33 Types of Geology

John Spacey, February 14, 2022

Geology is the study of the physical structure and composition of planets, particularly the Planet Earth. This is the science of landforms, rocks, sediment, soil and related forces and phenomena. Geology is a subset of Earth Sciences and specifically excludes study of the biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The following are common types or branches of geology.

Astrogeology	Crystallography
Economic Geology	Engineering Geology
Environmental Geology	Gemology
Geochemistry	Geochronology / Chronology
Geodesy	Geomagnetics
Geomicrobiology	Geomorphology
Geophysics	Glaciology
Historical Geology	Hydrogeology
Lithology	Marine Geology
Micropaleontology	Mineralogy
Paleomagnetism	Paleontology
Paleoseismology	Palynology
Petrology	Planetary Geology
Sedimentology	Soil Science
Stratigraphy	Structural Geology
Tectonics	Topography
Volcanology

Astrogeology

The geology of things in space such as planets, moons and asteroids.

Crystallography

The science of crystals such as the structure and bonding of crystalline solids and crystal lattices.

Economic Geology

The application of geology to economic problems such as the feasibility of a mining project.

Engineering Geology

The application of geology to engineering such as evaluating geological factors in the architecture, design, construction, operation and maintenance of buildings, facilities and infrastructure.

Environmental Geology

The application of geology to prevent or solve environmental problems. For example, the design of infrastructure to prevent desertification caused by soil erosion and degradation.

Gemology

The science of natural and artificial gemstones.

Geochemistry

The study of the chemical composition and processes of the Earth.

Geochronology / Chronology

The dating of landforms, rocks and geological events.

Geodesy

The applied mathematics of measuring and modeling geological structures.

Geomagnetics

The branch of geophysics concerned with the Earth's magnetic field.

Geomicrobiology

The science that looks at the interactions between microorganisms and earth materials and structures.

Geomorphology

The topography of landforms and other geological structures.

Geophysics

The physics of the Earth.

Glaciology

The study of glaciers and their effect on the Earth.

Historical Geology

The science of reconstructing the geological history of Earth.

Hydrogeology

The study of groundwater and its effect on the Earth.

Marine Geology

The geology of the ocean floor.

Micropaleontology

The study of very small fossil animals and plants.

Mineralogy

The study of minerals.

Paleomagnetism

Geophysics concerned with magnetism in rocks induced by the Earth's magnetic field.

Paleontology

The branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.

Paleoseismology

The study of prehistoric earthquakes preserved in the Earth's geological record.

Palynology

The study of microscopic organic dust found in geological deposits such as sentiments and sedimentary rocks.

Petrology

The study of rocks and their formation.

Planetary Geology

The geology of astronomical objects, particularly planets.

Sedimentology

The study of sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks cover around 75% of the Earth's surface and are the key to understanding things such as the fossil record.

Seismotectonics

The study of the structures and forces that create earthquakes and earthquake hazards.

Soil Science

The interdisciplinary study of soils including their geology, chemistry and biology.

Stratigraphy

The study of the layers of rocks and other materials in the Earth.

Structural Geology

Structural geology looks at the history of stress and deformation found in present day geological structures. For example, the process by which a rift is pushed up by plate tectonics.