Earth science
Earth science (also known as
geoscience,
the geosciences or
the Earth Sciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet
Earth. It is arguably a special case in
planetary science, being the only known
life-bearing planet. There are both
reductionist and
holistic approaches to Earth science. The major historic
disciplines use
physics,
geography,
mathematics,
chemistry,and
biology to build a quantitative understanding of the principal areas or
spheres of the Earth system.
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Geology describes the
rocky parts of the Earth's
crust (or
lithosphere) and its historic development. Major subdisciplines are
mineralogy and
petrology,
geochemistry,
geomorphology,
paleontology,
stratigraphy and
sedimentology.
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Geodesy and
Geophysics (joined together in the
IUGG) investigate the
figure of the Earth, its reaction to forces and its
potential fields (magnetic and
gravity field). Geophysicists explore also the
Earth's core and
mantle and the natural
deposits, Geodesists the movement of
stars and
satellites.
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Soil science covers the outermost layer of the Earth's crust that is subject to soil formation processes (or
pedosphere). Major subdisciplines include
edaphology and
pedology.
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Oceanography and
Hydrology (incl.
Limnology) describe the marine and freshwater domains of the
watery parts of the Earth (or
hydrosphere). Major subdisciplines include
hydrogeology and
physical,
chemical, and
biological oceanography.
Within the scientific union IUGG the disciplines are joined with
Geophysics, except the chemical ones.
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Glaciology covers the parts of the Earth (or
cryosphere)
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Atmospheric sciences cover the parts of the Earth (or
atmosphere) between the surface and the
exosphere (~1000 km). Major subdisciplines are
Meteorology,
Climatology and
Aeronomy.
However, due to the numerous interactions between the
spheres many modern fields take an
interdisciplinary approach and thus do not sit "comfortably" in this scheme. Even the above specialisms do not operate in isolation. For example to understand the circulation of the oceans, the
interactions between
ocean, atmosphere and
Earth rotation must be considered.
Other types of research are even more interdisciplinary and interactions between different disciplines are central to them, for example:
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Biogeochemistry follows the cycling of elements through the
spheres mediated by biological and geological processes, and especially their distribution and fluxes between
reservoirs.
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Mineralogy and Mineral Physics consider the rock-forming minerals on the atomic length-scale, both as part of geosystems and increasingly with an eye towards technological applications (for instance, as
catalysts or exploiting their potential
ferroelectric properties); in this, there is extensive and increasing overlap with
solid-state physics,
crystal chemistry and
Materials Science.
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Paleoceanography and
Paleoclimatology use the properties of
sediments,
ice cores, or biological material to infer past states of the ocean, atmosphere or climate.
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Meteorology describes, explains and predicts the
weather based on the interaction of principally the ocean and atmosphere.
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Climatology describes and explains the
climate in terms of the interaction of the litho-, pedo-, hydro-, atmo-, cryo-, and bio- spheres.
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Atmospheric chemistry describes, explains and predicts the chemical composition of the atmosphere in principlly terms of the interactions of the ocean, atmosphere, biosphere and human influence.
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Hydrology considers the flow of
water through the Earth, from the transition of water in the form of precipitation in the atmosphere, to rivers, and groundwater in
aquifers.
Many scientists are now starting to use an approach known as
Earth system science which treats the entire Earth as a
system in its own right, which evolves as a result of
positive and
negative feedback between constituent systems. The
systems approach, enabled by the combined use of computer models as hypotheses tested by global
satellite and ship-board data, is increasingly giving scientists the ability to explain the past and possible future behaviour of the Earth system.
Complex computer models which seek to model several different parts of the Earth system and the interactions between them are known as
Earth system models. Many are based on
Global climate models and include sub models for the ocean, atmosphere, biosphere and other parts of the earth system. These interactions are of particular importance when trying to understand changes over decade to centuries and longer periods.
Gaia theories explain the behaviour of the Earth system in terms of the influence of the biosphere.
Like all other scientists, earth scientists apply the
scientific method: formulate hypotheses after observation of and gathering data about natural phenomena and then test those hypotheses. In earth science, data usually plays a critical role in testing and formulating hypotheses.
Atmosphere
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Atmospheric chemistry*
Climatology*
Meteorology**
Hydrometeorology*
PaleoclimatologyBiosphere
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Biogeography*
Paleontology**
Palynology**
Micropaleontology*
GeomicrobiologyHydrosphere
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Hydrology**
Glaciology**
Limnology*
Hydrogeology*
Oceanography**
Chemical oceanography**
Marine biology**
Marine geology**
Paleoceanography**
Physical oceanographyLithosphere or geosphere
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Geology**
Economic geology**
Engineering geology**
Environmental geology**
Historical geology***
Glaciology***
Quaternary geology**
Planetary geology**
Sedimentology **
Stratigraphy**
Structural geology *
Geochemistry*
Geomorphology*
Geophysics**
Geochronology**
Geodynamics (see also
Tectonics)
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Geomagnetics
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Gravimetry (also part of
Geodesy)
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Seismology*
Hydrogeology*
Mineralogy**
Crystallography**
Gemology*
Petrology*
VolcanologyPedosphere
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Soil science**
Edaphology**
PedologySystems
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Geography**
Human geography**
Physical Geography*
Earth system science*
Gaia theoriesOthers
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Cartography*
Geoinformatics (
GIS)
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Geostatistics*
Geodesy and
SurveyingSee also
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List of geoscience organizationsnds-nl:Eerdwetenschoppen
