Physical Geology

Learning Objectives

After carefully reading this chapter, completing the exercises within it, and answering the questions at the end, you should be able to:

Explain what geology is, how it incorporates the other sciences, and how it is different from the other sciences

Discuss why we study Earth and what type of work geologists do

Define some of the properties of a mineral and explain the differences between minerals and rocks

Describe the nature of Earth’s interior and some of the processes that take place deep beneath our feet

Explain how those processes are related to plate tectonics and describe a few of the features that are characteristic of plate boundaries

Use the notation for geological time, gain an appreciation for the vastness of geological time, and describe how very slow geological processes can have enormous impacts over time