UNIT 1

INTRODUCTION TO GEOLOGY
WHAT IS GEOLOGY

➢ Geology is the study of Earth, including the materials that it is

made of, the physical and chemical changes that take place on its
surface and in its interior and the history of the planet and its life
form.

➢ Geology is broadly divided into Physical Geology and Historical

Geology.

• Physical Geology is concerned with the materials and processes

which compose and operate on the surface of, and within the
Earth.

• Historical Geology is concerned with the origin and evolution of

Earth's continents, oceans, atmosphere, and life.
BRANCHES OF GEOLOGY
 GEOLOGY IN OUR LIVES
➢ Geology is relevant to everyone’s
day-to-day life.

➢ Metals and energy sources such

as coal and petroleum are
geologic products that build and
power modern society.

➢ Water, a precious natural

resource is used in industry,
agriculture and domestic purpose
is also a geologic product.

➢ Natural hazards like tsunamis,

landslides, earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions are also
related to geology,
WHAT DOES A GEOLOGIST DO
➢ Geologists work to understand the history of our planet. The better they can understand Earth’s
history the better they can foresee how events and processes of the past might influence the future.

➢ Geologists study earth processes:

➢ Many processes such as landslides, earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions can be hazardous to people.
➢ Geologists work to understand these processes well enough to avoid building important structures where they
might be damaged.
➢ If geologists can prepare maps of areas that have flooded in the past they can prepare maps of areas that
might be flooded in the future.
➢ These maps can be used to guide the development of communities and determine where flood protection or
flood insurance is needed.

➢ Geologists study earth materials:

➢ People use earth materials every day. They use oil that is produced from wells, metals that are produced from
mines, and water that has been drawn from streams or from underground.
➢ Geologists conduct studies that locate rocks that contain important metals, plan the mines that produce them
and the methods used to get the metals from the rocks. They do similar work to locate and produce oil, natural
gas and ground water.

➢ Geologists study earth history:

➢ Today we are concerned about climate change. Many geologists are working to learn about the past climates of
earth and how they have changed across time.
➢ This historical geology information is valuable to understand how our current climate is changing and what the
results might be.
WHERE DO GEOLOGISTS WORK
➢ Jobs in geology are found in government
agencies, private companies, and non-
profit and academic institutions.

➢ Government agencies hire geologists to

investigate, plan and evaluate
excavations, construction sites, natural
disaster preparedness, and natural
resources.

➢ Private companies hire geologists to help

locate natural resources (minerals, oil
and natural gas), evaluate environmental
impact and comply with government
regulations, among many other tasks.

➢ Geologists who prefer an academic

career usually work, either as educators,
researchers or both, in middle or high
schools, colleges, universities and
museums.
PROCESSES ACTING ON THE EARTH

➢ The Earth is a Dynamic system that undergoes

constant changes with time both internally
and on its surface.

Internal Processes

➢ Processes that originate deep within the Earth

are termed as internal processes. These are
the driving forces that raise mountains, cause
earthquakes and produce volcanic eruptions.

Surface Processes

➢ Surface processes are all those processes

which take place on the earth’s surface and
result in sculpting the earth’s surface. Most of
the surface processes are driven by water,
though wind, ice and gravity also play an
important role.
GEO-SPHERES
➢ The area near the surface of the earth can be divided
into four inter-connected "geo-spheres:" the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and the
biosphere.
ATMOSPHERE
➢ The atmosphere is the body of air which
surrounds our planet.

➢ Most of our atmosphere is located close to

the earth's surface where it is most dense.

➢ The atmosphere not only provides the air

that we breath but also acts to protect us
from the Sun’s intense heat and
dangerous ultraviolet radiation.

➢ The energy exchanges that continually

occur between the atmosphere and the
surface and between the atmosphere and
space produce the effects we call weather
and climate.

➢ The air of our planet is 79% nitrogen and

just under 21% oxygen; the small amount
remaining is composed of carbon dioxide
and other gasses.
HYDROSPHERE
➢ The hydrosphere is composed
of all water on or near the
earth.

➢ This includes the oceans,

rivers, lakes, and even the
moisture in the air.

➢ 97% of the earth's water is in

the oceans.

➢ The remaining 3% is fresh

water; three-quarters of the
fresh water is solid and exists
in ice sheets.
LITHOSPHERE
➢ Beneath the atmosphere and the oceans is the solid Earth, or lithosphere.

➢ The lithosphere is the solid, rocky crust covering entire planet.

➢ This crust is inorganic and is composed of minerals.

BIOSPHERE
➢ The biosphere is composed of all living organisms.

➢ Plants, animals, and one-celled organisms are all part of the biosphere.

➢ Most of the planet's life is found from three meters below the ground to 30
meters above it and in the top 200 meters of the oceans and seas.
 UNIFORMITARIANISM AND CATASTROPHISM

➢ James Hutton a Scotish gentleman in 18th century gave the

concept of Uniformitarianism.

➢ According to the Principle of Uniformitarianism, geological

changes take place over a long period of time.

➢ Hutton summarized that geological processes operating

today also operated in the past therefore scientists can
explain events that occurred in the past by observing
changes that are occurring today.

➢ Sometimes this whole idea is also known as “The present is

the key to the past.”
UNIFORMITARIANISM

The formation of river valleys due to the action of running water or the
movement of the continents are examples of very slow and gradual changes
 UNIFORMITARIANISM AND CATASTROPHISM

➢ William Whewell, another early geologist, agreed that

the Earth is very old, but he argued that geologic change
was sometimes rapid.

➢ He wrote that the geologic past may have “consisted of

epochs catastrophic action, interposed between periods
of comparative tranquility.”

➢ This phenomenon where earth was subjected to rapid

geological change as a result of certain catastrophe
came to be known as Catastrophism
CATASTROPHISM
UNIFORMITARIANISM AND CATASTROPHISM

➢ Today, geologists know that both Hutton’s

uniformitarianism and Whewell’s catastrophism
are correct.

➢ Thus, over the great expanses of geologic time,

slow, uniform processes are significant, but
catastrophic events radically modify the path of
slow change.
FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
➢ Earth was not around at the beginning—
the universe began without us some 10
billion years earlier than Earth.

➢ The universe started out with only two

elements, hydrogen and helium gases.

➢ They formed stars that burned these

elements in nuclear fusion reactions.

➢ Generations of stars were born in gas

clouds and died in explosive novas.

➢ Long, long ago (some 5 billion years

ago) a supernova exploded, pushing a [Link]
lot of its heavy-element wreckage into a
nearby cloud of hydrogen gas and
interstellar dust.
 The Milky Way Galaxy

Earth

• We use the speed of light to indicate distance –

light years 9460 billion kilometers
FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
➢ The mixture grew hot and
compressed under its own
gravity, and at its center a
new star began to form.

➢ Around it swirled a disk of

the same material, which
grew white-hot from the
great compressive forces.

➢ That new star became our

Sun, and the glowing disk
gave rise to Earth and its
sister planets.
FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Solar System
 Evidence to support the nebular
hypotheses:

1. Planets and moons revolve in a counter-clockwise direction (not random).

2. Almost all planets and moons rotate on their axis in a counter-clockwise direction.
3. Planetary orbits are aligned along the sun’s equatorial plane (not randomly
organized).
4. Observations from Hubble telescope and radio astronomy indicate that other
planetary systems are forming from condensed nebular dust.
 Structure of Our Solar System

Pluto has
been demoted

Rocky
Planets Gaseous Planets

Differentiation – separation based on mass or

composition.
FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
➢ The planets of the Solar system can be divided into groups
depending on their proximity to the sun and their density.

➢ The terrestrial planets are the four closest to the sun and are
all similar to the Earth in density. They include Mercury,
Venus, Earth and Mars. All four terrestrial planets are small,
rocky and dense (3 g/cm3 or more).
FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
➢ The Jovian planets are those farther from the sun than Mars
➢ They include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They are much
larger than the Earth but their densities are very low.
➢ They are made up of light elements most Hydrogen and Helium
and hence their densities are low,
FORMATION OF THE EARTH
➢ The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and is believed that it was
formed by accretion of small particles.

➢ The Earth has a layered structure. The center is a dense, hot core composed
mainly of iron and nickel .

➢ A thick mantle, composed mainly of solid rock, surrounds the core and contains
80 percent of the Earth’s volume.

➢ The crust is a thin surface also composed of rock.

STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

1. CRUST (CONTINENTAL/OCEANIC)
2. MANTLE
3. CORE (OUTER/INNER)
 Types of Seismic Waves

• Body Waves - travel through the Earth

- P waves (compressional): highest velocity
seismic wave and travel through solids, liquids, and
gases.
- S waves (transverse or shear): slower than P
waves and can only pass through solids.
• Surface Waves - travel around the Earth
- Love waves
- Rayleigh waves, ground roll

P waves = Primary waves

S waves= Secondary waves
P-Wave Shadow Zone
• Refraction of P-waves when they encounter the core boundary
• Size and shape of core can be determined because the paths of
P-waves can be accurately determined.
 S-Wave Shadow Zone

• Larger than the P-wave

shadow zone
• Direct S-Waves are not
recorded in the entire
region more than 103o
from the epicenter
• Indicates that S-waves
do not pass through the
core at all
 The P-wave shadow zone

Inge Lehmann

P-wave shadow zones. Note two shadow zones exist between 105-140° from the
epicenter due refraction at outer core mantle boundary. Because speeds in the solid
inner core are faster, the P-waves arrive sooner than expected if the core was all liquid.
The Deepest Scientific Well

Kola Super Deep Borehole has been

sealed off in August 2012
• 12 km deep
• Penetrated ancient Precambrian basement rocks
• Took 15 years to drill
 Scientists plan to drill into the Earth's mantle
for the first time
• The researchers (Japan's Chikyu drilling ship) want to
investigate the boundary between the oceanic crust and the
mantle to figure out how the crust formed. Plus, they want to
see if microbial life exists that deep inside the planet.

• The scientists hope to begin

drilling by 2030 at the latest.
For now, they need to find the
perfect location (water off
Hawaii, off Costa Rica, or off
Mexico) and figure out where
to get the $542 million funding
the project needs. The Japanese
government is providing partial
funding for the project.
LAYERS OF THE EARTH
Structure of the Earth
THE CRUST
➢ The crust, Earth’s relatively thin, rocky outer skin, is of two different
types— continental crust and oceanic crust.

➢ The oceanic crust is roughly 7 kilometers thick and composed of the

dark igneous rock basalt.

➢ The continental crust has an average thickness of about 35

kilometers and is composed mainly of light colored igneous rock
called granite.

➢ Continental rocks have an average density of about 2.7 g/cm3, and

are older in age (up to 4 billion years old).

➢ The rocks of the oceanic crust have an average density of 3.0 g/cm3
and are younger in age (180 million years or less).
THE MANTLE

➢ More than 82 % of Earth’s volume is contained in the

mantle, a solid, rocky shell that extends to a depth of
nearly 2900 kilometers.

➢ The boundary between the crust and mantle

represents a significant change in chemical
composition.

➢ The dominant rock type in the uppermost mantle is

peridotite, which is richer in the metals magnesium
and iron than the minerals found in either the
continental or oceanic crust.
THE CORE
➢ The composition of the core is thought to be an iron-nickel alloy with minor amounts
of oxygen, silicon, and sulfur—elements that readily form compounds with iron.

➢ At the extreme pressure found in the core, this iron-rich material has an average
density of nearly 11 g/cm3 .

➢ The core is divided into two regions that exhibit very different mechanical strengths.

➢ The outer core is a liquid layer 2270 kilometers thick.

➢ It is the movement of metallic iron within this zone that generates Earth’s magnetic
field.

➢ The inner core is a solid sphere having a radius of 1216 kilometers.

➢ Despite its higher temperature, the iron in the inner core is solid due to the immense
pressures that exist in the center of the planet.
 The Earth’s magnetic field

 It is produced by the outer

core of the earth which is
made of liquid iron and
nickel.
 This moving magnetic
material produces a moving
magnetic field. It is a
dynamo! converting
mechanical energy into
magnetic energy.
 Earth’s magnetic field varies
over time and it protects us
from cosmic radiation.
ROCKS
➢ Rock is the most common and abundant material on Earth.

➢ A rock consists of smaller crystals or grains called minerals. Minerals are chemical
compounds (or sometimes single elements), each with its own composition and
physical properties. The grains or crystals may be microscopically small or easily
seen with the unaided eye.

➢ The nature and appearance of a rock is strongly influenced by the minerals that
compose it.

➢ A rock’s texture—the size, shape, and/or arrangement of its constituent minerals—

also has a significant effect on its appearance.

➢ A rock’s mineral composition and texture, in turn, are a reflection of the geologic
processes that created it

➢ Geologists divide rocks into three major groups: igneous, sedimentary, and
metamorphic.
IGNEOUS ROCKS
➢ Magma is the molten material which is
formed when the pressure and
temperature conditions are high enough
to melt the rocks.

➢ The Magma is formed in the interior of

the earth and then gradually migrates
upwards to the earth’s crust.

➢ When it reaches the surface its cools

and solidifies by the process of
crystallization.

➢ The rocks formed as a result are known

as Igneous Rocks.
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
➢ These igneous rocks when exposed
to the atmosphere undergo
weathering where they disintegrate
into smaller particles.

➢ These particles known as sediments

are transported by the agents of
erosion such as water, wind and ice.

➢ Finally these sediments are

deposited.

➢ These sediments are then converted

to rocks by the process of
lithification.

➢ The resulting rocks are known as

Sedimentary Rocks.
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
➢ If the resulting sedimentary rock is
buried deep within Earth and involved in
the dynamics of mountain building or
intruded by a mass of magma, it will be
subjected to great pressures and/or
intense heat.

➢ The sedimentary rock will react to the

changing environment and turn into the
third rock type, metamorphic rock.

➢ When metamorphic rock is subjected to

additional pressure changes or to still
higher temperatures, it will melt,
creating magma, which will eventually
crystallize into igneous rock, starting the
cycle all over again.
 [Link]
➢ Rock Cycle is the fundamental concept of Geology that describes the dynamic
transition through geologic time among the three rock types Each type of rock
is altered or destroyed when it is forced out of equilibrium condition.
ROCK CYCLE
➢ Where does the energy that drives Earth’s rock cycle come
from?

➢ Processes driven by heat from Earth’s interior are

responsible for forming igneous and metamorphic rocks.

➢ Internal processes produce igneous and metamorphic

rocks.

➢ Weathering and the movement of weathered material are

external processes powered by energy from the Sun.

➢ External processes produce sedimentary rocks.

 How long is 4.6 billion years? If you were to begin counting at the rate of

GEOLOGIC TIME
one number per second and continued 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and
never stopped, it would take about two lifetimes (150 years) to reach 4.6
billion!

➢ The earth is estimated to be 4.6 Billion Years old.

➢ Geologic time differs from the human perspective of time.

➢ Earth goes through cycles of much longer duration than the human
perspective of time.

➢ The geologic time scale is the calendar that geologists use to date
past events in Earth’s history.

➢ The Geological time scale is divided into Eons, Eras, Periods, and
Epochs and is identified primarily by the types of life that existed at
the various times.
GEOLOGIC TIME
➢ EON is the largest unit of geological time and EPOCH is the smallest unit
of geological time.

➢ The two earliest eons, the Hadean and Archean, cover the first 2.5
billion years of Earth history.

➢ Life originated during Archean time and with the passage of time the
life form evolved.

➢ Evolution was very gradual until the last 5 million years where many
new species evolved which were more complex than their ancestors.
The Geological Time
Scale