Discipline

Geology

Earth Science

The study of the solid Earth, the rocks it is made of and the processes, from the fast shock of an earthquake to the slow drift of a continent, that have shaped it over four and a half billion years. Geology is the spine discipline of this atlas, the one the others (mineralogy, seismology, volcanology, geochronology) branch from. The unifying framework beneath all of it is plate tectonics: in the 1960s geologists established that the rigid outer lithosphere is broken into plates that ride across a plastically deforming mantle below, tying seafloor spreading, the pattern of the world's volcanoes and earthquakes, and the slow rearrangement of continents into one working theory. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts

Central Question

Geology is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical bodies, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. 1

Scope

Geology studies Earth's solid materials, structures and history: rocks, minerals, the layered crust and mantle, and the processes, from plate tectonics to erosion, that have shaped the planet over 4.5 billion years. 1

Significance

Geology underlies the location of energy, water and mineral resources, the assessment of earthquake and landslide hazard, and the dating of Earth's past through the rock record. 1

Geology

1 entry

Formation Family

Formation Type

Bay

Geology

Connections

Associated With

Environmental Health

Soil contamination and natural hazard exposure connect environmental health to geology.

Source Environmental Health (Wikipedia)

Has Scientist

Abraham Gottlob Werner

Adam Sedgwick

Source Adam Sedgwick (Wikipedia)

Albert Kitson

Wikipedia "Albert Kitson": British-Australian geologist, no more specific subfield named.

Source Wikidata: Albert Kitson

Alexandre Brongniart

His broader stratigraphic and mineralogical fieldwork sits within geology.

Alfred Wegener

Source Alfred Wegener (Wikipedia)

Alwyn Williams

Wikipedia "Alwyn Williams (geologist)": Welsh geologist, no more specific subfield named.

Source Wikidata: Alwyn Williams

Charles Kenneth Leith

Wikipedia "Charles Kenneth Leith": American geologist, no more specific subfield named in the intro.

Source Wikidata: Charles Kenneth Leith

Charles Lyell

Source Charles Lyell (Wikipedia)

Clarence Dutton

D. N. Wadia

Eduard Suess

Source Eduard Suess (Wikipedia)

Eugene Shoemaker

Florence Bascom

Frederick William Shotton

Wikipedia "Frederick William Shotton": British geologist, no more specific subfield named.

Source Wikidata: Frederick William Shotton

Georges Cuvier

The most influential proponent of catastrophism in geology in the early 19th century.

Source Georges Cuvier (Wikipedia)

Gerta Keller

Wikipedia "Gerta Keller": geologist and paleontologist, mass-extinction research; no more specific earth-atlas discipline named.

Source Wikidata: Gerta Keller

Harry Hess

Source Harry Hess (Wikipedia)

J. S. Lee

James Hutton

Source James Hutton (Wikipedia)

Johann Leonard Hoffmann

Wikipedia "Johann Leonard Hoffmann": amateur geologist and fossil collector, no more specific subfield named.

Source Wikidata: Johann Leonard Hoffmann

John Tuzo Wilson

Source John Tuzo Wilson (Wikipedia)

John Wesley Powell

Katharine Fowler-Billings

Kathleen Campbell

Wikipedia "Kathleen Campbell (geologist)": geology and astrobiology academic, paleoecology focus, no more specific earth-atlas discipline named.

Source Wikidata: Kathleen Campbell

Kevin C. A. Burke

Louis Agassiz

Source Louis Agassiz (Wikipedia)

M. Paul Smith

Wikipedia "M. Paul Smith": British palaeontologist/palaeobiologist, no more specific earth-atlas discipline named.

Source Wikidata: M. Paul Smith

Maria Paramo

Wikipedia "Maria Paramo": "a Colombian paleontologist and geologist"; no more specific earth-atlas discipline named.

Source Maria Paramo (Wikipedia)

Marie Tharp

Source Marie Tharp (Wikipedia)

Nicolas Steno

Source Nicolas Steno (Wikipedia)

Preston Cloud

Roderick Murchison

Source Roderick Murchison (Wikipedia)

Sanjaasurengiin Oyun

Wikipedia "Sanjaasurengiin Oyun": "a Mongolian politician and geologist"; no more specific earth-atlas discipline named.

Source Sanjaasurengiin Oyun (Wikipedia)

Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin

Thomas Sheppard

Wikipedia "Thomas Sheppard (curator)": museum curator and amateur geologist, no more specific subfield named.

Source Wikidata: Thomas Sheppard

Vladimir Obruchev

Walter Alvarez

William Henry Fitton

Wikipedia "William Henry Fitton": Irish medical doctor and amateur geologist, no more specific subfield named.

Source Wikidata: William Henry Fitton

William James Anderson

Wikipedia "William James Anderson": physician and amateur geologist and historian, no more specific subfield named.

Source Wikidata: William James Anderson

William Smith

Source William Smith, Geologist (Wikipedia)

Includes

1556 Shaanxi Earthquake

Source 1556 Shaanxi earthquake (Wikipedia)

1908 Messina Earthquake

Source 1908 Messina earthquake (Wikipedia)

1923 Great Kanto Earthquake

Source Great Kantō Earthquake (Wikipedia)

1985 Mexico City Earthquake

Source 1985 Mexico City earthquake (Wikipedia)

2001 Gujarat Earthquake

Source 2001 Gujarat earthquake (Wikipedia)

2005 Kashmir Earthquake

Source 2005 Kashmir earthquake (Wikipedia)

2008 Sichuan Earthquake

Source 2008 Sichuan earthquake (Wikipedia)

2015 Nepal Earthquake

Source April 2015 Nepal earthquake (Wikipedia)

Source Asthenosphere (Wikipedia)

Avalonia

Source Avalonia (Wikipedia)

Basalt

Source Rock, Geology (Wikipedia)

Bay

Wikidata P31 formation-type mapped to discipline Geology via reviewed judgment map (earth atlas); source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Bay

Blueschist

Breccia

Butte

Wikidata P31 formation-type mapped to discipline Geology via reviewed judgment map (earth atlas); source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Butte

Catastrophism

Source Catastrophism (Wikipedia)

Chalk

Chert

Claystone

Coal

Conglomerate

Continent

Source Continent (Wikipedia)

Continental Drift

Source Continental Drift (Wikipedia)

Continental fragment

Source Continental fragment (Wikipedia)

Craton

Source Wikipedia: Craton

Cubic Crystal System

Source Cubic Crystal System

Dacite

Dale

Wikidata P31 (Q1348589) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Dale

Darvaza Gas Crater

Wikidata P31 (Q1384605) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Darvaza Gas Crater

Diabase

Diorite

Dolomite

Dune

Wikidata P31 (Q1348589) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Dune

Dunite

East European Craton

Source East European Craton (Wikipedia)

Eclogite

Erosion

Source Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)

Evaporite

Faulting

Source Fault, Geology (Wikipedia)

Flint

Folding

A subject of structural geology.

Source Fold, Geology (Wikipedia)

Gabbro

Source Gabbro (Wikipedia)

Geosyncline Theory

Source Geosyncline (Wikipedia)

Gneiss

Source Rock, Geology (Wikipedia)

Granite

Source Rock, Geology (Wikipedia)

Greenschist

Greywacke

Gulch

Wikidata P31 (Q1475691) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Gulch

Guyot

Wikidata P31 (Q1348589) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Guyot

Hexagonal Crystal System

Source Hexagonal Crystal System

Hierve el Agua

Wikidata P31 (Q631305) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Hierve el Agua

Hornfels

Independence Rock

Wikidata P31 (Q1404150) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Independence Rock

Source Law of Superposition (Wikipedia)

Limestone

Source Rock, Geology (Wikipedia)

Lithosphere

Source Lithosphere (Wikipedia)

Mantle Convection

Source Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)

Marble

Source Rock, Geology (Wikipedia)

Marl

Menengai Crater

Wikidata P31 (Q3240715) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Menengai Crater

Meteor Crater

Wikidata P31 formation-type mapped to discipline Geology via reviewed judgment map (earth atlas); source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Meteor Crater

Migmatite

Monoclinic Crystal System

Source Monoclinic Crystal System

Monte Bolca

Source Monte Bolca (Wikipedia)

Source Neptunism (Wikipedia)

Norite

North China Craton

Source North China Craton (Wikipedia)

Obsidian

Source Obsidian (Wikipedia)

Olumo Rock

Wikidata P31 (Q1404150) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Olumo Rock

Orogeny

Source Orogeny (Wikipedia)

Orthorhombic Crystal System

Source Orthorhombic Crystal System

Pangaea

Source Pangaea (Wikipedia)

Pegmatite

Peridotite

Piggyback basin

Wikidata P31 (Q785020) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Piggyback basin

Plate Tectonics

Source Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)

Plutonism

Source Plutonism (Wikipedia)

Porphyry

Post-Glacial Rebound

Source Post-Glacial Rebound (Wikipedia)

Princess of Hope

Wikidata P31 (Q631305) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Princess of Hope

Pumice

Source Pumice (Wikipedia)

Quartzite

Rhyolite

Rifting

Source Rift (Wikipedia)

Riyom Rock

Wikidata P31 (Q1404150) mapped to discipline Geology via earth5 extended reviewed judgment map; source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Riyom Rock

Sandstone

Source Rock, Geology (Wikipedia)

Schist

Source Schist (Wikipedia)

Scoria

Seafloor Spreading

Source Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)

Sedimentation

Source Sedimentation (Wikipedia)

Serpentinite

Shale

Source Shale (Wikipedia)

Siltstone

Skarn

Slate

Source Slate (Wikipedia)

Soapstone

South China Craton

Source South China Craton (Wikipedia)

Subduction

Source Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)

Supercontinent

Source Supercontinent (Wikipedia)

Syenite

Terrane

Source Wikipedia: Terrane

Tetragonal Crystal System

Source Tetragonal Crystal System

The Rock Cycle

Source Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)

The Wilson Cycle

Source Wilson Cycle (Wikipedia)

Trachyte

Transform Fault

Source Transform Fault (Wikipedia)

Travertine

Triclinic Crystal System

Source Triclinic Crystal System

Trigonal Crystal System

Source Hexagonal Crystal System

Tuff

Uniformitarianism

Source Uniformitarianism (Wikipedia)

Weathering

Source Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)

Sources

1. Geology (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia Foundation

Lead paragraph, opening sentence
Geology is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical bodies, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time.
Whole-Earth structure, Plate tectonics section
This coupling between rigid plates moving on the surface of the Earth and the convecting mantle is called plate tectonics.

View the Source

Continental Drift (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Continental DriftView the Source

Geosyncline (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Geosyncline TheoryView the Source

Neptunism (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: NeptunismView the Source

Plutonism (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: PlutonismView the Source

North China Craton (Wikipedia)

Includes: North China Craton, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: North China Craton, Lead paragraph

The North China Craton is a continental crustal block with one of Earth's most complete and complex records of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic processes

View the Source

South China Craton (Wikipedia)

Includes: South China Craton, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: South China Craton, Lead paragraph

The South China Craton or South China Block is one of the Precambrian continental blocks in China

View the Source

East European Craton (Wikipedia)

Includes: East European Craton, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: East European Craton, Lead paragraph

The East European Craton (EEC) is the core of the Baltica proto-plate and consists of three crustal regions/segments: Fennoscandia to the northwest, Volgo-Uralia to the east, and Sarmatia to the south

View the Source

Continent (Wikipedia)

Includes: Continent, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: Continent, Lead paragraph

A continent is any of several large terrestrial geographical regions

View the Source

Supercontinent (Wikipedia)

Includes: Supercontinent, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: Supercontinent, Lead paragraph

In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass

View the Source

Avalonia (Wikipedia)

Includes: Avalonia, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: Avalonia, Lead paragraph

Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era

View the Source

Continental fragment (Wikipedia)

Includes: Continental fragment, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: Continental fragment, Lead paragraph

Continental crustal fragments, partly synonymous with microcontinents, are pieces of continents that have broken off from main continental masses to form distinct islands that are often several hundred kilometers from their place of origin.

View the Source

Monte Bolca (Wikipedia)

Includes: Monte Bolca, Lead paragraph

Quote, Includes: Monte Bolca, Lead paragraph

Monte Bolca is an Early Eocene-aged geologic site located near Verona, Italy

View the Source

Wikipedia: Terrane

Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Terrane, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: Terrane, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate.

View the Source

Wikipedia: Craton

Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Craton, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: Craton, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

In geology, a craton ( KRAYT-on, KRAT-on, or KRAY-tən; from Ancient Greek κράτος (kratos) 'strength') is an old and stable part of continental lithosphere (the Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the lithospheric mantle).

View the Source

Cubic Crystal System

Includes: Cubic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: Cubic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

In crystallography, the cubic (or isometric) crystal system is a crystal system where the unit cell is in the shape of a cube.

View the Source

Hexagonal Crystal System

Includes: Hexagonal Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)
In crystallography, the hexagonal crystal family is one of the six crystal families, which includes two crystal systems (hexagonal and trigonal) and two lattice systems (hexagonal and rhombohedral).
Includes: Trigonal Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)
In crystallography, the hexagonal crystal family is one of the six crystal families, which includes two crystal systems (hexagonal and trigonal) and two lattice systems (hexagonal and rhombohedral).

View the Source

Monoclinic Crystal System

Includes: Monoclinic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: Monoclinic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems.

View the Source

Orthorhombic Crystal System

Includes: Orthorhombic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: Orthorhombic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

In crystallography, the orthorhombic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems.

View the Source

Tetragonal Crystal System

Includes: Tetragonal Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: Tetragonal Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

In crystallography, the tetragonal crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems.

View the Source

Triclinic Crystal System

Includes: Triclinic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: Triclinic Crystal System, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

In crystallography, the triclinic (or anorthic) crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems.

View the Source

1556 Shaanxi earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 1556 Shaanxi Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 1556 Shaanxi Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

One of the deadliest earthquakes in history occurred in the early morning of 23 January 1556 in Huaxian, Shaanxi, during the Ming dynasty.

View the Source

Great Kantō Earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

The Great Kantō Earthquake (Japanese: 関東大地震, Kantō daijishin, or 関東大震災, Kantō daishinsai) was a megathrust earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923.

View the Source

1985 Mexico City earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 1985 Mexico City Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 1985 Mexico City Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

The 1985 Mexico City earthquake struck in the early morning of 19 September at 07:17:50 (CST) with a moment magnitude of 8.0 and a maximal Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).

View the Source

2008 Sichuan earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

An earthquake occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008.

View the Source

April 2015 Nepal earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 2015 Nepal Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 2015 Nepal Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh.

View the Source

1908 Messina earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 1908 Messina Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 1908 Messina Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

A devastating earthquake occurred on 28 December 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy, with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme).

View the Source

2005 Kashmir earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 2005 Kashmir Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 2005 Kashmir Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

On 8 October 2005, at 08:50:39 PKT, a Mw 7.6 earthquake struck the Azad Kashmir region in northern Pakistan.

View the Source

2001 Gujarat earthquake (Wikipedia)

Includes: 2001 Gujarat Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

Quote, Includes: 2001 Gujarat Earthquake, Lead section (in-discipline Geology)

An earthquake struck India and Pakistan on 26 January 2001 at 08:46 am IST.

View the Source

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between geology and geophysics?

Geology reads Earth's history mainly from rocks and landforms; geophysics infers what lies beneath by measuring physical fields such as gravity, magnetism and seismic waves.

Geology and geophysics both study the solid Earth, but they approach it differently. Geology relies mainly on direct observation of rocks, minerals and landforms to reconstruct Earth's history and composition. Geophysics instead measures physical fields, such as gravity, magnetism and the way seismic waves travel, to infer what lies beneath the surface where rocks cannot be examined directly. The two fields overlap heavily, and many earth scientists draw on both.

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Associated With

Has Scientist

Includes

What is the difference between geology and geophysics?