What Is Involved in the Study of Earth Science?

Earth science is a vast field that is dedicated to the study of the earth and the various factors that relate to that study. Another name for this field of study is geoscience, which is composed of various subfields that include subjects like geology, atmospheric sciences and meteorology. It also involves the study of oceanography with the aim of applying the knowledge gained from the study of the properties and behavior of the various bodies of water to the earth itself.

One of the areas of study in earth science is geology, a field that is focused on the analysis of materials like rocks and sand that are found on the earth. Such materials usually contain information that are capable of telling a story to trained geologists or other professionals. For example, some large rocks contain striations that reveal a wealth of information ranging from the presence of water in deserts at some point in the distant past to other events that may have occurred as a consequence of the climate or the age of the rock itself. Students will also learn about atmospheric sciences, a subject that is concerned with the atmosphere and other related factors, which is further divided into other areas like meteorology and atmospheric physics. Another topic that students of earth science can expect to study is the area of meteorology, which is focused on the analysis and dissection of the issues and factors related to the weather.

Another area of concentration in the study of earth science is the area of oceanography, a topic that is based on the study of the major bodies of water on the planet. These bodies of water are largely grouped into marine and fresh water, with further differentiations that are derived from size, content, location and the type of life it supports. In the case of freshwater habitats, students will learn about the types of water bodies that make up this group, including ponds, rivers, streams and lakes. They will also learn the fact that the salt content, or salinity, of these water sources are low to nonexistent, in comparison to the more salty marine water. They will also learn about the types of marine habitats, including seas, estuaries and oceans, the types of organisms that can survive in such salty surroundings, the effects of tides and currents, and other phenomena that are peculiar to this habitat.