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Hello everyone and welcome back!
I wanted to focus todays discussion on a few
important topics Geology, scientific method,
and geological time.
Today we will begin discussing what geology
is and its importance.
Geology is the study of Earth and its history.
In this field geologist study the solid material
of the earth including the interior and exterior
surfaces such as minerals, rocks, flowing
water on and below the surface, and any changes
that have or are predicted to occur over time.
As you can see geology quite literally spans
the entire world and to infinity and beyond.
I hope you are excited because we are about
to delve into the earth and its history in
the next few discussions.
Geology is an interdisciplinary science and
it is important to discuss the steps behind
how a scientist explores a problem.
This process is broken up into observations,
hypothesis, and experimental design and is
a cyclic process.
An observation is the catalyst to starting
any research project and can be either a qualitative
observation, which describes the properties
or occurrences that does not rely on numbers,
or a quantitative observation, which is reliant
on measurements and numbers.
From that initial observation, you begin to
formulate a hypothesis, which is a proposed
explanation of a phenomenon that can be tested.
This can be a framework or model to describe
a natural system or a mathematical expression.
Something to keep in mind is that a hypothesis
needs to be tested.
From here, the hypothesis can be tested to
either support your hypothesis, or if it is
not supported then the hypothesis can be modified,
and the process can be repeated, hence why
it is a cyclic process.
When a hypothesis has been repeatedly supported
by experiments, it can in time be accepted
as a theory.
There is a lot of confusion that surrounds
a scientific theory and it is important to
not confuse this with a hypothesis.
A scientific theory has been repeatedly tested
and is supported by a significant amount of
research and evidence.
This means multiple individuals have extensively
tested the hypothesis and has been accepted
by many experts in the field and is accepted
as a theory.
This brings into light an important question,
why is it important to study the earth?
Well hopefully this should be a relatively
straight forward answer, earth is our home
and where we currently live for the foreseeable
future.
Not to mention the amazing wonders and beautiful
landscapes that are around us.
But some other important reasons why we study
the earth is to better understand the evolution
of the environment, anthropogenic impact on
the earth and different ecosystems, to minimize
and/or predict earthquakes, volcanoes, slope
failures, and potential floods.
These are just a small list of reasons why
we study the earth.
Before we begin delving further into geology
it is important to start at the very beginning,
the Big Bang Theory.
This theory is widely accepted within the
field and takes into considerations countless
amounts of observations and this theory begins
to explain the origin of today’s universe.
This idea was first proposed back in 1927
by astronomer Georges Lemaitre, who is credited
to be the father of the big bang, and proposed
that the universe expanded as a result of
a cataclysmic explosion and the universe expanded
rapidly.
As a result, tiny particles began grouping
together forming atoms and over time these
atoms began coming together to form stars
and galaxies.
It is predicted that the universe is 12 to
14 giga annum or billions years, with the
earth being approximately 4,570 mega annum
or millions of years.
Let’s take for instance the planets in our
solar system.
Depending on how far away from the sun determines
the overall composition of the planet.
Planets closest to the sun contain more metallic
iron and minerals that can withstand high
melting temperatures.
Whereas the planets further from the sun predominately
have minerals with much lower melting temperatures
and water.
The following table breaks down the planets
in our solar system and compares distance
from the sun, the mean temperature, diameter
of the planet relative to earth and the density.
It also shows the planets which are predominantly
rocky or metal planets in comparison to planets
that are gaseous.
The earths atmosphere has drastically changed
over time and at the beginning humans would
not have been able to survive in those current
conditions.
However, over time the earth’s atmosphere
acclimated to be able to support oxygen-breathing
organisms.
When talking about geological time this is
equivalent to a calendar event for the history
of earth and has separated it into different
sections, with the following graphic depicting
earth’s history as a spiral.
When dealing with geological time it is separated
from largest to smallest into Eons, which
are then divided into eras that are then divided
further into periods, epoch, and ages.
I hope you have enjoyed today’s discussion
on geology, the scientific method, and the
big bang theory.
Until next time, have a wonderful day and
in leu of my normal ending I figured this
time I’ll go out with a BANG!
