What is geology? To put simply, geology is the study of rocks. To add a little more meat on the bone, geology is the science that deals with earth's physical structure, history, and the processes that act on it. When you consider that definition, it means that geology can focus not only on the rocks, but also the biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
Compared to the other sciences, it feels like geology has been an undervalued science. In popular culture Sheldon from Big Bang Theory commonly makes fun of geologists. Quite recently, there has been talk from politicians about not funding geology because they believe it is not a core science. That claim is ridiculous and clearly shows the ignorance of these politicians. Geology is applicable in many different parts of our society such as mineral, oil and gas exploration. These are raw materials that are made into products you touch everyday whether you know it or not such as gasoline, lubricants, metals and even makeup.
Geology and other science disciplines often complement each other. Although you can probably make this claim for other sciences, I still love the fact that a good geologist has knowledge in many other fields. Here I will list different disciplines that are often incorporated with geology.
Geology - Biology = Palentology and ichnology
Geology - Chemistry = Geochemistry
Geology - Physics = Geophysics
Geology - Fluid mechanics = Sedimentology
Geology - Solid mechanics = Structural geology
Geology - Planetary Science = Planetary geology
Geology - Environmental sciences = Environmental geology
There are definitely a lot more sciences or sub-disciplines you can combine with geology. What I love about all the sub-disciplines in geology that I listed is that they are all actually pretty common. I went to school and/or are friends with colleagues who have studied these disciplines. I have a friend who studied geophysics on Mars!!! That is pretty cool!
I have a passion for geology because I find it fascinating that I can touch an object that is hundreds of millions of years old. When I touch a dinosaur bone, I have touched a part of a living creature that is maybe 65 million years old and we have nothing on Earth similar to it anymore. This animal walked around that location feeding on plants or other animals. That animal then died, decomposed, bones transported and buried to finally become fossilized. Those bones existed on Earth for millions of years when the Earth and the animals on it changed drastically. When I uncover this bone, I am the first one to see it in millions of years! Another example is walking around and finding ripples on a sandstone in the middle of Utah. These ripples are exactly like the ripples I would find on a beach on the east coast of the United States, but it is in a rock in the middle of a continent! What this rock is telling me is that water in an ocean or sea moved over this surface perhaps millions of years ago!
To summarize, I have a passion for geology because I get to touch, visualize, and try to interpret what was happening in this environment in the ancient past! Every rock tells a story, and I enjoy trying to interpret and write down this story.
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