Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid materials that makes up the earth. The study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, as well as the processes by which they are generated, moved, and changed, is referred to as geology.
Mineral and hydrocarbon extraction, knowledge of and mitigation of natural hazards, various Geotechnical engineering sectors, and understanding former climates and habitats are all key aspects of the field.
As rock units are deposited and inserted, and deformational processes change their shapes and locations, the geology of an area varies over time.
Deposition on the surface or intrusion into the overlaying rock is how rock units are first deposited. Deposition can happen when sediments settle on the Earth’s surface and lithify into sedimentary rock, or when volcanic material blankets the surface, such as volcanic ash or lava flows. Batholiths, laccoliths, dikes, and sills are igneous intrusions that push upwards into the overlaying rock and crystallize as they do so.
The rock units can be distorted and/or metamorphosed after the initial sequence of rocks has been deposited. Horizontal shortening, horizontal extension, or side-to-side (strike-slip) motion are the most common causes of deformation. Between tectonic plates, these structural regimes roughly correspond to convergent, divergent, and transform borders, respectively.
Minerals
Related Topic
Jade Mining
Myanmar is the world’s largest supplier of jade, accounting for 70 percent to 90 percent of global supplies. The value of the jade trades at US$750 million in 2016–2017, independent estimates put it at US$15–31 billion each year, including illegal mining. Accidents at mining sites are a common occurrence in the industry. Hpakant, in Kachin state, is home to the world’s largest jade mine.
Independent “jade pickers” or freelance miners work alongside the larger mining companies to scavenge tailings. These self-employed miners dwell in squalid accommodations at the base of massive debris mounds excavated by heavy gear. Hundreds of people work at the Wai Khar jade mine site, scavenging through tailings dumped by trucks on the site. The tailings create enormous slopes that are prone to collapse, as characterized by BBC News as “an area devoid of vegetation and resembling a moonscape.” In northern Myanmar, an estimated 400,000 people operate as independent miners, and Myanmar ranked #1 among all countries in terms of landslide fatalities in 2018.
At least 10 tailing dam and slope failures have been observed in the Hpakant mines between 2015 and 2020. As they work along the tailing heaps, freelance miners are particularly vulnerable; many have died in recent years. A landslide in the mine killed at least 116 people in 2015. Two rescue personnel and four miners were killed when a mine collapsed in 2019, burying fifty people. At least 100 individuals died in that year, according to the BBC.
Environmental issues have been raised in the region as a result of jade mining. Mining corporations frequently violate government laws regarding the height of tailings heaps, which can reach hundreds of feet. Furthermore, when a company’s permission expires, vast open mining pits are left behind. Rainwater lakes form in these holes, pushing against the tailing heaps, causing landslides. Mining waste has also caused flooding by disrupting the flow of natural streams in the area. After the 2015 landslide, Htin Kyaw’s Cabinet was formed in 2016, led by Htin Kyaw and Aung San Suu Kyi, with the goal of reforming the jade business and reducing accidents. Mining has continued illegally despite the imposition of a license ban in 2016 that required companies to complete an environmental impact study and submit environmental management plans.
AMATEUR METAL DETECTOR ENTHUSIAST UNEARTHED 10,000 ROMAN COINS
On his first ever treasure hunt, an amateur metal detectorist unearthed a large train with over 10.000 Roman coins. The silver and bronze ‘nummi’ coins were unearthed in a farmer’s field near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and dated from about 240 and 320 AD. Finder Nick Davies, 30, was on his first treasure hunt when he stumbled onto the riches, which were primarily jammed into a buried 70-pound clay container. Experts think that the coins had been buried for 1,700 years. Nick discovered the spectacular collection of coins, the most of which were discovered inside the shattered brown pot, during a land search in the Shrewsbury region, barely a month after he began metal detecting.
One of the largest collections of Roman coins ever recovered in Shropshire is in his possession. The haul might be displayed at Shrewsbury’s new £10 million heritage center.
It also has the largest collection of Roman coins in the United Kingdom. Nick, who lives in Ford, Shropshire, said he never expected to uncover anything on his first treasure hunt. He recalls the discovery as “fantastically amazing.”
‘The top of the pot had been smashed in the ground, and a substantial number of the coins had strewn around the region,’ Nick said. A metal detector was used to recover all of these items throughout the dig.
The coins have been transferred to the British Museum for a thorough inspection before the coroner receives a report. Experts are anticipated to clean and separate the coins, which have fused together, over the course of several months.
Before delivering them to the coroner, they will also provide them with additional identification. Next year, a treasure trove inquest is likely to take place. The Portable Antiquities Scheme’s findings liaison officer, Peter Reavill, records archaeological finds made by the general public in England and Wales.
The coins were most likely paid to a farmer or community at the end of a crop, he added. The coins, according to Mr. Reavill, appear to date from 320 to 340 AD, late in Constantine I’s reign.
‘The coins originate from Constantine I’s era, when Britain was utilized to produce food for the Roman Empire,’ he said.
‘These coins may have been paid to a farmer who buried them and used them as a piggy bank.’
Mr. Reavill stated that issues commemorating the establishment of Rome and Constantinople were among the coins. The coins and the pot together weigh more than 70 pounds.
‘This is likely one of the greatest currency hoards ever discovered in Shropshire,’ he added.
‘The discoverer, Nick Davies, purchased his first metal detector a month ago, and this is his first find with it. The coins were stored in a big storage jar that had been buried in the ground around 1,700 years ago.’
Mr. Reavill, on the other hand, refused to put a dollar figure on the coins or the pot until the inquest results were known, but he described the find as “big and important.”
For security concerns, Mr. Reavill stated that the particular location of the discovery could not be disclosed.