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Solidified lava flow in Hawaii Sedimentary layers in Badlands National Park, South Dakota Metamorphic rock, Nunavut, Canada. Geology (from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) 'earth' and λoγία () 'study of, discourse') [1] [2] is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. [3]
Neotectonics is the study of the motions and deformations of the Earth's crust (geological and geomorphological processes) that are current or recent in geological time. The term may also refer to the motions and deformations themselves. The corresponding time frame is referred to as the neotectonic period.
The process of determining a specific date (in years or some other unit of time) for an archaeological, geological or paleontological site or artifact. accident A sudden discontinuity of ground, such as a fault of great thickness, bed or lentil of unstable ground. [1] accretion A process by which material is added to a tectonic plate or ...
Deposition is the geological process in which sediments, soil and rocks are added to a landform or landmass. Wind, ice, water, and gravity transport previously weathered surface material, which, at the loss of enough kinetic energy in the fluid, is deposited, building up layers of sediment.
It is widely believed that the early Earth was dominated by vertical tectonic processes, such as stagnant lid, [19] [20] heat-pipe, [21] or sagduction, [22] [23] [24] which eventually transitioned to plate tectonics during the planet's mid-stage evolution. However, an alternative view proposes that Earth never experienced a vertical tectonic ...
A foundational idea in Earth science is the notion of uniformitarianism, which states that "ancient geologic features are interpreted by understanding active processes that are readily observed." In other words, any geologic processes at work in the present have operated in the same ways throughout geologic time.
This diamond is a mineral from within an igneous or metamorphic rock that formed at high temperature and pressure. The rock cycle is a basic concept in geology that describes transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous.
Geology – one of the Earth sciences – is the study of the Earth, with the general exclusion of present-day life, flow within the ocean, and the atmosphere. The field of geology encompasses the composition, structure, physical properties, and history of Earth's components, and the processes by which it is shaped.