West African Craton : Scientist think that the volcanoes in the West African Craton disturbed the ice age with the carbon dioxide that spat out of the volcanoes defrosting the earth. During pangea, the craton was connected to south America. A piece of the craton can be found there too.

 

Central African Craton : The central African craton was also connected to South America. The basin of the Congo River can be found there. So the craton is Also called the Congo Basin

South African Craton: The South African craton is known for its kimberlite pipes which contain diamonds. Cratons float on the upper mantle of the Earth because it’s made out of old yet light rocks. Billions of years ago, magma went through the craton to the surface if the Earth. The magma was originally 150 km deep. This created kimberlite magmas. The diamonds get made in the magmas and crater pipes. These get crystallized by the pressure of carbon. The diamonds are stored in rocks and get to the Earths surface by erosion and weathering.

 

Renewable resources: Resources that are replenished fast after exploitation meaning that it is reusable and doesn’t run out quick like air, water, solar panels etc

 

Non renewable resources: Resources like energy, metallic and non-metallic. These resources take long to develop and can only be found in certain areas so it’s harder to have access to.

Energy resources: Energy we need to meet our demands. All energy comes from the Sun. Without the Sun, organisms wouldn’t exist. 

The energy that animals and plants need to live are stord in dead plants and animals. They are covered by layers of sediments like clay. When the mud builts up and increases temperature slowly, the dead animals and plants get pushed down and the mud turns into rocks and metamorphoses  into oil, coal or natural gas.

 

 

Metallic resources: Metallic minerals like gold, copper, iron etc…

These are made with a few steps. First, Intrusion: The magma flows through faults to the Earth’s crust. Then the magma cools down and gets solidified. Then it gets crystallized and minerals like gold, platina, silver etc get formed. Metallic resources are harder to have access to because it only gets made in certain areas and there’s a limited amount so therefore it’s more expensive

Non-metallic resources: Resources like sand, gravel, clay etc…
These are cheaper than metallic resources because it doesn’t go through a complicated process to make and there is a lot of it.