Geology is the science of what? What do geologists do? Problems of modern geology

"Geology is a way of life," the geologist will most likely say, answering the question about his profession before proceeding to dry and boring formulations, explaining that geology is the science of the structure and composition of the earth, the history of its birth, the formation And the laws of development, about the once inconceivable, and today, alas, the "estimated" wealth of its subsoil. Other planets of the solar system are also objects of geological research.

The description of a particular science often begins with the history of its inception and formation, forgetting that the narrative is filled with incomprehensible terms and definitions, so it's better to first essentially.

Stages of geological research

The most general scheme of the sequence of studies into which all geological works aimed at revealing mineral deposits (hereinafter referred to as MPOs) can be "squeezed", in essence, is as follows: geological survey (mapping of outcrops on the surface of rocks and geological formations), prospecting works Exploration, reserves calculation, geological report. The survey, searches and reconnaissance, in turn, are naturally divided into stages depending on the scale of the works and taking into account their expediency.

To perform such a complex of works, an entire army of specialists of the widest range of geological specialties is involved, which the real geologist must possess much more than at the "little by little" level, because he faces the task of generalizing all this diverse information and eventually arriving at the discovery of the deposit Or to make it), since geology is a science that studies the depths of the earth primarily for the development of mineral resources.

Family of geological sciences

Like other natural sciences (physics, biology, chemistry, geography, etc.), geology is a whole complex of interconnected and intertwined scientific disciplines.

Directly to geological subjects are general and regional geology, mineralogy, tectonics, geomorphology, geochemistry, lithology, paleontology, petrology, petrography, gemology, stratigraphy, historical geology, crystallography, hydrogeology, marine geology, volcanology and sedimentology.

Applied, methodical, technical, economic and other geology-related sciences include engineering geology, seismology, petrophysics, glaciology, geography, geology of mineral resources, geophysics, soil science, geodesy, oceanography, oceanology, geostatistics, geotechnology, geoinformatics, geotechnology, cadastre and monitoring Lands, land management, climatology, cartography, meteorology and a number of atmospheric sciences.

"Pure", field geology is still largely descriptive, which imposes a certain moral and ethical responsibility on the performer, therefore geology, having developed its own language, like other sciences, does not do without philology, logic and ethics.

Since search and exploration routes, especially in remote areas, are practically uncontrolled work, the geologist is always subject to the temptation of subjective, but competently and beautifully presented judgments or conclusions, and such, unfortunately, happens. Harmless "inaccuracies" can lead to very serious consequences both in the scientific-production and material-economic terms, therefore the geologist simply has no right to deceit, distortion and error, as a sapper or surgeon.

The skeleton of geoscience is built into a hierarchical series (geochemistry, mineralogy, crystallography, petrology, lithology, paleontology and geology proper, including tectonics, stratigraphy and historical geology) reflecting the co-ordination of consistently increasing objects of study from atoms and molecules to the Earth as a whole.

Each of these sciences is widely ramified in various directions, just like geology itself includes tectonics, stratigraphy and historical geology.

Geochemistry

In the field of view of this science lie the problems of the distribution of elements in the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere.

Modern geochemistry is a complex of scientific disciplines, including regional geochemistry, biogeochemistry and geochemical methods of prospecting for mineral deposits. The subject of study for all these disciplines are the laws of migration of elements, the conditions for their concentration, separation and redeposition, as well as the evolution of the forms of finding each element or association of several, especially close in properties.

Geochemistry is based on the properties and structure of the atom and crystalline matter, on the data on the thermodynamic parameters that characterize part of the earth's crust or individual shells, as well as on general patterns formed by thermodynamic processes.

A direct task of geochemical research in geology is the detection of MPO, therefore geological prospecting for ore minerals is compulsorily preceded and accompanied by geochemical surveying, according to which the areas of dispersion of the useful component are allocated.

Mineralogy

One of the main and oldest sections of geological science, studying a huge, beautiful, unusually interesting and mysterious world of minerals. Mineralogical studies, goals, tasks and methods of which depend on specific tasks, are carried out at all stages of prospecting and exploration work and include a wide range of methods from visual assessment of mineral composition to electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction.

At the stages of surveying, prospecting and exploration of MPO, studies are conducted to identify mineralogical search criteria and a preliminary assessment of the practical significance of potential deposits.

In the process of exploratory stage of geological work and in estimating the reserves of ore or non-metallic raw materials, its full quantitative and qualitative mineral composition is established with the identification of useful and harmful impurities, the data on which are taken into account when selecting processing technology or concluding on the quality of raw materials.

In addition to a comprehensive study of the composition of rocks, the main tasks of mineralogy are studying the patterns of the combination of minerals in natural associations and improving the principles of the taxonomy of mineral species.

Crystallography

Once crystallography was considered a part of mineralogy, and the close connection between them is natural and obvious, but today it is an independent science with its own subject and its own methods of research. The tasks of crystallography are a comprehensive study of the structure, physical and optical properties of crystals, the processes of their formation and the characteristics of interaction with the environment, as well as changes occurring under the influence of various influences.

The science of crystals is divided into physical and chemical crystallography, which studies the regularities of the formation and growth of crystals, their behavior under different conditions, depending on shape and structure, and geometric crystallography, the subject of which are the geometric laws governing the shape and symmetry of crystals.

Tectonics

Tectonics is one of the core sections of geology, which studies the structure of the earth's crust in the structural plan, the features of its formation and development against a backdrop of various-scale motions, deformations, breaking dislocations and dislocations caused by deep-seated processes.

Tectonics is divided into regional, structural (morphological), historical and applied branches.

The regional direction operates with such structures as platforms, plates, shields, folded areas, depressions of the seas and oceans, transform faults, rift zones, etc.

An example is the regional structural-tectonic plan, which characterizes the geology of Russia. The European part of the country is located on the East European platform, composed of Precambrian magmatic and metamorphic rocks. The territory between the Urals and the Yenisei is located on the West Siberian platform. From the Yenisei to the Lena stretches the Siberian platform (Middle Siberian Plateau). Folded areas are represented by the Ural-Mongolian, Pacific and partly Mediterranean folded belts.

Morphological tectonics, as compared to the regional one, studies structures of a lower order.

The history of origin and formation of the main types of structural forms of the oceans and continents is occupied by historical geotectonics.

The applied direction of tectonics is associated with the identification of regularities in the placement of various types of MPOs in connection with certain types of morphostructures and the features of their development.

In the "mercantile" geological sense, faults in the earth's crust are considered as ore-supplying channels and ore-controlling factors.

Paleontology

Meaning literally "the science of ancient beings", paleontology studies fossil organisms, their remains and traces of vital activity, mainly for stratigraphic dismemberment of rocks of the earth's crust. The competence of paleontology includes the task of reconstructing a picture reflecting the process of biological evolution on the basis of data obtained as a result of reconstruction of the appearance, biological features, ways of reproduction and feeding of ancient organisms.

For quite obvious signs, paleontology is divided into paleozoology and paleobotanical.

Organisms are sensitive to changes in the physico-chemical parameters of their habitats, therefore they are reliable indicators of the conditions in which rocks were formed. Hence the close connection between geology and paleontology.

On the basis of paleontological studies, in conjunction with the results of definitions of the absolute age of geological formations, a geochronological scale was compiled, in which the history of the Earth is divided into geological eras (Archaean, Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic). Era breaks into periods, and those, in turn, split into epochs.

We live in the Pleistocene epoch (20 thousand years ago to the present) of the Quaternary period, which began about 1 million years ago.

Petrography

The study of the mineral composition of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, their texture-structural characteristics and genesis is handled by petrography (petrology). Studies are carried out using a polarizing microscope in the rays of transmitted polarized light. To do this, thin (0.03-0.02 mm) slices are cut from the rock samples, then glued to the glass plate with Canadian balsam (the optical characteristics of this resin are close to the parameters of the glass).

Minerals become transparent (most), and their optical properties identify the minerals and their constituent rocks. The interference images in the thin section resemble patterns in a kaleidoscope.

Petrography of sedimentary rocks occupies a special place in the cycle of geological sciences. Its great theoretical and practical significance is due to the fact that the subject of research are modern and ancient (fossil) sediments, which occupy about 70% of the Earth's surface.

Engineering geology

Engineering geology is the science of those features of the composition, physical and chemical properties, formation, occurrence and dynamics of the upper horizons of the earth's crust, which are associated with economic, mainly engineering and construction activities of man.

Engineering geological surveys are aimed at performing a comprehensive and comprehensive assessment of geological factors caused by human economic activity in conjunction with natural geological processes.

If we recall that, depending on the guiding method, natural science is divided into descriptive and exact sciences, engineering geology, of course, refers to the latter, unlike many of its "comrades in the shop."

Marine Geology

It would be unfair to ignore the extensive section of geology that studies the geological structure and features of the development of the earth's crust that forms the bottom of the oceans and seas. If we follow the shortest and most capacious definition that characterizes geology (the theory of the Earth), then marine geology is the science of the oceanic (oceanic) day, encompassing all branches of the "geological tree" (tectonics, petrography, lithology, historical and Quaternary geology, paleogeography , Stratigraphy, geomorphology, geochemistry, geophysics, the doctrine of minerals, etc.).

Studies in the seas and oceans are conducted from specially equipped vessels, floating drilling rigs and pontoons (on the shelf). For sampling, in addition to drilling, dredges, grab-type bottom grabbers and straight-through pipes are used. With the help of autonomous and towed vehicles, discrete and continuous photographic, television, seismic, magnetometric and geolocation surveys are conducted.

In our time, many problems of modern science have not yet been resolved, and they include the undisclosed secrets of the ocean and its subsoil. Marine geology is honored not only for the sake of science "secret to make clear," but also to master the colossal mineral resources of the World Ocean.

The main theoretical task of the modern marine branch of geology is to study the history of the development of the oceanic crust and to reveal the main regularities of its geological structure.

Historical geology is the science of the laws governing the development of the Earth's crust and the planet as a whole in the historically foreseeable past from the moment of its formation to our days. The study of the history of the formation of the lithosphere structure is important because the tectonic movements and deformations occurring in it appear to be the most important factors causing most of the changes that occurred on Earth in past geological eras.

Now, having received a general idea of geology, one can turn to its origins.

Excursus in the history of Earth science

It's hard to say how far the history of geology goes back to the depths of millennia, but the Neanderthal man already knew from what to make a knife or an ax using flint or obsidian (volcanic glass).

From the time of the primitive man to the middle of the 18th century, the pre-scientific stage of accumulation and formation of geological knowledge, mainly about metal ores, building stones, salts and underground waters, continued. About rocks, minerals and geological processes in the interpretation of the time began to speak already in ancient times.

By the 13th century, mining in Asia has been developing and the foundations of mining and ore knowledge are emerging.

In the Renaissance (XV-XVI centuries), a heliocentric view of the world (J. Bruno, G. Galilei, N. Copernicus) is affirmed, the geological representations of N. Stenon, Leonardo da Vinci and G. Bauer are born, and cosmogonic concepts of P Descartes and G. Leibniz.

In the period of the formation of geology as a science (XVIII-XIX centuries.) Appeared cosmogonic hypotheses of P. Laplace and I. Kant and geological ideas of MV Lomonosov, J. Buffon. Stratigraphy (I. Lehman, G. Füksel) and paleontology (JB Lamarck, W. Smith) are emerging, crystallography (R.J. Gauyi, M.V. Lomonosov), and mineralogy (I. Ya. Berzelius, A. Kronstedt, VM Severgin, KF Moos, and others), geological mapping begins.

During this period, the first geological societies and national geological services are created.

From the second half of XIX to the beginning of the 20th century, the most significant events were the geological observations of Charles Darwin, the creation of the theory of platforms and geosynclines, the origin of paleogeography, the development of instrumental petrography, genetic and theoretical mineralogy, the emergence of concepts of magma and the theory of ore deposits. The geology of oil began to emerge and geophysics gain momentum (magnetometry, gravimetry, seismometry, and seismology). In 1882 the geological committee of Russia was founded.

The modern period of the development of geology began in the mid-20th century, when the science of the Earth took up computer technology and acquired new laboratory instruments, tools and technical means that allowed to begin geological and geophysical studies of the oceans and the nearest planets.

The most outstanding scientific achievements were the theory of metasomatic zoning of D. S. Korzhinsky, the doctrine of facies of metamorphism, the theory of M. Strakhov on the types of lithogenesis, the introduction of geochemical methods of prospecting ore deposits,

Under the guidance of AL Yanshin, NS Shatsky and AA Bogdanov, survey tectonic maps of the countries of Europe and Asia were created, and paleogeographic atlases were compiled.

The concept of a new global tectonics (J. T. Wilson, G. Hess, V. E. Khain, etc.) was developed, geodynamics, engineering geology and hydrogeology advanced far, a new direction in geology-the ecological one-was outlined, which today has become a priority.

Problems of modern geology

Today, on many fundamental issues, the problems of modern science are still unresolved, and there are at least one and a half hundred such questions. We are talking about the biological bases of consciousness, the riddles of memory, the nature of time and gravity, the origin of stars, black holes and the nature of other cosmic objects. The share of geology, too, fell a lot of problems that have yet to be understood. This concerns mainly the structure and composition of the universe, as well as the processes taking place inside the Earth.

Nowadays, the importance of geology increases due to the need to monitor and take into account the growing threat of catastrophic geological consequences associated with unsustainable economic activities, exacerbating environmental problems.

Geological Education in Russia

The formation of modern geological education in Russia is associated with the opening in St. Petersburg of the corps of mining engineers (the future Mining Institute) and the creation of the Moscow University, and the flowering began when in 1930 the Institute of Geology (now GIN) was established in Leningrad and then transferred to Moscow AH CCCP).

Today, the Geological Institute takes the leading place among research institutions in the field of stratigraphy, lithology, tectonics and the history of the sciences of the geological cycle. The main activities are related to the development of complex fundamental problems in the structure and formation of the oceanic and continental crust, the study of the evolution of rock formation of continents and sedimentation in the oceans, geochronology, the global correlation of geological processes and phenomena,

By the way, the predecessor of the GIN was the Mineralogical Museum, renamed in 1898 in the Museum of Geology, and then in 1912 in the Geological and Mineralogical Museum. Peter the Great.

Since the inception of geological education in Russia, the principle Trinity: science - learning - practice. This principle, in spite of perestroika shocks, educational geology follows today.

In 1999, the decision of the collegia of the Ministries of Education and Natural Resources of Russia adopted the concept of geological education, which was approved in educational institutions and production teams that "grow" geological personnel.

Today, higher geological education can be obtained in more than 30 universities in Russia.

And let them go "to explore in the taiga" or go "into the hot steppes" in our time - this is not as prestigious as it once was, the geologist chooses it, because "happy, who knows the pressing feeling of the road" ...