Article
Article
Environmental geology
Article By:
Blatt, Harvey Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel.
Last reviewed:July 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.757563
Show previous versions
- Environmental geology, published June 2014:Download PDF
Get Adobe Acrobat Reader
The branch of geology that deals with the ways in which geology affects people. Examples of the effect of geology on human civilizations include (1) how fertile soils develop from rocks and how these soils can become polluted by human activities; (2) how rocks and soils move down-slope to destroy roads, houses, and other human constructions; (3) how sources of surface and subsurface water become polluted; (4) why floods occur where they do and how human activities affect floods; (5) why earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur where they do and what dangers they pose (see illustration); (6) where mineral resources such as copper, oil and gas, and uranium are located, and how mining these resources can pollute the environment; (7) how human activities can pollute the atmosphere and cause global warming, sea-level rise, and ozone depletion.
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
