Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface, and the processes that have shaped that structure. Geologists study the mineralogical composition of rocks in order to get insight into their history of formation. Geology determines the relative ages of rocks found at a given location; geochemistry (a branch of geology) determines their absolute ages.[4] By combining various petrological, crystallographic and paleontological tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole. One aspect is to demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates.
The majority of geological data comes from research on solid Earth materials. Meteorites and other extraterrestrial natural materials are also studied by geological methods.
Minerals are natural occurring elements and compounds with a definite homogeneous chemical composition and ordered atomic composition.
Each mineral has distinct physical properties, and there are many tests to determine each of them. Minerals are often identified through these tests. The specimens can be tested for:[5]
Luster: Quality of light reflected from the surface of a mineral. Examples are metallic, pearly, waxy, dull.
Color: Minerals are grouped by their color. Mostly diagnostic but impurities can change a mineral's 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 scratching.
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.
A rock is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloids. Most research in geology is associated with the study of rocks, as they provide the primary record of the majority of the geological 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 solidifies or crystallizes from melt (magma 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 by heat and pressure that change its mineral content, resulting in a characteristic fabric. All three types may melt again, and when this happens, new magma is formed, from which an igneous rock may once more solidify. Organic matter, such as coal, bitumen, oil and natural gas, is linked mainly to organic-rich sedimentary rocks.
To study all three types of rock, geologists evaluate the minerals of which they are composed and their other physical properties, such as texture and fabric.
Unlithified material
Geologists also study unlithified materials (referred to as superficial deposits) that lie above the bedrock.[6] This study is often known as Quaternary geology, after the Quaternary period of geologic history, which is the most recent period of geologic time.
Magma is the original unlithified source of all igneous rocks. The active flow of molten rock is closely studied in volcanology, and igneous petrology aims to determine the history of igneous rocks from their original molten source to their final crystallization.
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[8][9] 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 the slow movement of ductile mantle rock). 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.
In this diagram based on seismic tomography, 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 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, both in the northwestern United States and 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 geological features are explained as plate boundaries.[10]
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,[11] in which the continents move across the surface of the Earth over geological 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.
The Earth's layered structure. (1) inner core; (2) outer core; (3) lower mantle; (4) upper mantle; (5) lithosphere; (6) crust (part of the lithosphere)Earth layered structure. Typical wave paths from earthquakes like these gave early seismologists insights into the layered structure of the Earth
Seismologists can use the arrival times of seismic waves to image the interior of the Earth. Early advances in this field showed the existence of a liquid outer core (where shear waves were not able to propagate) and a dense solid inner core. These advances led to the development of a layered model of the Earth, with a crust and lithosphere on top, the mantle below (separated within itself by seismic discontinuities at 410 and 660 kilometers), and the outer core and inner core below that. More recently, seismologists have been able to create detailed images of wave speeds inside the earth in the same way a doctor images a body in a CT scan. These images have led to a much more detailed view of the interior of the Earth, and have replaced the simplified layered model with a much more dynamic model.
Mineralogists have been able to use the pressure and temperature data from the seismic and modeling studies alongside knowledge of the elemental composition of the Earth to reproduce these conditions in experimental settings and measure changes in crystal structure. These studies explain the chemical changes associated with the major seismic discontinuities in the mantle and show the crystallographic structures expected in the inner core of the Earth.
The geological time scale encompasses the history of the Earth.[12] It is bracketed at the earliest by the dates of the first Solar System material at 4.567 Ga[13] (or 4.567 billion years ago) and the formation of the Earth at 4.54 Ga[14][15] (4.54 billion years), which is the beginning of the informally recognized Hadean eon–a division of geological time. At the later end of the scale, it is marked by the present day (in the Holocene epoch).
Timescale of the Earth
The following five timelines show the geologic time scale to scale. The first shows the entire time from the formation of the Earth to the present, but this gives little space for the most recent eon. The second timeline shows an expanded view of the most recent eon. In a similar way, the most recent era is expanded in the third timeline, the most recent period is expanded in the fourth timeline, and the most recent epoch is expanded in the fifth timeline.
Millions of Years (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th) Thousands of years (5th)
Important milestones on Earth
Geological time in a diagram called a geological clock, showing the relative lengths of the eons and eras of the Earth's history
Methods for relative dating were developed when geology first emerged as a natural science. Geologists still use the following principles today as a means to provide information about geological history and the timing of geological events.
The principle of uniformitarianism states that the geological processes observed in operation that modify the Earth's crust at present have worked in much the same way over geological time.[16] A fundamental principle of geology advanced by the 18th-century Scottish physician and geologist James Hutton is that "the present is the key to the past." In Hutton's words: "the past history of our globe must be explained by what can be seen to be happening now."[17]
The principle of cross-cutting relationships pertains to the formation of faults and the age of the sequences through which they cut. Faults are younger than the rocks they cut; accordingly, if a fault is found that penetrates some formations but not those on top of it, then the formations that were cut are older than the fault, and the ones that are not cut must be younger than the fault. Finding the key bed in these situations may help determine whether the fault is a normal fault or a thrust fault.[18]
The principle of inclusions and components states that, with sedimentary rocks, if inclusions (or clasts) are found in a formation, then the inclusions must be older than the formation that contains them. For example, in sedimentary rocks, it is common for gravel from an older formation to be ripped up and included in a newer layer. A similar situation with igneous rocks occurs when xenoliths are found. These foreign bodies are picked up as magma or lava flows, and are incorporated, later to cool in the matrix. As a result, xenoliths are older than the rock that contains them.
The principle of original horizontality states that the deposition of sediments occurs as essentially horizontal beds. Observation of modern marine and non-marine sediments in a wide variety of environments supports this generalization (although cross-bedding is inclined, the overall orientation of cross-bedded units is horizontal).[18]
The principle of superposition states that a sedimentary rock layer in a tectonically undisturbed sequence is younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it. Logically a younger layer cannot slip beneath a layer previously deposited. This principle allows sedimentary layers to be viewed as a form of the vertical timeline, a partial or complete record of the time elapsed from deposition of the lowest layer to deposition of the highest bed.[18]
The principle of faunal succession is based on the appearance of fossils in sedimentary rocks. As organisms exist during the same period throughout the world, their presence or (sometimes) absence provides a relative age of the formations where they appear. Based on principles that William Smith laid out almost a hundred years before the publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the principles of succession developed independently of evolutionary thought. The principle becomes quite complex, however, given the uncertainties of fossilization, localization of fossil types due to lateral changes in habitat (facies change in sedimentary strata), and that not all fossils formed globally at the same time.[19]
Geologists also use methods to determine the absolute age of rock samples and geological events. These dates are useful on their own and may also be used in conjunction with relative dating methods or to calibrate relative methods.[20]
At the beginning of the 20th century, advancement in geological science was facilitated by the ability to obtain accurate absolute dates to geological events using radioactive isotopes and other methods. This changed the understanding of geological time. Previously, geologists could only use fossils and stratigraphic correlation to date sections of rock relative to one another. With isotopic dates, it became possible to assign absolute ages to rock units, and these absolute dates could be applied to fossil sequences in which there was datable material, converting the old relative ages into new absolute ages.
For many geological applications, isotope ratios of radioactive elements are measured in minerals that give the amount of time that has passed since a rock passed through its particular closure temperature, the point at which different radiometric isotopes stop diffusing into and out of the crystal lattice.[21][22] These are used in geochronologic and thermochronologic studies. Common methods include uranium–lead dating, potassium–argon dating, argon–argon dating and uranium–thorium dating. These methods are used for a variety of applications. Dating of lava and volcanic ash layers found within a stratigraphic sequence can provide absolute age data for sedimentary rock units that do not contain radioactive isotopes and calibrate relative dating techniques. These methods can also be used to determine ages of pluton emplacement. Thermochemical techniques can be used to determine temperature profiles within the crust, the uplift of mountain ranges, and paleo-topography.
Fractionation of the lanthanide series elements is used to compute ages since rocks were removed from the mantle.
An originally horizontal sequence of sedimentary rocks (in shades of tan) are affected by igneous activity. Deep below the surface is a magma chamber and large associated igneous bodies. The magma chamber feeds the volcano, and sends offshoots of magma that will later crystallize into dikes and sills. Magma also advances upwards to form intrusive igneous bodies. The diagram illustrates both a cinder cone volcano, which releases ash, and a composite volcano, which releases both lava and ash. An illustration of the three types of faults. A. Strike-slip faults occur when rock units slide past one another. B. Normal faults occur when rocks are undergoing horizontal extension. C. Reverse (or thrust) faults occur when rocks are undergoing horizontal shortening.The San Andreas Fault in California
The geology of an area changes through time as rock units are deposited and inserted, and deformational processes change their shapes and locations.
Rock units are first emplaced either by deposition onto the surface or intrusion into the overlying rock. Deposition can occur when sediments settle onto the surface of the Earth and later lithify into sedimentary rock, or when as volcanic material such as volcanic ash or lava flows blanket the surface. Igneous intrusions such as batholiths, laccoliths, dikes, and sills, push upwards into the overlying rock, and crystallize as they intrude.
After the initial sequence of rocks has been deposited, the rock units can be deformed and/or metamorphosed. Deformation typically occurs as a result of horizontal shortening, horizontal extension, or side-to-side (strike-slip) motion. These structural regimes broadly relate to convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries, and transform boundaries, respectively, between tectonic plates.
When rock units are placed under horizontal compression, they shorten and become thicker. Because rock units, other than muds, do not significantly change in volume, this is accomplished in two primary ways: through faulting and folding. In the shallow crust, where brittle deformation can occur, thrust faults form, which causes the deeper rock to move on top of the shallower rock. Because deeper rock is often older, as noted by the principle of superposition, this can result in older rocks moving on top of younger ones. Movement along faults can result in folding, either because the faults are not planar or because rock layers are dragged along, forming drag folds as slip occurs along the fault. Deeper in the Earth, rocks behave plastically and fold instead of faulting. These folds can either be those where the material in the center of the fold buckles upwards, creating "antiforms", or where it buckles downwards, creating "synforms". If the tops of the rock units within the folds remain pointing upwards, they are called anticlines and synclines, respectively. If some of the units in the fold are facing downward, the structure is called an overturned anticline or syncline, and if all of the rock units are overturned or the correct up-direction is unknown, they are simply called by the most general terms, antiforms, and synforms.
Even higher pressures and temperatures during horizontal shortening can cause both folding and metamorphism of the rocks. This metamorphism causes changes in the mineral composition of the rocks; creates a foliation, or planar surface, that is related to mineral growth under stress. This can remove signs of the original textures of the rocks, such as bedding in sedimentary rocks, flow features of lavas, and crystal patterns in crystalline rocks.
Extension causes the rock units as a whole to become longer and thinner. This is primarily accomplished through normal faulting and through the ductile stretching and thinning. Normal faults drop rock units that are higher below those that are lower. This typically results in younger units ending up below older units. Stretching of units can result in their thinning. In fact, at one location within the Maria Fold and Thrust Belt, the entire sedimentary sequence of the Grand Canyon appears over a length of less than a meter. Rocks at the depth to be ductilely stretched are often also metamorphosed. These stretched rocks can also pinch into lenses, known as boudins, after the French word for "sausage" because of their visual similarity.
Where rock units slide past one another, strike-slip faults develop in shallow regions, and become shear zones at deeper depths where the rocks deform ductilely.
Geological cross section of Kittatinny Mountain. This cross-section shows metamorphic rocks, overlain by younger sediments deposited after the metamorphic event. These rock units were later folded and faulted during the uplift of the mountain.
The addition of new rock units, both depositionally and intrusively, often occurs during deformation. Faulting and other deformational processes result in the creation of topographic gradients, causing material on the rock unit that is increasing in elevation to be eroded by hillslopes and channels. These sediments are deposited on the rock unit that is going down. Continual motion along the fault maintains the topographic gradient in spite of the movement of sediment and continues to create accommodation space for the material to deposit. Deformational events are often also associated with volcanism and igneous activity. Volcanic ashes and lavas accumulate on the surface, and igneous intrusions enter from below. Dikes, long, planar igneous intrusions, enter along cracks, and therefore often form in large numbers in areas that are being actively deformed. This can result in the emplacement of dike swarms, such as those that are observable across the Canadian shield, or rings of dikes around the lava tube of a volcano.
All of these processes do not necessarily occur in a single environment and do not necessarily occur in a single order. The Hawaiian Islands, for example, consist almost entirely of layered basaltic lava flows. The sedimentary sequences of the mid-continental United States and the Grand Canyon in the southwestern United States contain almost-undeformed stacks of sedimentary rocks that have remained in place since Cambrian time. Other areas are much more geologically complex. In the southwestern United States, sedimentary, volcanic, and intrusive rocks have been metamorphosed, faulted, foliated, and folded. Even older rocks, such as the Acasta gneiss of the Slave craton in northwestern Canada, the oldest known rock in the world have been metamorphosed to the point where their origin is indiscernible without laboratory analysis. In addition, these processes can occur in stages. In many places, the Grand Canyon in the southwestern United States being a very visible example, the lower rock units were metamorphosed and deformed, and then deformation ended and the upper, undeformed units were deposited. Although any amount of rock emplacement and rock deformation can occur, and they can occur any number of times, these concepts provide a guide to understanding the geological history of an area.
Methods of geology
A standard Brunton Pocket Transit, commonly used by geologists for mapping and surveying
Geologists use a number of fields, laboratory, and numerical modeling methods to decipher Earth history and to understand the processes that occur on and inside the Earth. In typical geological investigations, geologists use primary information related to petrology (the study of rocks), stratigraphy (the study of sedimentary layers), and structural geology (the study of positions of rock units and their deformation). In many cases, geologists also study modern soils, rivers, landscapes, and glaciers; investigate past and current life and biogeochemical pathways, and use geophysical methods to investigate the subsurface. Sub-specialities of geology may distinguish endogenous and exogenous geology.[23]
In addition to identifying rocks in the field (lithology), petrologists identify rock samples in the laboratory. Two of the primary methods for identifying rocks in the laboratory are through optical microscopy and by using an electron microprobe. In an optical mineralogy analysis, petrologists analyze thin sections of rock samples using a petrographic microscope, where the minerals can be identified through their different properties in plane-polarized and cross-polarized light, including their birefringence, pleochroism, twinning, and interference properties with a conoscopic lens.[30] In the electron microprobe, individual locations are analyzed for their exact chemical compositions and variation in composition within individual crystals.[31]Stable[32] and radioactive isotope[33] studies provide insight into the geochemical evolution of rock units.
Petrologists can also use fluid inclusion data[34] and perform high temperature and pressure physical experiments[35] to understand the temperatures and pressures at which different mineral phases appear, and how they change through igneous[36] and metamorphic processes. This research can be extrapolated to the field to understand metamorphic processes and the conditions of crystallization of igneous rocks.[37] This work can also help to explain processes that occur within the Earth, such as subduction and magma chamber evolution.[38]
A diagram of an orogenic wedge. The wedge grows through faulting in the interior and along the main basal fault, called the décollement. It builds its shape into a critical taper, in which the angles within the wedge remain the same as failures inside the material balance failures along the décollement. It is analogous to a bulldozer pushing a pile of dirt, where the bulldozer is the overriding plate.
Structural geologists use microscopic analysis of oriented thin sections of geological samples to observe the fabric within the rocks, which gives information about strain within the crystalline structure of the rocks. They also plot and combine measurements of geological structures to better understand the orientations of faults and folds to reconstruct the history of rock deformation in the area. In addition, they perform analog and numerical experiments of rock deformation in large and small settings.
The analysis of structures is often accomplished by plotting the orientations of various features onto stereonets. A stereonet is a stereographic projection of a sphere onto a plane, in which planes are projected as lines and lines are projected as points. These can be used to find the locations of fold axes, relationships between faults, and relationships between other geological structures.
Among the most well-known experiments in structural geology are those involving orogenic wedges, which are zones in which mountains are built along convergent tectonic plate boundaries.[39] In the analog versions of these experiments, horizontal layers of sand are pulled along a lower surface into a back stop, which results in realistic-looking patterns of faulting and the growth of a critically tapered (all angles remain the same) orogenic wedge.[40] Numerical models work in the same way as these analog models, though they are often more sophisticated and can include patterns of erosion and uplift in the mountain belt.[41] This helps to show the relationship between erosion and the shape of a mountain range. These studies can also give useful information about pathways for metamorphism through pressure, temperature, space, and time.[42]
Stratigraphy
Different colors show the different minerals composing the mount Ritagli di Lecca seen from Fondachelli-Fantina, Sicily
In the laboratory, stratigraphers analyze samples of stratigraphic sections that can be returned from the field, such as those from drill cores.[43] Stratigraphers also analyze data from geophysical surveys that show the locations of stratigraphic units in the subsurface.[44] Geophysical data and well logs can be combined to produce a better view of the subsurface, and stratigraphers often use computer programs to do this in three dimensions.[45] Stratigraphers can then use these data to reconstruct ancient processes occurring on the surface of the Earth,[46] interpret past environments, and locate areas for water, coal, and hydrocarbon extraction.
In the laboratory, biostratigraphers analyze rock samples from outcrop and drill cores for the fossils found in them.[43] These fossils help scientists to date the core and to understand the depositional environment in which the rock units formed. Geochronologists precisely date rocks within the stratigraphic section to provide better absolute bounds on the timing and rates of deposition.[47] Magnetic stratigraphers look for signs of magnetic reversals in igneous rock units within the drill cores.[43] Other scientists perform stable-isotope studies on the rocks to gain information about past climate.[43]
Planetary geology
Surface of Mars as photographed by the Viking 2 lander December 9, 1977
With the advent of space exploration in the twentieth century, geologists have begun to look at other planetary bodies in the same ways that have been developed to study the Earth. This new field of study is called planetary geology (sometimes known as astrogeology) and relies on known geological principles to study other bodies of the solar system. This is a major aspect of planetary science, and largely focuses on the terrestrial planets, icy moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. However, some planetary geophysicists study the giant planets and exoplanets.[48]
Although the Greek-language-origin prefix geo refers to Earth, "geology" is often used in conjunction with the names of other planetary bodies when describing their composition and internal processes: examples are "the geology of Mars" and "Lunar geology". Specialized terms such as selenology (studies of the Moon), areology (of Mars), etc., are also in use.
Although planetary geologists are interested in studying all aspects of other planets, a significant focus is to search for evidence of past or present life on other worlds. This has led to many missions whose primary or ancillary purpose is to examine planetary bodies for evidence of life. One of these is the Phoenix lander, which analyzed Martian polar soil for water, chemical, and mineralogical constituents related to biological processes.
Economic geology is a branch of geology that deals with aspects of economic minerals that humankind uses to fulfill various needs. Economic minerals are those extracted profitably for various practical uses. Economic geologists help locate and manage the Earth's natural resources, such as petroleum and coal, as well as mineral resources, which include metals such as iron, copper, and uranium.
Petroleum geologists study the locations of the subsurface of the Earth that can contain extractable hydrocarbons, especially petroleum and natural gas. Because many of these reservoirs are found in sedimentary basins,[49] they study the formation of these basins, as well as their sedimentary and tectonic evolution and the present-day positions of the rock units.
Engineering geology is the application of geological principles to engineering practice for the purpose of assuring that the geological factors affecting the location, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of engineering works are properly addressed. Engineering geology is distinct from geological engineering, particularly in North America.
A child drinks water from a well built as part of a hydrogeological humanitarian project in Kenya
In the field of civil engineering, geological principles and analyses are used in order to ascertain the mechanical principles of the material on which structures are built. This allows tunnels to be built without collapsing, bridges and skyscrapers to be built with sturdy foundations, and buildings to be built that will not settle in clay and mud.[50]
Geology and geological principles can be applied to various environmental problems such as stream restoration, the restoration of brownfields, and the understanding of the interaction between natural habitat and the geological environment. Groundwater hydrology, or hydrogeology, is used to locate groundwater,[51] which can often provide a ready supply of uncontaminated water and is especially important in arid regions,[52] and to monitor the spread of contaminants in groundwater wells.[51][53]
Geologists also obtain data through stratigraphy, boreholes, core samples, and ice cores. Ice cores[54] and sediment cores[55] are used for paleoclimate reconstructions, which tell geologists about past and present temperature, precipitation, and sea level across the globe. These datasets are our primary source of information on global climate change outside of instrumental data.[56]
Geologists and geophysicists study natural hazards in order to enact safe building codes and warning systems that are used to prevent loss of property and life.[57] Examples of important natural hazards that are pertinent to geology (as opposed those that are mainly or only pertinent to meteorology) are:
The study of the physical material of the Earth dates back at least to ancient Greece when Theophrastus (372–287 BCE) wrote the work Peri Lithon (On Stones). During the Roman period, Pliny the Elder wrote in detail of the many minerals and metals, then in practical use – even correctly noting the origin of amber. Additionally, in the 4th century BCE Aristotle made critical observations of the slow rate of geological change. He observed the composition of the land and formulated a theory where the Earth changes at a slow rate and that these changes cannot be observed during one person's lifetime. Aristotle developed one of the first evidence-based concepts connected to the geological realm regarding the rate at which the Earth physically changes.[59][60]
Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) was one of the earliest Persian geologists, whose works included the earliest writings on the geology of India, hypothesizing that the Indian subcontinent was once a sea.[61] Drawing from Greek and Indian scientific literature that were not destroyed by the Muslim conquests, the Persian scholar Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 981–1037) proposed detailed explanations for the formation of mountains, the origin of earthquakes, and other topics central to modern geology, which provided an essential foundation for the later development of the science.[62][63] In China, the polymathShen Kuo (1031–1095) formulated a hypothesis for the process of land formation: based on his observation of fossil animal shells in a geological stratum in a mountain hundreds of miles from the ocean, he inferred that the land was formed by the erosion of the mountains and by deposition of silt.[64]
Georgius Agricola (1494–1555) published his groundbreaking work De Natura Fossilium in 1546 and is seen as the founder of geology as a scientific discipline.[65]
The word geology was first used by Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603,[66][67] then by Jean-André Deluc in 1778[68] and introduced as a fixed term by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in 1779.[69][70] The word is derived from the Greek γῆ, gê, meaning "earth" and λόγος, logos, meaning "speech".[71] But according to another source, the word "geology" comes from a Norwegian, Mikkel Pedersøn Escholt (1600–1669), who was a priest and scholar. Escholt first used the definition in his book titled, Geologia Norvegica (1657).[72][73]
William Smith (1769–1839) drew some of the first geological maps and began the process of ordering rock strata (layers) by examining the fossils contained in them.[58]
In 1763, Mikhail Lomonosov published his treatise On the Strata of Earth.[74] His work was the first narrative of modern geology, based on the unity of processes in time and explanation of the Earth's past from the present.[75]
James Hutton (1726–1797) is often viewed as the first modern geologist.[76] In 1785 he presented a paper entitled Theory of the Earth to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In his paper, he explained his theory that the Earth must be much older than had previously been supposed to allow enough time for mountains to be eroded and for sediments to form new rocks at the bottom of the sea, which in turn were raised up to become dry land. Hutton published a two-volume version of his ideas in 1795.[77]
Followers of Hutton were known as Plutonists because they believed that some rocks were formed by vulcanism, which is the deposition of lava from volcanoes, as opposed to the Neptunists, led by Abraham Werner, who believed that all rocks had settled out of a large ocean whose level gradually dropped over time.
The first geological map of the U.S. was produced in 1809 by William Maclure.[78] In 1807, Maclure commenced the self-imposed task of making a geological survey of the United States. Almost every state in the Union was traversed and mapped by him, the Allegheny Mountains being crossed and recrossed some 50 times.[79] The results of his unaided labours were submitted to the American Philosophical Society in a memoir entitled Observations on the Geology of the United States explanatory of a Geological Map, and published in the Society's Transactions, together with the nation's first geological map.[80] This antedates William Smith's geological map of England by six years, although it was constructed using a different classification of rocks.
Sir Charles Lyell (1797–1875) first published his famous book, Principles of Geology,[81] in 1830. This book, which influenced the thought of Charles Darwin, successfully promoted the doctrine of uniformitarianism. This theory states that slow geological processes have occurred throughout the Earth's history and are still occurring today. In contrast, catastrophism is the theory that Earth's features formed in single, catastrophic events and remained unchanged thereafter. Though Hutton believed in uniformitarianism, the idea was not widely accepted at the time.
Much of 19th-century geology revolved around the question of the Earth's exact age. Estimates varied from a few hundred thousand to billions of years.[82] By the early 20th century, radiometric dating allowed the Earth's age to be estimated at two billion years. The awareness of this vast amount of time opened the door to new theories about the processes that shaped the planet.
Some of the most significant advances in 20th-century geology have been the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s and the refinement of estimates of the planet's age. Plate tectonics theory arose from two separate geological observations: seafloor spreading and continental drift. The theory revolutionized the Earth sciences. Today the Earth is known to be approximately 4.5 billion years old.[15]
Structural geology is the study of the three-dimensional distribution of rock units with respect to their deformational histories. The primary goal of structural geology is to use measurements of present-day rock geometries to uncover information about the history of deformation (strain) in the rocks, and ultimately, to understand the stress field that resulted in the observed strain and geometries. This understanding of the dynamics of the stress field can be linked to important events in the geologic past; a common goal is to understand the structural evolution of a particular area with respect to regionally widespread patterns of rock deformation due to plate tectonics.
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than 150 to 200 °C and, often, elevated pressure of 100 megapascals (1,000 bar) or more, causing profound physical or chemical changes. During this process, the rock remains mostly in the solid state, but gradually recrystallizes to a new texture or mineral composition. The protolith may be an igneous, sedimentary, or existing metamorphic rock.
Orogeny is a mountain building process that takes place at a convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An orogenic belt or orogen develops as the compressed plate crumples and is uplifted to form one or more mountain ranges. This involves a series of geological processes collectively called orogenesis. These include both structural deformation of existing continental crust and the creation of new continental crust through volcanism. Magma rising in the orogen carries less dense material upwards while leaving more dense material behind, resulting in compositional differentiation of Earth's lithosphere. A synorogenic process or event is one that occurs during an orogeny.
Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subsidence creates a regional depression that provides accommodation space for accumulation of sediments. Over millions or tens or hundreds of millions of years the deposition of sediment, primarily gravity-driven transportation of water-borne eroded material, acts to fill the depression. As the sediments are buried, they are subject to increasing pressure and begin the processes of compaction and lithification that transform them into sedimentary rock.
Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation, transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary structures.
In geology, rock is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust, and most of its interior, except for the liquid outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including petrology and mineralogy. It may be limited to rocks found on Earth, or it may include planetary geology that studies the rocks of other celestial objects.
Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of 150 °C (300 °F), and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of chemically active fluids, but the rock remains mostly solid during the transformation. Metamorphism is distinct from weathering or diagenesis, which are changes that take place at or just beneath Earth's surface.
The lithology of a rock unit is a description of its physical characteristics visible at outcrop, in hand or core samples, or with low magnification microscopy. Physical characteristics include colour, texture, grain size, and composition. Lithology may refer to either a detailed description of these characteristics, or a summary of the gross physical character of a rock. Examples of lithologies in the second sense include sandstone, slate, basalt, or limestone.
The rock cycle is a basic concept in geology that describes transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. Each rock type is altered when it is forced out of its equilibrium conditions. For example, an igneous rock such as basalt may break down and dissolve when exposed to the atmosphere, or melt as it is subducted under a continent. Due to the driving forces of the rock cycle, plate tectonics and the water cycle, rocks do not remain in equilibrium and change as they encounter new environments. The rock cycle explains how the three rock types are related to each other, and how processes change from one type to another over time. This cyclical aspect makes rock change a geologic cycle and, on planets containing life, a biogeochemical cycle.
Relative dating is the science of determining the relative order of past events, without necessarily determining their absolute age. In geology, rock or superficial deposits, fossils and lithologies can be used to correlate one stratigraphic column with another. Prior to the discovery of radiometric dating in the early 20th century, which provided a means of absolute dating, archaeologists and geologists used relative dating to determine ages of materials. Though relative dating can only determine the sequential order in which a series of events occurred, not when they occurred, it remains a useful technique. Relative dating by biostratigraphy is the preferred method in paleontology and is, in some respects, more accurate. The Law of Superposition, which states that older layers will be deeper in a site than more recent layers, was the summary outcome of 'relative dating' as observed in geology from the 17th century to the early 20th century.
In geology, texture or rock microstructure refers to the relationship between the materials of which a rock is composed. The broadest textural classes are crystalline, fragmental, aphanitic, and glassy. The geometric aspects and relations amongst the component particles or crystals are referred to as the crystallographic texture or preferred orientation. Textures can be quantified in many ways. The most common parameter is the crystal size distribution. This creates the physical appearance or character of a rock, such as grain size, shape, arrangement, and other properties, at both the visible and microscopic scale.
Stylolites are serrated surfaces within a rock mass at which mineral material has been removed by pressure dissolution, in a deformation process that decreases the total volume of rock. Minerals which are insoluble in water, such as clays, pyrite and oxides, as well as insoluble organic matter, remain within the stylolites and make them visible. Sometimes host rocks contain no insoluble minerals, in which case stylolites can be recognized by change in texture of the rock. They occur most commonly in homogeneous rocks, carbonates, cherts, sandstones, but they can be found in certain igneous rocks and ice. Their size vary from microscopic contacts between two grains (microstylolites) to large structures up to 20 m in length and up to 10 m in amplitude in ice. Stylolites usually form parallel to bedding, because of overburden pressure, but they can be oblique or even perpendicular to bedding, as a result of tectonic activity.
The North China Craton is a continental crustal block with one of Earth's most complete and complex records of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic processes. It is located in northeast China, Inner Mongolia, the Yellow Sea, and North Korea. The term craton designates this as a piece of continent that is stable, buoyant and rigid. Basic properties of the cratonic crust include being thick, relatively cold when compared to other regions, and low density. The North China Craton is an ancient craton, which experienced a long period of stability and fitted the definition of a craton well. However, the North China Craton later experienced destruction of some of its deeper parts (decratonization), which means that this piece of continent is no longer as stable.
Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth. It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mountain building, volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting. It also attempts to probe the internal activity by measuring magnetic fields, gravity, and seismic waves, as well as the mineralogy of rocks and their isotopic composition. Methods of geodynamics are also applied to exploration of other planets.
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, although backgrounds in physics, chemistry, biology, and other sciences are also useful. Field research is an important component of geology, although many subdisciplines incorporate laboratory and digitalized work. Geologists can be classified in a larger group of scientists, called geoscientists.
The Algoman orogeny, known as the Kenoran orogeny in Canada, was an episode of mountain-building (orogeny) during the Late Archean Eon that involved repeated episodes of continental collisions, compressions and subductions. The Superior province and the Minnesota River Valley terrane collided about 2,700 to 2,500 million years ago. The collision folded the Earth's crust and produced enough heat and pressure to metamorphose the rock. Blocks were added to the Superior province along a 1,200 km (750 mi) boundary that stretches from present-day eastern South Dakota into the Lake Huron area. The Algoman orogeny brought the Archean Eon to a close, about 2,500 million years ago; it lasted less than 100 million years and marks a major change in the development of the Earth's crust.
Provenance in geology, is the reconstruction of the origin of sediments. The Earth is a dynamic planet, and all rocks are subject to transition between the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. Rocks exposed to the surface are sooner or later broken down into sediments. Sediments are expected to be able to provide evidence of the erosional history of their parent source rocks. The purpose of provenance study is to restore the tectonic, paleo-geographic and paleo-climatic history.
Eoarchean geology is the study of the oldest preserved crustal fragments of Earth during the Eoarchean era from 4 to 3.6 billion years ago. Major well-preserved rock units dated Eoarchean are known from three localities, the Isua Greenstone Belt in Southwest Greenland, the Acasta Gneiss in the Slave Craton in Canada, and the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in the eastern coast of Hudson Bay in Quebec. From the dating of rocks in these three regions scientists suggest that plate tectonics could go back as early as Eoarchean.
Archean felsic volcanic rocks are felsic volcanic rocks that were formed in the Archean Eon. The term "felsic" means that the rocks have silica content of 62–78%. Given that the Earth formed at ~4.5 billion year ago, Archean felsic volcanic rocks provide clues on the Earth's first volcanic activities on the Earth's surface started 500 million years after the Earth's formation.
↑ Kious, Jacquelyne; Tilling, Robert I. (1996). "Developing the Theory". This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics. Kiger, Martha, Russel, Jane (Onlineed.). Reston: United States Geological Survey. ISBN978-0-16-048220-5. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
↑ Kious, Jacquelyne; Tilling, Robert I. (1996). "Understanding Plate Motions". This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics. Kiger, Martha, Russel, Jane (Onlineed.). Reston, VA: United States Geological Survey. ISBN978-0-16-048220-5. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
↑ Rollinson, Hugh R. (1996). Using geochemical data evaluation, presentation, interpretation. Harlow: Longman. ISBN978-0-582-06701-1.
↑ Faure, Gunter (1998). Principles and applications of geochemistry: a comprehensive textbook for geology students. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. ISBN978-0-02-336450-1.
↑ Compare: Hansen, Jens Morten (2009-01-01). "On the origin of natural history: Steno's modern, but forgotten philosophy of science". In Rosenberg, Gary D. (ed.). The Revolution in Geology from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Geological Society of America Memoir. Vol.203. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America (published 2009). p.169. ISBN978-0-8137-1203-1. Archived from the original on 2017-01-20. Retrieved 2016-08-24. [...] the historic dichotomy between 'hard rock' and 'soft rock' geologists, i.e. scientists working mainly with endogenous and exogenous processes, respectively [...] endogenous forces mainly defining the developments below Earth's crust and the exogenous forces mainly defining the developments on top of and above Earth's crust.
↑ Burger, H. Robert; Sheehan, Anne F.; Jones, Craig H. (2006). Introduction to applied geophysics: exploring the shallow subsurface. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN978-0-393-92637-8.
↑ Krumbein, Wolfgang E., ed. (1978). Environmental biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology. Ann Arbor, MI: Ann Arbor Science Publ. ISBN978-0-250-40218-2.
↑ Hubbard, Bryn; Glasser, Neil (2005). Field techniques in glaciology and glacial geomorphology. Chichester, England: J. Wiley. ISBN978-0-470-84426-7.
↑ Nesse, William D. (1991). Introduction to optical mineralogy. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-506024-9.
↑ Morton, A.C. (1985). "A new approach to provenance studies: electron microprobe analysis of detrital garnets from Middle Jurassic sandstones of the northern North Sea". Sedimentology. 32 (4): 553–566. Bibcode:1985Sedim..32..553M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.1985.tb00470.x.
↑ Zheng, Y; Fu, Bin; Gong, Bing; Li, Long (2003). "Stable isotope geochemistry of ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks from the Dabie–Sulu orogen in China: implications for geodynamics and fluid regime". Earth-Science Reviews. 62 (1): 105–161. Bibcode:2003ESRv...62..105Z. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(02)00133-2.
↑ Condomines, M; Tanguy, J; Michaud, V (1995). "Magma dynamics at Mt Etna: Constraints from U-Th-Ra-Pb radioactive disequilibria and Sr isotopes in historical lavas". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 132 (1): 25–41. Bibcode:1995E&PSL.132...25C. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(95)00052-E.
↑ Sack, Richard O.; Walker, David; Carmichael, Ian S.E. (1987). "Experimental petrology of alkalic lavas: constraints on cotectics of multiple saturation in natural basic liquids". Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. 96 (1): 1–23. Bibcode:1987CoMP...96....1S. doi:10.1007/BF00375521. S2CID129193823.
↑ McBirney, Alexander R. (2007). Igneous petrology. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. ISBN978-0-7637-3448-0.
↑ Spear, Frank S. (1995). Metamorphic phase equilibria and pressure-temperature-time paths. Washington, DC: Mineralogical Soc. of America. ISBN978-0-939950-34-8.
↑ Gutscher, M; Kukowski, Nina; Malavieille, Jacques; Lallemand, Serge (1998). "Material transfer in accretionary wedges from analysis of a systematic series of analog experiments". Journal of Structural Geology. 20 (4): 407–416. Bibcode:1998JSG....20..407G. doi:10.1016/S0191-8141(97)00096-5.
1 2 3 4 Hodell, David A.; Benson, Richard H.; Kent, Dennis V.; Boersma, Anne; Rakic-El Bied, Kruna (1994). "Magnetostratigraphic, Biostratigraphic, and Stable Isotope Stratigraphy of an Upper Miocene Drill Core from the Salé Briqueterie (Northwestern Morocco): A High-Resolution Chronology for the Messinian Stage". Paleoceanography. 9 (6): 835–855. Bibcode:1994PalOc...9..835H. doi:10.1029/94PA01838.
↑ Bally, A.W., ed. (1987). Atlas of seismic stratigraphy. Tulsa, OK: American Association of Petroleum Geologists. ISBN978-0-89181-033-9.
↑ Fernández, O.; Muñoz, J.A.; Arbués, P.; Falivene, O.; Marzo, M. (2004). "Three-dimensional reconstruction of geological surfaces: An example of growth strata and turbidite systems from the Ainsa basin (Pyrenees, Spain)". AAPG Bulletin. 88 (8): 1049–1068. Bibcode:2004BAAPG..88.1049F. doi:10.1306/02260403062.
↑ Poulsen, Chris J.; Flemings, Peter B.; Robinson, Ruth A. J.; Metzger, John M. (1998). "Three-dimensional stratigraphic evolution of the Miocene Baltimore Canyon region: Implications for eustatic interpretations and the systems tract model". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 110 (9): 1105–1122. Bibcode:1998GSAB..110.1105P. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1998)110<1105:TDSEOT>2.3.CO;2.
↑ Toscano, M; Lundberg, Joyce (1999). "Submerged Late Pleistocene reefs on the tectonically-stable S.E. Florida margin: high-precision geochronology, stratigraphy, resolution of Substage 5a sea-level elevation, and orbital forcing". Quaternary Science Reviews. 18 (6): 753–767. Bibcode:1999QSRv...18..753T. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(98)00077-8.
↑ Seckler, David; Barker, Randolph; Amarasinghe, Upali (1999). "Water Scarcity in the Twenty-first Century". International Journal of Water Resources Development. 15 (1–2): 29–42. doi:10.1080/07900629948916.
↑ Asimov, M.S.; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund, eds. (1992). The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century: The Achievements. History of civilizations of Central Asia. pp.211–214. ISBN978-92-3-102719-2.
↑ Toulmin, S., and Goodfield, J. (1965) The Ancestry of science: The Discovery of Time, Hutchinson & Co., London, p. 64
↑ From his will (Testamento d'Ullisse Aldrovandi) of 1603, which is reproduced in: Fantuzzi, Giovanni, Memorie della vita di Ulisse Aldrovandi, medico e filosofo bolognese … (Bologna, (Italy): Lelio dalla Volpe, 1774). From p. 81:Archived 2017-02-16 at the Wayback Machine " … & anco la Giologia, ovvero de Fossilibus; … " ( … and likewise geology, or [the study] of things dug from the earth; … )
↑ Deluc, Jean André de, Lettres physiques et morales sur les montagnes et sur l'histoire de la terre et de l'homme. … [Physical and moral letters on mountains and on the history of the Earth and man. … ], vol. 1 (Paris, France: V. Duchesne, 1779), pp. 4, 5, and 7. From p. 4:Archived 2018-11-22 at the Wayback Machine"Entrainé par les liaisons de cet objet avec la Géologie, j'entrepris dans un second voyage de les développer à SA MAJESTÉ; … " (Driven by the connections between this subject and geology, I undertook a second voyage to develop them for Her Majesty [viz, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland]; … ) From p. 5:Archived 2018-11-22 at the Wayback Machine"Je vis que je faisais un Traité, et non une equisse de Géologie." (I see that I wrote a treatise, and not a sketch of geology.) From the footnote on p. 7:Archived 2018-11-22 at the Wayback Machine"Je répète ici, ce que j'avois dit dans ma première Préface, sur la substitution de mot Cosmologie à celui de Géologie, quoiqu'il ne s'agisse pas de l'Univers, mais seulement de la Terre: … " (I repeat here what I said in my first preface about the substitution of the word "cosmology" for that of "geology", although it is not a matter of the universe but only of the Earth: … ) [Note: A pirated edition of this book was published in 1778.]
↑ Saussure, Horace-Bénédict de, Voyages dans les Alpes, … (Neuchatel, (Switzerland): Samuel Fauche, 1779). From pp. i–ii:Archived 2017-02-06 at the Wayback Machine"La science qui rassemble les faits, qui seuls peuvent servir de base à la Théorie de la Terre ou à la Géologie, c'est la Géographie physique, ou la description de notre Globe; … " (The science that assembles the facts which alone can serve as the basis of the theory of the Earth or of "geology", is physical geography, or the description of our globe; … )
↑ On the controversy regarding whether Deluc or Saussure deserves priority in the use the term "geology":
Zittel, Karl Alfred von, with Maria M. Ogilvie-Gordon, trans., History of Geology and Paleontology to the End of the Nineteenth Century (London, England: Walter Scott, 1901), p. 76.
Geikie, Archibald, The Founders of Geology, 2nd ed. (London, England: Macmillan and Co., 1905), p. 186.Archived 2017-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
Reprinted in English as: Escholt, Michel Pedersøn with Daniel Collins, trans., Geologia Norvegica … Archived 2017-02-16 at the Wayback Machine (London, England: S. Thomson, 1663).
↑ Lomonosov, Mikhail (2012). On the Strata of the Earth. Translation and commentary by S.M. Rowland and S. Korolev. The Geological Society of America, Special Paper 485. ISBN978-0-8137-2485-0. Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
↑ Vernadsky, V. (1911) Pamyati M.V. Lomonosova. Zaprosy zhizni, 5: 257–262 (in Russian) [In memory of M.V. Lomonosov]
↑ Greene, J.C.; Burke, J.G. (1978). "The Science of Minerals in the Age of Jefferson". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. New Series. 68 (4): 1–113 [39]. doi:10.2307/1006294. JSTOR1006294.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
