GEOLOGY

Geology is the study of the earth (geo means earth, and ology means study of). This is a very simple
definition for something so complex. Geology involves studying the materials that make up the
earth, the features and structures found on Earth as well as the processes that act upon them.
Geology also deals with the study of the history of all life that's ever lived on or is living on the earth
now. Studying how life and our planet have changed over time is an important part of geology.

Two Main Types of Geology

Typically, geology is divided into two categories: physical geology and historical geology. Physical

geology deals with the study of the physical features of the earth and the processes acting on them.
This includes volcanoes, earthquakes, rocks, mountains and the oceans; just about any feature of
the earth.

Historical geology is the study of the history of the earth. Historical geologists focus on what's
happened to Earth since its formation. They also study the changes in life throughout time. In
historical geology, you essentially get to travel back in time to the formation of the earth and move
forward through time, witnessing the changes in Earth itself and the life on it.

History
Geology has been of interest to humans as far back as ancient Greece in the 4th century. Aristotle
was one of the first people to make observations about the earth. This was also the first time that
scientists and philosophers noted a difference between rocks and minerals. The Romans became
very adept at mining certain rock for use in building their empire, especially marble.
In the 17th century, fossils were being used as a way to understand what happened to the earth
over time. These fossils played a key role in the debate about the age of Earth. For a while and even
in some cases today, theologians and scientists have been at odds about the age of Earth.
Theologians believed Earth was only about 6,000 years old while the scientists believed it to be
much older.

In the 18th century, scientists started focusing on minerals and mineral ores since mining was an
important part of global economies. During this century, two main theories came forward explaining
some of the physical features of the earth. One theory believed that all rocks were deposited by the
oceans during flooding events. The second theory believed that some rocks were formed through
heat or fire.

This debate continued into the 19th century until James Hutton proved that some rocks are formed
by volcanic (heat & fire) processes and others are formed by sedimentation. Hutton also explained
that all the processes we see going on today, are the same processes that happened in the geologic
past and that they occurred very slowly.

In other words, the erosion that is occurring to our mountains today is the same process that
eroded mountains in the past. This theory became known as Uniformitarianism which simply states
says 'the present is the key to the past.' James Hutton is known as the Father of Modern Geology.

Once Uniformitarianism was accepted by the scientific community, all the geologic pieces started to
fall into place. Geologists began to understand how fossils could help them date the earth and
different rock layers called strata. The fossils acted as markers that allowed geologists to place them
in order of occurrence, allowed them to correlate rock strata found over great distances, and helped
them understand the changes in life over time and the changes in Earth's environment through
time.
The next big leap for geology happened in the early 1900s. A scientist, Alfred Wegener proposed a
theory called Continental Drift. Wegener suggested that the continents moved around on the
surface of the earth and came together to form a supercontinent known as Pangaea.

He cited several pieces of evidence to prove his theory—the continents all fit together like puzzle
pieces, the same rock unit or fossil could be found on both sides of an oceans and similar features
such as mountains could be found on continents when they were all together.

The supercontinent, Pangaea. You can see how the continents fit
together like puzzle pieces.

He suggested that continents 'floated' or 'drifted' to their positions. However, he could not explain
how this happened. The scientific community rejected his theory until the 1940s. The technology
boom associated with WWII brought advances in sonar and radar. In 1947, two geologists mapped
the ocean floor, which revealed evidence that oceanic crust is created at mid-ocean ridges.

A close up look at a mid-ocean ridge where magma from the

subsurface pushes through cracks in the ocean floor.

This became known as seafloor spreading. These mid-ocean ridges, are found on the bottom of the
oceans and are major cracks or vents in oceanic crust. Magma from the mantle pushes its way up
through the cracks (think of squeezing toothpaste from its tube). As it does this, it pushes the
existing crust causing continents to move around. This led to the Theory of Plate Tectonics, which is
based on the idea that Earth is broken into tectonic plates and these plates move in response to
seafloor spreading.

Imagine taking a hard-boiled egg and dropping it on the floor. The egg cracks all around. The areas
between the cracks are called plates and the cracks are called boundaries. The same principle
applies to the earth. If we could shake off all the water on the planet so we could see the ocean
floor, we would be able to see these cracks and boundaries.
A view of the plates and boundaries. The arrows show which direction
each plate is moving. You can see the mid-ocean ridges and the
general movement of the continents.

Scope of Geology in civil engineering

Geology is the study of earth, the materials of which it is made, the structure of those
materials and the effects of the natural forces acting upon them and is important to civil
engineering because all work performed by civil engineers involves earth and its
features. Fundamental understanding of geology is so important that it is a requirement
in university-level civil engineering programs.

Civil engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the design, construction
and maintenance of roads, bridges, large buildings, airports, ports, subways, dams,
mines and other large-scale developments. It is one of the oldest branches of
engineering. Many of the world's great monuments, including the pyramids, the
structures of ancient Greece and Rome and the modern steel and glass skyscrapers
found around the world, are the result of the successful marriage of civil engineering
and geology.

For a civil engineering project to be successful, the engineers must understand the land
upon which the project rests. Geologists study the land to determine whether it is stable
enough to support the proposed project. They also study water patterns to determine if
a particular site is prone to flooding. Some civil engineers use geologists to examine
rocks for important metals, oil, natural gas and ground water.

Why geology and geologists are needed?

-To identify the surface and subsurface condition of land.

-To select the proper side for project.

-To know the stability of surface.

-To know the ground water condition and surface water condition.

-To identify the future hazard and vulnerability.

-To identify the future risk.

-To give the ideas for future risk reduction.

-To know the types of rock and soil and theirs bearing capacity and future stability.

-To suggest the proper mitigation measures of any hazard and vulnerability.

-To know the presence of any potential mineral resources and theirs budget.

-To know the presence of natural gas, petroleum and any fossil fuels.

Thank you !

For any question inbox me at (bbhandari@cdes.edu.np)