What is Earth Science?

Earth science is a broad spectrum of Science,that covers life science and physical science. Life science is all about the study of living organisms and their relationships that include biology, anatomy, ecology, etc. It is the study of the earth and its neighbouring celestial bodies of the solar system.

In a simple manner, the branches of science dealing with the physical constituents of earth and the atmosphere and it is considered to be the definition of earth science.

This subject includes all physical processes that occur on the earth’s surface as well as in its atmosphere. Therefore, earth science involves the entire natural phenomenon like rainfall, storms, hurricanes, drought, floods, etc. Also, the factors that affect these physical processes and the effect of these natural processes on earth and the living organisms are studied under the head.

Importance of Earth Science

The significance of this is understood by knowing the regions that are covered by the different branches of it. Since, the study of the oceans that covers about seventy-one percent of the surface of our planet. It serves one of the most important divisions of the science. The Earth is the only planet which supports life and the only planet where life is said to be continuously sustained. Oceans are considered as the areas of the origin of life on the earth and a major determinant of the earth’s atmospheric condition that serves as determinants of various life process on various parts of the earth. Also, the study of the different fossils forms that are present under the earth’s surface gives us the information about the forms of life present at a geological sense and it also known to establish a bond between the ancestral & the living forms. The rocks that are found in the variety of parts of the earth provides data about the evolution of rocks at ancient times. Hence, it is one among the principal branches of physics to study.

Earth Science Formulas

• The earth’s magnetic field:

B = Bv + Bh

Where,

• B is the earth’s magnetic field.
• Bv is the magnetic field in the vertical component.
• BH is the magnetic field in the horizontal component.    

Today the Geosciences are divided into several disciplines, that are themselves severable into six groups:

1. Those subjects that subsume the water and air at or higher than the solid surface of Earth. These embrace the study of the water on and among the bottom (hydrology), the glaciers and ice caps (glaciology), the oceans (oceanography), the atmosphere and its phenomena (meteorology), and also the world’s climates (climatology). during this article such fields of study are classified beneath the hydrologic and region sciences and are treated severally from the geological sciences, which specialise in the solid Earth.

2. Disciplines concerned with the physical-chemical makeup of the solid Earth, that embrace the study of minerals (mineralogy), the 3 main teams of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, associate degreed metamorphic petrology), the chemistry of rocks (geochemistry), the structures in rocks (structural geology), and also the physical properties of rocks at Earth’s surface and in its interior (geophysics).

3. The study of landforms (geomorphology), which worries with the outline of the options of the current terrestrial surface and an analysis of the processes that gave rise to them.

4. Disciplines concerned with the geological history of Earth, as well as the study of fossils and also the fossil record (paleontology), the event of substance strata deposited generally over voluminous years (stratigraphy), and the atom chemistry and age chemical analysis of rocks (geochronology).

5. Applied Earth sciences managing current sensible applications useful to society. These embrace the study of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal); oil reservoirs; mineral deposits; heat energy for electricity and heating; the structure and composition of bedrock for the situation of bridges, nuclear reactors, roads, dams, and skyscrapers and alternative buildings; hazards involving rock and dirt avalanches, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and the collapse of tunnels; and coastal, cliff, and soil erosion.

6. The study of the rock record on the Moon and also the planets and their satellites (astrogeology). This field includes the investigation of relevant terrestrial features—namely, tektites (glassy objects ensuing from meteoroid impacts) and astroblemes (meteorite craters).