What are the Natural Resources of Brazil?

The Natural resources of Brazil Are a valuable treasure that counts the country. Proof of this is that the main sources of employment and their recognition to the world are due to the use of their resources, unlike other countries in which their main contribution has been technology and industry.

Brazil is a country located to the northeast of South America with geographic coordinates of 1000 S and 5500. Its main language is Portuguese and has 205 million inhabitants.

In an estimate of 2015, its economy was the second best of America and the 8th with respect to the world (CIA, 2015).

Its territorial extension is of 8'515,770 km2, with a terrestrial area of ​​8'358,140 km2 and 157,630 km2 of water, with a maritime territory of 12 mn; With 32.9% of their land being devoted to agriculture, 61.9% to forests and 5.2% to conurbations and others. It is the second largest country in America and the 5th largest in the world.

It limits the west with Colombia, Peru and Bolivia; To the north with Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana; East with the Atlantic Ocean and to the south with Argentina Paraguay and Uruguay.

Its average average elevation is 320 msnm, being the lowest point in the 0 msnm in the Atlantic Ocean and the highest peak in Pico da Neblina to 2,994 msnm. Almost all of its extension is of tropical climate, however there are in some places to the south where the temperate climate predominates (CIA, 2015).

Its main natural resources are gold, iron, magnesium, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydroelectric power and wood.

Biodiversity

Brazil holds between 10% and 20% of the world's biodiversity. This is thanks to its great extension and its location in the tropical region of the planet. In the country there are 6 different biomes that are: Campos, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Pantanal, Caatinga and Amazonia (figure 1).

Figure 1. Biomes of Brazil (Batista Da Rocha).

Of these, the Atlantic forest has the highest biodiversity rates in the world and together with Cerrado are the most severely threatened biomes in the country (Landim, 2010).

The Amazon region comprises, for the most part, tropical forests, but also presents montane forests, wetlands and sheet stains. The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world with 4.1 million km2 territory.

Mining

Brazil is one of the main mining reserves in the world, ranking 1st in the world in reserves of niobium and tantalite; The 2nd place in reserves of kaolin and graphite; 3rd place in reserves of aluminum, talc and vermiculite; And the 4th in reserves of tin, magnesite, iron and magnesium (Barreto et al., 2002).

Since the 18th century, Brazil was the world's leading gold producer until the decline of its surface deposits in more than a century of production. The main consequence of this activity was the contamination of soil, water and fish with mercury, since the mercury element is used in the process of amalgamation for the extraction of gold. (Pfeiffer, et al., 1989).

In the 1980s, Brazil remained the largest gold producer in South America, with annual production of 100-200 tons per year. This production would correspond to 2000 to 3000 tons of mercury released in the Brazilian Amazonian environment (Malm, 1998).

At the moment the mining of Brazil is concentrated mainly in the extraction of iron. According to DNPM (2016), Brazil's main mining exports correspond to iron (55.3%), gold (14%), copper (9.1%) and niobium (7%).

Petroleum

Brazil currently ranks 15th in the world for proven reserves of crude oil, with approximately 16 trillion barrels. Its production of refined petroleum products is 2,811 million barrels per day and its consumption is 3,144 million barrels per day (CIA, 2015).

Hydroelectric power

Brazil's hydroelectric energy contributes 76.9% of all electricity generated and 15.2% of all domestic energy provided. In 2009 it had 81.9 GW of installed capacity and a production of 390,988 GW.

Brazil still has a 161 GW hydroelectric potential that represents almost twice the installed hydraulic potential. Almost 63% of its potential is located to the north, mainly in the Amazon Basin (da Silva - Soito & Vasconcelos - Freitas, 2011).

Wood

The extracted wood is mostly consumed within the country and yields significant profits. The timber industry directly or indirectly employs 3% of the economically active population of the Amazon.

It is also generating increasing export revenues, rising from $ 380 million in 1998 to $ 943 million in 2004 (Martino, 2007).

Conservative calculations indicate that 40% of the extracted wood is illegal, coming from public lands, indigenous reserves, protected areas, or mainly from properties that are deforested above the legal maximum of 20%. This is one of the most common origins of illegal wood (Martino, 2007).

The Coffee Industry

Brazil is the leading coffee producer in the world, followed by Vietnam, Indonesia and Colombia (Espacio, 2015).

Coffee was introduced to South America by the Europeans in the eighteenth century and began cultivation in Brazil in the wake of the collapse of the economy of Santo Domingo.

From then on the country became the main producer of coffee worldwide aided by the continuous use of slaves, which led to the establishment of large coffee plantations throughout the country. Brazil was the country that most import slaves and the last in the world to abolish slavery (Topik & Wells, 2010).

It was not until 1930, with the arrival of the populist leader Getúlio Vargas, that the coffee exporters ceased to have the political domination of the country (CIA, 2015).

Islands and Archipelagos

The territory of Brazil includes the Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, the Atoll of Rocks, the Island of Trindade, the Island of Martin Vaz and the islets Penedos of Sao Pedro and Sao Paulo.

The Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha

It is located in Cabo Sao Roque in the state Rio Grande do Norte, around 195 mn of the sea at the coordinates (03 ° 51 'S, 32 ° 25' W); In the northern equatorial south branch of the ocean current, its temperatures are high, its waters are transparent and high in salinity.

Near the island are several small islands, all of volcanic origin; The intertidal bottom has mostly hard substrates with little beach sand, dominating the communities of seaweed (Calcareous algae, Sargassum sp. And filamentous green algae) and Vermetidae (García, et al., 2002).

Rock Atoll

It is a small oceanic atoll located 266 km off the coast of Natal in Brazil and has been thought to be the lemon shark nursery with the largest southern area in the Atlantic Southeast (Silva et al. 2002; Wetherbee, et al., 2007).

It is relatively isolated from other surface water locations, it does not contain mangroves or marine ponds and is subject to an extreme tidal flow that causes much of the atoll's inner lagoon to be devoid of water during low tide (Silva, et al. Wetherbee, et al., 2007).

Trinidad and Tobago

It is located at the eastern end of the Vitória submarine crest (20 ° 30 'S, 29 ° 20' W), at 620 mn (1,160 km) from the Espírito Santo state coast to southeast Brazil. Together with the Martin Vaz Archipelago, which lies 48 km east of the Trinidad, they form the most isolated insular group on the coasts in Brazil (Gasparini & Floeter, 2001).

The island is of volcanic origin and was raised about 3 to 3.5 million years ago (Almeida, 1961; Greenwood, 1998; Gasparini & Floeter, 2001). A tropical oceanic climate prevails, brought by the east and southeast trade winds, with an average water temperature of 27 ° C (DHN, 1968; Gasparini & Floeter, 2001).

The island contains abundant calcareous reefs of algae, which extend through coastal areas (Gasparini & Floeter, 2001).

The island Martin Vaz

The Martín Vaz archipelago, located 48 km east of Trinidad Island, is composed of one of the largest islets, Martin Vaz and three small islets, North, Agulha and Sol (Dos Santos, et al., 2002) ; These islets belong to the Espírito Santo state and are of volcanic origin, of abrupt terrain, are mostly vacant lands, were discovered in 1502 by Portuguese navigators (Ramírez, 2011).

Penedos de São Pedro and São Paulo

They are tiny islets in the Atlantic Ocean north of Ecuador, made mostly of peridottitis and represent a raised body of the upper mantle (Bonatti, 1990). In these islands fishing is practiced since 1950, the main species to be obtained are: yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), guaju (Acanthocybium solandri) and the Dutch flier (Cypselurus cyanopterus) (Oliveira et al. ; Vazke, et al., 2008).

Brazil is a mega diverse country, the prevailing riches in its soils, vegetation, seas, fauna are countless; Its history as interesting as every inch of its territory; Its inhabitants and the rich cultural heritage that surrounds the jungles, islets and cities make the country an exceptional privileged place among many places on earth.

References

1. Barreto, M., de Castro - Sirotheau, J., Lima, M., Nahass, S., Chaves, A. P., & Bôas, R. (2002). Chapter 5-Mining. Minerals and Sustainable Development in Brazil. SUR, MMSD Team America Del, 215 - 339 IL.
2. Batista Da Rocha Luis Antonio.
3. Bonatti, E. (1990). Subcontinental mantle exposed in the Atlantic Ocean on St Peter - Paul islets. Nature Publishing Group, vol. 345, pp. 800-802.
4. CIA, (2015). The world factbook. January 1, 2017
5. Da Silva Soito, J. & Freitas, M. (2011). Amazon and the expansion of hydropower in Brazil: Vulnerability, impacts and possibilities for adaptation to global climate change. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 15 (6), pp. 3165-3177.
6. DNPM, National Department of Mineral Production, Mineral Report 1st, (2016), ISSN 1807-0388.
7. In this paper, Determination of uranium concentrations and activity ratios in silicates by alpha spectrometry: application to the volcanic rocks from the Trinity and Martin Vaz Islands (Brazil). Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 56, pp. 741 - 750.
8. [Links] The production of coffee in Mexico: window of opportunity for the agricultural sector of Chiapas. Share, 4 (7).
9. Fishman, A. (2010). Petroleum in Brazil: Petrobras, Petro-Sal, Legislative Changes and the role of foreign investment. Geor. Wash. Univ.
10. García, F., Troncoso, J. & Domínguez, M. (2002). New data of the benthic Opisthobranch Molluscs from the Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (Brazil), with description of a new species of Aegires Lovén, 1844. Spanish Society of Malacology, vol. 20 (2), pp. 45-56.
11. Gasparini, J. & Floeter, S. (2001). The shore fishes of Trindade Island, western South Atlantic. Journal of Natural History, vol. 35, pp. 1639-1656.
12. Landim M. I. (2010). Patrimony in Danger of Brazil. Biodiversity Crisis. THE NEWS OF ICOM. N ° 2
13. Malm, O. (1998). Gold mining as a source of mercury exposure in the Brazilian Amazon. Environmental Research, 77 (2), 73-78.
14. Martino, D. (2007). Deforestation in the Amazon: main factors of pressure and perspectives. Revista del sur, vol. 169, pp. 3 -22.
15. Pfeiffer, W.C., Lacerda, L.D., Malm, O., Souza, C.M., Silveira, E. G., & Bastos, W.R. (1989). Mercury concentrations in inland waters of gold-mining areas in Rondonia, Brazil. Science of the Total Environment, 87, 233-240.
16. Ramírez - Velazquez, E. (2011). Brazilian Islands - Brazil. 365 Days around the world. USA: Trafford.
17. Topik, C., & Wells, A. (2010). Coffee. The second conquest of Latin America: coffee, henequen, and oil during the export boom, 1850-1930. University of Texas Press.
18. Vaske, T., Lessa, R., Nóbrega, M., Pereira, A. & Andrade C. (2008). Commercial fishing of pelagic fish in the São Pedro and São Paulo archipelago, Brazil. Tropical Oceanography, Recife, vol. 36, pp. 47-54.
19. Wetherbee, B., Gruber, S. & Rosa, R. (2007). Movement patterns of juvenile lemon sharks Negaprion brevirostris within Atol das Rocas, Brazil: a nursery characterized by tidal extremes. Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 343, pp. 283-293.