Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology

Overview

Course No. 1700

Discover how Earth’s rocks, minerals, and landscapes form through 36 engaging lectures that reveal geology’s practical applications – from predicting earthquakes to finding natural resources.

Why Geology Matters:

• Resource Location: Where to find water, oil, and minerals
• Natural Hazards: Understanding earthquakes and volcanoes
• Landscape Formation: How mountains, canyons, and soils develop
• Deep Time: Earth’s 4.5-billion-year story

Video Lectures

01: Origin of the Universe (31 min)

Explore cosmic beginnings before rocks existed – the foundation for Earth’s eventual formation.

02: Origin of the Solar System (30 min)

How a rotating dust disc formed rocky inner planets like Earth and gaseous outer giants.

03: Continental Drift (30 min)

The revolutionary plate tectonics theory that explained moving continents.

04: Plate Tectonics (30 min)

Seafloor spreading, supercontinent cycles, and the forces driving Earth’s dynamic surface.

05: The Formation of Minerals (30 min)

Essential building blocks of rocks – their creation and classification systems.

06: Classification of Minerals (29 min)

Why silicates dominate rock formation and how non-silicates differ.

07: The Identification of Minerals (31 min)

Field techniques: Testing streak, hardness, cleavage, and acid reactions.

08: Kinds of Rocks (30 min)

Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic – how each type forms and their global distribution.

09: Sedimentary Rocks (31 min)

Weathering products covering 75% of land surfaces, preserving Earth’s history.

10: Metamorphic Rocks (31 min)

Transformed by heat and pressure at depth – the rock cycle’s dramatic phase.

11: Volcanic Activity (29 min)

Connection between plate boundaries, magma chemistry, and eruption styles.

12: Phases of Volcanic Activity (30 min)

Cinder cones vs. shield volcanoes – classifying eruptions by violence.

13: The Hawaiian Islands and Yellowstone Park (29 min)

Hotspot volcanism creating island chains and supervolcano threats.

14: Mass Wasting – Gravity at Work (29 min)

How gravity shapes landscapes through often-overlooked erosion processes.

15: Mass Wasting Processes (30 min)

Flows, slides, falls – and the surprisingly powerful slow creep of material.

16: Weathering (31 min)

Physical breakdown (frost wedging) and chemical decomposition of rocks.

17: Soils and the Clay Minerals (29 min)

Why clays are crucial for agriculture and how they form from weathered rock.

18: Climate and the Type of Soils (31 min)

Predicting soil varieties based on precipitation and temperature patterns.

19: Streams – The Major Agent of Erosion (31 min)

How flowing water, even in deserts, sculpts most terrestrial landscapes.

20: Sculpting of the Landscape (29 min)

William Davis’s theory of youthful, mature, and old-age stream systems.

21: Stream Erosion in Arid Regions (30 min)

Adapting erosion models to Nevada’s desert environments.

22: Ice Sculpts the Final Scene (31 min)

Glaciers’ dramatic role in carving alpine valleys and fjords.

23: Groundwater (31 min)

Earth’s vast freshwater reserves stored in porous aquifers.

24: The Production of Groundwater (28 min)

Why groundwater isn’t truly renewable – extraction vs. recharge rates.

25: Karst Topography (31 min)

Limestone dissolution creating sinkholes, caves, and irregular landscapes.

26: Groundwater Contamination (30 min)

How human activities pollute vital underground water supplies.

27: Rock Deformation (30 min)

Elastic, plastic, and brittle responses to tectonic stresses.

28: The Geologic Structures (31 min)

Folds: Compression-created arches and troughs in rock layers.

29: Faults and Joints (31 min)

San Andreas Fault example – where rocks fracture and slide.

30: Earthquakes (30 min)

Why convergent plate boundaries generate the most violent quakes.

31: Damage from Earthquakes (30 min)

Measuring intensity vs. magnitude – and tsunami formation.

32: Seismology (31 min)

How seismographs revolutionized earthquake study and prediction.

33: The Formation of Mountains (30 min)

Four mountain types with foldbelt ranges like the Himalayas.

34: Orogenic Styles (31 min)

Mountain-building through continent collisions and subduction.

35: Economic Geology of Coal (29 min)

From ancient swamps to energy resource – coal formation and classification.

36: Economic Geology of Petroleum (32 min)

Oil’s marine origins, reservoir geology, and looming resource depletion.