Human activities, such as product
manufacturing, mining, and ore extraction, chemical
and metallurgical processing, road and building
construction, municipal and household activities,
and agriculture among others, have relocated
and accumulated metal and material resources
from geological origins to the technosphere.… More
Human activities, such as product
manufacturing, mining, and ore extraction, chemical
and metallurgical processing, road and building
construction, municipal and household activities,
and agriculture among others, have relocated
and accumulated metal and material resources
from geological origins to the technosphere. The
technosphere is defined broadly as a material
stockpile that has been established by human
activities and technological processes (Johansson et
al., 2013). Iron, for example, is mined and extracted
from iron oxide ores from the Earth’s crust, by high
temperature metallurgical processes and is used
to produce steel, other metal alloys, and chemical
products. Iron is now present in many things we use
everyday, i.e., buildings, bridges, cutting tools, bicycle,
and a multitude of other materials and equipment.
These materials containing iron, either active or
inactive stocks, are part of the technosphere and
are considered technospheric stocks or secondary
sources of iron. Less