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Introduction to Geology and Geological Materials

What is Geology?

Geology, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is “a science that deals with the history of
Earth and its life, especially as recorded in rocks.” It is a hybrid science, borrowing from many
fields. Some geologists study the chemistry of rocks, minerals or other Earth materials. Others
study Earth physics or the biology of plants and animals, ancient and modern. Still others study
distant planets to understand the origin of the solar system or even of the universe. Geologists
may stray into the fields of oceanography, meteorology, biology or astronomy, but
fundamentally, geology is the study of the Earth, as the dictionary says, and most geologists
study materials and processes at or near the Earth’s surface. The Earth has changed and evolved
during its long history, and the changes are chronicled by Earth’s geology.
The Earth is unique among the planets. We enjoy running water, a hospitable
atmosphere and cool temperatures. Rocks and minerals are constantly being recycled, albeit
over long periods of time. Material, once at the surface, is carried deep into the Earth, only to be
brought up to the surface again. The planet’s surface is teeming with abundant life, and the life
zone extends 8-10km up into the atmosphere and an equal distance down into the Earth’s crust.
No other planet has this fascinating combination of characteristics (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The top photo here shows

basalt from western Ontario. The bottom
left figure shows equivalent rocks from
Mars (photo taken by the Pathfinder
mission). The dark areas on the photo of
the moon in the lower right are also
basalt. The similarity of rock types
suggests commonality in geological
processes. However, Earth has an
atmosphere and, most importantly,
running water at the surface. Thus, Earth
is a fascinating and dynamic planet
compared with Mars and the Moon.
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Geology is unique among the sciences because many geological processes are extremely
slow, and geological time is extremely long. So, much of a geologist’s time is spent collecting
and analyzing evidence about things that happened a long time ago over long periods of time.
The Earth is billions of years old, and we have scant evidence regarding some of the earliest
events in Earth history. Answering some geological questions is like trying to put a jigsaw
puzzle together with many pieces missing. Geologists collect new evidence, and add new
pieces, as they try to come up with complete pictures. Like all scientists, geologists apply the
scientific method (Figure 2) when trying to answer complex questions. Because science cannot
produce absolute answers, this means that geological science, just like the Earth, is constantly
evolving. A key assumption made by geologists is that the laws of physics and Earth processes
are the same today as they were in the past. Thus, if geologists find a 560 million year old
massive sandstone, they may infer that it formed as a beach deposit in ancient seas, since that is
where such sandstones are forming today. This allows geologists to infer the presence of oceans
and continents over half a billion years ago (Figure 3).

Figure 2. The scientific method is one that

involves proposing a hypothesis to explain
observations, followed by subsequent testing.
Generally the testing involves making
predictions and then checking to see if the
predictions are correct. Often this requires
making new observations and collecting
additional data. Eventually, if a hypothesis
passes enough tests, it evolves into an accepted
theory. In reality, all of science is theory. This
means it can change as new information and new
tests become available.

basis for modern society.
Group
metallic and semimetallic elements
nonmetallic elements
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Figure 3. The three views show Montara Beach
in California. The top view shows typical beach
sand; the middle view shows beach sand and
some sandstone. The bottom view shows a
geologists examining the sandstone. The
sandstone itself is the fossilized remains of an
ancient beach. Sandstones of this sort are
evidence that beaches, similar to modern day
beaches, existed in the ancient past.
Besides the academic interests, Geology
has many practical aspects. Earth resources are
fundamental to our existence (Table 1). Energy
resources, including coal, oil, gas, uranium, and
geothermal, are keys to our modern societies.
Copper, nickel, iron and other metals have for
several hundred years been the basis of
industries. Nitrates, borax and other chemicals
from the Earth are in heavy demand. Sand,
gravel and other building materials are used
world wide.
Geologists play important roles in many
engineering projects, including roads, buildings,
and dams. They are also concerned about natural
hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tidal
waves or landslides. Increasingly over the last
several decades, geologists have become more
and more concerned with environmental
problems. Water supplies, water pollution, waste
disposal, and many other problems have become
more acute as population and urban areas
expand.
Table 1-1. Earth’s geological resources are the
Examples
gold, silver, copper, iron, manganese, nickel,
aluminum
potassium, sodium, phosphorous, sulfur
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gems diamond, sapphire, agate

industrial minerals sand, clay, building stone, asbestos, mica, gravel
fertilizer and chemicals limestone, phosphate, salt, nitrates, borates
energy resources coal, oil, gas, uranium

Evolution of Geological Science

Early peoples, as far back as 2900 B.C. in Egypt and Greece, used coal and flint, and
processed metals and minerals from the Earth. Herodotus, in 500 B.C., studied the flooding of
the Nile River, and Aristotle described fossils in 350 B.C. Theophrastus wrote the first
mineralogy book Concerning Stones about 300 B.C. However, geology, like most sciences, did
not really advance rapidly until the renaissance of the 1400's-1500's. During that time, scholars
(mostly people associated with churches) began talking to practitioners such as miners or
alchemists. Great advances soon followed, ultimately leading to the industrial revolution.
Although we could debate which events in the development of modern geological science
were most important, several key ones stand out. In the late 1700's, James Hutton espoused his
principle of uniformitariansim, sometimes summarized as “the present is the key to the past.” It
stated that the geological processes taking place in the present operated the same in the past.
This, and other ideas presented by Hutton, formed the basis for subsequent work by John
Playfair, Charles Lyell and others several decades later. Playfair, for example, was the first to
propose that rivers cut their own valleys over very long times, and the first to describe the way
glaciers can move boulders and polish the Earth. He published several important books
including, in 1802, Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth. Lyell further promoted
the ideas of Hutton. He studied geological formations in Europe, North America and England
and concluded that the Earth must be millions of years old. Lyell tentatively accepted the theory
of Darwinian evolution and applied some of Darwin’s principles to fossils in his The Geological
Evidence of the Antiquity of Man, published in 1863. He is, however, probably best known for
his Principles of Geology (1830).
The early British geologists were on the right track, and the discoveries spawned by
Hutton were significant. Scientists studied erosion and other processes taking place around them
and estimated how long it took for different kinds of geological features to form. They
concluded that the Earth must be much older than estimates based on the Bible, which placed the
age of the Earth at several thousand years. The true magnitude of geological time eluded them
however. A major breakthrough came at the end of the 19th century when Marie and Pierre
Curie, Wilhelm Roentgen, and others discovered and applied radioactivity in their scientific
quests. Soon, scientists were using radioactive age dating to estimate the age of rocks and
minerals. Over just a few decades, the estimated age of the Earth went from 10's or 100's of
million to billions of years, and geologists found that explaining the evolution of the Earth was
much easier. They concluded that the Earth is always changing and evolving, but the processes
were much slower than originally envisioned.
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Figure 4. This view shows the relative position

of continents about 130 million years ago.
Since then, they have drifted apart, at rates
equivalent to how fast your fingernails grow.
Evidence for continental drift includes (1) the
way the continents seem to fit together, (2)
matching fossils, rocks, mountain chains on
different sides of modern oceans, (3) the
existence of a mid ocean ridge and measurable
seafloor spreading that takes place there.

Much of the early work by geologists

was descriptive. Explaining why things had
happened was more difficult. One major
breakthrough, which allowed scientists to
answer some of the unanswered “why”
questions, came in the early 1960's. J.T. Wilson
is often given credit for developing and
popularizing the idea of continental drift at this
time, although others had proposed the concept
previously. Anyone could see that South
America and Africa fit together, much like two
puzzle pieces (Figure 4). Fossil and other
evidence, too, suggested that the continents had once been joined and subsequently had “drifted”
apart. Before 1960, however, geologists could not understand why continents would move
relative to each other and, without knowing
the mechanism, the theory of continental drift
stalled. In the 1960's, however, much better Earth Materials
seafloor mapping, better seismic networks,
and many other things all came together. regolith: general term for layer of fragmental,
Geophysicists proposed credible hypotheses loose material of any origin and type that
to explain continental drift. Within a decade, overlies bedrock
the theory of plate tectonics was firmly soil: unconsolidated earth material, rich in
established and it has passed all scientific organic components, that provides the natural
tests since then. Today it forms the medium for plant growth
fundamental basis for much of modern sediment: solid fragmental material, either
geology, and has provided us with many of organic or inorganic, that originates from
the missing puzzle pieces. weathering of rocks
mineral: naturally occuring inorganic solids
Earth Materials that are crystalline, that have a specific
Regolith, Sediment and Soil chemicl composition, and that have fixed
physical properties
An unconsolidated layer of material rock: naturally forming aggregates composed
called regolith covers most of Earth’s land primarily of inorganic Earth materials
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surfaces. Regolith is mostly rock and mineral debris produced by mechanical or chemical
decomposition (weathering) of preexisting rocks. We call such debris sediment. Regolith may
also contain humus, organic material derived from decomposed plants and animals, volcanic ash,
or a number of other components. If regolith contains sufficient organic material, we term it soil.
Besides inorganic and organic solid material, soils also contain important amounts of water and
air.
In most places, regolith forms a relatively thin layer at the Earth’s surface; it is underlain
at some depth by bedrock. The thickness of the regolith depends on many factors, most
important, perhaps, climate and topography. The composition of regolith also depends on these
factors but, most significantly, on the type of bedrock from which it was derived. We will
discuss regolith and sediment in more detail later; for now we will focus on minerals and rocks.

Minerals

According to a glossary, minerals

“...are naturally occurring inorganic solids that are crystalline, that have a
specific chemical composition, and that have fixed physical properties.”

Crystalline means that each mineral has a specific, orderly and repetitive, internal arrangement
of atoms. Some crystals have flat crystal faces, but many do not; they are still considered
crystals. Minerals, just like all matter, consist of atoms of specific elements. They are
compounds, which among other things, means that we can describe them with a chemical
formula (Table 1-2). Some minerals, such as graphite or sulfur, contain only one element. Most
contain several or many elements. Having a specific chemical composition means that all
samples of a specific mineral contain the same key major elements in the same proportions.
Halite, common table salt, for example, has the composition NaCl. There are an equal number
or sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) atoms in a sample of halite, whatever its size. Halite is
crystalline, and each sodium atom is surrounded by six chlorine atoms and vice versa (Figure 5).
Additional elements, besides sodium and chlorine, may be present in halite, but only at very low
levels. Because all halite has the same atomic arrangement and composition, all halite has the
same physical properties. Two different minerals may have the same composition. For example,
graphite and diamond are both essentially pure carbon (C). They are both crystalline but have
different arrangements of carbon atoms in their atomic structure. Consequently they have
different physical properties. Diamond is the hardest mineral known, graphite is one of the
softest.

Mineral Formula
graphite or diamond C
quartz SiO2
feldspar KAlSi3O8
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garnet Fe3Al2Si3O12
mica KAl2(AlSi3)O10(OH)2
Table 1-2. Examples of minerals and their formulas. The elemental symbols are C = carbon,
Si = silicon, O = oxygen, K = potassium, Al = aluminum, Fe = iron, H = hydrogen.

Mineralogists have named and described more than

3,000 minerals, but most are rare; less than 200 can be
considered common. Plagioclase is the most abundant
mineral in the Earth’s crust (Figure 6). It is abundant for
several reasons. Most important, plagioclase contains the
elements, oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, sodium and
potassium, six of the seven most common elements in the
crust. Minerals vary widely in their compositions and
properties; we will talk about them more later.

Figure 5. Model showing atoms in

halite. Halite has formula NaCl,
meaning there is one sodium (Na)
atom for every chlorine (Cl) atom.
In this drawing, the large spheres
represent sodium and the small ones
represent chlorine.
Figure 6. Plagioclase, a type of feldspar,
is the most abundant mineral in Earth’s
crust.

Rocks
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Returning to the glossary, we find that rocks

“...are naturally forming aggregates composed primarily of inorganic

Earth materials.”

Most rocks contain one or more minerals but a few, such as obsidian (volcanic glass), contain no
minerals at all. Some rocks contain large mineral grains, easily seen with the naked eye.
Granite, for instance, contains visible grains of the minerals quartz and potassium feldspar.
Some rocks contain visible fragments of preexisting rocks. Others are so fine grained that seeing
what they are made of without a microscope is impossible. Geologists divide rocks into three
categories, each of which has a fundamentally different origin: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks
and metamorphic rocks.
Igneous rocks form by the cooling and solidification of magma, molten material
generally originating deep within the Earth. As magma moves upwards it cools and eventually
crystallizes to form a solid rock. The race between upward movement and crystallization
determines the kind of rock. If the magma reaches the Earth’s surface, we get an extrusive
igneous rock. If it solidifies underground, we get an intrusive igneous rock. Sometimes magmas
at the surface result in volcanoes, other times they produce flat lying lava flows that cover large
areas. Although we often think of volcanoes spewing lava that flows across the land, many
volcanic rocks form from volcanic ash. Basalt, a fine grained dark colored rock, is the most
common rock formed from lava. Ash deposits are highly variable, but often result in cinder
cones associated with volcanoes.
Intrusive igneous rocks form when magmas cool and crystallize before reaching the
Earth’s surface. Granite is one kind of intrusive rock, but there are many others. Intrusive rocks
are composed of the same minerals as extrusive rocks, but generally have larger mineral grains
because they cooled more slowly.
Sedimentary rocks form when preexisting rocks are weathered, producing sediment that
subsequently accumulates to produce a new rock. Most sedimentary rocks form from loose or
dissolved material transported by water and deposited on river, lake or ocean bottoms. The
process that converts loose sediment to hard rock is lithification. Sedimentary rocks that form
from detritus (sediment) transported by water, wind or gravity are detrital sedimentary rocks.
Sandstone, for example, is a sedimentary rock that forms from quartz grains produced by
weathering of preexisting rock. Pressure, recrystallization and chemical cements bind the loose
grains together to produce a rock from loose sediment. Siltstone and shale are detrital rocks
having smaller grains than sandstone. Sedimentary rocks formed by precipitation of dissolved
material are chemical sedimentary rocks. Limestone is a chemical sedimentary rock that often
forms when calcite (a mineral) precipitates from ocean water. Rock salt is another example of a
chemical sedimentary rock.
Metamorphic rocks form when heat, pressure or chemical reactions change the
mineralogy, texture or composition of a preexisting rock. Most metamorphism occurs when
rocks are buried deep in the Earth or when they are “baked” by heat given off from a magma
body. Because most metamorphic rocks form at great depths in the Earth, they are typically
found in mountain belts where they have been exposed by uplift and erosion. Gneiss and schist
are two of the more common types of metamorphic rocks.
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Geological time is long and, although the process may be slow, rocks change over time.
A rock of one type may be transformed into a different type. A sedimentary rock, for instance,
may be metamorphosed to produce a metamorphic rock. That rock may melt to produce a
magma that solidifies yielding an igneous rock. Geologists use the rock cycle (Figure 7) to
describe the ways one kind of rock may change into another. Some parts of the cycle occur at
the Earth’s surface, others require that rocks are buried to great depths within the Earth. Use of
the word “cycle” is misleading. It implies that rocks continuously change from one kind to
another, following some sort of repetitive path. Some rocks may indeed cycle, but most rocks
that we see today have simpler histories and may have followed only one (or none) of the arrows
in Figure 7.

Figure 7. The rock cycle

Earth Terranes

Oceanic Terranes

If you came from some distant galaxy and saw Earth for the first time, the first thing you
would notice would be Earth’s oceans. Earth is sometimes called the blue planet because blue
ocean waters cover 71% of its surface. Oceans contain 98% of the world’s water, all of it saline
(salty) to various degrees. The major oceans include the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic and Indian, but
the Pacific is nearly as large as the other three together. It is also the deepest ocean, averaging
around 3900 meters deep (12,800 feet), and reaching nearly 7000 meters (23,000 feet) in some
places. Oceans are the major source of water in the Earth’s atmosphere; nature maintains a
balance and evaporation removes from the oceans about the same amount that enters by rain or
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runoff. Oceans also play a very significant role controlling Earth’s climate.

Coastal Terranes

Moving landward from ocean basins, up the continental shelf, ocean waters shallow until
eventually you reach the zone of waves and coastal currents. Waves and currents are, in most
places, energized primarily by wind. In shallow areas, waves may form breakers as they interact
with the ocean bottom, but in most places they simply appear as wind driven swells. Swells
appear to travel across the ocean’s surface, although in reality most of the water movement is up
and down or circular. Waves may travel 1000's of miles across an ocean. Major storms and high
winds in the South Pacific may result in huge (need a cool surfer term here) for surfers to enjoy
in southern California. Besides waves, ocean tides can cause significant water movement in
shallow areas. Tides result from the gravitational attraction of the moon and sun and by the
Earth’s rotation.
Coastal areas are dynamic, constantly being changed by the energy concentrated there.
Erosion is an ongoing process, and rocks along the shoreline may be ground into fine sediments.
Rivers deliver additional sediments, derived from inland, to coastal areas. Currents, waves and
gravity move and sort the unconsolidated material. Much is carried out to deeper waters, but
some may remain to form beaches. Coastal waters and continental shelves are also dynamic
because they are often regions of reefs and other biological activity. Most of the worlds’ human
population lives with 75 kilometers (45 miles) and, in many places, humans spend lots of time
and money trying to keep coastlines they way they want them, instead of the way nature tries to
shape them.

Continental Terranes

Although continents account for less than a third of the Earth’s surface, they have
received much more attention from geologists than the oceans. Due to ease of access and the
many uses we make of continental resources, we have amassed much information and know
many details about continental geology. If we do a simple inventory of the continents, we find
that continental surfaces are mostly covered by water, by regolith and other soft sediments, or by
rocks. Most geologists do not study unconsolidated material, and are more interested in bedrock
geology. Although generally originally forming as horizontal layers, in many places the bedrock
has been deformed (folded, tilted, faulted, etc.), and geologists find it convenient to divide
continents into two kinds of terranes:

a. areas where the bedrock is composed of generally undeformed flat lying rocks
b. areas where the bedrock is composed of deformed rocks

Most continental crust fall into category “b.” Over geological time scales, ocean spreading and
drifting, and colliding continents, have caused the continental crust to be uplifted and deformed,
especially near continental margins. The deformation may consist of uplifting, tilting, folding or
faulting. A general term for this deformation is tectonics, and if tectonic events are great enough
to produce mountains we call them orogenies. Some orogenies, such as the Himalayan orogeny
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are ongoing today. The Rocky Mountains were formed during the Laramide orogeny which
occurred about 50 million years ago. The Appalachian Mountains formed during several
orogenies which took place between 250 and 600 million years ago.
Continents change in size by accretion (two or more continents joining), volcanic activity
(which brings magma to the surface), or sea level changes (that expose more or less continent).
These processes affect continental margins more than interiors, so most continents have
relatively young rocks at their margins compared with their centers. Some continents, such as
South America, have orogenies taking place at one or more of their margins today. Most
orogenies result in long, relatively narrow and sinewy orogens, which may form mountain belts.
Some, such as the Andes, are the sites of active volcanism. Others, such as the Himalayas, are
not.
North America’s two main mountain belts, the Appalachian Orogen and the Cordillera,
have had prolonged and complex histories. The Appalachian mountain belt formed in pulses of
mountain building that occurred over several hundred million years. The Appalachians contain
many varied rocks. Deformed sedimentary rocks dominate in some places, metamorphic or
igneous rocks in others. Volcanism was locally important. Much faulting occurred in some
parts of the Appalachians, in other
Figure 8. Major mountain belts and shields of North places the rocks are folded, and in
America. others most of the mountain
building was caused by gentler
uplift.
The Cordillera is a chain of
mountains that extends up the west
coast of South America, through
Central America and the United
States, and up the west coast of
Canada to Alaska. At the latitude of
San Francisco, the Cordillera is
1600 kilometers wide; it is much
narrower in other places. In South
and Central America, most
Cordillera mountains are volcanic.
There, and in the Cascade Range of
Washington and Oregon, active
volcanism continues today.
Not all Cordillera mountains
are volcanic, however. The
Laramide Orogeny created the
uplifted Rocky Mountains of
Colorado. The Rockys form the
eastern part of the North American
Cordillera. To the west of the
Rockys, mountains of the Basin and
Range Province in Nevada and
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western Utah are fault-block mountains. Faulting produced uplifted blocks of the crust separated
by downdropped valleys. The Sierra Nevada Mountains in California were formed from large
bodies of intrusive igneous rock called batholiths. In western Canada, mountain building
occurred when “microcontinents” accreted onto a growing North America.
Formation of the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains of eastern and western North
America deformed ancient Earth Crust, called the North American Craton. Cratons make up the
flat, tectonically stable interior portions of most continents (Figure 9). Most are composed of
eroded flat rocks, sometimes called basement rocks, covered by sediments. The centers of
cratons generally contain shields, areas with extensive exposure of very old basement rocks.
Often these ancient rocks are highly deformed; they are the roots of mountain ranges that long
ago were eroded smooth. In contrast with shields, the deformed rocks at present day continental
margins are relatively young and mountains may still stand high. Much of what we know about
the evolution of the early Earth is based on studies of shield geology. The Canadian Shield of
North America, which extends into the United States in the New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and
Minnesota, contains evidence of mountain building events that took place up to 3.2 billion years
ago. All major continents contain shields and rocks similar to those found in the Canadian
Shield.

Figure 9. Cratons and Orogens in

North America. This figure shows
the deep basement rocks that would
be exposed if all the mountain belts,
sedimentary rocks and sediment
were stripped away from North
America. The oldest cratons and
orogens are in the center of the
continent. Together they make up
the Canadian Shield. See Figure 8.

South of the Canadian Shield, in the central part of North America, sediments cover
relatively flat lying sedimentary bedrock, many thousands of feet thick. This region is the North
American platform (Figure 10). If you were to drill holes in different places in the platform, you
would find that the sediments vary in thickness depending on where you are. Beneath the
sediments, you would find generally flat lying bedrock. Near the surface the bedrock is
relatively young, but the deeper you drilled, the older the rocks get. Eventually you would drill
into the same kinds of ancient rocks that make up the Canadian Shield. Platform sediments vary,
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primarily due to climate variations. In some places they include rich soils, and in other places
they are not. The bedrock beneath is also variable, but geologists interpret most of it as
indicating that shallow seas covered the central portions of North America at various times in the
past.

Figure 10. Landforms of the continental United States.

Figure 10 shows the landforms of the United States. The Appalachian and Cordilleran Orogens
show well – they include many mountain belts. Between the two, the North American Platform
is relatively flat.

Most National Parks in the United States are in the arid west, especially in the mountainous land
of the Cordillera. This is primarily an accident of history – by the time the United States got
around to designating parks, the eastern half of the country and the western coast were all ready
highly developed. Only the arid lands of the west, and some of the high mountains remained
undeveloped.
Today we have three National Parks in the Appalachian Mountains (Great Smoky,
Shenandoah, and Acadia). There are also several in Florida. With the exception of Mammoth
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Cave and Isle Royale, all others are in the western part of the continental United States, in
Alaska, or in Hawaii.