Geology Handouts
Lecture 1 - Introduction to Geology
GEOLOGY
- study of the earth, its origin, history, materials, processes and resources
Geology as a discipline: a. relevance of time, b. issue of scale, c. complexity of replicatingnatural systems in the laboratory
Main Branches:
1. Physical - study of Earth materials and processes> Volcanology, Seismology, Environmental Geology, Engineering Geology, Mining Geology, Petroleum Geology, Mineralogy, Petrology, Geomorphology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Planetary Geology
2. Historical - study of Earth origin and evolution> Paleontology, Stratigraphy, Geochronology
Basic Concepts:
1. Catastrophism sudden, worldwide catastrophes are the agents of change that alter the physical features of the Earth over timewidely accepted by theologians in the early 1800s due to similarity with Biblical events suchas Noah’s Flood
2. Uniformitarianism proposed by James Hutton (The Father of Modern Geology)
The present is the key to the past.” advocates the idea that the Earth is continuously modified by geologic processes that havealways operated throughout time (at different rates), and that by studying them we canunderstand how the Earth has evolved through time
Lecture 2 – The Planet Earth
FORMATION OF THE EARTH – offshoot of the formation of the Universe
Formation of the Universe: Big Bang Theory
Formation of the Solar System: Nebular Hypothesis
THE BIG BANG THEORY contends that the Universe originated from a cosmic explosion (origin unknown) that hurledmatter in all directions 15 and 20 billion years ago first proposed by the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître in the 1920sEdwin Hubble justified Lemaître’s theory through observations that the Universe iscontinuously expanding; galaxies are moving away from each other
THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS the solar system originated from a single rotating cloud of gas and dust, starting 4.6 billionyears ago, which contracted due to gravity the idea was first proposed by Immanuel Kant and
GEOLOGY
- study of the earth, its origin, history, materials, processes and resources
Geology as a discipline: a. relevance of time, b. issue of scale, c. complexity of replicatingnatural systems in the laboratory
Main Branches:
1. Physical - study of Earth materials and processes> Volcanology, Seismology, Environmental Geology, Engineering Geology, Mining Geology, Petroleum Geology, Mineralogy, Petrology, Geomorphology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Planetary Geology
2. Historical - study of Earth origin and evolution> Paleontology, Stratigraphy, Geochronology
Basic Concepts:
1. Catastrophism sudden, worldwide catastrophes are the agents of change that alter the physical features of the Earth over timewidely accepted by theologians in the early 1800s due to similarity with Biblical events suchas Noah’s Flood
2. Uniformitarianism proposed by James Hutton (The Father of Modern Geology)
The present is the key to the past.” advocates the idea that the Earth is continuously modified by geologic processes that havealways operated throughout time (at different rates), and that by studying them we canunderstand how the Earth has evolved through time
Lecture 2 – The Planet Earth
FORMATION OF THE EARTH – offshoot of the formation of the Universe
Formation of the Universe: Big Bang Theory
Formation of the Solar System: Nebular Hypothesis
THE BIG BANG THEORY contends that the Universe originated from a cosmic explosion (origin unknown) that hurledmatter in all directions 15 and 20 billion years ago first proposed by the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître in the 1920sEdwin Hubble justified Lemaître’s theory through observations that the Universe iscontinuously expanding; galaxies are moving away from each other
THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS the solar system originated from a single rotating cloud of gas and dust, starting 4.6 billionyears ago, which contracted due to gravity the idea was first proposed by Immanuel Kant and