Michael Woolfall, age 11, of West Warwick, Rhode Island, for his question:
What types of work are geologists trained to do?
Geology is for students who love the earth and its wondrous assortment of minerals. It is for those who are gifted with a special curiosity about the crust and interior of our solid planet, and a growing number of widely assorted careers are waiting for future geologists.
Geology is a planetwide study that includes the earth sciences, the chemistry of minerals in land and ocean and the dynamic laws of physics that have been forming and reforming the earth for billions of years. A trained geologist has a general knowledge of its basic principles but his life is too short to study each of its aspects in detail. So he becomes an expert in the branch of geology of his choice. Upon this choice will depend his future career, his work and where it takes him.
A geochemist may work in a lab, analyzing the molecular structure of minerals. He may specialize in mineralogy or petrology, in minerals or stones. His work may take him out
doors from thp tVpics to the poles, testing minerals in mines and deposits of ores. He may work in the petroleum industry, in the field or in the lab. In the field, he tests sample cores brought up by deep drilling. He may explore for buried oil with controlled explosions like small earthquakes. The shock vibrations give him a picture of levels deep below they surface. He knows the likely formations where oil reservoirs may or may not be found.
A geologist with special training in physics may choose to explore the present structure of the earth or to delve into its age old past. His work may be measuring mountains and valleys on the continents and sea beds. He may help to chart maps of the earth's geography, verify sea levels and the exact locations of latitudes and longitudes. Geography is one branch of the earth's sciences. A specialist in geodesy is interested in the planetary forces that are changing the face of the earth by erosion, earthquakes and volcanic activity. His work may be planning irrigation, dams and flood controls.
In order to understand the earth as it is, we need to know more of its past. A geophysicist interested in the past may dig and delve, prod and probe to trace the past, features and formations of the changing earth. He may analyze mineral samples from the sea bed or" from the rocky layers of the crusty continents. He may be a seismologist with special knowledge of, earthquakes. His work may keep him busy checking the major and minor shudders and shivers within the earth's crust. His records may help to complete a global picture of our dynamic planet. Many branches of geology are working towards this planetary picture and a better understanding of forces that constantly change it. With this knowledge, earth scientists of the future hope to predict major earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
The details of the various branches of geology might be crammed into about 20 fat books. Each would indicate dozens of different careers needing specialized skills and training. The work of a geologist may take him anywhere on the land. It may take him under the s a, inside a lab or an industrial plant. He may favor minerals or metals, chemistry or physics, the past or the present. In geology, there is enough variety of subjects to interest almost anyone and enough work to occupy everybody interested in our planet and its unsolved secrets.