Translations of Encyclopedia about Geology

The name earth sciences refers in general to all scientific fields that study the earth aand its atmosphere. They include geography, geology, geophysics, as well as scientific branches of mineralogy, oceanography, aand meteorology. All of them are closely linked not only to each other but also to related sciences. The most important related sciences are chemistry, physics, biology, aand history.

Within the framework of various segments, geology deals mainly with the rocks of our Earth (petrography), both on the surface as well as in the interior of the earth. It involves the study not only of the present state but also of how it was in the past aand how it has changed during the course of Earth's history - how it happened, etc. It includes the impact of exogenous forces such as the sun, wind, water, aand ice; aand endogenous forces such as convective flows in the interior of the earth, volcanic activity, earthquakes, plate tectonics, etc. Paleontology studies plant aand animal fossils aand thus acquires knowledge of the past. This knowledge provides valuable help for geological dating (historical geology).

Geophysics utilises in its study of the Earth the knowledge acquired by physics. It includes, among other things, a study of the earth's magnetic field, the earth's temperatures, the effects of the moon on the tides (high tide aand low tide), aand the study of the earth's gravity. Predicting earthquakes (seismology) aand volcanic activity is also of the of tasks of geophysics. Meteorology, another area of geophysics, deals with the study of the Earth's atmosphere. Here, the study of the climate aand weather forecasting play an important role.

Earth sciences also includes oceanography. Oceanography studies oceans, that is to say, it studies their chemical aand physical properties aand their currents. It also deals with the relationship between oceans aand the climate, raw material deposits underneath the ocean bed, pollution in the oceans, aand other issues.

In addition, there are numerous branches, such as soil science, geodesy, cartography (map-making), geography of plants, geoinformatics, aerial survey of the Earth, aand many others. A great aand diverse number of institutes aand research centres are dedicated to acquiring continuously new information which is in part important also for the future of the human race, in particular when it concerns climate changes, environmental damage, aand other areas of vital importance.

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Ancient geology, which mainly studied the structure of the earth with its composition, formed part of natural philosophy. The question of the Earth's origins was always in the foreground.

Natural phenomena such as earthquakes aand volcanic eruptions were being linked to gods aand goddesses. As early as in the 6th century before Christ, Greek philosopher aand astronomer Anaximaander of Millet developed a theory that the universe, aand therefore the earth as well, consists of concentrically arranged cylinders. Greek poet aand philosopher Xenophanes discovered that, ages ago, fossilised seashells were made from the imprint of animals. Around 100 B.C., people began to realise the link between the tide aand the moon.

Modern geology of the 18th century noted a definite separation between the bible’s notion of creation aand earth’s actual history. The first geological map of a specific region was made (by Füchsel, in 1761). A discussion ensued with regard to whether all rocks were the result of the action of water or of volcanic activity. In 1875, thanks to the efforts of Eberhard Süß, the first comprehensive theory concerning the origins of mountains was proposed. At that time, it was still assumed that the Earth is continually contracting, thus causing the "folding" of the mountain ranges (contraction theory).

The discovery of radioactivity in the 20th century provided a new method of dating of the rocks. Alfred Werner, with his idea about continental shift, introduced a new line of thought concerning the origins of great mountain ranges. This approach was later incorporated in the lithospheric plate tectonics, which today is generally accepted.

For a long time, the work of the German geographer Varenius, who categorised geography into three parts, was considered to be the cornerstone of science. The first part concerns the study of the earth's shape aand size; the second one deals with the seasons, climate, aand the tide in relation to the position of the earth in the universe; aand the third part concentrates on comparing the various regions of the Earth.

In the 18th century, Immanuel Kant ,aand in the 19th century Alexaander von Humbolt, were among those whose work in various branches of the science of geography resulted in an important progress of this science. At that time there was a proliferation of geographic societies aand magazines which supported the science by publishing aand disseminating new geographical knowledge. At the start of the 20th century, the old methods were still used. Later on, new geographical knowledge started to be evaluated using mathematics aand statistics.

Beginning in the 1960s, the development of modern computers facilitated the compilation, analysis, aand, most importantly, the storage of geographical data. Today, computer simulations play a very important role.