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Geology is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology. It is integrated with Earth system science and planetary science.
Plate tectonics is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large tectonic plates which have been slowly moving since about 3.4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. Plate tectonics came to be generally accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid to late 1960s.
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.
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or other planetary bodies. It also includes studies of earthquake environmental effects such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, glacial, fluvial, oceanic, atmospheric, and artificial processes such as explosions. A related field that uses geology to infer information regarding past earthquakes is paleoseismology. A recording of Earth motion as a function of time is called a seismogram. A seismologist is a scientist who does research in seismology.
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes. Faults may also displace slowly, by aseismic creep.
The Basin and Range Province is a vast physiographic region covering much of the inland Western United States and northwestern Mexico. It is defined by unique basin and range topography, characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins. The physiography of the province is the result of tectonic extension that began around 17 million years ago in the early Miocene epoch.
Tectonics are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time.
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of 76 million km2 (29 million sq mi), it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific Plate.
An active fault is a fault that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future. Geologists commonly consider faults to be active if there has been movement observed or evidence of seismic activity during the last 10,000 years.
In geology, aseismic creep or fault creep is measurable surface displacement along a fault in the absence of notable earthquakes. Aseismic creep may also occur as "after-slip" days to years after an earthquake. Notable examples of aseismic slip include faults in California.
The EarthScope project was an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded earth science program that, from 2003-2018, used geological and geophysical techniques to explore the structure and evolution of the North American continent and to understand the processes controlling earthquakes and volcanoes. The project had three components: USArray, the Plate Boundary Observatory, and the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth. Organizations associated with the project included UNAVCO, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), Stanford University, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Several international organizations also contributed to the initiative. EarthScope data are publicly accessible.
Spyros B. Pavlides is a Greek geologist and professor of geology and physical geography and vice president of the school of geology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. His primary interests include neotectonics, paleoseismology, archaeoseismology, and the use of geological data for seismic hazard assessment. His Ph.D. subject in 1985 was "Neotectonic evolution of the Florina-Vegoritis-Ptolemais basin "
The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system, also sometimes referred to as the Dead Sea Rift, is a series of faults that run from the Maras Triple Junction to the northern end of the Red Sea Rift. The fault system forms the transform boundary between the African Plate to the west and the Arabian Plate to the east. It is a zone of left lateral displacement, signifying the relative motions of the two plates. Both plates are moving in a general north-northeast direction, but the Arabian Plate is moving faster, resulting in the observed left lateral motions along the fault of approximately 107 km at its southern end. A component of extension is also present in the southern part of the transform, which has contributed to a series of depressions, or pull-apart basins, forming the Gulf of Aqaba, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, and Hula basins. A component of shortening affects the Lebanon restraining bend, leading to uplift on both sides of the Beqaa valley. There is local transtension in the northernmost part of the fault system, forming the Ghab pull-apart basin.
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben is a major rift, about 350-kilometre-long (220 mi) and on average 50-kilometre-wide (31 mi), between Basel in the south and the cities of Frankfurt/Wiesbaden in the north. Its southern section straddles the France–Germany border. It forms part of the European Cenozoic Rift System, which extends across Central Europe. The Upper Rhine Graben formed during the Oligocene, as a response to the evolution of the Alps to the south. It remains active to the present day. Today, the Rhine Rift Valley forms a downfaulted trough through which the river Rhine flows.
The Teton fault is a normal fault located in northwestern Wyoming. The fault has a length of 44 miles (70 km) and runs along the eastern base of the Teton Range. Vertical movement on the fault has caused the dramatic topography of the Teton Range.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to geophysics:
Chittenipattu Puthenveettil Rajendran, also known among his peers as CP, is an Indian geologist who has worked mainly on the Indian earthquakes and tectonics.
The Cedar Mountain earthquake of 1932 was one of the largest seismic events in the US state of Nevada. The Ms 7.3 earthquake struck at Cedar Mountain in Western Nevada. Shaking was felt as far as Oregon, Southern California, and the Rocky Mountains area. Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the United States due to ongoing rifting occurring within the North American Plate. Extension or thinning of the crust has resulted in numerous faults accommodating strain, at the same time, producing earthquakes. Since the earthquake occurred in a remote part of the state, damage was limited and no deaths were reported.
The 1955 Zheduotang earthquake, also known as the Kangding earthquake occurred on April 14 at 09:29:02 local time near the city of Kangding in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 7.0 and a surface wave magnitude of 7.1 and struck at a depth of 10 km. Severe damage occurred in Kangding with the loss of 70 lives.
Danny Hilman Natawidjaja is an Indonesian geologist who is an expert in earthquake geology and geotectonics at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Research Center for Geotechnology.
References
- ↑ "Encyclopedia of Coastal Science" (2005), Springer, ISBN 978-1-4020-1903-6, Chapter 1: "Tectonics and Neotectonics" doi : 10.1007/1-4020-3880-1
- ↑ V.A. Obruchev (1948). "Osnovnye cherty kinetiki i plastiki neotektonik". Izv. Akad. Nauk, Ser. Geol., 5: 13–24
- 1 2 Eduard A. Koster (2005) "The Physical Geography of Western Europe", ISBN 0-19-927775-3, Ch. 2: Neotectonics
- ↑ Pavlides, Spyros B. (1989). "Looking for a definition of neotectonics". Terra Nova. 1 (3): 233–235. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3121.1989.tb00362.x.
- ↑ University of Nevada, Reno. "Center for Neotectonic Studies".
- ↑ A. Becker, " An attempt to define a "neotectonic period" for central and northern Europe", International Journal of Earth Sciences, Volume 82, Number 1, 1993 doi : 10.1007/BF00563271