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Antiquity. In the year 540 BC, Xenophanes described fossil fish and shells found in deposits on mountains. Similar fossils were noted by Herodotus (about 490 BC). [2][3][4] Some of the first geological thoughts were about the origin of the Earth. Ancient Greece developed some primary geological concepts concerning the origin of the Earth.
Geology (from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) 'earth' and λoγία (-logía) 'study of, discourse') [ 1 ][ 2 ] is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. [ 3 ]
The geological history of the Earth follows the major geological events in Earth's past based on the geological time scale, a system of chronological measurement based on the study of the planet's rock layers (stratigraphy). Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago by accretion from the solar nebula, a disk-shaped mass of dust and gas left ...
1743 – Dr Christopher Packe produces a geological map of south-east England. 1746 – Jean-Étienne Guettard presents the first mineralogical map of France to the French Academy of Sciences. 1760 – John Michell suggests earthquakes are caused by one layer of rocks rubbing against another. 1776 – James Keir suggests that some rocks, such ...
Earth formed around 4.54 billion years ago, approximately one-third the age of the universe, by accretion from the solar nebula. [4][5][6] Volcanic outgassing probably created the primordial atmosphere and then the ocean, but the early atmosphere contained almost no oxygen.
The geologic time scale is a way of representing deep time based on events that have occurred throughout Earth's history, a time span of about 4.54 ± 0.05 Ga (4.54 billion years). [5] It chronologically organises strata, and subsequently time, by observing fundamental changes in stratigraphy that correspond to major geological or ...
James Hutton FRSE ( / ˈhʌtən /; 3 June O.S. [1] 1726 – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. [2] Often referred to as the "Father of Modern Geology," [3][4] he played a key role in establishing geology as a modern science. Hutton advanced the idea that the physical world ...
Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. [1] This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres: the biosphere, hydrosphere / cryosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere (or lithosphere). Earth ...