Geology Quiz

Geology: A Summary

Geology is a natural science that studies the Earth, other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time.
Geology overlaps with other Earth sciences, including hydrology, and is integrated with Earth system science and planetary science.
Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface and the processes that have shaped that structure.
Geologists use petrological, crystallographic, and paleontological tools to chronicle the geological history of the Earth and demonstrate its age.
Geology provides 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.
Geology is important for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, evaluating water resources, understanding natural hazards, the remediation of environmental problems, and providing insights into past climate change.
Geological material includes minerals, rocks, unlithified material, and magma.
Plate tectonics is a physical basis for many observations of the solid Earth and explains long linear regions of geological features as plate boundaries.
Advances in seismology, computer modeling, and mineralogy and crystallography at high temperatures and pressures give insights into the internal composition and structure of the Earth.
The geological time scale encompasses the history of the Earth, and geologists use both relative and absolute dating methods to determine the age of rock samples and geological events.
The geology of an area changes through time as rock units are deposited and inserted, and deformational processes change their shapes and locations.Overview of Geology: Processes, Methods, and Applications

Processes:

Rocks are formed through various processes, including solidification of magma, cementation of sediment, and precipitation from solution.
Rock units can be deformed and metamorphosed through horizontal shortening, extension, or side-to-side motion at convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.
Deformation can cause folding and faulting, and high pressures and temperatures can lead to metamorphism.
Extension causes rock units to become thinner and longer through normal faulting and stretching.
Strike-slip faults develop where rock units slide past one another.
Addition of new rock units can occur through deposition and intrusion during deformation.
Processes can occur in stages and do not necessarily occur in a single environment or order.

Methods:

Geologists use various fields, laboratory, and numerical modeling methods to decipher Earth history and understand processes.
Petrologists identify rocks in the laboratory through optical microscopy and electron microprobe, and perform high temperature and pressure physical experiments.
Structural geologists use microscopic analysis of oriented thin sections of geological samples to observe the fabric within rocks and plot and combine measurements of geological structures.
Stratigraphers analyze samples of stratigraphic sections that can be returned from the field and analyze data from geophysical surveys.
Planetary geologists study other planetary bodies using known geological principles and search for evidence of past or present life on other worlds.
Economic geologists help locate and manage the Earth's natural resources.
Mining geology consists of the extraction of mineral resources from the Earth.
Petroleum geologists study the locations of the subsurface of the Earth that can contain extractable hydrocarbons, especially petroleum and natural gas.
Engineering geologists apply geological principles to engineering practice to assure that geological factors affecting engineering works are properly addressed.
Hydrologists locate groundwater and monitor the spread of contaminants in groundwater wells.
Paleoclimatologists use stratigraphy, boreholes, core samples, and ice cores for paleoclimate reconstructions.
Geologists and geophysicists study natural hazards to enact safe building codes and warning systems to prevent loss of property and life.A Brief History of Geology
Theophrastus wrote Peri Lithon (On Stones) in ancient Greece, one of the first works on the physical material of the Earth.
Pliny the Elder wrote about minerals and metals during the Roman period, including the origin of amber, while Aristotle made observations on the slow rate of geological change.
Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni and Ibn Sina were some of the earliest Persian geologists, with the latter proposing explanations for the formation of mountains and earthquakes.
Shen Kuo formulated a hypothesis for land formation in China based on the observation of fossil animal shells in geological stratum.
Georgius Agricola published De Natura Fossilium in 1546, which is seen as the founding work of geology.
Nicolas Steno is credited with the law of superposition, the principle of original horizontality, and the principle of lateral continuity, defining principles of stratigraphy.
The word "geology" was first introduced by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in 1779, derived from the Greek words for "earth" and "speech."
William Smith drew the first geological maps and ordered rock strata by examining the fossils within them.
James Hutton presented the Theory of the Earth in 1785, explaining his theory that the Earth was much older than previously assumed.
Sir Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, published in 1830, promoted the doctrine of uniformitarianism, stating that slow geological processes have occurred throughout history.
Radiometric dating in the early 20th century allowed for estimates of the Earth's age to be refined to around two billion years.
Plate tectonics theory, arising from seafloor spreading and continental drift, revolutionized Earth sciences in the 1960s.