Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid Earth and the processes by which it is shaped and changed. Geology provides primary evidence for plate tectonics, the history of life and evolution, and past climates. In modern times, geology is commercially important for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, evaluating water resources, is publicly important for predicting and understanding natural hazards, understanding and remediating environmental problems, and understanding past climate change, plays an essential role in geotechnical engineering, and is a major academic discipline.

General

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Eras

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Regional

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Articles

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Rocks and Minerals

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Rocks are mixtures or aggregates; minerals are pure chemical compounds

Paleontology

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Dynamic geology

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Hydrology and Oceanography

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Vulcanology

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Seismology

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Structural geology

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Structural geology is the study of the three-dimensional distribution of rock units with respect to their deformational histories. The primary goal of structural geology is to use measurements of present-day rock geometries to uncover information about the history of deformation (strain) in the rocks, and ultimately, to understand the stress field that resulted in the observed strain and geometries. This understanding of the dynamics of the stress field can be linked to important events in the regional geologic past; a common goal is to understand the structural evolution of a particular area with respect to regionally widespread patterns of rock deformation (e.g., mountain building, rifting) due to plate tectonics.

Stratigraphy

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Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy includes two related subfields: lithologic or lithostratigraphy and biologic stratigraphy or biostratigraphy.

Geologists

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