The Broad Field of Geology:
 
University of Toledo
  University of Toledo

Department of  Earth Ecological and Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo Ohio, 43606

Telephone: 419-530-2009                      Email: eees@utnet.utoledo.edu

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Table of Contents

  1. What is Geology?

  2. Environmental Geology: Geologists investigating our environment

  3. Ecology and Geology: The interplay between the animate and the physical

1. What is Geology?

The mission of a Geologists is to investigate the great variety of earth processes and earth systems including:

 
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Remarkable materials that constitute the earth

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Complex structures of the earth’s interior

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Dynamic processes that shape the earth

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Intricate historical development of the earth and

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Vital influences of earth processes on our continuously changing environment.  

 
For example, one type of geologist studies natural disasters such as earthquakes (seismology) and volcanic eruptions (volcanology).  Another type of geologist may investigate the possible locations of natural resources within the earth’s crust including minerals and fossil fuels.  Other areas of study include Historical Geology: the study of the history of the earth’s formation, Structural Geology: the study of the internal structure of the earth, Paleontology: the study of ancient lifeforms, and Mineralogy: the study of the chemistry and crystalline structure of minerals.  These are just a few example so...

For more information on what geologists do please visit the following American Geological Institute web sites:

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http://www.earthscienceworld.org/careers/brochure/

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http://guide.agiweb.org/employer/index.html

 

Quartz: Image by Smith Clark, Smithzonian

Composite Volcano: Image by Lee Siebert, Smithzonian

 

 

Phacops (Trilobite) from Silica Shale, Sylvania Ohio: Image from by Extinctions.com

2. Environmental Geology: Geologists investigating our environment

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Environmental geology is the study of the interactions between the environment and the underlying geology as well as the impact of humans on the environment.  In this field of geology, a scientist can investigate the degree of impact contamination has on the environment as well as the characteristics of the contamination and how to remediate (clean up) the contamination.  This area of specialty is known as geochemistry.  A geochemist uses geology and chemistry to study the environment and the effects of contamination.  Another area of environmental geology known as hydrogeology is the study of groundwater and its relationship with the underlying geology.  In the case of contamination, a hydrogeologist studies the transport of contamination by groundwater movement through the subsurface.

Image from USGS (http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/circ1139/index.html)

3. Ecology and Geology: The interplay between the animate and the physical

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Ecologists play a crucial role in environmental investigations.  While geologists largely investigate the inanimate component of our environment, ecologists investigate the living component including the interaction of ecosystems with the geological substrate.  This interaction acts both ways: ecological processes often work in concert with geological (physical) processes to shape the earth and, at the same time, geological processes often exert strong controls on the types of biological communities that thrive in an area. 

Image from USGS by Robert Meade (http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/circ1139/index.html)