Geosciences

The geosciences embrace a wide variety of well-defined scientific disciplines – specially developed avenues of precise inquiry into the nature of the Earth. They are geography, geology, seismology, volcanology, oceanography, tectonics, geomagnetism and others.

Geography is one of the most ancient sciences on the earth. It's a science about the earth's surface, physical features, divisions, climate, products, population, etc.

Nowadays geography becomes more and more important in the human activities. Modern geography is represented by the system of interconnected sciences which have their own objects and methods of research. It takes a lot from physics and chemistry, biology and geology, sociology and other sciences. The most important task for geography is understanding the relationships between nature and sociology. Geography is a long established academic discipline with its own unique field of interest, philosophy, methodology and continually expanding research frontier. Students may choose an area of concentration from the following: physical geography, biogeography, economic geography, political geography, historical geography, population distribution, ecological geography, general geography.

Physical geography deals with the problems of the earth's crust, water basins (lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans) soils and natural resources. This branch also studies coastal areas and the impact that human beings have on them.

Biogeography includes geography of microorganisms, plants and animals.

Economic geography focuses on the study of population distribution, change and migration. It also investigates the problem of domestic and foreign economics and the prudent use of natural resources.

Recreational geography is concerned with tourism, its history and recreational resources.

Ecological geography researches problems of air, water, soil pollution, climatic change, hazardous wastes, sedimentology in seas and oceans.

General geography studies the earth's surface and how it has been changed by human activity, climate and global factors. In addition geography as an art is expressed in the natural landscape. We can hardly imagine a progress in the world without geosciences.

Geology is the study of the planet Earth too, and is concerned with the origin and development of the Earth, the materials of which it is made up, with the structure of both the surface and the interior of the planet. It deals with the living things, the agencies and processes which are continually altering it, which actively shape its surface features, also with weather and climate, mineral resources. Geology has several branches: mineralogy, structural geology, paleontology, historical geology, physical geology and others. Physical geology deals with the materials of the earth, earth-crust movements, the structure of the earth, the agencies by which the earth has been modified for many millions of years. Historical geology studies the records of the successive events of the earth’s history and evolutionary changes of the organisms which have lived upon the earth. Mineralogy is concerned with minerals, their comparative study, and crystal structure of minerals, their chemical composition and physical properties. Oil and Gas geology studies the identification of oil-gas regions, oil and gas potential of submarine zones, methods of quantitative prediction of hydrocarbons. Paleontology deals with prehistoric man and traces of his activity, colonization of land by plants and animals, microstructural and chemical analyses of fossils.

Geology is vitally important to mankind in many ways. Many of the Earth’s major resources are found in the rocks or within the Earth. These include mineral, energy, water resourses. The geologists have an important role in exploration and production of these resourses and in minimizing damage to the environment.

Seismology includes wave motions in the Earth, natural origin of cataclysmic energy, gases released in earthquakes.

Volcanology and petrology are the analytical sciences of rocks and other volcanic products, their origin involving physics and chemistry of their formations, abundances of terrestrial elements; it studies the role of magma in the formation of continental rocks and evolution of magmatic and metamorphic processes.

Geochemistry focuses on physics-chemical analysis and observation of geological processes, origin and evolution of Solar system, types of meteorites.

Oceanography embraces the whole science of the oceans and their underlying basins.

Tectonics involves internal forces; it deals with movements and shifting structure underlying the origin of hills, valleys, oceans and surface irregularities; it investigates principles of tectonic zonation of continents, mathematical models of tectonic processes, continental and oceanic rift systems.

Initially we thought of geosciences as relating solely to the Earth. But within the past decades, with advent of space travel the prefix “geo” has been extended to the Moon and the planets as well. Access to the variations of planetary history, of sedimentation, of interior structure in various planets and their composition and radioactivity foretells very rapid development of a new field of geosciences – geophysics. It deals with seismic zonation, methods of prediction of seismic activity, modeling and interpretation of geological data by geophysical methods. Through cooperative efforts of thousands of men, geophysicists were able to occupy the whole Antarctic continent for wide varieties of surveys and measurements. The whole Earth becomes a laboratory of the geophysicists.

All the aforementioned geosciences are offered within the Geology and Geography Faculty. Specialized techniques and approaches include problem-oriented thinking, data collection theory, field experience, gathering, map analysis and design, report production and presentation.

3.2 What new facts about geoscience have you learned from the text?

Дата добавления: 2015-08-03