GEOLOGY

What is geology about? The word “geo” means Earth. Thus, both geography, and geology involve the study of our Earth. But these two sciences are different in very important ways. Geographers study the Earth as it appears today. They look at not just rocks, but also the atmosphere, the oceans, weather, and yes, even life. Geographers try to understand as much as possible about what makes the Earth what it is today. Geologists have a different goal. Their studies involve understanding the lithosphere. The lithosphere is the solid portion of the Earth, the part that all of us stand on each day. The part that our schools, stores, and homes are built up on.

Geologists examine the characteristics of the lithosphere, and try to understand the processes that formed it, and that continue to shape it today.

The earth inside-out Have you ever dug a hole in your backyard, or in the playground? How deep were you able to dig? 1 foot? 2 feet? Or perhaps you really worked hard, and were able to dig a hole that was 3 feet deep. What would you need, if you wanted to dig a really deep hole? You could use a shovel, but eventually it would become too difficult. As the hole became deeper, you would need a way to remove the dirt as you loosened it. Otherwise you would not be able to throw the dirt out of the hole.

As your hole became deeper, you would quickly dig through the soft regolith or dirt, and begin hitting your shovel against hard bedrock. In order to continue digging, you would need a jack hammer, or drill to break through. Suppose that you had all of this equipment available to you, how deep could you dig? The deepest mines on Earth are only about 2.5 miles deep. Some geologists have used massive drilling equipment to take narrow core samples from as deep as seven miles beneath the surface of the Earth.

This seems like a very deep hole, but when compared to the overall radius, of the Earth, it is just scratching the surface. The Earth is approximately 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) from surface to center.

Activity Make your own definition about Geology and copy that in your notebook. Imagine that you are going to dig a hole in the playground at school, what do you think you will find there? Make a drawing about that. Is all what you find underground solid? Yes/no explain your answer.

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