. Link between atomic structures and properties on some very simple minerals.

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