What is Geology?

Geology is the science of a changing Earth. Geologists try to understand the Earth's origin and evolution by investigating the arrangement, properties, and behavior of rocks exposed at the surface or in mines and drill holes.

Geologists can be classified by their specialties:

• Economic and petroleum geologists study the geological processes which produce deposits of mineral and energy resources

• Engineering geologists examine potential sites for dams, bridges, pipelines, and buildings to evaluate possible geologic hazards and provide information needed for proper design and construction

• Geochemists study the Earth's chemical makeup and evolution, and use the relative abundances of chemical elements and their isotopes to date rocks and determine the pressure and temperatures at which they were formed

• Geomorphologists look at the shaping of the land by glaciers, wind, and flowing water.

• Glaciologists study the flow of glaciers and ice sheets, the landforms and deposits they produce, and their relation to climatic changes.

• Groundwater geologists investigate the flow of subsurface water and related environmental problems such as groundwater contamination by chemical and nuclear wastes.

• Mineralogists study the chemical compositions, crystallographic structures, properties, and origins of minerals.

• Paleontologists investigate the origin and evolution of life, using information contained in fossils.

• Petrologists examine the chemical reactions and physical processes by which rocks are formed.

• Sedimentologists/Stratigraphers study the transportation and deposition of sediments derived from weathered rocks, and the relationships among sedimentary strata

• Structural geologists deal with the folding and faulting of rocks in the Earth's crust, the formation of mountain belts, and the relation of these processes to the relative movement of crustal plates

Geologists knowledgeable in more than one of the specialties listed above can use various disciplines to solve complex geological problems.

More information:

Geology B.S., UCLA General Catalog