SUMMARY Hopefully, you now have a much greater appreciation for every rock you see. You likely understand the basic types of rocks and how they have developed through the ages. Geological time is very long, so most of the rock to see have a long history dating from billions of years ago. In this course, you studied rock formation through the diverse actions of the earth's crust, a long history of sedimentation processes, the flow of water and air, and the heat of fire – and many more processes that shape every rock, river, and valley you encounter in everyday life. You now know why the study of geology is important, even if this is not your college major. Chapter one introduced the basic terminology you needed to know to get started in the subject of geology. Geology is one of those courses where there is a lot of lingo to learn in order to even get started. This chapter simply got you started on your geology adventure. You also learned about the 3 basic types of rocks and how they come to be rocks in the first place. Chapter two began our discussion of planet earth and its many unique features by looking directly at its origins. You learned that the earth is about 4.54 billion years old and began as a giant cloud of swirling space dust. Boy, has it changed! We looked at how all that dust collected into the wide range of rocks, minerals, and amazing geological structures on land and sea we now research in geology. At the end of the chapter, you studied the continental features and seafloor landscape and why they exist as they do now. Chapter three allowed you to examine the concept of geologic time. As you know, this timeframe dates back to the first days when the earth's crust was being developed. Older rocks look different from younger rocks; you needed to know the difference between them. You learned how to date rocks and how you can use rocks to indicate the age of
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