Chapter1

Introduction

NASA

Whatisgeology?

Geology
(Greek , g, "earth" and , 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,
mineral
hydrocarbon and water resources; natural
hazards; environmental issues and problems;
climate change; geotechnical engineering;
academic discipline; hobby
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Introduction

Branchesofgeology

Main divisions of geology

Physical geology
examines Earths composition and processes occurring on
and beneath its surface
Volcanology, Seismology, Environmental Geology, Engineering Geology,
Mining Geology, Petroleum Geology, Mineralogy, Petrology,
Geomorphology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Planetary Geology

Historical geology
examines origin of the Earth
Earth, origin of life
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

Whatdoesageologistdo?

Whatdoesageologistdo?
What
doesageologistdo?

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Introduction

Dr. Josh Keyes

The Core (2003)

Rusty Ryan
Oceans 13 (2007)

Prof. Trevor Anderson

Journey to (2008)

Rockhound
Armageddon (1998)

Randy Marsh
South Park
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Dr. Alan Grant

Jurassic Park (1993)

Dr. Adrian Helmsley

2012 (2009)
Lecture Notes: Introduction

Whatdoesageologistdo?

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Introduction

TheoriesontheevolutionoftheEarth

THEORIES ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH: History

(372-287 BC) Theophrastus (Peri lithon, On Stones) - interpretation of fossils
(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
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
N t i
Neptunism
(Ab h
(Abraham
W
Werner)) - rocks
k h
had
d settled
ttl d outt off a llarge ocean whose
h
llevell gradually
d ll d
dropped
d over
time
(1811) Georges Cuvier and Alexandre Brongniart - stratigraphic succession of earth layers
Sir Charles Lyell (Principles of Geology, 1830) Uniformitarianism
(1912) Alfred Wegener and Arthur Holmes continental drift
(1960s) Harry Hess seafloor spreading
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Introduction

TheoriesontheevolutionoftheEarth

CATASTROPHISM
the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent
events, possibly worldwide in scope
widely accepted by theologians in the early 1800s due to similarity with
Biblical events such as the Noachian Flood
coined by William Whewell, proposed by Baron Georges Cuvier

Wikipedia
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Gemini Observatory, Lynette Cook

Lecture Notes: Introduction

TheoriesontheevolutionoftheEarth

UNIFORMITARIANISM
assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the
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.
coined by William Whewell, formulated by James Hutton (Father of Modern
Geology), and popularized by Sir Charles Lyell in Principles of Geology (1830)

The frontispiece from Principles of Geology

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Wikipedia

Lecture Notes: Introduction