What is geology?
Hello! I'm the Ranger and I'm going to tell all about what geology actually is. Did you know that people who study rocks are called Geologists?
Geology is the study of our planet, Earth.
- How it was made
- What it is made of
- How it has changed over time
Geologists make maps to tell us all about the history of the Earth and help us find such things as:
- Important minerals
, such as diamonds - Fuels
like oil - Problems like earthquakes
or floods.
The Earth is about 4.6 billion years old! A lot has happened in that time.
Starting at the centre, the spiral goes from the present day back in time. Each period has a geological name and shows the different creatures that lived during that time.
Click to view larger and see the legend.
- Neogene
- Palaeogene
- Cretaceous
- Jurassic
- Triassic
- Permian
- Carboniferous
- Devonian
- Silurian
- Ordovician
- Cambrian
- Precambrian
More information
In more scientific terms, geology is the study of the Earth's origin, structure, composition and history, (including the development of life) and the nature of the processes which have given rise to the Earth as we know it today.
In geology, rock is a naturally occurring mixture of minerals. The Earth's crust is made of rock.
Click to view larger and see the legend.
The earth's crust is divided into large pieces like a jigsaw. These pieces are called plates. The plates sometimes collide causing one to move under the other, this is called subduction. The subducted plate melts making magma that rises to the surface, creating volcanoes.
- Ocean crust
- Volatiles and partial melt from subducted ocean plate
- Continental crust
- Peridotite melt
- Subducting ocean plate
- Mantle
Get involved
- Test what you've learnt about geology in the quiz
Let’s see what else we can find out about geology. Try searching the internet for:
- geologist
- geological time
