Jasmine Directory

Geology is the study of what makes up the physical Earth. The word geology comes from the Greek words for "Earth" and "to speak," so literally geology is "talking about the Earth."

Geology covers many aspects of studying the earth, including the composition of the materials that make up the Earth, the history of these materials, and the properties of the materials and the changes they undergo.

One of the most important fields of study within geology is that of dating. In order to figure out how old something is, geologists can use different methods of tracking age of materials called "dating." Knowing the age of the different parts of the Earth helps us understand what the Earth was like in times when there was no written history. Geologists can attempt to find the "absolute date" of something to tell exactly when the object was created, or they can use "relative dating" to determine if an object before or after another.

Another important feature of the Earth studied in geology is plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is the movement of the Earth's lithosphere. The lithosphere is the area under the Earth's crust and above the mantle, which is divided into plates that are constantly shifting and moving. Studying plate tectonics can help us understand how features like mountains or valleys were created, or even understand the formation of oceans and continents as we know them today.

The study of plate tectonics has brought contribution to understanding the volcanic activity as well as the earthquakes that can put people`s lives in jeopardy. Nowadays, thanks to geology and its branch which focuses on plate tectonics there are certain devices that predict an earthquake, the disadvantage being that they are able to do so only a few seconds/1 minute maximum before it happens, so there is not enough time for people to be announced about the danger. Besides this, these devices can also measure the intensity and the epicenter.

Geology is also important because this helped determining the age of the Earth, as well as the changes that took place throughout time. At first, there were only a couple of "super continents", massive land masses that were completely surrounded by water (called Pangea and Rodinia). After the repeated activity of plate tectonics these super-continents were segmented in more pieces, then millions of years passed before there were formed the continents that we see today.

Geologists also deal with mapping and surveying areas, and for this they use certain modern gadgets and devices that facilitate their work, such as compasses or pocket computers. Geology has provided precious information that made us understand our planet better and also helped us develop new methods of predicting earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, as well as technologies used when building sky scrapers or tall blocks of flats in order to resist to a serious earthquake.

Geology can be studied in the field by examining the Earth directly and digging for evidence. Study for geology can also be practiced in a laboratory by analyzing data, observing rocks and fossils, or comparing maps.

A web directory for geology topics can keep one up-to-date with current references to the field and also provide a look into the history of the Earth and geology through a wide variety of resources.