ABSTRACT
Carboniferous limestone in the USA is found primarily in the Mississippian rock system, which extends from West Virginia and along the Mississippi River in Missouri, Illinois, and southeastern Iowa. (See also limestone.)
E H
carrying capacity is the largest population that the resources of a given environ ment can support. The term has its origins in ecology where the population related to plants, but it is also used to describe the maximum number of livestock that can be supported per unit area. Thomas Malthus put forward the concept of a population ceiling where saturation level is reached when the population equals the carrying capacity of that environment. cartel: the name given to a group of producers who make an agreement to limit output in order to keep prices high. In order to do this they must control a large proportion of the output, and they must agree on levels of production. Probably the best-known cartel is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The major problems with cartels are:
• if they do force a high price it will encourage other producers to enter the market
• the members of the cartel may cheat by secretly producing more than laid down in the cartel agreement in order to gain more revenue.
