The interaction between human beings and geological environment begins with human beings consciously making tools. Before that, there was not much difference between human beings and animals, and they were instinctively and passively attached to the geological environment. From the analysis of the historical development process of human civilization, the historical process of the interaction between human beings and geological environment can be roughly divided into the following periods.
(1) Pre-civilization period
During this period, human beings turned from passive dependence on the geological environment to active recourse to the geological environment, and purposefully and consciously selected suitable mineral materials from the surrounding geological environment as raw materials to manufacture tools. On the basis of the main types of minerals developed and utilized by people at that time, historians divided the pre-civilization period into Paleolithic Age, Neolithic Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
the exploitation and utilization of mineral resources has played a huge and irreplaceable role in the development of human social civilization. In the Paleolithic Age, people made stone into production tools to maintain the primitive life of gathering and hunting. Archaeologists in China have found that the earliest minerals used by people are mainly stone, Shi Ying and flint [29]. For example, pulse Shi Ying is a kind of raw material with rich sources near Zhoukoudian. In the long-term practice, Beijingers invented the smashing method to make pulse Shi Ying into stone products, making the products of this inferior raw material become the main components of stone products [3]. Around 35 BC, ancient Mesopotamia had learned to build permanent homes with clay bricks dried by the sun. In the Neolithic Age, stone minerals were more widely used, and besides stone knives and arrows, there were also stone axes, stone sickles and stone plows. At the same time, people develop and use non-metallic minerals such as clay and clay as raw materials to burn pottery, and develop and use various minerals as raw materials to make jade, jewelry and paintings. Later, it was found that the hardness of copper was greatly enhanced by adding a little tin after smelting, and it began to transition to bronze. The first metals used by people included copper, lead, tin and zinc, which gradually reached prosperity, and then transitioned to the Iron Age [31]. In fact, iron is inferior to bronze in many ways. The popularization and application of ironware, to a great extent, is due to the lack of raw materials for bronzes. Iron ore may be the earliest substitute for other metal mines for economic reasons. Although some mineral resources were lacking or exhausted, the decision-makers at that time did not realize the impact of resource shortage on social and economic development.
about six or seven thousand years ago, people began to develop and utilize groundwater. Archaeologists discovered the earliest well in China at Hemudu primitive social site in Yuyao, Zhejiang. This well may have been a natural or artificially dug pot-bottom puddle. In order to prevent the borehole wall from collapsing, four rows of piles were driven into the pit to form a square pile-wood wall, and the soil in the wall was dug out to build the well [32]. At the end of primitive society, people have drilled domestic wells with a depth of six or seven meters and a diameter of two meters. With the large number of wells dug, people have a new understanding of the nature of groundwater. "Pipe" records the buried depth of groundwater, groundwater quality and the corresponding surface soil conditions. Irrigation with spring water also belongs to one aspect of groundwater utilization. In Water Classic Notes, it is mentioned in many places that spring water was used for irrigation in ancient times, for example, in Fenyin, Shanxi Province (now in the west of Wanrong County, Shanxi Province), water was used to plant rice.
Although slow progress has been made in the development and utilization of minerals, groundwater and soil, human beings are still at the mercy of nature, and there is nothing they can do about sudden geological disasters such as earthquakes, landslides and mudslides. For natural disasters, people think that it is heaven that punishes human beings, which leads to the idea of destiny [33]. If people want to avoid natural disasters, they can only pray for forgiveness.
from the above discussion, it can be seen that the relationship between human beings and geological environment in this period is mainly manifested in the simple request of human beings for geological environment resources.
(II) The period of agricultural civilization
From the end of primitive society to the germination of modern capitalism, mankind has experienced a long period of agricultural civilization. During this period, while asking for more means of life and production from the geological environment, human beings actively adapted to the geological environment and used slow progress technology to transform it. With the increase of population and the progress of technology, people's ability to transform the geological environment exceeded the carrying capacity of the geological environment in a local area, which led to the geological environment problems that were difficult to solve at that time.
More and more minerals are exploited and utilized in different degrees. During the Qin and Han Dynasties in China, the mining of salt, iron, copper, gold, silver, lead, tin, mercury and other minerals entered a prosperous period. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, coal has been used as fuel for life, and people have learned to use oil as fuel for fire attack in war. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, salt industry and copper mining developed vigorously. By the Song Dynasty, coal had become a common fuel in people's daily life and handicraft industry. Many people in Shanxi have made a living by coal mining, and there is a set of relatively complete technology for coal mining. From the site of Hebi ancient coal mine, we know that at that time, a circular shaft was dug from the ground, with a depth of 46m, and then the roadway was dug according to the change of underground natural coal seam. The roadway is more than 1m high, and its shape is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, 1m at the top and 1.4m at the bottom. Then, the coalfield to be mined is cut into several small areas, and the method of "jumping from inside to outside" is used to gradually retreat. On the one hand, underground drainage uses windlass to pump water out, on the other hand, it introduces groundwater into the potholes where coal has been mined for storage. Early in ancient England, forests were mainly cut down to obtain the required fuel. However, with the large-scale cutting of forest resources and the shortage of wood supply, people began to develop coal to replace wood. In 13, the coal mining industry in Newcastle and northeast England had reached a certain scale. People shipped the mined coal to London for residents' use. By 16, the use of coal was quite common. By the eve of the industrial revolution in 17, the British coal production reached 3 million t [34].
At the end of primitive society, people began to develop and utilize a new resource, and soon replaced minerals as the most important geological resource, which is soil. The development and utilization of soil marks the emergence of agriculture. The emergence of agriculture is an important revolution in the history of human development. With the development of agriculture, more and more land has left traces of people's farming, and the role of human beings on the geological environment has been expanding and extending in space with the expansion of farmland. The development of agriculture has promoted population growth and economic development. Due to the increase of population, a large area of land suitable for farming or unsuitable for farming has been reclaimed into farmland, and the original forests, grasslands, lakes and plains have been replaced by farmland landscapes. Agriculture is a production department that directly relies on geological environment, and unlimited soil development has brought unexpected geological environment problems. Soil development in ancient Mesopotamia is a typical example. Mesopotamia is located in the alluvial plain between the Euphrates River and the Tigris River, with flat terrain and fertile land, but the climate is dry and the soil permeability is poor. In order to get enough water, Sumerians dug canals and ditches to irrigate farmland with the waters of Tigris River and Euphrates River, and agricultural development achieved unprecedented success. According to the literature of Gil-Sioux, in 24 BC, the average grain output was as high as 2537L per hectare. However, long-term irrigation without drainage and over-irrigation led to the continuous rise of local groundwater level. Under the action of evaporation, the salt in groundwater accumulated in the soil, which led to the secondary salinization of the soil and the gradual degradation of the original fertile land. Grain output has been declining, reaching 1,46 L per hectare in 21 BC and 897 L per hectare in 17 BC [35]. At the same time, the attracted river carries a lot of sediment, which is continuously deposited in the farmland near canals and ditches. While destroying the farmland, it has formed the landform characteristics of multi-dykes and swamps, which has had a great impact on human life and production. According to archaeologists, the ancient country of Loulan in China is located on an oasis in the lower reaches of Tarim River. As the Han government adopted the strategy of stationing troops in the western regions to settle fields, the agricultural development scale in the middle and upper reaches of the Tarim River was expanding day by day, and the water consumption was increasing day by day, which destroyed the water resources conditions of Loulan in the lower reaches, causing the deterioration of the oasis geological environment and the increasingly serious soil desertification. The original oasis with lush water plants, intertwined water networks and dense forests eventually degenerated into a geological environment unsuitable for human habitation, and the ancient country of Loulan also fell [36]. In response to large-scale deforestation and land reclamation, in 1666, the Japanese shogunate realized the danger of soil erosion, river siltation, flooding and other disasters, warned people and encouraged afforestation to conserve land [37].
with the growth of ancient population and the development of polis, the trade of goods between different cities promoted the construction of traffic roads. Around 6 BC, the ancient Egyptians dug the first canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The canal was 6m wide, 13m deep and 16Km long, and a large amount of excavated soil was piled up along the canal. In 4 years, the ancient Romans paved 3, Km of roads with silt, gravel and rocks. About 1 BC, limestone was widely used to burn concrete as a building material [38].
(III) Industrial Revolution Period
In the middle of the 18th century, marked by the invention of the steam engine, human society entered the industrial revolution period. The relationship between human beings and geological environment in this period is mainly manifested in large-scale disturbance, transformation and pollution of geological environment by economic activities. With the rapid improvement of science and technology, the ability of human beings to conquer nature has never been improved, and the scale of mineral, groundwater and land (soil) resources development has been expanding day by day; Agricultural production, transportation and water conservancy facilities construction, mining and metallurgy engineering, urbanization and other economic activities have increased the intensity of geological environment; Geological environmental problems such as mine environmental problems, soil erosion, land subsidence, soil pollution, etc. have gradually appeared and deteriorated, posing an increasingly serious threat to human life and production; People's awareness of protecting geological environment has slowly awakened, and industrialized countries have begun to formulate corresponding laws and regulations to restrict people's economic activities.
the industrial revolution has greatly promoted the development and utilization of mineral resources such as coal and iron ore, and the importance of minerals to the economy and society has once again surpassed that of soil. In 1795, William WilKinson invented the melting furnace for smelting iron ore; In 1815, Humphry Davy invented a safety lamp to prevent gas explosion in coal mines; In 1856, Henry Bessemer invented the bottom blowing acid process technology. With the invention of a series of technologies, people's ability to develop and utilize mineral resources has been continuously improved. According to Flinn's estimation, from 175 to 183, the British coal output increased from 5.2 million tons to 3.4 million tons, which increased by about 6 times in 8 years [39]; The output of pig iron increased from 17,4 t in 174 to 7,749,2 t in 188, an increase of about 445 times in 14 years. The American industrial revolution was accompanied by the large-scale development of mineral resources. According to statistics, the coal output of the United States experienced two periods of rapid increase: the first time was from 1867 to 1918, the coal output increased rapidly from 13 million t to 614 million t, and then from 1918 to 1964, the coal output changed between 3 million t and 6 million t due to various factors; The second time was from 1965 to 1998, and the coal output increased rapidly from 473 million t to 1.14 billion t (Figure 1-13). At the same time, with the expansion of economic scale, the output of metal minerals continues to increase (Figure 1-14). Because the geological environmental problems caused by the development and utilization of mineral resources often have a lag effect in time, people may have suffered a painful lesson when they realize the harm of geological environmental problems. Land subsidence occurred successively in LanarKshire, HicKleton, Northwich and other mining areas in Britain. According to SherlocK's estimation, by the beginning of the 2th century, land subsidence caused by mining in Britain was equivalent to 5.91 billion cubic yards of rock being dug away from the surface [42]. In 1971, due to the negligence of open-pit mining in a coal mine in southern West Virginia, heavy rain caused the coal slurry pool to burst, and the flood killed 118 people and left 4, homeless.
Figure 1-13 Schematic diagram of the change of coal production in the United States (1867-199) [41]
Figure 1-14 Schematic diagram of the change of the output of typical metal mineral products in the United States (1867-199)
The demand for groundwater for agricultural and urban development is increasing. Before 19, the United States mainly exploited groundwater through artesian wells. With the increasing number of artesian wells in each state, the artesian water volume of artesian wells is declining. By 193s, Tolman discovered the seawater intrusion and land subsidence caused by groundwater exploitation. The problems of aquifer depletion, groundwater pollution, seawater intrusion and land subsidence have appeared one after another, which makes people realize that the development of groundwater needs reasonable planning and scientific management.
With the increasing scale of engineering economic activities such as transportation, mineral exploitation, urbanization and agricultural development, human activities have gradually become a major geological force acting on the geological environment. Before the invention of the train, Britain mainly relied on water transportation to transport minerals and goods. In order to expand the scope of transportation, Britain began to dig canals in 1731. It lasted nearly a century from the first Newry Canal to the completion of the last Liverpool Junction Canal. According to statistics, by the end of 19th century, Britain had dug canals to excavate about 253 million cubic yards of rock and soil, built railways to move about 3.31 billion cubic yards of rock and soil, moved roads to move about 624 million cubic yards of rock and soil, moved mines to move about 19.692 billion cubic yards of rock and soil, and moved houses to move about 5 million cubic yards of rock and soil. Due to agricultural reclamation, mineral exploitation and urbanization, the forest area in Europe decreased from 23 million hm2 to 212 million hm2 from 177 to 198, a decrease of 7.8%. Grassland area decreased from 19 million hm2 to 138 million hm2, a decrease of 27.4%; The farmland area increased from 67 million hm2 to 137 million hm2, an increase of 14.5%. Globally, from 177 to 198, the forest area decreased from 6.215 billion hm2 to 5.53 billion hm2, a decrease of 18.7%. The farmland area increased from 265 million hm2 to 15.1hm2, an increase of 466.4%. The level of urbanization increased from 3% to 41%, and the urban population reached 1.81 billion [43]. It can be seen that in more and more areas, people's disturbance to the geological environment exceeds the role of natural forces.
(IV) Information Revolution Period
At the end of the 2th century, human society experienced an unprecedented impact from the knowledge and information revolution. While developing countries are accelerating industrialization, developed countries have entered the era of knowledge economy. During this period, the relationship between human beings and geological environment was mainly manifested in paying equal attention to development and protection, from the uncontrolled large-scale disturbance, transformation and pollution mode to the mode of harmonious coexistence between man and land. Driven by technological progress, the pace of global economic integration has accelerated, and developing countries are mostly at the low end of the industrial chain in the global industrial division of labor, mainly producing resources and environment-intensive products. On the one hand, developed countries have stepped up efforts to control geological environment problems left over from the industrialization process and strengthened the conservation and protection of geological environment; On the other hand, developing countries bear more and more resource consumption and geological environmental pollution, and the pressure on geological environment is increasing.
the effect of economic activities on geological environment is in space.