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    Geology: For The Scientific Journal, See

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    Geology is the study of the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. It describes the structure of the Earth beneath its surface and provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks. Geologists use various methods like field work, chemical analysis, and modeling to understand the Earth's structure and evolution. Geology studies three main types of rock - igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic - as well as unconsolidated materials. The theory of plate tectonics explains geological features and observations by describing the movement of tectonic plates across the Earth's surface.

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    Geology: For The Scientific Journal, See

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    ewb
    27 views5 pages
    Geology is the study of the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. It describes the structure of the Earth beneath its surface and provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks. Geologists use various methods like field work, chemical analysis, and modeling to understand the Earth's structure and evolution. Geology studies three main types of rock - igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic - as well as unconsolidated materials. The theory of plate tectonics explains geological features and observations by describing the movement of tectonic plates across the Earth's surface.

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    Geology

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    Geology

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    Geology is the study of the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. It describes the structure of the Earth beneath its surface and provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks. Geologists use various methods like field work, chemical analysis, and modeling to understand the Earth's structure and evolution. Geology studies three main types of rock - igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic - as well as unconsolidated materials. The theory of plate tectonics explains geological features and observations by describing the movement of tectonic plates across the Earth's surface.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    27 views5 pages

    Geology: For The Scientific Journal, See

    Uploaded by

    ewb
    Geology is the study of the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. It describes the structure of the Earth beneath its surface and provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks. Geologists use various methods like field work, chemical analysis, and modeling to understand the Earth's structure and evolution. Geology studies three main types of rock - igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic - as well as unconsolidated materials. The theory of plate tectonics explains geological features and observations by describing the movement of tectonic plates across the Earth's surface.

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    of 5

    Geology

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


    For the scientific journal, see Geology (journal).

    1875 geological map of Europe, compiled by Andr Dumont. Colors indicate the distribution of
    different rock types across the continent, as they were known then.
    Geology (from the Ancient Greek , g, i.e. "earth" and -o, -logia, i.e. "study of,
    discourse"[1][2]) is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is
    composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Geology can also refer to the
    study of the solid features of any terrestrial planet or natural satellite, (such as Mars or the
    Moon).
    Geology describes the structure of the Earth beneath its surface, and the processes that have
    shaped that structure. It also provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks
    found in a given location, and also to describe the histories of those rocks. By combining these
    tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole, and also to
    demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics,
    the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates.
    Geologists use a wide variety of methods to understand the Earth's structure and evolution,
    including field work, rock description, geophysical techniques, chemical analysis, physical
    experiments, and numerical modelling. In practical terms, geology is important
    for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, evaluating water resources,
    understanding of natural hazards, the remediation of environmental problems, and providing
    insights into past climate change. Geology, a major academic discipline, also plays a role
    in geotechnical engineering.

    Contents
    [hide]

    1Geologic materials
    o 1.1Rock
    1.1.1Tests
    o 1.2Unconsolidated material
    2Whole-Earth structure
    o 2.1Plate tectonics
    o 2.2Earth structure
    3Geologic time
    o 3.1Brief time scale
    o 3.2Important milestones
    4Dating methods
    o 4.1Relative dating
    o 4.2Absolute dating
    5Geological development of an area
    6Methods of geology
    o 6.1Field methods
    o 6.2Petrology
    o 6.3Structural geology
    o 6.4Stratigraphy
    7Planetary geology
    8Applied geology
    o 8.1Economic geology
    8.1.1Mining geology
    8.1.2Petroleum geology
    o 8.2Engineering geology
    o 8.3Hydrology and environmental issues
    o 8.4Natural hazards
    9History of geology
    10Fields or related disciplines
    11Regional geology
    12See also
    13References
    14External links

    Geologic materials[edit]
    The majority of geological data comes from research on solid Earth materials. These typically fall
    into one of two categories: rock and unconsolidated material.

    Rock[edit]

    This schematic diagram of the rock cycle shows the relationship between magma and sedimentary,
    metamorphic, and igneous rock
    Main articles: Rock (geology) and Rock cycle
    The majority of research in geology is associated with the study of rock, as rock provides the
    primary record of the majority of the geologic history of the Earth. There are three major types of
    rock: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The rock cycle illustrates the relationships among
    them (see diagram).
    When a rock crystallizes from melt (magma and/or lava), it is an igneous rock. This rock can
    be weathered and eroded, then redeposited and lithified into a sedimentary rock. It can then be
    turned into a metamorphic rock from the heat and pressure that change its mineral content,
    resulting in a characteristic fabric. All three types may melt again, and when this happens, a new
    magma is formed, from which an igneous rock may once more crystallize.

    Minerals
    Tests[edit]
    To study all three types, geologists evaluate the minerals of which they are composed. Each
    mineral has distinct physical properties, and there are many tests to determine each of them.
    The specimens can be tested for:

    Luster: Measurement of the amount of light reflected from the surface. Luster is broken into
    metallic and nonmetallic.
    Color: Minerals are grouped by their color. Mostly diagnostic but impurities can change a
    minerals color.
    Streak: Performed by scratching the sample on a porcelain plate. The color of the streak can
    help name the mineral.
    Hardness: The resistance of a mineral to scratch.
    Breakage pattern: A mineral can either show fracture or cleavage, the former being
    breakage of uneven surfaces and the latter a breakage along closely spaced parallel planes.
    Specific gravity: the weight of a specific volume of a mineral.
    Effervescence: Involves dripping hydrochloric acid on the mineral to test for fizzing.
    Magnetism: Involves using a magnet to test for magnetism.
    Taste: Minerals can have a distinctive taste, like halite (which tastes like table salt).
    Smell: Minerals can have a distinctive odor. For example, sulfur smells like rotten eggs.[3]
    Unconsolidated material[edit]
    Geologists also study unlithified materials (referred to as drift), which typically come from more
    recent deposits. These materials are superficial deposits which lie above the bedrock.[4] This
    study is often known as Quaternary geology, after the Quaternary period of geologic history.

    Whole-Earth structure[edit]
    Plate tectonics[edit]
    Main article: Plate tectonics
    Oceanic-continental convergence resulting in subduction and volcanic arcs illustrates one effect of plate
    tectonics.
    In the 1960s, it was discovered that the Earth's lithosphere, which includes the crust and rigid
    uppermost portion of the upper mantle, is separated into tectonic plates that move across
    the plastically deforming, solid, upper mantle, which is called the asthenosphere. This theory is
    supported by several types of observations, including seafloor spreading[5][6] and the global
    distribution of mountain terrain and seismicity.
    There is an intimate coupling between the movement of the plates on the surface and
    the convection of the mantle (that is, the heat transfer caused by bulk movement of molecules
    within fluids). Thus, oceanic plates and the adjoining mantle convection currents always move in
    the same direction because the oceanic lithosphere is actually the rigid upper
    thermal boundary layer of the convecting mantle. This coupling between rigid plates moving on
    the surface of the Earth and the convecting mantle is called plate tectonics.

    On this diagram, subducting slabs are in blue, and continental margins and a few plate boundaries are in
    red. The blue blob in the cutaway section is the seismically imaged Farallon Plate, which is subducting
    beneath North America. The remnants of this plate on the Surface of the Earth are the Juan de Fuca
    Plate and Explorer Plate in the Northwestern USA / Southwestern Canada, and the Cocos Plate on the
    west coast of Mexico.
    The development of plate tectonics has provided a physical basis for many observations of the
    solid Earth. Long linear regions of geologic features are explained as plate boundaries.[7] For
    example:

    Mid-ocean ridges, high regions on the seafloor where hydrothermal vents and volcanoes
    exist, are seen as divergent boundaries, where two plates move apart.

    Arcs of volcanoes and earthquakes are theorized as convergent boundaries, where one
    plate subducts, or moves, under another.
    Transform boundaries, such as the San Andreas Fault system, resulted in widespread powerful
    earthquakes. Plate tectonics also has provided a mechanism for Alfred Wegener's theory
    of continental drift,[8] in which the continents move across the surface of the Earth over geologic
    time. They also provided a driving force for crustal deformation, and a new setting for the
    observations of structural geology. The power of the theory of plate tectonics lies in its ability to
    combine all of these observations into a single theory of how the lithosphere moves over the
    convecting mantle.

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