Earth Science vs. Geology, the Dummy Comparison

branches of earth science

Hard on the heels of one freelancer's discussion of how to become a geologist, one of the staffers turned up a post at a different website that we found, believe it or not, even more doofus. This time it's a WiseGEEK.com freelancer we've seen before, one Esther Ejim, who was assigned to explain the question, "What Is the Relationship between Earth Science and Geology?" Sadly, the answer was... confusing, to say the least.

The answer is pretty simple: Earth Science is an "umbrella" field that deals with all the physical attributes of the planet, including the oceans, atmosphere, and the Earth itself. Geology is one of the four main branches of earth science, the branch that deals with the solid rock and the processes that act upon it.

You'd never know that from what Ejim (and her "editor" Kaci Lane Hindman) had to say. Much of it was well-nigh incomprehensible, including such questionable statements as,

"...geology is a major subfield under earth science, largely due to the fact that the study of geology is related to the strive [sic] to understand a lot about the earth and its history through an assessment of the clues contained in such materials."

Besides Ejim's questionable grammar and word choice, there's no antecedent to the "materials" mentioned. Duh. Let's look at some of Esther's other pronouncements:

"Some of features geologists study that create a connection between earth science and geology are the processes that take place on the earth, such as the eruption of volcanoes..." – Well, yeah. Some geologists study that. "Usually, geologists try to gather as much information as they can regarding these occurrences, including the history of such events and other related data, which in consonance with the physical analysis of the conditions at the various sites will lead to a better understanding of these processes." – Truth be told, we have no idea what that says... "Another interesting link between earth science and geology is the fact that it studies the development in the history of the earth through the study of ancient fossils like the remains of dinosaur ..." – Sorry, Esther, not all geologists are paleontologists. "For instance, the presence of shellfish in an area over time can lead to the formation of limestone as the shells of the creatures pile up and undergo mineralization." – First, those shells are already the mineral that constitutes limestone and second, there are more "creatures" than shellfish out there...

Ejim left her readers with an example of how geologists "make educated deductions." an example that left a lot to be desired.

What was really left to be desired, however, was an answer to the question in the title. Instead of half-assed pronouncements about some of the geological specialties, all she had to do was say that geology is a discipline separate from geography, meteorology, and oceanography; a discipline that concentrates on rocks and the processes that affect them.

Our Dumbass of the Day never said anything like that.

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SI - GEOLOGY