Читать книгу The Economic Aspect of Geology - C. K. Leith - Страница 58

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The remarkable concentration of the world's mining and smelting around the North Atlantic basin, indicated by the foregoing figures, does not mean that nature has concentrated the mineral deposits here to this extent. It is an expression rather of the localized application of energy to mineral resources by the people of this part of the world. The application of the same amount of energy in other parts of the world would essentially change the distribution of current mineral production. The controlling factor is not the amount of minerals present in the ground; this is known to be large in other parts of the world and more will be found when necessary. Controlling factors must be looked for in historical, ethnological, and environmental conditions. This subject is further discussed in the chapters on the several resources, and particularly in relation to iron and steel.