What

is geology?

Chapter 1 Geology
Introduction (Greek γῆ, gê, "earth" and λόγος, logos, "study")

the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and

the processes by which it evolves

history of the Earth

(plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, past climates)

first used by Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603

mineral, hydrocarbon, and water resources; natural

hazards; environmental issues and problems;
climate change; geotechnical engineering;
academic discipline; hobby 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology
© NASA N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction

Branches of geology What does a geologist do?

Main divisions of geology

Physical geology
examines Earth’s composition and processes occurring on
and beneath its surface

Volcanology, Seismology, Environmental Geology, Engineering Geology,

What does a geologist do?
Mining Geology, Petroleum Geology, Mineralogy, Petrology,
Geomorphology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Planetary Geology

Historical geology
examines origin of the Earth, origin of life, and changes in
Earth and life through time; deals with the layered rock
record and fossils

Paleontology, Stratigraphy, Geochronology

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction
 What does a geologist do?

Prof. Trevor Anderson

Dr. Josh Keyes Rusty Ryan Journey to … (2008)
The Core (2003) Ocean’s 13 (2007)

Rockhound
Armageddon (1998)

Dr. Alan Grant Dr. Adrian Helmsley

Randy Marsh Jurassic Park (1993) 2012 (2009)
South Park
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction

What does a geologist do? Theories on the evolution of the Earth

Mars Launched: 26 November 2011 THEORIES ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH: History
Landed: 06 August 2012
Exploration (372-287 BC) Theophrastus (Peri lithon, On Stones) - interpretation of fossils

Rover: (1031-1095, China) Shen Kua - land formation: erosion of the mountains and by deposition of silt.

(1494-1555) Georg Agricola (De re metallica libri XII, 1556) - first systematic treatise about mining and
Curiosity smelting works

(1638-1686) Nicolaus Steno - three defining principles of stratigraphy

(1700s) Jean-Etienne Guettard and Nicolas Desmarest - geological maps; first observation of the volcanic
origins of parts of France.

(1769-1839) William Smith - ordering rock strata (layers) by examining the fossils contained in them.

James Hutton (Theory of the Earth, 1785) - first modern geologist

Plutonism (James Hutton) - rocks were formed by emplacement and solidification of lava from volcanoes
Neptunism (Abraham Werner) - rocks had settled out of a large ocean whose level gradually dropped over
time

(1811) Georges Cuvier and Alexandre Brongniart - stratigraphic succession of earth layers

Sir Charles Lyell (Principles of Geology, 1830) – Uniformitarianism

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/PIA16239_High-Resolution_Self- (1912) Alfred Wegener and Arthur Holmes – continental drift

Portrait_by_Curiosity_Rover_Arm_Camera_square.jpg (1960’s) Harry Hess – seafloor spreading

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction
 Theories on the evolution of the Earth Theories on the evolution of the Earth

CATASTROPHISM UNIFORMITARIANISM
the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the
events, possibly worldwide in scope universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply
everywhere in the universe: “The present is the key to the past.”
widely accepted by theologians in the early 1800s due to similarity with
Biblical events such as the Noachian Flood coined by William Whewell, formulated by James Hutton (Father of Modern
Geology), and popularized by Sir Charles Lyell in Principles of Geology (1830)
coined by William Whewell, proposed by Baron Georges Cuvier

© Wikipedia © Gemini Observatory, Lynette Cook The frontispiece from Principles of Geology
© Wikipedia

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology Lecture Notes: Introduction