Zhurova T V - Angliyskiy Yazyk Dlya Studentov-Geologov

ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ АГЕНТСТВО ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ
УХТИНСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ
Т.В. Журова
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ-ГЕОЛОГОВ
Учебное пособие
Ухта 2009
2
УДК 802.0 (075)

Ж 92
Журова, Т.В. Английский язык для студентов-геологов [Текст]: учеб.

пособие/ Т.В. Журова. – Ухта: УГТУ, 2009. – 107 с.
ISBN 978-5-88179-538-2
Учебное пособие предназначено для работы со студентами

геологического факультета на этапе бакалавриата и магистратуры.
Пособие состоит из введения и двух частей.
Введение содержит тексты и задания, которые раскрывают ключевые
понятия профессии геолога.
Первая часть пособия включает в себя восемь разделов, которые
содержат тексты профессиональной направленности, подкрепленные яркими
иллюстрациями, и серию упражнений, нацеленных на освоение лексического и
грамматического материала.
Вторая часть пособия содержит тексты для дополнительной
внеаудиторной работы к разделам I - YIII. Тексты, отобранные автором научны,
содержат интересный, познавательный материал профессиональной
направленности.
Данное учебное пособие соответствует программе и отвечает
современным требованиям обучения студентов неязыковых вузов.
Рекомендовано к изданию Редакционно-издательским советом

Ухтинского государственного технического университета.
Рецензенты:
Вороговская Р.П. - зав. кафедрой иностранных языков Института
управления, информации и бизнеса;
Ломайкина И.С. - ст. преподаватель кафедры ДОУ и ПЛ Коми
Республиканской Академии государственной
службы и Управления при главе РК
©Ухтинский государственный технический университет, 2009

©Журова Т. В., 2009
ISBN 978-5-88179-538-2
3
Contents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction………………………………………………………………… 4
Part I
Unit I…………………………………………………………………………..…….7
Грамматика: Времена группы Simple, Continuous, Perfect (Active, Passive).
Текст “Earth”.
Unit II………………………………………………………………………………16
Грамматика: Conditional sentences I, II, III types.
Текст “Age of the Earth”.
Unit III……………………………………………………………………………..25
Грамматика: The Infinitive
Текст“Rocks and Their Classification”.
Unit IV……………………………………………………………………………..33
Грамматика: The Complex Subject, The Complex Object with the Infinitive
Текст “Igneous Rocks”
Unit V………………………………………………………………………………42
Грамматика: The Participle.
Текст “Sedimentary Rocks”.
Unit VI…………………………………………………………….……………….50
Грамматика: The Absolute Participial Construction
Текст “Metamorphic Rocks”.
Unit VII…………………………………………………………….………………58
Грамматика: Modal verbs and their equivalents
Текст “Rock Weathering”.
Unit VIII…………………………………………………………….……………..65
Грамматика: The Gerund
Текст “Petroleum”.
Part II
Professional translation
Geology and its subdiciplines………………………………………….…………...71
History of Geology…………………………………………………………………78
Petrology……………………………………………………………………………80
Earth science………………………………………………………………………..89
Erosion……………………………………………………………………………...93
Weathering………………………………………………………………………….96
Oil and gas geology………………………………………………………………..100
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….106
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Introduction
Read the text, trying to get the main idea.
What is Geology?
Definition of Geology:
Geology is the study of the Earth,

the materials of which it is made, the
structure of those materials, and the
processes acting upon them. It includes
the study of the organisms which inhabit
our planet. A very important part of
geology is the study of how Earth’s
materials, structures, processes and
organisms have changed over time.
Geology is commonly divided into a number of sub – disciplines:
1) those concerned with the chemical composition of the solid Earth, which
include the study of minerals (mineralogy) and rocks (petrology);
2) those having to do with the structure of the solid Earth, as, for example, the
study of the relationships of rocks and geologic features (structural geology) and the
science of volcanic phenomena (volcanology);
3) those concerned with landforms and the processes that produce them
(geomorphology and glacial geology);
4) those dealing with geologic history, including the study of fossils
(paleontology), the development of sedimentary strata (strastigraphy), and the
evolution of planetary bodies and their satellites (astrogeology); and
5) economic geology and its various branches – e.g., mining geology and
petroleum geology.
Some other sciences are closely connected with geology such as geodesy,
geophysics, and geochemistry.
The various sub-disciplines of geology are not only integrated with one another
but also with other branches of the Earth sciences and with such fields as physics,
chemistry, biology, and mathematics.
Geology provides a better understanding of the Earth‘s evolution and its
present features. It also serves society in a variety of practical ways. Exploration for
deposits of commercially valuable minerals is broadly guided by geologic principles
and conducted with geophysical and geochemical methods. The search for fossil fuels
(coal, oil, and natural gas) is strongly influenced by those aspects of geology dealing
with the deposition and deformation of sedimentary rocks and with the flow of
underground fluids. Significant findings of seismological research have helped
engineers to design structures that are better able to withstand earthquakes.
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Exercise1. Answer the questions.
1. What does geology deal with?

2. Which sciences concern with chemical composition of the Earth?
3. What does structural geology deal with?
4. What do geomorphology and glacial geology study?
5. What sciences deal with the study of fossils, the development of sedimentary
strata and the evolution of planetary bodies?
6. What are some branches of economic geology?
7. What other sciences which are closely connected with geology do you know?
8. What are the various sub-disciplines of geology integrated with?
9. What is the search for fossil fuels influenced by?
10. How do significant findings of seismological research help engineers?
Exercise 2. Summarize the main idea of the text.
Exercise 3.Look through the text again. Complete the sentences below:
- Mineralogy and petrology deal with …

- The structure of the solid Earth studies …
- Geomorphology deals with …
- Mining geology and petroleum geology are included into …
- Paleontology requires the use such disciplines as … … … .
What Does a Geologist Do?
Pre-reading task.
You have chosen the geology as your future specialty. Think what a geologist can do.
Give at least three possible answers. Now read the text and say if you are right.
Geologists work to understand the history

of our planet. The better they can understand
Earth’s history the better they can foresee how
events and processes of the past might influence
the future. Here are two examples:
1) The processes acting upon the Earth cause
hazards such as landslides, earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions. Geologists are working to
understand these processes well enough to avoid
building important structures where they will be
damaged. If geologists learn a lot about volcanic
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mudflows of the past then that information can be very useful in predicting the
dangerous areas where volcanic mudflows might strike in the future. The map at left
shows areas that are thought to be at risk from future mudflows around Mount
Rainier. Intelligent people should be cautions when considering activities or property
development in these areas.
2) Geologists have worked hard to

learn that oil and natural gas are formed
from organic materials deposited along the
margins of continents and in shallow seas
upon the continents. They have also learned
how to recognize the types of rock that are
deposited in these near-shore environments.
This knowledge enables them to recognize
potential oil and natural gas source rocks. In
the photo oil field workers are placing a tool
into an oil exploration well. This tool will be
lowered down the hole and will record tiny
amounts of radioactivity released from the
rocks below (rocks rich in organic materials
frequently contain tiny amounts of
radioactive materials). The information
obtained from the tool will help them assess
the oil and natural gas production potential
of the rocks below. If they do these tests at
many locations within a region they might
be able to map an oil or natural gas field.
Answer the questions.
1. What is the task of a geologist?

2. What do processes acting upon the Earth cause?
3. Why do geologists study these processes?
4. How are oil and natural gas formed?
5. What does knowledge about gas and oil formation enable geologists to
recognize?
6. Why is a tool lowered down in the hole?
7. How will the information obtained from the tool help geologists?
8. What do geologists do when they finish their tests connected with production
potential of the rocks below?
7
Geology as a Career.
Geology can be a very interesting and rewarding career. The minimum training
required is a college degree in geology. Pre-college students who are interested in
becoming a geologist should take college preparatory courses in earth science,
biology, chemistry, physics and math. Courses related to writing, environmental
science, computers, geography and mapping are also valuable.
Geologists work in a variety of settings which include: natural resource
companies, environmental consulting companies, government agencies, non-profit
organizations, and universities. Many geologists do field work at least part of the
time. Others spend their time in laboratories, classrooms or offices. All geologists
prepare reports, do calculations and use computers. Although a bachelor's degree is
required for entry level employment, many geologists earn masters or doctorate
degrees. The advanced degrees provide a higher level of training, often in a geology
specialty area such as paleontology, mineralogy, hydrology or volcanology.
Advanced degrees will often qualify the geologist for supervisory positions, research
assignments or teaching positions at the university level. These are some of the most
desirable jobs in the field of geology.
Exercise 1. Answer the questions.
1. Is geology an interesting career?

2. What should pre-college students study if they are interested in becoming a
geologist?
3. Where can a geologist work?
4. What degree is required to enter employment?
5. What do the advanced degrees provide?
Exercise 2. Give a short summary of the text.
Part I
Unit I
I. Vocabulary
Translate the international words into Russian.
Geology, biological resources, physics, atmosphere, conservation, rational, scale,

planet, solar system, spherical mass, gravitation, distance, rotation, temperature,
fluctuation, process of erosion, constantly, topographical forms, chemical
composition, volcanic action, seismic, physical activity, to orient, mineral, to indicate
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a) Learn the vocabulary.
1. to alter- изменять
2. bed- пласт
3. earth’s crust- кора земли
4. essentially – главным образом
5. to fault- разламывать, сдвигать, нарушать
6. to fold- сгибать, складывать
7. interior- внутренний
8. moderate- умеренный
9. to occur- происходить, случаться
10. to power- управлять, являться природным двигателем
11. particular – особый
12. relatively- относительно, сравнительно
13. rock- горная порода
14. solid- твёрдый, плотный
15. source – источник
16. to subsidence- оседание
17. substantial – существенный, значительный
18. surface- поверхность земли
19. sufficient- достаточный
20. to thrust- надвигать, давить
21. upper mantel- верхний слой мантии
22. to be in order from- быть по порядку
23. vast- обширный, громадный, значительный
b) Translate the word combinations.
The study of the earth crust, the upper mantel of the earth crust, moderate
temperatures, to power the Hydrologic Cycle, the surface of the planet, the geology
of the beds, sufficient gravitational attraction, the interior of the earth, on a vast
scale,substantional atmosphere, relatively minor fluctuations, subsidence of the parts.
II. Translate the sentences. Put questions to the words in italics.
1. The Earth’s crust is a potential source of minerals.

2. The study of the biological recourses, the physics of the sea, the study of natural
resources have developed on a vast scale.
3. The Earth is the fifth largest planet of the solar system.
4. The Earth consists essentially of a nearly spherical mass of more or less solid
rocks.
5. The Earth’s temperatures are moderate with relatively minor fluctuations.
6. Solar heat powers the Hydrological Cycle.
7. The Hydrological Cycle makes water continuously available to living things over
most of the planet’s surface.
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8. The science of the study of the Earth has made particular progress.
9. The Earth’s crust is constantly being altered by thrusting, folding, faulting.
10. The Earth seems unique among the planets.
III. Read the text.
Earth
The science of the study of the

Earth has made particular progress in
recent years.
It has developed into large group of
individual sciences, closely related and
oriented towards the study of the Earth’s
crust and upper mantel, and their
composition-particularly that of the
Earth’s crust which is potential source of
minerals.
The study of the world’s oceans
and the geology of their beds, their
biological resources, the physics of the
sea and the physics of the atmosphere,
the study of natural resources, their
An animation showing the rotation of conservation and rational use have
the Earth. developed on a vast scale.
The earth, the fifth largest planet of the solar system, the third in order from the
Sun, consists essentially of a nearly spherical mass of more or less solid rock. It has
sufficient gravitational attraction (because of its mass) to hold substantial
atmosphere; because of its distance from the Sun, its rotation, and the nature of the
atmosphere, its temperatures are moderate, with relatively minor fluctuations. Solar
heat, without which the Earth would be a frozen lifeless world, powers the
Hydrological Cycle, which makes water continuously available to living things over
most of the planet’s surface and, through the process of erosion, keeps working
changes constantly on and in the crust. The crust, with its broad variety of
topographical forms and chemical composition, is being altered further by thrusting,
folding, faulting, and uplift or subsidence of its parts, as well as by volcanic action
resulting from the planet’s internal heat. Although little is precisely known about the
Earth’s interior, seismic evidence indicates that physical activity is continuous.
Altogether the Earth seems unique among the planets in the variety of its
characteristics and of the processes occurring over, on, and beneath its surface.
Notes
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1. and their composition-particularly that of the Earth’s crust - и их строения-
особенно строения земной коры
2. keeps working changes-продолжает вызывать изменения
3. resulting from-являющийся результатом
IV. Find English equivalents to the following words and word combinations in
the text.
1. изучение коры земли

2. сохранение природных ресурсов
3. из-за расстояния от солнца
4. умеренные температуры
5. относительно небольшие колебания
6. безжизненный мир
7. вода, доступная живым организмам
8. широкое разнообразие
9. недра земли
10.тесно связанный
V. Match the synonyms.
1. individual a) happen
2. essentially b) to change
3. power c) difference
4. variety d) mainly
5. to alter e) to separate
6. action f) to regulate
7. evidence g) activity
8. to occur h) layer
9. bed i) proof
10. sufficient j) adequate
VI Word building
a) Form the adjectives from the nouns using the suffix – less. Translate them.
E.g. life - lifeless. (жизнь – безжизненный)
End, hope, use, child, cord, care, power, color, help, fruit, mother.
b) Form the adverbs from the adjectives using the suffix- ly. Translate them.
E.g. essential - essentially.

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Close, usual, individual, true, chemical, entire, physical, particular, substantial,
relative, continuous, constant, precise, active, internal, natural.
c) Translate into Russian the following words of the same stem.
1. Atmosphere – atmospheric
2. To compose – composition – composer
3. Geology – geological – geologist
4. Physics – physical – physically
5. Conservation – to conserve – conservative
6. System – systematic – systematically
7. To rotate – rotation – rotor
8. To alter – alteration – alternative
9. Variety – various – to vary
10. Nature – natural - naturally
VII. Answer the questions.
1. What has made particular progress in recent years?

2. Is the Earth the sixth or the fifth largest planet of the solar system?
3. What is the Earth’s order from the Sun?
4. What does the Earth consist of?
5. Why can the Earth hold substantial atmosphere?
6. What makes the Earth’s temperatures moderate?
7. Are there any temperature fluctuations on the Earth?
8. What makes water continuously available to living things?
9. What indicates the continuous physical activity of the Earth?
10. Why is the Earth a unique planet?
VIII. Complete the sentences, using the words in brackets.
(Sciences, powers, physical activity, interior, faulting, unique, spherical mass, solid
rock, subsidence, moderate, available, solar system, fluctuations, study)
1. The Earth is the fifth largest planet of the … … .

2. The Earth’s temperatures are … with relatively minor … .
3. Solar heat … the Hydrological Cycle.
4. The science of the … of the earth has developed into a large group of individual …
5. The Hydrological Cycle makes water … to living things.
6. The Earth’s crust is being altered by thrusting, folding … and uplift or … of its
parts.
7. Little is precisely known about the Earth’s … .
8. The Earth is a … planet.
9. Seismic evidence indicates that … … is continuous.
10. The Earth consists of a nearly … … of more or less … … .
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IX. Make up sentences from the given words.
1. powers, the, heat, Cycle, solar, Hydrological.

2. planet, is, system, of, the, solar, fifth, the, largest, Earth.
3. a, essentially, mass, consists, of, nearly, Earth, spherical, the.
4. substantial, has, the, to, gravitational, the, sufficient, hold, atmosphere, Earth,
attraction.
5. indicates, the Earth’s, that, activity, seismic, is, evidence, continuous, physical.
6. of, folding, is, thrusting, being, the, faulting, crust, altered, the, Earth, by.
X. Grammar revision. Tense forms.
a) Define the tense form and the voice of the verbs in the sentences. Translate
the sentences into Russian.
Tense forms
1. While petroleum was being formed, cataclysmic events were occurring elsewhere.
2. Some formations were exposed to wind and water erosion and then once again
buried.
3. Geologists have classified petroleum traps into two basic types: structural traps
and stratigraphic traps.
4. A fault trap occurs when the formations on either side of the fault have been
moved into a position that prevents further migration of petroleum.
5. The importance of hydrocarbons for illumination has become significant since the
invention of electric light.
6. Millions of tons of sulphur are extracted from hydrocarbons every year.
7. Since the invention of machines, people have been seeking energy to keep these
machines running.
8. Everybody knows and hopes that new structures and oil fields will be found in the
nearest future.
9. The process that formed the oil and gas that are produced today, started millions
of years before man came into being.
10.Without any doubt, petroleum has become the most important source of energy all
over the world and is still increasing in importance relative to water and coal.
11.For several thousands years medium and lighter hydrocarbons have been used for
illumination.
12.The importance of hydrocarbons for illumination has become insignificant since
the invention of electric light.
13.The earth’s gravitation varies because different rocks have different densities.
14.All rocks contain magnetic particles.
15.Oil is formed from the decayed remains (prehistoric marine animals and terrestrial
plants).
16.By 1910 significant oil fields had been discovered in Canada.
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17.Offshore exploration and extraction of oil disturbs the surrounding marine
environment.
18.Compaction of sediments in a basin which is sinking down, will remain a
permanent process over geologic times
19.The work is being done and soon it will be finished.
20.With the sufficient underground pressure in the oil reservoir, the oil will be forced
to the surface under this pressure.
21.Salt is being dissolved in the streams much faster now than in the past.
22.The science of the study of the earth has made particular progress in recent years.
23.The crust of the earth is being altered by thrusting, folding, faulting and uplift and
subsidence of its parts.
24.This scientist works in the field of geology.
25.We will have carried out a number of experiments by the end of the year.
b) Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the passive

constructions:
E.g.: Oil production is increased from year to year.

Добычу нефти увеличивают с каждым годом.
Добыча нефти увеличивается с каждым годом.
1. Generally speaking, by volcanic phenomena we mean the processes by which the

hot substances-either in gaseous, liquid or solid state are brought up from the interior
of the earth to its surface.
2. The study of geological agents is called dynamic geology.
3. The structure of igneous rocks is directly dependent on the conditions under which
they are formed.
4. The modern classification of igneous rocks is based on their mineralogical
composition, as well as their structure.
5. Igneous rocks are used in national economy for different purposes.
6. Sedimentary rocks are formed from the deposition of particles, from precipitates or
from calcareous remains or organisms.
7. The oil is obtained by boring through the overlying rocks.
8. Economic geology is concerned with earth materials that can be utilized for
economic and/or industrial purposes.
9. Sedimentary rocks are formed because of the overburden pressure as particles of
sediment are deposited out of air, ice, wind, gravity, or water flows carrying the
particles in suspension.
10. Igneous rocks are classified according to mode of occurrence, texture,
mineralogy, chemical composition, and the geometry of the igneous body.
c) Put the verbs into the Past and Future Simple, Present and Past
Continuous, Present Past and Future Perfect, preserving the Passive Voice.
Add appropriate adverbs if necessary.
14
1. Detergents are used to decrease oil viscosity.
2. Various fuels are obtained from petroleum.
3. Wells are drilled to produce oil.
4. Oil fields are developed by means of modern technology.
5. These researchers are carried out at this Institute.
XI. Translate the following sentences into English, using active vocabulary of
Unit I.
1. Земля - третья планета по порядку от Солнца.

2. Из - за своей массы, у Земли достаточное гравитационное притяжение,
чтобы удерживать атмосферу.
3. Температуры Земли умеренные с небольшими отклонениями.
4. Солнечное тепло – это природный двигатель круговорота воды в природе.
5. Круговорот воды делает воду постоянно доступной живым организмам.
6. Земля – уникальная планета по своим топографическим формам и
химическому составу.
7. Наука о Земле развилась в большую группу отдельных наук за последние
годы.
8. Кора земли является потенциальным источником минералов.
9. Надвиги, cдвиги, cкладкообразование, а также поднятие и опускание
частей суши – является доказательством физической активности Земли.
10.Процесс эрозии продолжает вызывать изменения в коре Земли и на её
поверхности.
XII. Retell the text “Earth.”
XIII. Supplementary text. Translate the text, using a dictionary.
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets
in the Solar System, in both diameter and mass. It is also referred to as the Earth,
Planet Earth, and the World, and in some contexts, Gaia and Terra.
Home to millions of species including humans, Earth is the only place in the
universe where life is known to exist. Scientific evidence indicates that the planet
formed 4.54 billion years ago, and life appeared on its surface within a billion years.
Since then, Earth's biosphere has significantly altered the atmosphere and other
abiotic conditions on the planet, enabling the proliferation of aerobic organisms as
well as the formation of the ozone layer which, together with Earth's magnetic field,
blocks harmful radiation, permitting life on land.
15
Earth's outer surface is divided into
several rigid segments, or tectonic plates,
that gradually migrate across the surface
over periods of many millions of years.
About 71% of the surface is covered with
salt-water oceans, the remainder consisting
of continents and islands; liquid water,
necessary for all known life, is not known
to exist on any other planet's surface.
Earth's interior remains active, with a thick
layer of relatively solid mantle, a liquid
outer core that generates a magnetic field,
and a solid iron inner core.
Earth interacts with other objects in
outer space, including the Sun and the Moon. At present, Earth orbits the Sun once
for every roughly 366.26 times it rotates about its axis. This length of time is a
sidereal year, which is equal to 365.26 solar days. The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted
23.4° away from the perpendicular to its orbital plane, producing seasonal variations
on the planet's surface with a period of one tropical year (365.24 solar days). Earth's
only known natural satellite, the Moon, which began orbiting it about 4.53 billion
years ago, provides ocean tides, stabilizes the axial tilt and gradually slows the
planet's rotation. A cometary’s bombardment during the early history of the planet
played a role in the formation of the oceans. Later, asteroid impacts caused
significant changes to the surface environment. Long term periodic changes in the
Earth's orbit, caused by the gravitational influence of other planets, are believed to
have given rise to the ice ages that have intermittently covered significant portions of
Earth's surface in glacial sheets.
Сопоставление размеров планет земной группы (слева направо): Меркурий,

Венера, Земля, Марс
16
XIV. Professional translation.
Земля
Земля - третья от Солнца планета Солнечной системы, крупнейшая из

планет земной группы, является местом обитания миллионов биологических
видов, включая людей. Земля - единственное известное на данный момент
планетарное тело, населённое живыми существами. Научные данные
указывают на то, что Земля образовалась около 4,54 млрд. лет назад, а вскоре
после этого приобрела свой единственный естественный спутник - Луну.
Строение Земли
Земля относится к планетам земной группы, а значит она, в отличие от
газовых гигантов, таких как Юпитер, имеет твёрдую поверхность. Это
крупнейшая из четырёх планет земной группы в солнечной системе, как по
размеру, так и по массе. Кроме того, Земля имеет наибольшую плотность,
самую сильную поверхностную гравитацию и сильнейшее магнитное поле
среди этих четырёх планет.
Форма Земли (геоид) близка к вытянутому
эллипсоиду-шарообразная форма с
утолщениями на экваторе-cредний диаметр
планеты примерно равен 12 742 км.
Вращение земли создаёт
экваториальную выпуклость, поэтому
экваториальный диаметр на 43 км больше,
чем диаметр между полюсами планеты.
Высшей точкой поверхности Земли
является гора Эверест (8 848 м над уровнем
моря), а глубочайшей - Марианская
впадина (10 911 м под уровнем моря). Из-
за выпуклости экватора, самой удалённой
точкой поверхности
от центра Земли фактически является
вершина вулкана Чимборасо в Эквадоре. Модель земли
Unit II
I. Vocabulary
a) Translate the international words into Russian.
Chemical analyses, to indicate, proportion, material, to accumulate, to

contribute, computation, region, sediment, mineral, to form, process.
17
b) Learn the vocabulary.
1. annually- ежегодно
2. to argue- спорить, обсуждать, приводить доводы
3. bottom - дно
4. to carry- переносить, доставлять
5. to divide- делить
6. to dissolve – растворять
7. to determine- определять
8. estimate- оценка, подсчёт
9. quotient- частное
10. quantity- количество
11. salt- соль
12. stream- поток, течение
13. solution- раствор
14. swift- быстрый
15. to tend – иметь тенденцию, склонность
c) Translate the word combinations into Russian.
Ocean bottom, total amount, slight errors, for instance, a shore line, land
material, the age of the oceans, mineral matter, minimum age of the Earth, the
following proportions, land regions, total quantity, above water.
1. The minimum age of the Earth was determined from the study of the ocean salts.
2. Various salts in the oceans are carried there in solutions by the streams.
3. The salts accumulate in the ocean water.
4. There are several chances for slight errors to be made in this computation.
5. The streams from the land probably carried less sediment and mineral matter in
solution.
6. The earth had to come first to make a place for the oceans.
7. Salt is being dissolved much faster now than in the past.
8. Some of the salts of the oceans may have come from the rocks on the shorelines
and at the bottom.
9. Chemical analyses of the ocean water indicate that salts are present in different
proportions.
10. All materials except the salts tend to become sediment at the ocean bottom.
18
III. Read the text.
Age of the Earth
At the beginning of the last century,

the earth was thought to be at least 1 mln.
years old, possibly as much as 5 mln. years
old. The former estimate of the minimum
age of the earth was determined from a
study of the ocean salts. Chemical analyses
of ocean water indicate that salts are present
in the following proportions:
Potassium sulphate-2,5%
Sodium chloride-77%
Magnesium chloride-11%
Magnesium sulphate-5%
Calcium sulphate-4%
Magnesium Bromide-0.5%
Calcium carbonate-0.5%
The first photograph ever taken of an
These various salts in the oceans are
"Earthrise," on Apollo 8.
carried there in solutions by the streams,
along with other land materials that are carried as sediments. All materials except
salts tend to become sediment at the ocean bottoms, while the salts accumulate in the
ocean water. Therefore, if we can determine the total amount of these salts in the
oceans and divide that by the total quantity contributed annually by the streams, the
quotient will be the time, in years, that this process has been going on, or, in other
words, it will be the age of the earth.
There are several chances for slight errors to be made in this computation since
one cannot be sure that the conditions in the past were always the same as now. For
instance, the area of the land regions was probably less in the past than now. If less
land was above water, the streams from it were probably not very swift, so they
carried less sediment and mineral matter in solution. Besides, some of the salt of the
oceans may have come from the rocks on the shorelines and at the bottom; some of it
was lost to the oceans when the rock salt beds were formed. Allowing for the variable
factors as best as we can, the age of the oceans has been estimated to be about 2 bln.
years. If this is the age of the oceans, the earth must be older, since it had to come
first to make a place for the oceans.
Some scientists have argued that this first estimate is still too small since salt is
being dissolved much faster now than in the past, so they make their estimate of
probable age of the earth two or three times greater than the age of the earth.
Notes
1. along with - вместе
2. allowing for the variable factors as best as we can - Учитывая наилучшим
образом различные факторы.
19
the text.
1. прежняя оценка минимального возраста земли

2. изучение океанических солей
3. соли накапливаются в океанической воде
4. пласты соли
5. на дне
6. вероятный возраст земли
7. так как нельзя быть уверенным
8. в три раза больше
9. береговая линия
10.анализ океанической воды показывает
1.different a) except
2.quick b) material
3.argument c) various
4.river d) to be sure
5.possible e) for instance
6.because f) a stream
7.stratum g) a factor
8.besides h) swift
9. substance i) a bed
10.to be certain j) since
11.for example k) probable
VI. Word building.
a) Make up nouns from the verbs, using the suffix – sion, tion.
Translate them into Russian.
E. g. to estimate – estimation (оценивать – оценка)
to determine, to except, to divide, to contribute, to accumulate, to form, to fluctuate,

to compose, to indicate, to attract, to rotate, to expose, to intrude, to separate
b) Form the nouns, using the suffix – er, or. Translate them into Russian.
E.g. composition – composer (состав – составитель, композитор)
Condition, accumulation, to process, to indicate, to divide, to carry

20
1. to tend – tendency – tending

2. to divide – divider – divisible – division – divisional
3. annual – annually
4. probable – probability - probation – probe
5. to contribute – contributor – contributory
6. ocean – oceanic – oceanology
7. solution – solubility – solvent
8. salt – salty – salter
9. swift – swiftly – swiftness – swiften
10.to carry – carrier - carriage
1. What did scientists think about the age of the earth at the beginning of the last
century?
2. How was the minimum age of the earth determined?
3. In what way are various salts carried to the oceans?
4. Where do salts accumulate?
5. Do salts tend to become sediment at the ocean bottoms?
6. Why are there several chances for slight errors in this computation?
7. Why could streams carry less sediment and mineral matter in solution?
8. What is the age of the oceans?
9. What is the real age of the earth?
(Computation, probable, carried, area, dissolved, regions, solutions, sediment (2),

bottom, salts, accumulate, estimate, swift)
1. Salts … in the ocean water.

2. The former … of the minimum age of the earth was determined from the study of
the ocean … .
3. There are several chances for slight errors in this …
4. All materials except salts tend to become … at the ocean … .
5. The … age of the earth is about 4 or 5 bln. years.
6. Various salts are … into the oceans in solutions by streams.
7. The streams from the land regions in the past were probably no very … .
8. In the past the … of the land … was probably less.
9. The streams carried less … and mineral matter in … .
10. Salt is being … much faster now than in the past.
21
IX. Make up sentences from the given words and word combinations.
1.oceans, various, are, there, the, in, salts, the, streams, by, carried, solutions, in.
2.earth, from, a, the, of, age, determined, salts, the, study, was, minimum, of, ocean,
the.
3.present, the, salts, proportions, in, different, in, are, ocean.
4.in, salts, water, accumulate, the, ocean, the.
5.sediment, tend, bottom, become, all, to, materials, the, ocean, in.
6.land, less, past, the, probably, area, the, regions, of, was, now, the, in, than.
X. Grammar revision.
Translate the following sentences paying attention to the type of conditional

sentences.
E.g. a) If you have time, you will tell me about this article.
Если у тебя будет время, ты расскажешь мне об этой статье.
b) If he were here now he would tell you about this equipment.
Если бы он был здесь сейчас, он бы рассказал тебе об этом оборудовании.
c) If you had read the article yesterday, you would have learned more about the
use of this method.
Если бы ты прочитал статью вчера, ты бы больше узнал об
использовании этого метода.
1. If the data of the experiment are correct, we shall use them in our research.
2. If there were not solar heat, the Earth would be a frozen lifeless world.
3. If less land was above water in the past, the streams from it were not probably very
swift, so they carried less sediment and mineral matter in solution.
4. If there were not water on the Earth, life would be impossible.
5. If the waters accumulated in the closed basin of the lake with no outlet, they would
increase the salinity of its waters.
6. The chemical deposits formed on the bottom of lakes would have been abundant if
the lakes had not had outlets.
7. You would have better understood the origin of marine deposits, if you had known
how these organisms were distributed in the seas.
8. The process of sedimentation would develop in lakes on a grater scale, provided
they had many rivers to flow into them.
9. If all land waters flew into oceans and carried with them the loose materials of rock
destruction, the relief of the sea floor would change greatly.
10. If one were to examine the stars on a clear, moonless night, he would soon
discover that not all the visible stars are of the same degree of brightness.
11. The atmosphere is very necessary for life and growth. Without it we should be
unable to breathe, we should be bombarded by cosmic rays, meteors and meteorites.
12. Unless there were some inexhaustible reservoirs of energy in the sun, life on earth
could not exist.
22
13. Had our research been successful, we should have been able to investigate the
composition of Mars’s atmosphere.
14. If you look at the horizon immediately after sunset, you will often see a very
bright star, Venus.
15. Could our observations been supported theoretically, they would have done much
to advance our knowledge in the field of radioactivity.
16. Were it possible to squeeze matter together until the nuclei touch one another,
then the entire earth could be compressed to the size of a football.
17. Travelers will probably have to take a reserve of oxygen with them, if they fly to
Venus.
18. The earth would now be a cold, dead mass, if the heat of the sun could not reach
it.
19. If the sun got its energy from ordinary chemical processes, such as burning of
coal and oil, it would not last for more than several thousand years; if that had been
the case, the sun would have cooled off to a dead star long ago.
20. Provided the alchemists could have produced temperatures equal to millions of
degrees or if they had known how to accelerate particles, they would have succeeded
in transforming the elements.
Find in the text conditional sentences. What type of conditional sentences do

they belong to?
XI. Translate the following sentences into English, using the active vocabulary of
Unit II.
1. Первоначальная оценка возраста земли слишком мала.

2. Если меньше суши было над водой, то реки (потоки) были не так быстры.
3. Есть некоторые ошибки в вычислении возраста земли.
4. Так как реки были не очень быстрыми, то они переносили меньше
минеральных веществ в растворах.
5. Соли в океане образовывали соляные пласты.
6. Нельзя быть уверенным, что условия в прошлом были такими же, как
сейчас.
7. Соли в океанической воде присутствуют в различных пропорциях.
8. Приблизительный возраст земли – около 4-6 млрд. лет
9. Все вещества, за исключением солей имеют тенденцию становиться
осадком на океаническом дне.
10.Часть солей в океанической воде появилась с береговых линий.
XII. Retell the text “Age of the Earth”.
The second method in determining the age of the earth is based on measures of
the thickness of sedimentary rocks. The sediment of mud, silt, sand and gravel carried
23
by the rivers settles into the bottom of the oceans and seas. Minerals dissolved from
the land rocks are carried out by the rivers and act as cement which with increased
pressure, forms sandstone and shale from the sediment. The rate of sedimentation
varies according to the proximity of the place to the mouth of a river and to the
activity and size of the river. Due allowances being made for these variations, an
average rate of sedimentation has been determined; and dividing this into maximum
thickness of all such rocks now exposed gives an estimate of 500,000,000 years since
the beginning of an adequate sedimentary record. Of course the earth is older than
this, for it had to be formed and have oceans and rivers before the process of laying
down sedimentary rocks could start. There are several uncertainties in this method
such as unconformities in the sedimentary rocks which are like torn-out pages of a
book. There were periods when rocks were above the water and being away by
erosion rather than built up by sedimentation. How long these periods lasted no one
knows. However, geologists do know that great biological changes occurred during
these periods for which the record have been lost because of erosion. The records of
life before and after the period in question indicate this. In addition, the rate of
sedimentation varies with the amount of the land of the rivers and with the rate of
flow of the rivers. Some modern geologists estimate that the sedimentary rock
records that we have may be only one-fourth of the total record including lost parts.
This indicated that 500,000,000 years is a minimum estimate of the age of the earth
and it may be as much as 4,000,000,000 years old.
1. Due allowances being made for these variations – если допустить все эти
отклонения
2. geologists do know- геологи, конечно, знают, что …
3. the period in question- период, о котором идёт речь
Возраст Земли
Возраст Земли — время, которое прошло с момента образования Земли

как самостоятельного планетарного тела. В настоящее время это время
оценивается в 4,54—4,57 млрд лет.
Научные оценки возраста Земли

Согласно данным радиоизотопных датировок, возраст Земли составляет
4,6—5 миллиардов лет Остатки растений и животных позволяют узнавать
возраст горных пород. Все слышали о каменноугольном периоде, когда
образовались крупнейшие месторождения на территориях, где ныне находятся
Донбасс, Подмосковье и многие другие районы. В Поволжье крупные
месторождения нефти заключены в породах, которые отлагались во время
девонского периода, а знаменитые месторождения фосфоритов в Южном
24
Казахстане приурочены к осадкам морей кембрийского периода. Короче
говоря, в разное время на Земле отлагались разные ценные полезные
ископаемые. Поэтому для их поисков надо уметь узнавать, в какую эпоху
отлагались соответствующие слои и чем они отличаются от более молодых и
более древних осадочных толщ.
На помощь геологам приходит палеонтология — наука об организмах
геологического прошлого и о развитии живой природы в течение
геологических времен. Если мы находим в пласте известняка панцирь
трилобита, то можно уверенно сказать, что известняк образовался в
палеозойскую эру. Этот пласт гораздо старше, чем слои, в которых найдены
кости млекопитающих животных. Иногда бывает достаточно небольшой
раковинки, крохотного обломка окаменевшей древесины, чтобы определить, в
какой период отлагались те или иные слои.
Изучив последовательно смену событий — и геологических и
биологических, ученые разделили всю долгую историю нашей планеты на пять
наиболее крупных отрезков — эр. Три последние эры — палеозойская,
мезозойская и кайнозойская (от греческих слов «палеос» — древний, «мезос»
— средний, «кайнос» — новый и «зое» — жизнь) — разделяются на несколько
периодов, а периоды, в свою очередь, — на эпохи и века. Две наиболее древние
и самые продолжительные эры — архейская и протерозойская (по-гречески
«археос» — древний, старый и «протерос» — первый, начальный) — на
периоды, эпохи и века пока не разделяются. Во второй половине
протерозойской эры в морях существовало много водорослей, и появились
первые животные.
Возраст горных пород, устанавливаемый по остаткам растений и
животных, называют относительным геологическим возрастом. Мы можем
узнать, моложе или древнее тот или иной пласт песчаника или глины по
сравнению с пластами соседнего района.
Но ведь этого мало. Важно знать, на сколько лет древнее или моложе, то
есть знать не только относительный, но и абсолютный геологический возраст
горных пород, выраженный в миллионах и миллиардах лет. Успехи атомной
физики позволяют геологам достаточно точно определять возраст горных
пород. При этом они используют явления радиоактивности. Атомы некоторых
элементов — урана, радия, тория и других — не остаются постоянными. Они
изменяются, выделяя заряженные мельчайшие частицы (это и называется
радиоактивным излучением), и превращаются в атомы свинца, гелия и других
элементов. Скорость таких превращений для каждого элемента постоянна. Так,
уран с атомным весом 238 (U238) превращается в свинец и гелий. Чтобы
половина атомов урана превратилась в атомы свинца, требуется 4520 млн лет.
Это время называется периодом полураспада урана. Для радия период
полураспада 1590 лет, для тория — 13 900 млн лет. Выяснилось, что
способностью к радиоактивному распаду обладают некоторые разновидности
атомов и у более широко распространенных элементов. Такие разновидности
атомов называют радиоактивными изотопами. Радиоактивный изотоп калия
(К40) имеет период полураспада в 1,25 млрд лет и превращается в атомы
25
инертного газа аргона, а у изотопа рубидия (Rb87) — 50 млрд лет, и
превращается он в атомы стронция. Даже углерод имеет радиоактивные
изотопы Си, которые превращаются в атомы азота, а период полураспада
составляет 5760 лет.
Метод вычисления абсолютного возраста горной породы по
радиоактивным элементам и изотопам состоит в том, что ученые — физики и
химики — подсчитывают, сколько содержится в горной породе атомов
радиоактивных элементов — «родителей», а также «новорожденных»
элементов — «детей». Затем, зная, сколько времени нужно для превращения
половины атомов (период полураспада) и сколько атомов распалось в
изучаемой горной породе, составляют простую арифметическую пропорцию.
UNIT III
I. Vocabulary.
To form, action, geological factors, agent, endogenous, exogenous, lithosphere,

volcanic phenomenon, to resist, affect, composition, structure, contact, region,
texture, magma, process, chemical substance
1. to cause- быть причиной, вызывать

2. to conceal- скрывать
3. completely- полностью, целиком
4. constituent- составная часть, компонент
5. to derive- получать, извлекать
6. external- внешний
7. to include- включать
8. interior- внутренний
9. molten - расплавленный
10.to occur- происходить
11.partially- частично
12.penetration- проникновение
13.schist – аспидный сланец
14.to subject to- подвергаться чему-либо
15.to tem – называть, обозначать
16.to transfer- переносить, перемещать
17.whereas- тогда как, несмотря на то, что
26
c) Translate the word combinations.
The earth’s interior, external agents, the formation of the mountains, the cooling of
magma, initial material, the destruction of rocks, changes in composition, molten
magma, re-arrangement of constituents, for instance.
1. Endogenous agents cause the formation of rocks from the cooling magma.
2. External agents develop their activities on the surface of the lithosphere.
3. Magmatic rocks are initial material.
4. Exogeneous agents affect the destruction of rocks.
5. Rocks may completely or partially change their composition and texture.
6. Rocks are subjected to the effect of high temperatures and pressures.
7. All the rocks are derived from magmatic rocks.
8. Metamorphic rocks are, the result of the internal re-arrangement or some chemical
changes.
9. Rocks build up the mighty thickness of the lithosphere.
10. Exogenous factors are water, wind, etc.
III. Read the text.
Rocks and Their Classification
Rocks are formed by the

action of the most various
geological factors. Some of these
agents are concealed in the earth’s
interior and are known as
endogenous or initial agents; others
are called exogenous or external
agents and develop their activities
on the surface of the lithosphere,
their main source of energy being
sunlight. Endogenous factors
include, for instance, volcanic
phenomena, forces causing the
Rock stands in Garden of the Gods park in formation of mountains etc.,
Colorado whereas exogenous factors are
water, wind, etc. Endogenous agents cause the formation of rocks, resulted from the
cooling of magma as, for instance, granites, porphyries, etc. As their formation is
connected with magma and the processes occurring there in, they have been termed
magmatic or igneous rocks. Magmatic rocks are initial material from which all other
rocks are derived. Exogenous agents affect the destruction of rocks and changes in
their composition and structure, which result in the formation of the so-called
27
sedimentary rock - sands, sandstones, clays, limestones, etc. Finally, by coming into
contact with molten magma or by being transferred into the interior regions of the
lithosphere where they are subjected to the effect of high temperatures and pressures,
rocks may completely or partially change their composition and texture. This may
occur as the result of the penetration into the rocks of some certain chemical
substances, and chiefly of the internal re-arrangement of their constituents. These
rocks are known as metamorphic rocks and include gneisses, mica, schists, etc.
the text.
1.различные геологические факторы

2.недра земли
3.главный источник энергии
4.остывание магмы
5.контактируя с расплавленной магмой
6.разрушение пород
7.подвергаться высоким температурам
8.частично изменять состав и текстуру
9.внутреннее перераспределение составляющих
10.первичный материал
V. a) Match the synonyms.
1.to include a) to call

2.chiefly b) to happen
3.to occur c) to contain
4.for instance d) substance
5.material e) for example
6.to derive f) to form
7.to term g) mainly
b) Match the antonyms.
1. external a) destruction
2. concealed b) exterior
3. formation c) heating
4. interior d) exposed
5. cooling e) internal
VI. Word building.
a) Form the verbs from the nouns. Translate them.

E.g. calculation – to calculate (вычисление – вычислять)
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Arrangement, destruction, penetration, formation, composition, constitution,

inclusion, affection.
b) Translate into Russian the following groups of words.
1. formation – deformation
2. construction – destruction
3. to place – to displace
4. to connect – to disconnect
5. to appear – to disappear
6. to charge – to discharge
7. to agree – to disagree
8. to solve – to dissolve
1. How are rocks formed?

2. What agents do we call endogenous?
3. What agents do we call exogenous?
4. What do endogenous factors include?
5. What do we mean by exogenous factors?
6. What do exogenous agents affect?
7. What do we call igneous rocks?
8. What sedimentary rocks do you know?
9. When do rocks change their composition and texture?
10. What rocks are known as metamorphic rocks?
(initial, exogenous, destruction, derived, subjected, composition, interior, surface,

texture, concealed, agents)
1. Exogenous agents develop their activities on the … of the lithosphere.

2. Rocks may completely or partially change their composition and … .
3. Some of the agents are … in the earth’s interior.
4. Endogenous … cause the formation of rocks resulted from the cooling magma.
5. Exogenous agents affect the … of rocks.
6. Magmatic rocks are … material.
7. Metamorphic rocks as well as sedimentary rocks are … from magmatic rocks.
8. Sunlight, wind, heat, water are … agents.
9. Sedimentary rocks are the result of the destruction of rocks and changes in their
… and structure.
10.Rocks are … to high temperatures and pressures in the … regions of the
lithosphere.
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1. are, factors, action, rocks, of, formed, geological, the, by, various, the, most.
2. material, are, magmatic, rocks, initial.
3. exogenous, rocks, destruction, of, agents, affect, the.
4. so, and, wind, exogenous, are, factors, water, on.
5. constituents, re-arrangement, the, internal, rocks, metamorphic, are, of, the, their,
result, of.
X. Grammar exercises. The Infinitive.
Инфинитив в функции обстоятельства цели.
a) Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. To extract oil and natural gas from reservoirs, exploration and production
companies must locate reservoirs and drill wells into the earth to bring the products to
the surface.
2. Oil production in ancient times was too small to be of real economic interest.
3. Analyses of sediments of sandstones and of porous limestones were carried out to
know more about the structure of the pay and the movements of fluids in its pore
space.
4. Even small and middle-sized oil companies own or share a computer with a
special library of software to do work in a reasonable time and without error.
5. In order for petroleum to form, the organic matter in the rocks must be exposed to
the right pressure and temperature over a long period.
6. Modern methods and computer technology are necessary to obtain the best
possible information about interesting exploration areas.
7. The crust of our earth is not transparent enough to allow any prediction on
quantities of natural resources, which we cannot see, estimate, or calculate.
8. Magnetic measurements can be used to determine the thickness and distribution of
the rocks in the earth’s crust.
9. Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form : a rich source rock, a
migration conduit and a trap(seal) that forms the reservoir.
10.Some wells (secondary wells) may be used to pump water, steam and acids or
various gas mixtures.
11.Tertiary oil recovery reduces the oil’s viscosity to increase oil production.
12.Secondary oil recovery uses various techniques to aid in recovery oil from
depleted or low-pressure reservoir.
13.Occasionally detergents are used to decrease oil viscosity.
14.In order to provide the conduit for the petroleum to flow to the surface, a hole
must be drilled to the petroleum-bearing formation.
15.Something must be known of the character of the formations to be penetrated in
reaching the producing horizon in order to select the proper drilling system.
30
b) Translate the sentences into Russian.
1.Люди прилагают много усилий, чтобы найти новые источники энергии.

2.Этот метод не достаточно хорош, чтобы использовать его повсеместно.
3.Чтобы достигнуть лучших результатов, были представлены новые методы
работы.
4.Необходимо провести большую исследовательскую работу, чтобы найти
нефть.
5.Чтобы пробурить скважину, необходимо установить буровую вышку.
Инфинитив в функции определения.
a) Translate the word combinations into Russian
1.the problem to be solved

2.the instrument to be used
3.the well to be drilled
4.the experiment to be carried out
5.the device to be introduced
6.the strain to be overcome
7.the theory to be considered
8.the new method to be employed
9.factors to be examined
10.the loss to be expect
b) Translate the word combinations into English
1. Дом, который нужно спроектировать

2. Результаты, которые ожидаются
3. Мост, который нужно построить
4. Свойства, которые необходимо принять во внимание
5. Информация, которую необходимо получить
6. Первое, что нужно отметить
7. Вычисления, которые необходимо сделать
8. Нефть, которую нужно транспортировать
9. Работа, которую необходимо выполнить
10.Процесс, который нужно применить
Translate the sentences with the Infinitive (all functions).
1. It should be mentioned that petroleum and its numerous products are really too
valuable to be used as a source of energy.
2. In most countries, the government keeps all existent and future hydrocarbon
deposits under position to use the profit coming from this source of welfare.
31
3. To avoid oil spills and fight them by harmless chemicals and methods is merely a
question of international laws and of a corresponding control to keep the seas clean.
4. Modern methods of underground storage diminish the contamination of ground
water and even fight the “pollution” of the landscape by a series of enormous tank,
which would be necessary to store the same quantity of oil and oil products.
5. Generally, the first stage in the extraction of crude oil is to drill a well into the
underground reservoir.
6. Many wells (called multilateral wells) will be drilled into the same reservoir, to
ensure that the extraction rate will be economically valuable.
7. Together primary and secondary recovery allow 25% to 35% of the reservoir’s
oil to be recovered.
8. As oil prices continue to escalate, other alternatives to produce oil have been
gaining importance.
9. It was a concept, pioneered in Nazi Germany when imports of petroleum were
restricted due to war, and Germany found a method to extract oil from coal.
10. The barometer invented in 1643, was the first to measure the pressure of the
gases in atmosphere.
11. It is a common practice of production engineers to stimulate wells with low
permeability pays by hydraulic or chemical fracturing.
12. The easiest way to understand the properties of a pay, the accumulation and the
production of oil and gas is to inspect granular pays like sands and sandstones.
13. The article to be translated at the lesson deals with the problem of oil extraction.
14. They were the last to use this equipment.
15. This method is the first to have been used for industrial drilling of oil wells.
XI. Translate the following sentences into English, using the active vocabulary of
Unit II.
1. Образование гор является результатом вулканического воздействия.

2. Породы из остывшей магмы образованы эндогенными агентами.
3. Все остальные породы происходят из магматических пород.
4. Во внутренних областях литосферы породы подвергаются высоким
температурам и давлению.
5. Различные геологические факторы формируют породы.
6. Породы, образованные из остывшей магмы, называются магматическими
или вулканогенными породами.
7. К осадочным породам относятся известняки, песчаники, глины и т.д.
8. Под влиянием давления и высоких температур, породы могут частично или
полностью изменить свой состав и текстуру.
9.Метаморфические породы включают гнейс, слюду, сланцы.
10. Внешние факторы разрушают породу.
11.Эндогенные факторы скрыты в недрах земли и включают вулканические
явления.
12. Основным источником энергии внешних агентов является солнечный
свет.
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13.Магматические породы – первоначальный материал, из которого
произошли все остальные породы.
14.Метаморфические породы – это результат химического воздействия на
породу, а также результат внутреннего изменения составляющих породы.
15.К метаморфическим породам относятся гнейс, слюда, аспидный сланец.
XII. Retell the text “Rocks and Their Classification”.
Đavolja Varoš (Devil's town) in Serbia.
The identification of rocks is easy when the rocks are made of minerals and when
minerals are large enough to be identified. When the rock is fine-grained and when
the minerals all look alike, it takes skill to identify them. The geologist cuts a piece
of rock with a diamond saw and polishes one surface until it is perfectly smooth.
He then cements the smooth surface to a glass slide, and polishes the rest of the
rock until it is paper-thin. This thin layer of rock is examined under microscope,
using polaroid light. As the light passes through the minerals in the rock, it is
altered, producing beautiful colors. Those colors depend on the kind of minerals
and on the angle at which the crystals have been cut. Such patterns aid much in the
process of identification.
The identification of rocks involves much more properties. The texture, color,
hardness and relative weight of the rock can also be used as clues. The geologist
also looks for the geologic structures in which the rock occurs. Certain rocks are
found only in volcanoes, others in caves. Others are likely to be found in valleys
than on high ridges.
33
Горные породы – это естественные ассоциации минералов,

характеризующиеся близостью условий образования. Породы могут состоять
из одного минерала (мономинеральные) или из нескольких
(полиминеральные). По происхождению они делятся на три группы:
магматические, осадочные и метаморфические.
Магматические породы образуются в процессе остывания и отвердения
магматических расплавов на глубине или на поверхности литосферы.
Осадочные породы представляют собой результат разрушения ранее
сформировавшихся пород, последующего накопления и преобразования
продуктов этого разрушения. В образовании осадочных пород участвуют
атмосферные агенты, гидросфера и органический мир.
Метаморфические породы формируются из магматических и
осадочных пород, подвергшихся в недрах воздействию высоких температур,
давлений и химических активных веществ.
UNIT IV
I. Vocabulary.
Magma, volcano, lava, laccoliths, batholiths, intrusion, mineral, to separate, crystal

structure, extrusive, sediment, distance, organic.
1. antimony- сурьма
2. arsenic- мышьяк
3. branching cracks- разветвляющиеся трещины
4. to break- сдвигать, разрывать
5. to create-создавать, порождать
6. to consolidate- твердеть, затвердевать, застывать
7. countryside- местность
8. dike- дайка
9. to distinguish- отличать, характеризовать
10.flow- поток
11.fossil- ископаемое, окаменелость
12.granular- зернистый
13.huge- огромный, большой
14.to hide- прятать, скрывать
15.to intrude- вторгаться
16.infrequently- редко
17.layer- слой, пласт
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18.to melt- плавиться
19.to mine- добывать, разрабатывать
20.mercury- ртуть
21.to permit- позволять
22.to relieve- ослаблять, понижать
23.rapidly- быстро
24.strain- натяжение, деформация
25.to stretch- растягивать, вытягивать
26.shrinkage- сжатие
27.sill- сил
28.sheet- пласт, прослойка
29.vein- жила
30.vitreous- стекловидный
c) Learn phrasal verbs.
To spew out- выливаться, извергаться

To cut across- пересекать, рассекать
To force apart- раскалывать
To push out- выталкивать, вытеснять
To wear down- изнашивать (ся)
1. Earth movements create zones of weakness or actual breaks.

2. Magma flows up through cracks.
3. Magma may cut across layers of rock forming dikes.
4. Intrusive rock raises the upper layer like a blister.
5. These hidden structures can be studied and valuable minerals can be mined.
6. Such an intrusion is known as a sill.
7. Igneous rocks are very important because of the rich mineral deposits in them.
8. Igneous rocks were formed from melted magma.
9. Sometimes magma moves to the surface in huge lava flows.
10.If the cooling of extrusive rock is fast, magma does not form mineral at all.
III. Read the text.
Igneous Rocks
The large groups of rocks- the igneous rocks- are those, which were formed
from melted magma. Igneous rocks were once magma, a thick, hot liquid deep inside
the earth.
The melted magma seems to have its beginning at least 20 or 30 miles down. Earth
movements, relieving strains and pressures in the crust create zones of weakness or
actual breaks. These permit some of the magma to find its way up into the crust either
35
through cracks or by dissolving the weakened rock around it. Sometimes magma
moves to the surface, spewing out of volcanoes or spreading over the countryside in
huge lava flows. Lava is only one type of igneous rock, but it is best known.
Inside the crust of the earth magma may flow into branching cracks, forming
veins. It may cut across layers of rock, forming dikes. When magma flows between
layers, it forces the rock apart. Such an intrusion is known as a sill.
Intrusive rocks are rocks, which formed out of the magma that consolidated at
some depth below the surface. Intrusive rock, forced between layers, raises the upper
layer like a blister. Such blisters are called batholiths, laccoliths, depending on their
size. Magma that intrudes or pushes into other rock cools beneath the surface of the
earth. Minerals separate out and crystals develop. Shrinkage may split the cooling
rock into huge regular columns. Millions of years later the rocks above may be worn
down and the igneous rocks are exposed at the surface. Then these hidden structures
can be studied and valuable minerals in or near them can be mined. When magma
reaches the earth’s surface, it cools more rapidly. The rock it forms is called an
extrusive rock because it is pushed out into the surface.
Igneous rocks are
distinguishable from sedimentary
rocks; the latter generally form
beds stretching over great
distances and not infrequently
contain large quantities of
organic fossils. Magmatic rocks
unlike those of sedimentary
origin, form continuous sills,
sheets and veins. They are not
stratified; their mass generally
presents either a granular or
vitreous structure.
Igneous rocks are
important to us because of the
rich mineral deposits in them or
in veins, which are found in
them. From such veins, we get
most of gold, lead, zinc, mercury,
arsenic, antimony, nickel, cobalt,
titanium.
the text.
1.ослаблять напряжение
2.создавать зоны неустойчивости
3.распространяться по округе (местности)
4.огромные потоки лавы
36
5.расплавленная магма
6.густая жидкость
7.раскалывать породу
8.вторгаться в породу
9.большие ровные колонны
10.зернистые структуры
11.стекловидные структуры
12.породы могут изнашиваться
13.скрытые структуры
14.породы, простирающиеся на большие расстояния
1.to separate a) to cool

2. huge b) to divide
3. to mine c) big
4. to permit d) to split
5. layer e) bed
6. to force apart f) to allow
7. to stratify g) quickly
8. to consolidate h) to create
9. to wear down i) long
10. rapidly j) to extract
11. to form k) to form layers
12. continuous l) effusive
13. extrusive m) to weather
VI. Word building.
a) Form the nouns from the verbs, using the suffix – ment.
Translate them.
E.g. to move – movement (двигаться – движение)
To equip, to develop, to arrange, to replace, to attach, to establish, to improve, to

engage, to manage
b) Form the verbs and nouns from the adjectives, using suffixes – en, ness
E.g. weak – weaken - weakness (слабый – ослаблять –слабость)
Strong, wide, deep, fast, short, soft, dark, hard

37
с) Translate into Russian the following words of the same stem.
1. shrink – shrinkage – shrinkable

2. to cool – cooler – cooling
3. to mine – miner
4. volcano – volcanic
5. type – typical – typically
6. to consolidate – consolidation – consolidator
7. crystal – crystallic
8. to split – splitting
9. actual – actuality – actually – actuality – action
10.to distinguish – distinguishable
11.origin – original – originally
12.to stratify – stratification - stratum
13.to present - presentation
14.deposit – deposition - depository
1. What do we call igneous rocks?

2. Where does melted magma have its beginning?
3. How are zones of weakness or breaks created?
4. What is the best known type of magmatic rocks?
5. What classes are igneous rocks divided into?
6. What do we call extrusive rocks?
7. What do we call intrusive rocks?
8. When does magma form dikes?
9. In what way are igneous rocks distinguished from sedimentary rocks?
10. Why are igneous rocks important to us?
11. When are laccoliths and batholiths formed?
(Igneous, extrusive, consolidated, breaks, stratify, worn down, hidden, huge, beds,
shrinkage)
1. Earth movements in the crust create zones of weakness or… .

2. Magma moves to the surface in … lava flows.
3. … may split the cooling rock into huge regular columns.
4. Troughout million of years, the rocks above are … … and the igneous rocks are
exposed at the surface.
5. Intrusive rocks are rocks formed, out of magma, which … below surface.
6. The … structures can be studied and valuable minerals can be mined.
7. An … rock is pushed out into the surface.
8. Sedimentary rocks usually form … .
38
9. Magmatic rocks do not… .
10. The best known type of … rock is lava.
1. magma, inside, veins, the, earth, the, of, crust, forms.

2. raises, layer, intrusive, like, rock, the, upper, a, blister.
3. rocks, distinguishable, are, rocks, igneous, sedimentary, from.
4. structure, either, present, magmatic, granular, or, rocks, vitreous, a.
5. rich, deposits, igneous, in, are, rocks, mineral.
X. Grammar revision.
Complex Subject with the Infinitive.
E.g. The economic value of oil fields is known to be determined to a considerable

extend by the physical properties of reservoir rocks.
a) Известно, что физические свойства коллекторных пород определяют в

значительной степени экономическое значение нефтяных месторождений.
b) Экономическое значение нефтяных месторождений в значительной степени,

как известно, определяется физическими свойствами коллекторных пород.
1. The main objective of petroleum industry is known to be oil production.

2. Well logging is supposed to measure rock properties of surface formations.
3. The borehole fluid is likely to filtrate into permeable beds.
4. Drilling mud and formation water proved to affect the borehole measurements.
5. Borehole information seems to indicate gas-producing zone.
6. Geological logs turn out to have found other applications besides formation
evaluations.
7. Field computers appear to provide quick evaluation of formation.
8. This type of log is expected to be cheaper.
9. Oil is likely to accumulate in domes beneath an impermeable layer.
10. The task of the geologist searching for accumulation of oil is first to decide
whether oil is likely to have been formed in the area, and secondly to find structures
in which the oil may have accumulated.
11. The main objective of petroleum industry is known to be oil production.
12. The economic value of oil fields is known to be determined by physical properties
of reservoir rocks.
13. Oil extraction is said to be influenced by many factors which should be carefully
studied.
14. Oil is supposed to have been used as medicine many years ago.
15. The oil is known to be transported to many parts of the country.
16. Hot solutions are likely to transport more minerals than hot gases.
39
17. Good well logs may be said to be cheap, but the wrong log for existing well
conditions turns out to be a waste of money.
b) Complex Object with the Infinitive.
E.g. Scientific evidence indicates the Earth to be about 4-6 billion years old.
Научные данные указывают, что Земле около 4-6 миллиардов лет.
1. We want these problems to be discussed at the conference.
2. Geologists know these methods to be employed in the oil fields.
3. Most scientists think oil to be of organic origin.
4. They expect this problem to be of great interest for oil men.
5. They would like them to be present at the dismantling of this derrick.
6. They know the received data to have been necessary for further exploration in this
area.
7. The scientists suppose oil to occur at great depth in this area.
8. They expect this method of drilling to be the best one.
9. I have heard the professor speak about a new method of oil extraction.
10. We know magma to flow into branching cracks and form dikes.
в) Translate into English, using Objective or Subjective Infinitive constructions.
1. Нефть, как известно, органического происхождения.

2. Несомненно, определение породы будет легче, если порода состоит из
минералов и когда минералы большие для определения.
3. Мы знаем, что определение породы включает многие свойства.
4. Как известно, породы образуются под воздействием многих геологических
факторов.
5. Общеизвестно, что магма содержит большое количество газа.
6. Геологи знают, что породы изменяются после их формирования.
7. Геологи хотели бы, что бы этот метод применили в бурении.
8. Считается, что осадочные породы составляют верхнюю часть коры земли и
занимают огромную территорию.
9. Нефть, как известно, в большинстве случаях находят с газом.
10. Все знают, что нефть состоит из двух химических элементов – углерод и
водород.
XI. Translate the following sentences, using the active vocabulary of Unit IV.
1. Извергаясь из вулкана, магма движется по поверхности земли большими

потоками.
2.Лава может вторгаться в пласты пород, образуя дайки.
3.Магма растворяет непрочные породы.
4.Интрузивная порода-это порода, которая застыла ниже поверхности земли.
5.Эффузивная порода образована из магмы, которая достигает поверхности
земли и выталкивается из неё.
40
6. В недрах земли магма поднимается к поверхности по трещинам.
7.Порода, вторгшаяся между пластами, поднимает вышележащие пласты
подобно пузырю.
8.Сжатие может расколоть охлаждающуюся породу на большие правильные
колонны.
9.Из обнаженных пород добываются ценные минералы.
10.Магма может рассекать слои и образовывать дайки.
XII. Retell the text “Igneous Rocks”.
When magma reaches the earth’s surface, it cools much more rapidly. The rock
it forms is then called an extrusive rock because it is pushed out into the surface. The
cooling of an extrusive rock may be so fast that magma does not form mineral at all,
but a kind of natural glass or obsidian. This natural glass, usually dark brown or
black, is the same as the glass used for window-glasses or bottles.
Magma may contain a great deal of gas. As it reaches the surface, this gas
escapes, causing the magma to bubble and froth as the rock cools. When there are so
many bubbles that the natural glass is whipped into froth, the rock is called pumice-a
rock usually light in color and so light in weight that it floats on water. When the gas
bubbles are larger, the volcanic rock looks like coarse cinders. Dark, heavy basalt is
one of the most abundant lavas, but there are also light colored lavas rich in silica.
Some lavas, thrown high in the air, cool as they fall, forming rounded or twisted
volcanic bombs.
41
Что же такое лава?

Согласно современным
представлениям, происходит
она из очага расплавленного
материала, который
находится в верхней части
мантии на глубине 50 – 150
км. Пока расплав пребывает
в недрах под большим
давлением, его состав
однороден. Приблизившись
к поверхности, он начинает
“закипать”, выделяя
пузырьки газов, которые
(Вокруг Света, февраль 2007г) стремятся вверх и двигают
вещество по трещинам в
земной коре. Не всякому расплаву, или магме суждено увидеть свет. Та же, что
находит выход к поверхности, изливаясь в самые невероятные формы, как раз и
называется лавой. Почему? Не совсем понятно. В сущности, магма лава – одно
и то же. В самой же “лаве” слышится и “ лавина” и “ обвал,” что в общем
соответствует наблюдаемым фактам: передний край текущей лавы часто
действительно напоминает горный обвал. Только с вулкана катятся не
холодные булыжники, а раскалённые обломки, отлетевшие от корки лавового
языка.
В течение года из недр выливается 4 км³ лавы, что совсем немного,
учитывая размеры нашей планеты. Будь это количество существенно больше,
начались бы процессы глобального изменения климата, что не раз случалось в
прошлом. В последние годы ученые активно обсуждают следующий сценарий
катастрофы конца мелового периода, примерно 65 миллионов лет назад. Тогда,
из – за окончательного распада Гондваны, в некоторых местах раскалённая
магма подошла слишком близко к поверхности и прорвалась огромными
массами. Особенно обильные её выходы были на индийской платформе,
покрывшейся многочисленными разломами длиной до 100 км. Почти миллион
кубометров лавы растеклось на площади 1,5 млн. км². Местами покровы
достигали толщины два километра, что хорошо видно по геологическим
разрезам Деканского плоскогорья. Специалисты подсчитали, что лава
заполняла территорию в течение 30 000 лет – достаточно быстро, чтобы из
остывающего расплава успели отделиться большие порции углекислых и
серосодержащих газов, достичь стратосферы и вызвать уменьшение озонового
слоя. Последовавшее резкое изменение климата привело к массовому
вымиранию животных на границе мезозойской и кайнозойской эр Земли
исчезли более 45% родов разных организмов.
42
UNIT V
I. Vocabulary
Erosion, agent, to transport, deposition, process, porous, conglomerate, composition,

uniform, isotropic, to constitute, history, mass, to produce, material, physical,
formation, organism, sediment, mineralogical composition, cementation, compaction,
direction, lithology.

1. to adhere - прилипать
2. clay - глина
3. to consolidate - твердеть, застывать
4. coherent- сцементированный
5. calcareous- известковый
6. dolomite – доломит
7. dense - плотный, густой
8. evaporation - испарение
9. framework - структура, основа
10. frequently - часто, обычно
11. gravel - гравий, крупный песок
12. gypsum - гипс
13. grain - гранула, песчинка, частица
14. hard - твёрдый
15. lignite - лигнит, бурый уголь
16. logging - каротаж
17. limestone - известняк
18. overburden pressure - горное давление
19. otherwise - иначе, по-другому
20. precipitate – осадок
21. to refer to - ссылаться, опираться на что-л., кого-л.
22. remains- органические осадки, окаменелости
23. sandstone - песчаник
24. to settle – оседать
25. shale - сланец, глинистый сланец
26. silt- ил, илистые отложения
27. size – размер
28. soft- мягкий, рыхлый
29. to subject to – подвергать воздействию, влиянию
30. tight – плотный, компактный
31. throughout – повсюду, на протяжении
43
c) Translate the word combinations into Russian
Calcareous remains
To be subjected to erosion
The overburden pressure
The result of evaporation of water
To be frequently referred to
The mineralogical composition of rocks
To change with the direction
To constitute a formation
A layer of rock of one kind
1. The transported material settled in the water as gravel, sand and clay.
2. The gradual deposition of these sediments produced sedimentary rocks.
3. The grains of a rock may be nearly uniform in size.
4. Coal and lignite result from gradual changes produced by pressure and heat in
beds of vegetable materials.
5. The rocks of the land masses were subjected to erosion by wind, water and other
agents.
6. Some limestones and dolomites were formed during evaporation process.
7. The mineralogical composition of rocks is referred to as “lithology.”
8. Unconsolidated rocks are rocks which do not adhere to each other.
9. A layer of rock of one kind is a bed.
10. A thick bed or a series of beds constitutes a formation.
III. Read and translate the text.
Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rock is one of the

three main rock groups (the others being
igneous and metamorphic rock). Rock
formed from sediments covers 75-80% of
the Earth's land area, and includes
common types such as chalk, limestone,
dolomite, sandstone, conglomerate and
shale.
The sedimentary rocks are formed
from the deposition of particles, eroded
from older rocks, from precipitates, from
solutions or from calcareous remains or
organisms. Throughout the history of the
earth the rocks of the land masses were
44
subjected to erosion by wind, water and other agents. Having been transported by
some of these agents to lakes and seas, the broken down material settled in the water
as gravel, sand and clay, extremely fine particles being silt. The gradual deposition of
these sediments on lakes and sea floors and their compaction by overburden pressure
produced sedimentary rocks. In the process, sand and clay became porous, granular
rocks, forming conglomerate, sandstone and shale, respectively. The framework of
porous granular rocks is generally called the “matrix” or “skeleton.”
Other sedimentary rocks are
limestone, dolomite, gypsum,
anhydrite, salt, coal and lignite.
Limestones were formed principally
by the deposition of calcareous
materials in seas or lakes, most
dolomites resulting from post
depositional alteration of limestone.
Gypsum, anhydrite and salt
being deposited as a result of
evaporation of water from restricted
lakes and seas are called evaporates.
Some limestones and dolomites were
also formed during this evaporation
process. Coal and lignite result from
gradual changes produced by pressure
and heat in beds of vegetable
materials. In logging, the
mineralogical composition of rocks is
frequently referred to as“lithology.”
Rocks made up of particles that
do not adhere to each other are said to
Sedimentary-rock formation, Karnataka, be unconsolidated or soft. When held
India together into coherent mass by
cementation or by compaction, these
rocks are called consolidated or hard. A rock with no compaction is called
unconsolidated or soft. The grains of a rock may be nearly uniform in size,
distribution and mineralogical composition, the rock being called ‘uniform’ or
“homogeneous”, otherwise it is ‘non-uniform.” If the physical properties of a rock do
not change with the direction, the rock is “isotropic”, if there is variation with
direction; it is “anisotropic.” A layer of rock of one kind is a bed. A thick bed or a
series of beds constitutes a “formation.
IV. Find English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
1. на протяжении истории земли

2. обломочный материал
3. очень мелкие частицы
45
4. постепенное отложение осадка
5. известковый материал
6. пористая порода
7. процесс испарения
8. растительность
9. почти одинаковые по форме и по размеру
10.замкнутые озера
11.слой породы одного вида
1. throughout a) mainly
2. to transport b) to carry out
3. extremely c) force
4. agent d) to consist of
5. sea floor e) very
6.vegetable f) bottom
material
7. compaction g) to sink
8. principally h) package
9. to make up i) a plant
10. to settle in j) during
VI. Word building.
a) Translate the pairs of words, paying attention to negative prefixes and

suffixes.
To form- to deform
Conformity-disconformities
Uniform-non-uniform
Homogeneous-non-homogeneous
Scientific-nonscientific
Responsible-irresponsible
Changed-unchanged
Broken-unbroken
Settled-unsettled
Consolidated-unconsolidated
Organic-inorganic
Possible-impossible
Shape-shapeless
Salt-salty
46
b) Translate into Russian the following words with the same stem.
1. sediment – sedimentation – sedimentary

2. erosion – to erode – eroded
3. to transport – transportation – transporter
4. extremely – extreme – extremes
5. gradual – graduation – gradually
6. to settle – settlement
7. to evaporate – evaporation – evaporator
8. to refer – reference
9. mass – massive
10.thick – thickness - to thicken
11.grain – granular
12.to restrict – restrictive – restricted
13.agent – agency
14.a pore – porous - porosity
1. What do we call sedimentary rocks?

2. By what agents were land masses subjected to erosion?
3. How were sedimentary rocks formed?
4. What are the examples of sedimentary rocks?
5. What sedimentary rocks are the result of evaporation of water from lake and seas?
6. What do we call “soft” or “unconsolidated” rocks?
7. What do we call “uniform” or “homogeneous” rocks?
8. What constitutes a “formation”?
9. What do we call “isotropic” rocks?
10. What do we call a “bed”?
(granular, adhere, subjected, evaporation, vegetable, erosion, lithology, settled, bed,

overburden, gradual)
1. Some dolomites were formed during the … process.

2. Water, wind and other agents are responsible for … .
3. The transported material … in the water.
4. Sedimentary rocks were formed by the … deposition of sediments, by the …
pressure.
5. “Skeleton” is the framework of porous … rocks.
6. Soft rocks are made of particles that do not … to each other.
7. The land masses were … to erosion by different agents.
8. The mineralogical composition of rocks is known as … .
9. A … is a layer of rock of one kind.
47
10. Coal is a result from changes produced by pressure and heat in beds of …
material.
1. Deposition, the, sedimentary, rocks formed, from rocks, gradual, of, eroded,
particles, are.
2. Different, to, subject, rocks, erosion, agents.
3. Compaction produces, of, sediments, by, overburden, sedimentary, rock, pressure.
4. With, unconsolidated, is, rock, no, compaction, rock.
5. Some, evaporation, were, during dolomites, process, formed.
X. Grammar revision. The Participle.
a) Translate the sentences, paying attention to Participle I, II.
1. Extrusive rocks are rock formed from consolidated magma below surface.
2. Magma intruded or pushed into other rock, cools beneath the surface.
3. Igneous rocks are rocks formed from melted magma.
4. Magma moves to the surface spewing out of volcanoes or spreading over the
countryside in huge lava flows.
5. Magma may flow into branching cracks, forming veins.
6. Rocks changed so that their characters are altered, are known as metamorphic
rocks.
7. Rocks made up of particles that do not adhere to each other are unconsolidated
or soft rocks.
8. The valleys separated by sharp ridges, composed of unstable sliding material,
form badlands.
9. Crude oil or petroleum is an organic substance consisting of a mixture of
hydrocarbons.
10. Under proper conditions below the earth’s surface, the derived oil accumulates
in porous or fractured rocks.
11. A series of beds constituting a formation is of a uniform nature.
12. Having reached the depth of 10.000 feet, we began to examine drill cuttings.
13. The igneous rocks resulting from solidification of magma are mostly tight and
hard.
14. Metamorphic rocks formed by considerable mechanical and chemical changes,
causing recrystallization, acquire new physical properties.
15. The process mentioned changed the texture and composition of original rocks.
b) Translate the word combinations with participles.
1. Water displacing oil

Water displaced by oil
48
2. Factors controlling formation pressure
Factors controlled by geologists
3. Additives removed from the mud

Additives removing sulphur from oil
4. Materials preventing the loss of drilling mud

. Materials prevented from the sloughing
5.Exploration following the mapping of the area

Exploration followed by the drilling of a well
6. Formation pressure affecting the rate of oil production

Formation pressure affected by weighting materials
7. Borehole measurements influencing the choice of the log

Borehole measurements influenced by well conditions
c) Translate into Russian, using different forms of participle
1. полученная информация
получая информацию to obtain
получив информацию
получаемая информация
2. порода, образованная
порода, образующая to form
образовав породу
образуя породу
после того, как порода образовалась
3. изменённые свойства
изменяющиеся свойства to change
изменяя свойства
изменив свойства
изменяемые свойства
после того, как свойства были изменены
d) Find in the text sentences with Participle I or II.
XII. Retell the text “Sedimentary Rocks”.

49
XIII. Supplementary text. Translate the text, using the dictionary.
Sedimentary-rock formation, Karnataka, India
Sedimentary rocks compose the uppermost part of the earth’s crust and occupy
an enormous area. They are formed in marine basins and on the surface of land as a
result of three processes: (1) accumulation or deposition of detrital material derived
from the destruction of earlier formed rocks (igneous, metamorphic, and
sedimentary); (2) chemical precipitation of dissolved substances; (3) life activity of
organisms.
Accordingly, by origin sedimentary rocks for a long time were classified under
three headings: detrital, chemical and organogenic. In nature, however, there exist
rocks that have formed through the combined action of accumulation of organic
sediments and chemical or biochemical precipitation of certain compounds from
solutions (some limestones and siliceous rocks).
Very widespread, on the other hand, are rocks, which in a way constitute a
transitional link between detrital and chemical. Such, for instance, are clays, derived
for the most part by precipitation of substances from colloidal solutions, but
containing an admixture of fine and small detrital particles. Therefore, the following
division of sedimentary rocks has been suggested: (1) detrital: (2) clayey: (3)
chemical and organogenic.
Sedimentary rocks have a number of features that distinguish them from
igneous and metamorphic rocks. Most important of these is laminated structure
observed in most sedimentary rocks. Incidentally, the character of lamination often
indicates the conditions of sedimentation. Horizontal lamination, for instance, bears
evidence to the accumulation of sediments in calm bodies of water, whereas oblique
lamination is usually associated with moving water. Another feature of sedimentary
rocks is that they usually contain fossil remains of animals and plants, characterizing
the environment in which sedimentation took place.
50
Sedimentary rocks give a clue to the kinds of life and conditions, which existed
millions years ago when the rocks were formed. Fossils are the remains or evidences
of life buried in the rock. Sometimes the actual remains are buried; sometimes fossils
are impressions, molds or casts.
Tough parts of plants and hard parts of animals produce the best fossils. Shells,
bones, teeth, leaves, wood and bark are often preserved. Fossils tell the history of the
earth and the development of life. In the oldest rock, only the simplest kinds of plants
and animals are found. In more recent rocks the plants and animals are different and
more complex, showing a great range of adaptations to many environments. It is
mainly through the study of fossils that scientists have come to understand how the
plant and animal life of today came to be.
XIV. Professional translation
Накопление осадков
Кроме продуктов разрушения берегов в Мировой океан поступает с суши

огромная масса минеральных веществ, сносимых реками и в меньшей степени
ледниками и ветром. Эти вещества, находящиеся в виде обломков, а также в
составе истинных и коллоидных растворов, осаждаются в различных участках
моря, подчиняясь особенностям гидрохимического режимов бассейна.
В образовании морских осадков помимо принесённого материала
принимают участие скелетные остатки организмов, населяющих морской
бассейн. Небольшая доля материала, осаждающегося в морях и океанах,
приходится на продукты вулканической деятельности (лавы при подводных
извержениях; пепел, переносимый ветром), метеориты и космическую пыль.
Морские осадки чрезвычайно разнообразны. Они различаются размерами
обломочных частиц, количественным соотношением обломочного материала и
материала химического происхождения, минеральным составом тех или других
компонентов, а также фаунистической характеристикой. В одних районах
остатки фауны и флоры содержатся в морских осадках в изобилии, в других
присутствуют в виде единичных экземпляров, в - третьих отсутствуют вообще.
Различие характера морских осадков является следствием исключительного
разнообразия физико-географических условий, в которых происходит их
накопление.
В зависимости от происхождения (генезиса) осадочного материала
выделяются осадки терригенного, органогенного и хемогенного типов.
Unit VI
I. Vocabulary

Metamorphism, character, atmosphere, effect, contact, gas, deposit, to produce, to
transport, regional.
51
1. angle- угол
2. appearance- внешний вид
3. arsenic- мышьяк
4. to alter- изменять
5. to bake- прокаливать, нагревать
6. close- близко
7. to conceal- скрывать
8. cleavage- отслоение
9. carefully-тщательно, внимательно
10. crack- трещина
11. to describe- описывать
12. due to- обусловленный, из-за
13. either- оба, и тот, и другой
14. to fold- сгибать, складывать
15. to heat- нагревать
16. hard- трудно
17. to involve- влечь за собой
18. latter- последний
19. nearby- соседний, близлежащий
20. to overlie- залегать над чем-л. ( о напластованиях)
21. an overlying rock – покрывающая порода
22. quartzite- кварцит
23. to relate to- иметь отношение, быть связанным
24. to raise- поднимать
25. to be responsible for- нести ответственность, отвечать
26. solution- раствор
27. to stretch- тянуть(ся), натягивать(ся), вытягивать(ся)
28. soft- мягкий
29. sandstone- песчаник
30. strata- слои, пласты (ед. stratum)
31. to tilt- наклонять, изменять наклон
32. tough- крепкий, прочный
33. through- сквозь, через
34. volatile- летучий
35. zeolite- цеолит
с) Translate the word combinations.
1. to raise and lower the level of rocks

2. stretched, tilted, folded rocks
3. circulating water
52
4. to alter the rock
5. due to hot gases and liquids
6. hot solutions
7. to relate to shifting
8. numerous cracks
9. soft sandstones
10.to be responsible for
1. The heat of magma bakes and alters the nearby rocks.

2. The hot gases move up through cracks making a closer contact with nearby rocks
and minerals.
3. The effect of heat and hot chemical solutions is called local metamorphism.
4. Regional metamorphism involves movements of the crust of the earth.
5. Regional metamorphism can raise or lower the level of rocks.
6. Rocks may run at different angles to the strata.
7. Many forces in the crust of the earth change rocks.
8. Metamorphic rocks are hard to describe and harder to classify because their
appearance depends on the kind and degree of change.
9. Regional metamorphism is responsible for the most physical and chemical changes
in rocks.
10. Quartzite is an example of metamorphism.
III. Read the text.
Metamorphic Rocks
Rocks, which have been changed so that their characters are altered, are known
as metamorphic rocks. All rocks change after they are formed. The atmospheres, the
circulating water, the pressure of overlying rocks-all these have some effect.
Many forces in the crust of the earth change rocks. The most important of these
forces are heat and pressure. Magma at a temperature 2000 degrees or more, flows
into overlying rocks. The heat of magma bakes and alters the nearby rock. When hot,
intruded rocks alter the rock on either side, the effect is described as a contact
metamorphism. Metamorphism may be also due to hot gases and hot liquids, which
flow from hot rocks heated by magma. The hot gases move up through cracks,
making a closer contact with nearby rocks and materials. These volatile deposits may
produce many new minerals. Hot solutions do the same thing and are likely to
transport even more new minerals than hot gases. Heated waters have a much lower
temperature than magma and bring their own kinds of minerals with them. The
zeolites and arsenic minerals are examples of low-temperature deposits.
The effect of heat and hot chemical solutions is sometimes called local
metamorphism in contrast to regional metamorphism, which affects large areas.
Regional metamorphism usually involves movements of the crust of the earth. The
53
origins of these movements are related to a shifting in the earth’s crust. Regional
metamorphism can raise or lower the level of rocks. Rocks may be tilted, folded,
stretched or broken. Therefore, regional metamorphism is responsible for the most
varied physical and
chemical changes
going on in rocks.
Under pressure,
rocks may be cut by
numerous cracks
that conceal bedding
and may run at
different angles to
the strata. This latter
phenomenon is
known as cleavage.
Metamorphic
rocks are hard to
describe and harder
to classify. Their
appearance depends
on the kind and the
degree of change.
Metamorphic rock foliated in two perpendicular directions, One example of
found in Mosaic Canyon of Death Valley National Park. metamorphism is the
alteration of soft sandstones to quartzite. Quartzite is harder, tougher and more
durable than the sandstone from which it was formed. Therefore, unless these rocks
are studied carefully, geologists cannot be sure of their origin.
IV. Give English equivalents.
1. воздействие высокой температуры и химических растворов

2. подвижка земной коры
3. вышележащие породы
4. изменённые характеристики
5. подниматься по трещинам
6. изменить породу с всех сторон
7. внешний вид породы
8. проходить под различными углами к пласту
9. скрывать пласт
10. тщательно изучить
11. вмещающие породы
12. низкотемпературные залежи
13. степень изменения
54
1.to bake a) to hide

2.kind b) loose
3.to produce c) closely
4.in contrast d) layer
5.to be related to e) to create
6.to change f) to heat
7.stratum g) sort
8.to conceal h) to alter
9.carefully i) to continue
10.soft j) to raise
11.to shift k) attentively
12.to go on l) to include
VI. Word building.
a) Form the adjectives from the nouns, using the suffix – al. Translate the words.
E.g. culture –cultural (культура – культурный)
Nature, mineralogy, physics, region, location, historic, operation, geology, chemistry.
b) Form the adjectives from the verb, using the suffix-able. Translate the words.
E.g. to break – breakable (ломать – ломкий, хрупкий)
To change, to solve, to accept, to measure, to profit, to depend.
1. to intrude – intrusion – introduction

2. to circulate – circular – circus
3. to describe – description
4. to transport – transportation – transporter
5. responsible – responsibility – response
6. careful – carefully – careless
7. to relate – relation – relative
8. to press – pressure
9. to vary – variation – variable – varied
10. matter – material – materialism - materialist
1. What do we call metamorphic rocks?

2. What affects the formation of metamorphic rocks on the surface and in the crust of
the earth?
55
3. What do we call contact metamorphism?
4. Is metamorphism possible due to other effects?
5. How are minerals produced?
6. What do we call local metamorphism?
7. What do we call regional metamorphism?
8. What is regional metamorphism related to?
9. What is cleavage?
10. Why are metamorphic rocks difficult to describe and classify?
11. What are the examples of metamorphic rocks?
(affects, to describe, characters, shifting, raise, alters, durable, cracks, volatile,

overlying)
1. The origin of the earth movements are related to a … in the earth’s crust.
2. Magma at high temperatures flows into … rocks.
3. Metamorphic rocks are rocks, which … are altered.
4. … deposits may produce many new minerals.
5. Rocks may be cut by numerous... .
6. Metamorphic rocks are hard … and harder to classify.
7. Quartzite is more … than sandstone from which it was formed.
8. Regional metamorphism can … or lower the level of rocks.
9. Contact metamorphism … the rock on either side.
10.Regional metamorphism … large areas.
1. the, local, due to, metamorphism, effect, is, of, heat, hot, chemical, solutions, and.
2. affects, large, regional, metamorphism, areas.
3. describe, to, metamorphic, and, rocks, hard, to, are, harder classify.
4. the, earth, many, in, crust, of, forces, the, change, rock, the.
5. are, changed, characters, known, as, rocks, with, metamorphic, rocks.
X. Grammar exercises. The Absolute Participial Construction.
Translate the following sentences into Russian, pay attention to the Absolute
Participial Construction.
E.g.: 1.The well having been drilled, the oil began to flow.
После того (так как; когда) скважину пробурили, нефть начала
фонтанировать.
2. The production of oil and gas greatly increased, many wells having been
drilled in Western Siberia.
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Добыча нефти и газа значительно возросла, причём (и) много скважин
было пробурено в Западной Сибири.
1. The number of minerals so far discovered under natural conditions is under

2000, there being little ground for assuming that the number will greatly increase in
future.
2. External agents develop their activities in the surface of the lithosphere, their
main source of energy being sunlight.
3. Marbles are formed out of ordinary limestones, the latter being subjected to the
effect of high temperature and pressure.
4. These rocks are rich in silica, aluminia being the most abundant of the remaining
constituents.
5. The surface of the crust reaches different levels in different places, the
continental platform and the oceanic or deep-sea platform being two dominant
levels.
6. Heat from the sun lifts water vapor from the surface of the oceans, seas, lakes
and rivers, wind distributing the vapor through the lower levels of the atmosphere.
7. When evaporated seawater leaves salts, the deposits of these salts are called
evaporates.
8. Petroleum occurring principally in sedimentary rocks, these rocks are of prime
importance for oil geologists.
9. Limestones being exposed to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust, they become
crystalline.
10. The rocks of the earth’s crust are divided into three classes, sedimentary rocks
being oil reservoirs.
11. The drill cuttings having been examined, we could determine the nature of the
rock.
12. Geological well logs having achieved important results, these methods found
other applications besides formation evaluation.
13. The research work having been completed, they introduced the results.
14. The first man – made satellites having been sent to the moon, it became possible
to investigate various types of radiation.
15. Mendeleyev having discovered the periodic law of elements, the table of elements
bears his name.
XI. Translate the following sentences from a) Russian into English and b) from
English into Russian not using a dictionary.
a)
1. Метаморфизм-это изменение горных пород в силу значительного давления,
высокой температуры и активных химических веществ.
2. Горные породы изменяются и становятся метаморфическими породами с
изменёнными свойствами.
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3.Очень многие вещества, в том числе и минералы, обладают тем свойством,
что с повышением давления температура их плавления повышается, и
растворимость их в воде увеличивается.
4. региональный метаморфизм возникает главным образом в верхней зоне
земной коры.
5. Кливаж-это расслаивание горных пород из-за давления.
b)
1. Dynamic metamorphism involves a change in the structured of rocks. The old
structures are destroyed and new ones with a well-defined orientation of the minerals
appear in their place.
2. Contact metamorphism is directly associated with intrusion of the magma into
earth’s crust. In this case, the containing rocks are subjected to various effect of the
magma.
3. Pressure that rapidly increases with depth due to weight of the overlying rocks also
plays an important role in metamorphic processes.
4. The degree of intensity of metamorphism varies depending on conditions, such as
depth, temperature and pressure.
5. Metamorphic rocks are formed in the earth’s crust of igneous and sedimentary
rocks by deep alteration and transportation under the action of high temperatures,
pressures, hot solutions and gaseous constituents.
XII. Retell the text “Metamorphic Rocks”.
XIII. Supplementary text. Translate the text, using the dictionary.
Limestones are affected by heat, pressure and circulating liquids producing

marble, a metamorphic rock. Some limestones are only slightly metamorphosed and
the changes in them are difficult to see. Crystals and fossils in the rock are not altered
much.
Shale formed from mud and silt, becomes metamorphosed into slate. Shale
itself tends to break in flat layers. This even more true of slate. However, slate breaks
along lines that are usually at an angle to the original beds of the shale. Since slate
splits so easily, it was once used for shingles, blackboards and paving. If the pressure
that forms slate continuous to act, a chemical reaction sets in, causing mica crystal to
form. This new rock is called phyllite. It is a fine-grained slate, glittering with almost
microscopic flecks of mica. If the process continues further, the grains of mica grow
larger and the result is a rock that is called schist.
Some of the changes in the crust of the earth and in the rocks have been so
complex that geologists are not sure just what has happened. Granite, for example, is
sometimes an igneous rock, coming from magma rich in silica and aluminium. It may
also be a type of metamorphic rock so altered by invading materials that there is little
or no trace of what the original rock might have been. It is possible to find a whole
series of rocks grading from normal sedimentary kinds through schist and gneisses,
which show an increasing amount of mica and feldspar, into crystalline rocks, which
clearly look like granite.
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Общая характеристика и основные факторы метаморфизма.
Метаморфизм – преобразование горных пород под действием эндогенных

процессов, вызывающих изменение физико-химических условий в земной коре.
Преобразованию могут подвергаться любые горные породы – осадочные,
магматические и ранее образовавшиеся метаморфические.
Метаморфизм представляет собой сложное физико-химическое явление,
обусловленное комплексным воздействием температуры, давления и
химических веществ.
Температура – важнейший фактор метаморфизма, влияющий на
процессы минералообразования и определяющий формирование тех или иных
минеральных ассоциаций. При повышении температуры резко увеличивается
скорость химических реакций и возрастает процесс перекристаллизации.
Перекристаллизация в условиях роста температур приводит к плавлению более
крупнозернистых структур.
Давление – второй фактор метаморфизма. Различают воздействие
геостатического давления, которое создаётся массой вышележащих толщ
пород, и направленного давления (стресса), вызываемого тектоническими
движениями. В условиях геостетического давления формируются породы с
однородной массивной структурой. В условиях направленного давления
формируются так называемые сланцевые текстуры, характерные для обширной
группы метаморфических пород – сланцев.
Химически активные вещества – Третий и самый главный фактор
метаморфизма. К ним относятся вода и углекислота, а так же водород – газ
обладающий высокой теплопроводностью и диффузионной способностью. В
виде растворов сложного состава эти вещества мигрируют через горные
породы, оказывая на них метаморфизуюшее воздействие.
UNIT VII
I. Vocabulary
Material, portion, destructive effect, atmosphere, lithosphere, mechanical, chemical,

abrasive, distance, temperature, action, corrosion.
1. bulk-объём
2. to crumble-крошиться
3. considerable-значительный
4. to decay-распадаться, разлагаться
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5. density-плотность
6. to expand-расширяться
7. fine-grained-мелко-зернистый
8. gradually-постепенно
9. to influence-влиять, воздействовать
10.to joint-соединять, составлять вместе
11. pure-чистый
12. to polish-полировать
13. to relate- относиться, быть связанным
14. resistant-прочный
15. to subject to-подвергать(влиянию, воздействию)
16. to shatter-разрушать
17. weathering-выветривание, эрозия
c) Translate the following word combinations into Russian. Give the definition
of them in English.
destructive effect
vegetable cover
to wear away the soil
to smash to smithereens rock masses
wind-carried-sand
1. Under the action of the weather and other agencies, rocks crumble or decay in the
course of time.
2. The destructive effect of the atmosphere on the lithosphere is called weathering.
3. The absence of a vegetable cover allows the rain to wear away the soil.
4. Water reaches its maximum density as a liquid at 4 degrees C.
5. At lower temperatures, water gradually expands.
6. Wind-carried-sand serves as an effective abrasive for the polishing of rock
surfaces.
7. The agents of weathering are rain, frost, wind.
8. Water is a powerful agent in shattering rock masses.
9. All the materials of the outer portion of the earth are subjected to change.
10. The destructive effect of rain is both mechanical and chemical.
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III. Read and translate the text.
Rock Weathering
All the materials of the outer

or crustal portion of the earth are
subjected to change. Under the
action of the weather and other
more or less closely related
agencies, even the hardest and
most resistant rocks crumble or
decay in the course of time. The
destructive effect of the
atmosphere on the lithosphere is
called weathering.
The agents of weathering
are:
1. Rain. The destructive effect of
rain is both mechanical and
chemical, but mainly chemical;
and is strongly influenced by
climate. The absence of vegetable cover allows the rain to wear away the soil.
2. Frost. Water reaches its maximum density as a liquid at 4 degrees C. At lower
temperatures, it gradually expands. At 0 degrees C, pure water becomes a solid and
expands about one-eleventh of its bulk with great force. Water is a powerful agent in
shattering rock masses especially when it freezes in cracks and joints in the rock.
3. Wind. Wind –carried-sand serves as an effective abrasive for the polishing of rock
surfaces (corrosion). The principal effect of the wind is to transport unconsolidated
fine-grained sediments over considerable distances (deflation).
IV. Give English equivalents.
1. прочная порода
2. внешняя часть земли
3. со временем ( в течение времени)
4. сильно влиять
5. растительный покров
6. под воздействием различных факторов
7. разрушительный эффект
8. постепенно расширяться
9. значительные расстояния
10. мелкозернистый осадок
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V.a) Match the synonyms.
1. substance a) main
2. solid b) to affect
3. clean c) considerable
4. volume d) hard
5. to shatter e) to demolish
6. principal f) material
7. great g) pure
8. to influence h) bulk
b) Match the antonyms to the words.
1. soft a) consolidated
2. constructive b) pure
3. minimum c) powerful
1. dirty d) absence
2. weak e) hard
3. ineffective f) destructive
4. unconsolidated g) maximum
5. presence h) effective
VI. Translate into Russian the following words with the same stem.
Obtain-obtained-obtaining-obtainable
Penetrate-penetrated-penetrating-penetrable
Use-used-using-usable
Detect-detected-detecting-detectable
Recognize-recognized-recognizing-recognizable
Transport-transported-transporting-transportable
Measure-measured-measuring-measurable
Produce-produced-producing-producible
1. Are all the materials of the crustal portion of the earth subjected to change?
2. Why do most resistant rocks crumble or decay in the course of time?
3. What is weathering?
4. What is the destructive effect of rain influenced by?
5. Why does the rain wear away soil?
6. At what temperature does water become solid?
7. Under what conditions is water a powerful agent in shattering rock masses?
8. What is the principal effect of the wind?
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( decay, shattering, solid, density, subjected, weathering, cracks, resistant, transport,

soil)
1. The destructive effect of the atmosphere on the lithosphere is called … .
2. All rocks are … to change.
3. In the course of time even most … rocks crumble or … .
4. Water reaches its maximum … as a liquid at 4 degrees C.
5. Water is a powerful agent in … rock masses.
6. The main effect of the wind is to … unconsolidated fine grained sediments over
considerable distances.
7. The rain wears away the … if there is no vegetable cover.
8. Water freezes in … of the rock.
9. Water becomes a … at zero.
10. The destructive effect of the atmosphere on the lithosphere is called … .
IX. Grammar revision. The Modal verbs and their equivalents.
Долженствование
Must They must carry out the experiment today.
Should, ought to You should (ought to) interpret the data obtained.
Have to He has to investigate the results of well log.
They had to finish the experiment yesterday.
The geologists will have to turn to geophysicists for
help.
Be to The geophysicists are to employ new methods of
investigation.
The log data were to be used for formation
evaluation.
Физическая
возможность
Can Porosity can be determined by means of several logs.
Could They could use various types of logs in oil
exploration.
be able to They are able to provide quick evaluation of
formation.
The team of geophysicists were able to employ a new
tool for effective evaluation of formation.
The field computers will be able to develop a new
approach to the log data analysis.
Разрешение
May, might You may examine the sample fossils.
be allowed to The students are allowed to work in the lab.
He wasn’t allowed to carry out the experiment.
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We shall be allowed to use the data obtained.
Предположение
May, might There may be various methods for formation
evaluation.
The methods under study might be effective in oil
exploration.
Must This scientist must be carrying out the experiment in
the lab.
Need, needn’t They needn’t interpret the data obtained.
Translate the sentences into Russian. Pay attention to modal verbs and their
equivalents.
1. During the earliest times petroleum may have been used for firebrands and fire
darts only.
2. Not only geophysical but also geological methods had to be improved to fit the
requirements of drilling site and oil field geology.
3. Theoretical results from laboratories had to be applied to the field work and could
be controlled by the results of production.
4. If the rock is very porous it may store big quantities of petroleum in its pores and
so form a reservoir.
5. The degree of magnetism varies from one type of rock to another, and the
variations can be measured with highly sensitive instruments.
6. Crude oil may contain metallic elements.
7. Isotropic analysis of oil tars showed that they are of Mesozoic age and must have
come from Mesozoic sediments that were lying above the metamorphic rocks
before.
8. A pay is a porous and permeable formation which is able to gather and to produce
petroleum hydrocarbons.
9. A good pay for producing oil should have porosity higher than 20% and
permeability of more than 300 millidarcy.
10.Natural gases may be called sweet or sour, dry or wet.
11.For the exploitation it is much more important to know which types of reservoir
are to be expected in a certain basis or major structure and how they may be found
by geologic and geophysical methods.
12.The results are to be shown in a tabular form.
13.They ought to apply a computer for solving these problems.
14.Oilmen are to overcome a lot of difficulties while developing this oilfield.
15.Geologists will be able to use a new make of field computers.
X. Retell the text “Rock Weathering”.

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XI. Supplementary text. Translate the text, using a dictionary.
Weathering
In recent years, the destructive effects of wind and rain in removing loose
material have been tremendously accelerated in many parts of the world. Areas of
unconsolidated rocks, without a vegetation cover, are being ripped very rapidly into
gullies by rainstorms and occurred by strong winds. The deep-cut valleys separated
by sharp ridges composed of unstable sliding material form badlands, which are often
extremely difficult to cross on foot. In the past badlands were restricted to semi-arid
areas, mainly in the central United States, but within the last century their extent has
been enormously increased by man’s ill-advised activities.
Forests have been felled, grassland ploughed up and then rained by over-cultivation
and as a result soil erosion is now a very serious menace over vast areas of China, the
United States and Africa. A vegetation cover not only helps soil particles together
with its roots, and by the sheltering effect of its leaves, it greatly reduces the removal
material by rain and windstorms. However, if the cover is stripped off, then the loose
soil can be blown away and the whole country occurred down to the bare rock.
Weathering is a slow process and the formation of a fertile soil from bare rock, even
with all modern aids, takes many years. Even if soil erosion can be stopped, and this
is a difficult and costly matter it will be a very long time before the affected areas can
be properly cultivated again.
XII. Professional translation.
Выветривание
Совокупность процессов физического разрушения и химического

разложения минералов и горных пород, обнажающихся на поверхности под
действием атмосферных факторов называется выветриванием. Различают
физическое, и химическое выветривание. К физическому относится
разрушение горных пород, связанное с колебаниями температуры.
Периодическое расширение и сжатие пород приводит к образованию трещин,
параллельных нагреваемой поверхности, а затем к отчленению верхнего слоя.
Другим видом физического выветривания является механическое
разрушение пород. Примером может служить морозное выветривание, при
котором породы разрушаются под действием замерзающей воды, проникающей
в поры и трещины. Механическое разрушение пород совершают корни
растений, а также роющие животные.
Химическое выветривание обычно обладает более глубокой проникающей
способностью и часто приводит к коренным преобразованиям породы.
Химическое выветривание заключается в химическом разложении породы под
действием атмосферных факторов. К числу таких факторов следует отнести
воздействие кислорода, углекислого газа и воды, содержащихся в атмосфере, а
65
также активных органических веществ, являющихся продуктами
жизнедеятельности (или разложения) растительных или животных организмов.
UNIT VIII
I. Vocabulary.
Mixture, chemical elements, carbon, hydrogen, combination, distillation, organic

origin, to accumulate, horizontal.
1. to be associated with-связывать с чем-л.

2. to appear to-оказываться
3. crude oil-сырая нефть
4. to consist of-состоять из
5. certain-определённый
6. common-распространенный
7. cap rock-покрывающая порода
8. to derive-извлекать
9. impervious-непроницаемый
10. to point to-указывать на что-л.
11. oil-pool – нефтяная залежь
12. proper-надлежащий
13. rarely-редко
14. to scatter-рассредоточивать, рассеивать
15. to be saturated with-быть насыщенным
c) Translate the word combinations
Organic matter, common rock, horizontal stratum, to be saturated with, porous rock,
to be irregularly scattered.
1. Crude oil or petroleum is made up of the two chemical elements: carbon and
hydrogen.
2. The chemical composition of crude oil points to the organic origin of petroleum.
3. Under proper conditions below the earth’s surface, oil accumulates in porous or
fractured rock.
4. The most common porous rock is sandstone.
5. Oil is usually found with gas.
6. Oil and gas are usually irregularly scattered if the strata are horizontal.
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7. There is no actual pool or underground lake of oil.
8. The oil is obtained by boring through the overlying rocks.
9. Oil and gas usually collect at the highest points of strata.
10. Oil and its products are of great importance in the everyday life.
III. Read the text.
Petroleum
Crude oil or petroleum is an organic substance consisting of a mixture of

hydrocarbons, that is, it is made up of the two chemical elements: carbon and
hydrogen in rather complex and variable combinations. It is practically certain that
petroleum has been derived by a slow process of distillation from organic matter -
animal or vegetable, or both - in stratified rocks within the earth.
The chemical composition itself, the kind of rocks with which petroleum is
associated, and certain optical (microscopic) tests-all point to the organic origin of
petroleum.
Under proper conditions below the earth’s surface, the derived oil accumulates
in porous or fractured rocks. The most common porous rock is sandstone and the
most common cap-rock is shale.
Oil is rarely found without gas. If the containing strata are horizontal, the oil
and gas are usually irregularly scattered, but if tilted or folded and the beds are
porous, they appear to collect at the highest point possible. It is of course, necessary
that oil-bearing stratum should be capped by a practically impervious one.
Although the term “oil-pool” is commonly used, there is no actual pool or
underground lake of oil, but rather there is porous rock saturated with oil.
III. Find English equivalents to the following words and word combinations
in the text.
1. органическое вещество
2. смесь углевородов
3. при подходящих условиях
4. самая распространённая пористая порода
5. полученная нефть
6. нефтеносный пласт
7. порода, насыщенная нефтью
8. вмещающие пласты
9. раздробленная порода
1. to consist of a) to disperse
2. to derive b) general
3. to scatter c) to obtain
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4. combination d) sure
5. pool e) name
6. term f) to make up
7. common g) structure
8. composition h) changeable
9. variable i) mixture
10.certain j) deposit
VI. Word building.
Translate into Russian the following words of the same stem.
1. stratum – stratification – to stratify

2. to collect – collector – collection
3. possible – possibility
4. necessary – necessity
5. distillation – to distillate – distillatory
6. chemical – chemistry – chemist – chemically
7. horizon – horizontal – horizontally
8. regular – irregular – regularity
9. porous – porosity
10. to derive – derivative - derivation
1. What do we call crude oil?

2. What is petroleum made up?
3. How has oil been derived?
4. What points out to the organic origin of petroleum?
5. When does oil accumulate in porous or fractured rocks?
6. What is the most common cap-rock?
7. What is oil usually found with?
8. Where is oil collected if the strata are tilted or folded?
9. What term connected with oil is commonly used?
10. Is there any pool or underground lake of oil below the surface?
(porous, matter, tests, fractured, irregularly, mixture, sandstone, shale, oil-pool)
1. Crude oil consists of a … of hydrocarbons.

2. Oil is usually found in … rocks.
3. Certain optical … point to the organic origin of petroleum.
4. Under certain conditions oil accumulates in porous or …rocks.
5. The most common porous rock is … .
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6. … is the most common cap rock.
7. Although the term … is commonly used, there is no actual pool or lake of oil.
8. Oil is formed by a slow process of distillation from organic … .
9. In horizontal strata the oil and gas are … scattered.
IX. Form the opposites of the following words by omitting the prefexes.
Translate them.
Irregular
Uncertain
Inorganic
Unreal
Unstratified
Improper
Unusually
Unnecessary
Uncommon
Unpractical
Impervious
X. Grammar revision. The Gerund.
a) Translate the sentences with the Gerund and Gerundial construction.

1. Every oil well after drilling and completion has a restricted time of production in
average about 30 years.
2. Storing, assorting, controlling, reworking and retrieval of so many data in a
reasonable way cannot be done laboriously by hand.
3. Constant physical controls of producing wells, fed by radio or telephone lines into
computers, enable companies to run fields with all installations for treating and
separation without any human involvement in the process.
4. Planetary geologists are also interested in studying interactions among planetary
bodies.
5. The simplest way of trapping oil or gas is within the so – called cap rock in the
uppermost part of a salt dome.
6. The young geologist was proud of having been spoken of as a promising scientist.
7. Everyone congratulated professor on having carried out the experiment
successfully.
8. He apologized for having discussed the question in their absence.
9. Before being carried out, the experiment was carefully prepared.
10. On discovering commercial oil a development program can be commenced.
11. On bringing the cores to the surface, geologists examine them carefully in the
laboratory.
12.In analyzing samples of rocks traces of petroleum were detected.
13. Newer sondes are capable of recording two types of resistivity curves as well as
the spontaneous potential of the formations.
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b) Make up and translate the following sentences into Russian.
Model: There are many ways of … (to increase oil production).

There are many ways of increasing oil production.
Существует много способов увеличения добычи нефти.
There are many ways of …
To find oil; to give people greater mobility; to provide electricity; to transport oil and
gas; to produce oil; to obtain different kinds of fuel; to deliver oil products to
consumers; to improve standards of life; to be competitive.
XI. Supplementary text. Translate the text, using a dictionary.
Oil is very apt to migrate from its place of formation. Oil is of less density than
water, and tends to move up the dip of the rocks until it either reaches the surface or
is trapped beneath an impermeable layer.
The task of the geologist searching for accumulations of oil is first to decide
whether oil is likely to have been formed in the area, and secondly to find structures
in which the oil may have accumulated. He must consider the paleography of the area
and its geological structure, both of which depend on as complete knowledge as
possible of the succession and lithology, i. e. the stratigraphy of the region.
Reservoir rocks in which oil may accumulate must be either strongly fissured
or of high porosity, conditions most commonly met with either in massive limestones
or sands and sandstones, while the migration of oil will be stopped by a fine-textured
stratum such as clay or shale.
Oil is likely to accumulate in domes beneath an impermeable layer. In any of
the structures in which oil may be trapped, it is usual to find a gas zone immediately
below the cover rock overlying the oil-bearing zone beneath which the reservoir rock
is usually saturated with water, often brackish.
The oil is obtained by boring through the overlying rocks; but if boring is
located too near the crust of the structure, it may only yield gas, which may, however,
be of value either for the by-products or directly for illumination or other purposes.
But usually such a “gas well” is sealed off, for the expense to pumping oil to the
surface will be avoided if the gas pressure in the reservoir rock is great enough to
force the oil to the surface. A well located too far down the flank of the structure will
yield only water. It is therefore a question, not only of locating a suitable structure,
but also of sinking the wells in a narrow belt on the structure.
XII. Professional translation.
НЕФТЬ И ГАЗ: ПРОИСХОЖДЕНИЕ НЕФТИ И ГАЗА
Пока не достигнуто еще полного согласия исследователей в отношении

того, как образуется в природе жидкая нефть. Нефтеподобные вещества могут
70
быть синтезированы в лабораториях, как из неорганических, так и из
органических веществ, но залегание нефти и газа почти исключительно в
осадочных породах, которые одновременно содержат остатки древних растений
и животных, является важным доказательством того, что исходный материал
был органическим по своей природе. В основном предполагается, что остатки
растений и животных, которые захоронились в иле, преобразуются в
восстановительной среде, которая предохраняет органическое вещество от
окисления. С погружением в глубину Земли температура и давление
возрастают. Соответствующее время (вероятно, не менее 500 000 лет),
умеренные температуры (вероятно, 35-40? С) и давления (вероятно, ок. 10 атм)
ведут к преобразованию органического вещества в низкомолекулярные легкие
углеводороды, обычно находящиеся в сырой нефти.
НЕФТЕХИМИЧЕСКИЕ ПРОДУКТЫ.
НЕФТЬ
Сырая нефть – природная легко воспламеняющаяся жидкость, которая

находится в глубоких осадочных отложениях и хорошо известна благодаря ее
использованию в качестве топлива и сырья для химического производства.
Химически нефть – это сложная смесь углеводородов с различным числом
атомов углерода в молекулах; в их составе могут присутствовать сера, азот,
кислород и незначительные количества некоторых металлов.
Природные углеводороды чрезвычайно разнообразны. Они охватывают
широкий круг минералов от черных битумных асфальтов, таких, какие
находятся в асфальтовом озере Пич-Лейк на о. Тринидад и битуминозных
песчаниках Атабаски в Канаде, до светлых летучих нефтей (последние
обнаружены, например, в районе Кетлмен-Хиллс в Калифорнии), которые
могут быть непосредственно использованы как бензин в качестве моторного
топлива. Между этими крайними случаями нефти имеют различный цвет и
запах и значительно различаются по своим химическим и физическим
свойствам. Встречаются залежи парафинового воска, и для таких твердых
битумов как минерала имеется собственное название – горный воск (озокерит).
Поиски нефти идут непрерывно во всех частях света. Геологические
исследования показали, что нефть обычно находится в пористых осадочных
породах (таких, как известняки и глины) невулканического происхождения,
хотя обнаружены исключения из этого общего правила: известны
промышленные месторождения и в магматических породах (месторождение
Белый Тигр во Вьетнаме, где нефть добывается из гранитов) и ряд
месторождений Якутии, где газоносны вулканические и вулкано-осадочные
породы. Среди осадочных нефте- и газоносных пород ведущее место – порядка
50–60% – занимают песчаники, 40–45% – известняки и доломиты, а залежи в
глинах скорее исключение.
Из сырой нефти различными физико-химическими методами производится
более 3 тыс. продуктов. Эти продукты включают горючие газы, бензин,
71
лигроин, растворители, керосин, газойль, бытовое топливо, широкий состав
смазочных масел, мазут, дорожный битум и асфальт; сюда относятся также
парафин, вазелин, медицинские и различные инсектицидные масла. Масла из
нефти используются как мази и кремы, а также в производстве взрывчатых
веществ, медикаментов, чистящих средств, пластмасс, все возрастающего числа
различных химикатов. Многие нефтеперерабатывающие предприятия
производят не только индивидуальные углеводороды, но и многие химические
производные этих углеводородов.
ПРИРОДНЫЙ ГАЗ
Природный (нефтяной) газ, состоящий из метана и других легких

насыщенных углеводородов, – весьма дешевое и удобное топливо. В 1987 в
США было добыто почти 566 млрд. м3 и было установлено 5,3 трлн. м3
подтвержденных промышленных извлекаемых запасов, которые были бы
исчерпаны к 1998, если бы сохранился уровень добычи 1987. В 1997 в США
было более 50 млн. индивидуальных и много тысяч промышленных и торговых
потребителей газа.
Природный газ называется «сухим», если почти не содержит бензина
(менее 1 л на 25 м3 газа). «Жирный» газ может содержать бензина в 10 раз
больше. Смесь жидких углеродов может быть получена как путем сжатия и
охлаждения газа, так и путем его абсорбции нефтью. Полученные жидкости
называются сжиженным нефтяным газом (газоконденсатом) и имеют
разнообразное применение.
Природный газ широко распространен в мире, главным образом как
попутный нефтяной газ. Ведущими странами-производителями газа являются
США, Россия и Канада, но большие перспективы открытия потенциально
значительных месторождений дают поисково-разведочные работы в море,
особенно у побережья Африки, Азии, Южной Америки, в Северном и
Каспийском морях. Главное использование природного газа – в качестве
топлива в промышленности и быту. В промышленности он применяется при
выплавке металлов и стекла, производстве извести и цемента, приготовлении
хлеба и другой пищи и во многих других случаях. Он используется также в
производстве бензина, сажи и некоторых важных химических продуктов, таких,
как метиловый спирт, формальдегид, синтетический аммиак. В домашнем
хозяйстве газ служит горючим в печах, нагревательных приборах, газовых
плитах и т.п.
Part II
Professional translation
Historical geology
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Historical geology is the use of the principles of geology to reconstruct and
understand the history of the Earth. It focuses on geologic processes that change the
Earth's surface and subsurface; and the use of stratigraphy, structural geology and
paleontology to tell the sequence of these events. It also focuses on the evolution of
plants and animals during different time periods in the geological timescale. The
discovery of radioactivity and the development of a variety of radiometric dating
techniques in the first half of the 20th century provided a means of deriving absolute
versus relative ages of geologic history.
Economic geology, the search for and extraction of energy and raw materials,
is heavily dependent on an understanding of the geological history of an area.
Environmental geology, including most importantly the geologic hazards of
earthquakes and volcanism, must also include detailed knowledge of the geologic
history of an area.
Historical development
Nicolaus Steno, also known as Niels Stensen, was the first to observe and
propose some of the basic concepts of historical geology. One of these concepts was
that fossils originally came from living organisms. The other, more famous,
observations are often grouped together to form the laws of stratigraphy.
James Hutton and Charles Lyell also contributed to early understanding of the
Earth's history with their observations at Edinburgh in Scotland concerning angular
unconformity in a rock face and it was in fact Charles Lyell that influenced Charles
Darwin greatly in his theory of evolution by speculating that the present is the key to
the past. Hutton first proposed the theory of uniformitarianism, which is a basic
principle in all branches of geology. Hutton also supported the idea that the Earth was
very old as opposed to prevailing concept of the time which said the Earth had only
been around a few thousand years. Uniformitarianism describes an Earth created by
the same forces of nature that are at work today.
The prevailing concept of the 18th century was that of a very short Earth
history dominated by catastrophic events. This view was strongly supported by
religious thinkers based on a largely literal interpretation of biblical passages. The
concept of uniformitarianism met with considerable resistance and the catastrophism
vs. gradualism debate of the 19th century resulted. A variety of discoveries in the
20th century provided ample evidence that Earth history is a product of both gradual
incremental processes and sudden cataclysmic events. Violent events such as
meteorite impacts and large volcanic explosions do shape the Earth's surface along
with gradual processes such as weathering, erosion and deposition much as they have
throughout Earth history. The present is the key to the past - includes catastrophic as
well as gradual processes.
Structural geology
Structural geology is the study of the three dimensional distribution of rock

bodies and their planar or folded surfaces, and their internal fabrics.
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Structural geology includes features of and overlaps with facets of geomorphology,
metamorphism and geotechnical studies. By studying the three dimensional structure
of rocks and regions, inferences on tectonic history, past geological environments and
deformation events can be made. These can be fixed in time using stratigraphical
controls as well as geochronology, to determine when the structural features formed.
More formally stated it is the branch of geology that deals with the geological
processes through which the application of a force results in the transformation of a
shape, arrangement or internal fabric of the rock into another shape, arrangement or
internal fabric. Petroleum structural geologists can interpret prospect or basin scale
geology using several techniques. These techniques include the interpretation of
surface data, well data, remote sensing data and seismic data. Many structural
geologists now use 2D/3D geological modeling software in order to integrate these
varied datasets.
Use and importance
The study of geologic structures has been of prime importance in economic

geology, both petroleum geology and mining geology. Folded and faulted rock strata
commonly form traps for the accumulation and concentration of fluids such as
petroleum and natural gas. Faulted and structurally complex areas are notable as
permeable zones for hydrothermal fluids and the resulting concentration areas for
base and precious metal ore deposits. Veins of minerals containing various metals
commonly occupy faults and fractures in structurally complex areas. These
structurally fractured and faulted zones often occur in association with intrusive
igneous rocks. They often also occur around geologic reef complexes and collapse
features such as ancient sinkholes. Deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and
other metals, are commonly located in structurally complex areas.
Structural geology is a critical part of engineering geology, which is concerned
with the physical and mechanical properties of natural rocks. Structural fabrics and
defects such as faults, folds, foliations and joints are internal weaknesses of rocks
which may affect the stability of human engineered structures such as dams, road
cuts, open pit mines and underground mines or road tunnels.
Geotechnical risk, including earthquake risk can only be investigated by
inspecting a combination of structural geology and geomorphology. In addition areas
of karst landscapes which are underlain by underground caverns and potential
sinkholes or collapse features are of importance for these scientists. In addition, areas
of steep slopes are potential collapse or landslide hazards.
Environmental geologists and hydro geologists or hydrologists need to
understand structural geology because structures are sites of groundwater flow and
penetration, which may affect, for instance, seepage of toxic substances from waste
dumps, or seepage of salty water into aquifers.
Plate tectonics is structural geology on a large scale, usually referring to the
structural effects of plate collisions and other plate tectonic features.
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Hydrology
Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface. Hydrology (from Greek: Yδωρ,
hudōr, "water"; and λόγος, logos, "study") is the study of the movement, distribution,
and quality of water throughout the Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic
cycle and water resources. A practitioner of hydrology is a hydrologist, working
within the fields of either earth or environmental science, physical geography or civil
and environmental engineering.
Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology,
hydrogeology, drainage basin management and water quality, where water plays the
central role. Oceanography and meteorology are not included because water is only
one of many important aspects.
Hydrological research is useful in that it allows us to better understand the
world in which we live, and also provides insight for environmental engineering,
policy and planning.
History of hydrology
Hydrology has been a subject of investigation and engineering for millennia.

For example, in about 4000 B.C. the Nile was dammed to improve agricultural
productivity of previously barren lands. Mesopotamian towns were protected from
flooding with high earthen walls. Aqueducts were built by the Greeks and Ancient
Romans, while the History of China built irrigation and flood control works. The
ancient Sinhalese used hydrology to build complex Irrigation Works of Ancient Sri
Lanka, known for invention of the Valve Pit which allowed construction of large
reservoirs, anicuts and canals which still function.
Marcus Vitruvius, in the first century B.C., described a philosophical theory of
the hydrologic cycle, in which precipitation falling in the mountains infiltrated the
earth's surface and led to streams and springs in the lowlands. With adoption of a
more scientific approach, Leonardo da Vinci and Bernard Palissy independently
reached an accurate representation of the hydrologic cycle. It was not until the 17th
century that hydrologic variables began to be quantified.
Pioneers of the modern science of hydrology include Pierre Perrault, Edme
Mariotte and Edmund Halley. By measuring rainfall, runoff, and drainage area,
Perrault showed that rainfall was sufficient to account for flow of the Seine. Marriotte
combined velocity and river cross-section measurements to obtain discharge, again in
the Seine. Halley showed that the evaporation from the Mediterranean Sea was
sufficient to account for the outflow of rivers flowing into the sea.
Advances in the 18th century included the Bernoulli piezometer and
Bernoulli's equation, by Daniel Bernoulli, the Pitot tube. The 19th century saw
development in groundwater hydrology, including Darcy's law, the Dupuit-Thiem
well formula, and Hagen-Poiseuille's capillary flow equation.
Rational analyses began to replace empiricism in the 20th century, while
governmental agencies began their own hydrological research programs. Of
particular importance were Leroy Sherman's unit hydrograph, the infiltration theory
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of Robert E. Horton, and C.V. Theis's Aquifer test/equation describing well
hydraulics.
Since the 1950's, hydrology has been approached with a more theoretical basis
than in the past, facilitated by advances in the physical understanding of hydrological
processes and by the advent of computers and especially Geographic Information
Systems (GIS).
Petroleum geology
Petroleum geology refers to the specific set of geological disciplines that are
applied to the search for hydrocarbons (oil exploration).
Sedimentary basin analysis
Petroleum geology is principally concerned with the evaluation of seven key

elements in sedimentary basins: a structural trap, where a fault has juxtaposed a
porous and permeable reservoir against an impermeable seal. Oil accumulates against
the seal, to the depth of the base of the seal. Any further oil migrating in from the
source will escape to the surface and seep.
Source
Reservoir
Seal
Trap
Timing
Maturation
Migration
In general, all these elements must be assessed via a limited 'window' into the
subsurface world, provided by one (or possibly more) exploration wells. These wells
present only a 1-dimensional segment through the Earth and the skill of inferring 3-
dimensional characteristics from them is one of the most fundamental in petroleum
geology. Recently, the availability of cheap and high quality 3D seismic data (from
reflection seismology) has greatly aided the accuracy of such interpretation. The
following section discusses these elements in brief. For a more in-depth treatise, see
the second half of this article below.
Evaluation of the source uses the methods of geochemistry to quantify the
nature of organic-rich rocks which contain the precursors to hydrocarbons, such that
the type and quality of expelled hydrocarbon can be assessed.
The reservoir is a porous and permeable lithological unit or set of units that
holds the hydrocarbon reserves. Analysis of reservoirs at the simplest level requires
an assessment of their porosity (to calculate the volume of in situ hydrocarbons) and
their permeability (to calculate how easily hydrocarbons will flow out of them). Some
of the key disciplines used in reservoir analysis are the fields of stratigraphy,
sedimentology, and reservoir engineering.
The seal, or cap rock, is a unit with low permeability that impedes the escape
of hydrocarbons from the reservoir rock. Common seals include evaporites, chalks
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and shales. Analysis of seals involves assessment of their thickness and extent, such
that their effectiveness can be quantified.
The trap is the stratigraphic or structural feature that ensures the juxtaposition
of reservoir and seal such that hydrocarbons remain trapped in the subsurface, rather
than escaping (due to their natural buoyancy) and being lost.
Analysis of maturation involves assessing the thermal history of the source
rock in order to make predictions of the amount and timing of hydrocarbon
generation and expulsion.
Finally, careful studies of migration reveal information on how hydrocarbons
move from source to reservoir and help quantify the source (or kitchen) of
hydrocarbons in a particular area.
Major sub disciplines in petroleum geology
Several major subdisciplines exist in petroleum geology specifically to study

the seven key elements discussed above.
Analysis of source rocks
In terms of source rock analysis, several facts need to be established. Firstly,

the question of whether there actually is any source rock in the area must be
answered. Delineation and identification of potential source rocks depends on studies
of the local stratigraphy, palaeogeography and sedimentology to determine the
likelihood of organic-rich sediments having been deposited in the past.
If the likelihood of there being a source rock is thought to be high, the next
matter to address is the state of thermal maturity of the source, and the timing of
maturation. Maturation of source rocks (see diagenesis and fossil fuels) depends
strongly on temperature, such that the majority of oil generation occurs in the 60° to
120°C range. Gas generation starts at similar temperatures, but may continue up
beyond this range, perhaps as high as 200°C. In order to determine the likelihood of
oil/gas generation, therefore, the thermal history of the source rock must be
calculated. This is performed with a combination of geochemical analysis of the
source rock (to determine the type of kerogens present and their maturation
characteristics) and basin modelling methods, such as back-stripping, to model the
thermal gradient in the sedimentary column.
Analysis of a reservoir
The existence of a reservoir rock (typically, sandstones and fractured

limestones) is determined through a combination of regional studies (i.e. analysis of
other wells in the area), stratigraphy and sedimentology (to quantify the pattern and
extent of sedimentation) and seismic interpretation. Once a possible hydrocarbon
reservoir is identified, the key physical characteristics of a reservoir that are of
interest to a hydrocarbon explorationist are its porosity and permeability.
Traditionally, these were determined through the study of hand specimens,
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contiguous parts of the reservoir that outcrop at the surface and by the technique of
formation evaluation using wireline tools passed down the well itself. Modern
advances in seismic data acquisition and processing have meant that seismic
attributes of subsurface rocks are readily available and can be used to infer
physical/sedimentary properties of the rocks themselves.
Engineering geology
Engineering Geology is the application of the geologic sciences to engineering

practice for the purpose of assuring that the geologic factors affecting the location,
design, construction, operation and maintenance of engineering works are recognized
and adequately provided for. Engineering geologists investigate and provide geologic
and geotechnical recommendations, analysis, and design. Engineering geologic
studies may be performed during the planning, environmental impact analysis, civil
engineering design, value engineering and construction phases of public and private
works projects, and during post-construction and forensic phases of projects. Works
completed by engineering geologists include; geologic hazards, geotechnical,
material properties, landslide and slope stability, erosion, flooding, dewatering, and
seismic investigations, etc. Engineering geologic studies are performed by a geologist
or engineering geologist educated, professionally trained and skilled at the
recognition and analysis of geologic hazards and adverse geologic conditions. Their
overall objective is the protection of life and property against damage and the
solution of geologic problems.
Engineering geologic studies may be performed:
for residential, commercial and industrial developments;
for governmental and military installations;
for public works such as a power plant, wind turbine, transmission line, sewage
treatment plant, water treatment plant, pipeline (aqueduct, sewer, outfall), tunnel,
trenchless construction, canal, dam, reservoir, building, railroad, transit, highway,
bridge, seismic retrofit, airport and park;
for mine and quarry excavations, mine tailing dam, mine reclamation and mine
tunneling;
for wetland and habitat restoration programs;
for coastal engineering, sand replenishment, bluff or sea cliff stability, harbor, pier
and waterfront development;
for offshore outfall, drilling platform and sub-sea pipeline, sub-sea cable; and for
other types of facilities.
Economic geology
Economic geology is concerned with earth materials that can be utilized for
economic and/or industrial purposes. These materials include precious and base
metals, nonmetallic minerals, construction-grade stone, petroleum minerals, coal, and
water. The term commonly refers to metallic mineral deposits and mineral resources.
The techniques employed by other earth science disciplines (such as geochemistry,
78
mineralogy, geophysics, and structural geology) might all be used to understand,
describe, and exploit an ore deposit.
Economic geology is studied by and practiced by geologists; however it is of
prime interest to investment bankers, stock analysts and other professions such as
engineers, environmental scientists and conservationists because of the far-reaching
impact which extractive industries have upon society, the economy and the
environment.
History of geology
The history of geology is concerned with the development of the natural

science of geology. Geology is the scientific study of the origin, history, and structure
of the Earth. Throughout the ages geology provides essential theories and data that
shape how society conceptualizes the Earth. Ancient Greece developed the primary
geological concepts concerning the origin of the Earth. Additionally, in the 4th
century BC Aristotle made critical observations of the slow rate of geological change.
During the 17th century the heated debate between religion and science over the
Earth’s origin further propelled interest in the Earth and brought about more
systematic identification techniques of the Earth’s strata. The Earth’s strata can be
defined as horizontal layers of rock having approximately the same composition
throughout.
Origins of geology
The foundations of geology trace back to that of the Ancient Greeks. Some of
the first geological thoughts were about the origin of the Earth. With a lack of
knowledge and technology, ancient philosophers created mythical stories and
proposed theories to explain how the Earth came to be. One of the philosophers who
observed the composition of the land and formulated a theory with some supporting
evidence was Aristotle in the 4th Century BC. From his observations he determined
that the Earth changes, and that it does so at such a slow rate that these changes can
not be observed during one person’s lifetime. Aristotle developed one of the first
evidentially based concepts connected to the geological realm regarding the rate at
which the Earth physically changes. Unfortunately, this concept of change was too
unbelievable for the public to embrace and Aristotle’s theories on the Earth were
dismissed.
Some modern scholars, such as Fielding H. Garrison, are of the opinion that
modern geology began in the Muslim world. Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni (973-1048
AD) was one of the earliest Muslim geologists. He wrote the following on the
geology of India:
"But if you see the soil of India with your own eyes and meditate on its nature,
if you consider the rounded stones found in earth however deeply you dig, stones that
are huge near the mountains and where the rivers have a violent current: stones that
are of smaller size at a greater distance from the mountains and where the streams
flow more slowly: stones that appear pulverised in the shape of sand where the
79
streams begin to stagnate near their mouths and near the sea - if you consider all this
you can scarcely help thinking that India was once a sea, which by degrees has been
filled up by the alluvium of the streams."[
In medieval China, one of the most intriguing scientists was Shen Kuo (1031-
1095 AD), a polymath personality who dabbled in many scientific fields of study in
his age. In terms of geology, Shen Kuo is one of the first scientists to have formulated
a theory of geomorphology. This was based on his observations of sedimentary uplift,
soil erosion, deposition of silt, and marine fossils found in the Taihang Mountains,
located hundreds of miles from the Pacific Ocean. He also formulated a theory of
gradual climate change, after his observation of ancient petrified bamboos found in a
preserved state underground near Yanzhou (modern Yan'an), in the dry northern
climate of Shaanxi province.
History of geology
20th century
The determined age of the Earth as 2 billion years opened doors for theories of
continental movement during this vast amount of time. In 1912 Alfred Wegener
proposed the theory of Continental Drift. This theory suggests that the continents
were joined together at a certain time in the past and formed a single landmass known
as Pangaea; thereafter they drifted like rafts over the ocean floor, finally reaching
their present position. The shapes of continents and matching coastline geology
between some continents indicated they were once attached together as Pangea.
Additionally, the theory of continental drift offered a possible explanation as to the
formation of mountains. From this, different theories developed as to how mountains
were built. Unfortunately, Wegner’s ideas were not accepted during his lifetime and
his theory of Continental Drift was not accepted until the 1960s.
In the 1960s new found evidence supported the theory of Continental Drift.
The term Continental Drift was no longer used but was replaced by the concept of
Plate Tectonics that was well supported and accepted by almost all geologists by the
end of the decade. Geophysical evidence suggested lateral motion of continents and
that oceanic crust is younger than continental crust. This geophysical evidence also
spurred the hypotheses of seafloor spreading and paleomagnetism. The hypothesis of
seafloor spreading, proposed by Robert S. Dietz and Harry H. Hess, holds that the
oceanic crust forms as the seafloor spreads apart along mid-ocean ridges.
Paleomagnetism is the record of the orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field recorded
in magnetic minerals. British geophysicist S. Runcorm suggested the concept of
paleomagnetism from his finding that the continents had moved relative to the
Earth’s magnetic poles.
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Modern geology
By applying sound stratigraphic principles to the distribution of craters on the

Moon, it can be argued that almost overnight, Gene Shoemaker took the study of the
Moon away from lunar astronomers and gave it to lunar geologists.
In recent years, geology has continued its tradition as the study of the character
and origin of the Earth, its surface features and internal structure. What changed in
the later 20th century is the perspective of geological study. Geology was now
studied using a more integrative approach, considering the Earth in a broader context
encompassing the atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. Satellites located in space
that take wide scope photographs of the Earth provide such a perspective. In 1972,
The Land sat Program, a series of satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and
the U.S. Geological Survey, began supplying satellite images that can be geologically
analyzed. These images can be used to map major geological units, recognize and
correlate rock types for vast regions and track the movements of Plate Tectonics. A
few applications of this data include the ability to produce geologically detailed
maps, locate sources of natural energy and predict possible natural disasters caused
by plate shifts.
Petrology
Petrology (from Greek: πέτρα, petra, rock; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is a
field of geology that focuses on the study of rocks and the conditions on which they
form. The word lithology once was approximately synonymous with petrography, but
today lithology is essentially a subdivision of petrology focusing on macroscopic
hand-sample or outcrop-scale description of rocks.
There are three branches of petrology, corresponding to the three types of
rocks: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary.
Petrology utilizes the classical fields of mineralogy, petrography, optical mineralogy,
and chemical analyses to describe the composition and texture of rocks. Modern
petrologists also include the principles of geochemistry and geophysics through the
studies of geochemical trends and cycles and the use of thermodynamic data and
experiments to better understand the origins of rocks.
Branches of petrology
Igneous petrology focuses on the composition and texture of igneous rocks

(rocks such as granite or basalt which have crystallized from molten rock or magma).
Igneous rocks include volcanic and plutonic rocks.
Sedimentary petrology focuses on the composition and texture of sedimentary rocks
(rocks such as sandstone, shale, or limestone which consist of pieces or particles
derived from other rocks or biological or chemical deposits, and are usually bound
together in a matrix of finer material).
Metamorphic petrology focuses on the composition and texture of metamorphic rocks
(rocks such as slate, marble, gneiss, or schist which started out as sedimentary or
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igneous rocks but which have undergone chemical, mineralogical or textural changes
due to extremes of pressure, temperature or both)
Experimental petrology employs high-pressure, high-temperature apparatus to
investigate the geochemistry and phase relations of natural or synthetic materials at
elevated pressures and temperatures. Experiments are particularly useful for
investigating rocks of the lower crust and upper mantle that rarely survive the journey
to the surface in pristine condition. The work of experimental petrologists has laid a
foundation on which modern understanding of igneous and metamorphic processes
has been built.
Igneous rocks
Igneous rocks (etymology from Latin ignis, fire) are rocks formed by
solidification of cooled magma (molten rock), with or without crystallization, either
below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive
(volcanic) rocks. This magma can be derived from partial melts of pre-existing rocks
in either the Earth's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more
of the following processes — an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a
change in composition. Over 700 types of igneous rocks have been described, most of
them formed beneath the surface of the Earth's crust.
Igneous rocks make up approximately ninety-five percent of the upper part of
the Earth's crust, but their great abundance is hidden on the Earth's surface by a
relatively thin but widespread layer of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
Igneous rocks are geologically important because:
their minerals and global chemistry give information about the composition of
the mantle, from which some igneous rocks are extracted, and the temperature and
pressure conditions that allowed this extraction, and or of other pre-existing rock that
melted; their absolute ages can be obtained from various forms of radiometric dating
and thus can be compared to adjacent geological strata, allowing a time sequence of
events; their features are usually characteristic of a specific tectonic environment,
allowing tectonic reconstitutions (see plate tectonics);
in some special circumstances they host important mineral deposits (ores): for
example, tungsten, tin, and uranium are commonly associated with granites, whereas
ores of chromium and platinum are commonly associated with gabbros.
Morphology and setting
In terms of modes of occurrence, igneous rocks can be either intrusive

(plutonic) or extrusive (volcanic).
Intrusive igneous rocks
Intrusive igneous rocks are formed from magma that cools and solidifies within
the earth. Surrounded by pre-existing rock (called country rock), the magma cools
slowly, and as a result these rocks are coarse grained. The mineral grains in such
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rocks can generally be identified with the naked eye. Intrusive rocks can also be
classified according to the shape and size of the intrusive body and its relation to the
other formations into which it intrudes. Typical intrusive formations are batholiths,
stocks, laccoliths, sills and dikes. The extrusive rocks often produce lava flows.
The central cores of major mountain ranges consist of intrusive igneous rocks,
usually granite. When exposed by erosion, these cores (called batholiths) may occupy
huge areas of the Earth's surface.
Coarse grained intrusive igneous rocks which form at depth within the earth are
termed as abyssal; intrusive igneous rocks which form near the surface are termed
hypabyssal.
Igneous rock: light colored tracks show the direction of lava flow.
Extrusive igneous rocks
Extrusive igneous rocks are formed at the Earth's surface as a result of the
partial melting of rocks within the mantle and crust.
The melt, with or without suspended crystals and gas bubbles, is called magma.
Magma rises because it is less dense than the rock from which it was created. When it
reaches the surface, magma extruded onto the surface either beneath water or air, is
called lava. Eruptions of volcanoes into air are termed subaerial whereas those
occurring underneath the ocean are termed submarine. Black smokers and mid-ocean
ridge basalt are examples of submarine volcanic activity.
The volume of extrusive rock erupted annually by volcanoes varies with plate
tectonic setting. Extrusive rock is produced in the following proportions:
divergent boundary: 73%
convergent boundary (subduction zone): 15%
hotspot: 12%
Magma which erupts from a volcano behaves according to its viscosity,
determined by temperature, composition, and crystal content. High-temperature
magma, most of which is basaltic in composition, behaves in a manner similar to
thick oil and, as it cools, treacle. Long, thin basalt flows with pahoehoe surfaces are
common. Intermediate composition magma such as andesite tends to form cinder
cones of intermingled ash, tuff and lava, and may have viscosity similar to thick, cold
molasses or even rubber when erupted. Felsic magma such as rhyolite is usually
erupted at low temperature and is up to 10,000 times as viscous as basalt. Volcanoes
with rhyolitic magma commonly erupt explosively, and rhyolitic lava flows typically
are of limited extent and have steep margins, because the magma is so viscous.
Felsic and intermediate magmas that erupt often do so violently, with explosions
driven by release of dissolved gases — typically water but also carbon dioxide.
Explosively erupted pyroclastic material is called tephra and includes tuff,
agglomerate and ignimbrite. Fine volcanic ash is also erupted and forms ash tuff
deposits which can often cover vast areas.
Because lava cools and crystallizes rapidly, it is fine grained. If the cooling has
been so rapid as to prevent the formation of even small crystals after extrusion, the
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resulting rock may be mostly glass (such as the rock obsidian). If the cooling of the
lava happened slowly, the rocks would be coarse-grained.
Because the minerals are mostly fine-grained, it is much more difficult to
distinguish between the different types of extrusive igneous rocks than between
different types of intrusive igneous rocks. Generally, the mineral constituents of fine-
grained extrusive igneous rocks can only be determined by examination of thin
sections of the rock under a microscope, so only an approximate classification can
usually be made in the field.
Classification
Igneous rocks are classified according to mode of occurrence, texture,

mineralogy, chemical composition, and the geometry of the igneous body.
The classification of the many types of different igneous rocks can provide us with
important information about the conditions under which they formed. Two important
variables used for the classification of igneous rocks are particle size, which largely
depends upon the cooling history, and the mineral composition of the rock. Feldspars,
quartz or feldspathoids, olivines, pyroxenes, amphiboles, and micas are all important
minerals in the formation of almost all igneous rocks, and they are basic to the
classification of these rocks. All other minerals present are regarded as nonessential
in almost all igneous rocks and are called accessory minerals. Types of igneous rocks
with other essential minerals are very rare, and these rare rocks include those with
essential carbonates.
In a simplified classification, igneous rock types are separated on the basis of
the type of feldspar present, the presence or absence of quartz, and in rocks with no
feldspar or quartz, the type of iron or magnesium minerals present. Rocks containing
quartz (silica in composition) are silica-oversaturated. Rocks with feldspathoids are
silica-undersaturated, because feldspathoids cannot coexist in a stable association
with quartz.
Igneous rocks which have crystals large enough to be seen by the naked eye are
called phaneritic; those with crystals too small to be seen are called aphanitic.
Generally speaking, phaneritic implies an intrusive origin; aphanitic an extrusive one.
An igneous rock with larger, clearly discernible crystals embedded in a finer-
grained matrix is termed porphyry. Porphyritic texture develops when some of the
crystals grow to considerable size before the main mass of the magma crystallizes as
finer-grained, uniform material.
Texture
Texture is an important criterion for the naming of volcanic rocks. The texture
of volcanic rocks, including the size, shape, orientation, and distribution of mineral
grains and the intergrain relationships, will determine whether the rock is termed a
tuff, a pyroclastic lava or a simple lava.
However, the texture is only a subordinate part of classifying volcanic rocks, as
most often there needs to be chemical information gleaned from rocks with extremely
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fine-grained groundmass or from airfall tuffs, which may be formed from volcanic
ash.
Textural criteria are less critical in classifying intrusive rocks where the
majority of minerals will be visible to the naked eye or at least using a hand lens,
magnifying glass or microscope. Plutonic rocks tend also to be less texturally varied
and less prone to gaining structural fabrics. Textural terms can be used to
differentiate different intrusive phases of large plutons, for instance porphyritic
margins to large intrusive bodies, porphyry stocks and subvolcanic dikes
(apophyses). Mineralogical classification is used most often to classify plutonic
rocks. Chemical classifications are preferred to classify volcanic rocks, with
phenocryst species used as a prefix, e.g. "olivine-bearing picrite" or "orthoclase-
phyric rhyolite".
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups (the others being
igneous and metamorphic rock). Rock formed from sediments covers 75-80% of the
Earth's land area, and includes common types such as chalk, limestone, dolomite,
sandstone, conglomerate and shale.
Sedimentary rocks are classified by the source of their sediments, and are
produced by one or more of:
clastic rock formed from fragments broken off from parent rock, by
weathering in situ or
erosion by water, ice or wind, followed by transportation of sediments, often in
suspension, to the place of deposition;
biogenic activity; or
precipitation from solution.
Formation
Sedimentary rocks are formed because of the overburden pressure as particles

of sediment are deposited out of air, ice, wind, gravity, or water flows carrying the
particles in suspension. As sediment deposition builds up, the overburden (or
'lithostatic') pressure squeezes the sediment into layered solids in a process known as
lithification ('rock formation') and the original connate fluids are expelled. The term
diagenesis is used to describe all the chemical, physical, and biological changes,
including cementation, undergone by sediment after its initial deposition and during
and after its lithification, exclusive of surface weathering.
Sedimentary rocks are laid down in layers called beds or strata. That new rock
layers are above older rock layers is stated in the principle of superposition. There are
usually some gaps in the sequence called unconformities. These represent periods in
which no new sediments were being laid down, or when earlier sedimentary layers
were raised above sea level and eroded away.
Sedimentary rocks contain important information about the history of Earth.
They contain fossils, the preserved remains of ancient plants and animals. Coal is
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considered a type of sedimentary rock. The composition of sediments provides us
with clues as to the original rock. Differences between successive layers indicate
changes to the environment which have occurred over time. Sedimentary rocks can
contain fossils because, unlike most igneous and metamorphic rocks, they form at
temperatures and pressures that do not destroy fossil remnants.
The sedimentary rock cover of the continents of the Earth's crust is extensive,
but the total contribution of sedimentary rocks is estimated to be only 5% of the total.
As such, the sedimentary sequences we see represent only a thin veneer over a crust
consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Classification
Sedimentary rocks are classified into three groups. These groups are clastic,
chemical precipitate and biochemical or biogenic.
Clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of discrete fragments or clasts of materials
derived from other rocks. They are composed largely of quartz with other common
minerals including feldspar, amphiboles, clay minerals, and sometimes more exotic
igneous and metamorphic minerals.
Clastic sedimentary rocks, such as breccia or sandstone, were formed from rocks that
have been broken down into fragments by weathering, which then have been
transported and deposited elsewhere.
Clastic sedimentary rocks may be regarded as falling along a scale of grain
size, with shale being the finest with particles less than 0.002 mm, siltstone being a
little bigger with particles between 0.002 to 0.063 mm, and sandstone being coarser
still with grains 0.063 to 2 mm, and conglomerates and breccias being more coarse
with grains 2 to 263 mm. Breccia has sharper particles, while conglomerate is
categorized by its rounded particles. Particles bigger than 263 mm are termed blocks
(angular) or boulders (rounded). Lutite, Arenite and Rudite are general terms for
sedimentary rock with clay/silt-, sand- or conglomerate/breccia-sized particles.
The classification of clastic sedimentary rocks is complex because there are
many variables involved. Particle size (both the average size and range of sizes of the
particles), composition of the particles, the cement, and the matrix (the name given to
the smaller particles present in the spaces between larger grains) must all be taken
into consideration.
Shales, which consist mostly of clay minerals, are generally further classified
on the basis of composition and bedding.
Coarser clastic sedimentary rocks are classified according to their particle size
and composition. Orthoquartzite is very pure quartz sandstone; arkose is sandstone
with quartz and abundant feldspar; greywacke is sandstone with quartz, clay,
feldspar, and metamorphic rock fragments present, which was formed from the
sediments carried by turbidity currents.
All rocks disintegrate when exposed to mechanical and chemical weathering at
the Earth's surface.
Wind, sand, and water from flash flooding are the primary weathering agents.
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Mechanical weathering is the breakdown of rock into particles without
producing changes in the chemical composition of the minerals in the rock. Ice is the
most important agent of mechanical weathering. Water percolates into cracks and
fissures within the rock, freezes, and expands. The force exerted by the expansion is
sufficient to widen cracks and break off pieces of rock. Heating and cooling of the
rock, and the resulting expansion and contraction, also aids the process. Mechanical
weathering contributes further to the breakdown of rock by increasing the surface
area exposed to chemical agents.
Chemical weathering is the breakdown of rock by chemical reaction. In this
process the minerals within the rock are changed into particles that can be easily
carried away. Air and water are both involved in many complex chemical reactions.
The minerals in igneous rocks may be unstable under normal atmospheric conditions,
those formed at higher temperatures being more readily attacked than those which
formed at lower temperatures. Igneous rocks are commonly attacked by water,
particularly acid or alkaline solutions, and all of the common igneous rock forming
minerals (with the exception of quartz which is very resistant) are changed in this
way into clay minerals and chemicals in solution.
Rock particles in the form of clay, silt, sand, and gravel, are transported by the
agents of erosion (usually water, and less frequently by ice and wind) to new
locations and redeposited in layers, generally at a lower elevation.
These agents reduce the size of the particles, sort them by size, and then
deposit them in new locations. The sediments dropped by streams and rivers form
alluvial fans, flood plains, deltas, and on the bottom of lakes and the sea floor. The
wind may move large amounts of sand and other smaller particles. Glaciers transport
and deposit great quantities of usually unsorted rock material as till.
These deposited particles eventually become compacted and cemented
together, forming clastic sedimentary rocks. Such rocks contain inert minerals which
are resistant to mechanical and chemical breakdown such as quartz, zircon, rutile, and
magnetite. Quartz is one of the most mechanically and chemically resistant minerals.
Biochemical
Biochemical sedimentary rocks contain materials generated by living

organisms, and include carbonate minerals created by organisms, such as corals,
molluscs, and foraminifera, which cover the ocean floor with layers of calcite which
can later form limestone. Other examples include stromatolites, the flint nodules
found in chalk (which is itself a biochemical sedimentary rock, a form of limestone),
and coal and oil shale (derived from the remains of tropical plants and subjected to
pressure).
Economic and scientific relevance
Sedimentary rocks are economically important in that they can easily be used
as construction material because they are soft and easy to cut. For example, the White
House in Washington DC is made of sandstone. In addition, sedimentary rocks often
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form porous and permeable reservoirs in sedimentary basins in which petroleum and
other hydrocarbons can be found (see bituminous rocks).
It is believed that the relatively low levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's
atmosphere, in comparison to that of Venus, is because of large amounts of carbon
being trapped in limestone and dolomite sedimentary layers. The flux of carbon from
eroded sediments to marine deposits is part of the carbon cycle.
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of a pre-existing rock

type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form".
The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure (temperatures greater than 150 to 200
°C and pressures of 1500 bars causing profound physical and/or chemical change.
The protolith may be sedimentary rock, igneous rock or another older metamorphic
rock. Metamorphic rocks make up a large part of the Earth's crust and are classified
by texture and by chemical and mineral assemblage (metamorphic facies). They may
be formed simply by being deep beneath the Earth's surface, subjected to high
temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above. They can be formed by
tectonic processes such as continental collisions which cause horizontal pressure,
friction and distortion. They are also formed when rock is heated up by the intrusion
of hot molten rock called magma from the Earth's interior.
The study of metamorphic rocks (now exposed at the Earth's surface following
erosion and uplift) provides us with very valuable information about the temperatures
and pressures that occur at great depths within the Earth's crust.
Types of metamorphism
Contact metamorphism
Contact metamorphism is the name given to the changes that take place when
magma is injected into the surrounding solid rock (country rock). The changes that
occur are greatest wherever the magma comes into contact with the rock because the
temperatures are highest at this boundary and decrease with distance from it. Around
the igneous rock that forms from the cooling magma is a metamorphosed zone called
a contact metamorphism aureole. Aureoles may show all degrees of metamorphism
from the contact area to unmetamorphosed (unchanged) country rock some distance
away. The formation of important ore minerals may occur by the process of
metasomatism at or near the contact zone.
When a rock is contact altered by an igneous intrusion it very frequently
becomes more indurated, and more coarsely crystalline. Many altered rocks of this
type were formerly called hornstones, and the term hornfels is often used by
geologists to signify those fine grained, compact, non-foliated products of contact
metamorphism. A shale may become a dark argillaceous hornfels, full of tiny plates
of brownish biotite; a marl or impure limestone may change to a grey, yellow or
greenish lime-silicate-honrfels or siliceous marble, tough and splintery, with
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abundant augite, garnet, wollastonite and other minerals in which calcite is an
important component. A diabase or andesite may become a diabase hornfels or
andesite hornfels with development of new hornblende and biotite and a partial
recrystallization of the original feldspar. Chert or flint may become a finely
crystalline quartz rock; sandstones lose their clastic structure and are converted into a
mosaic of small close-fitting grains of quartz in a metamorphic rock called quartzite.
If the rock was originally banded or foliated (as, for example, a laminated
sandstone or a foliated calc-schist) this character may not be obliterated, and a
banded hornfels is the product; fossils even may have their shapes preserved, though
entirely recrystallized, and in many contact-altered lavas the vesicles are still visible,
though their contents have usually entered into new combinations to form minerals
which were not originally present. The minute structures, however, disappear, often
completely, if the thermal alteration is very profound; thus small grains of quartz in a
shale are lost or blend with the surrounding particles of clay, and the fine ground-
mass of lavas is entirely reconstructed.
By recrystallization in this manner peculiar rocks of very distinct types are
often produced. Thus shales may pass into cordierite rocks, or may show large
crystals of andalusite (and chiastolite), staurolite, garnet, kyanite and sillimanite, all
derived from the aluminous content of the original shale. A considerable amount of
mica (both muscovite and biotite) is often simultaneously formed, and the resulting
product has a close resemblance to many kinds of schist. Limestones, if pure, are
often turned into coarsely crystalline marbles; but if there was an admixture of clay or
sand in the original rock such minerals as garnet, epidote, idocrase, wollastonite, will
be present. Sandstones when greatly heated may change into coarse quartzites
composed of large clear grains of quartz. These more intense stages of alteration are
not so commonly seen in igneous rocks, because their minerals, being formed at high
temperatures, are not so easily transformed or recrystallized.
In a few cases rocks are fused and in the dark glassy product minute crystals of
spinel, sillimanite and cordierite may separate out. Shales are occasionally thus
altered by basalt dikes, and feldspathic sandstones may be completely vitrified.
Similar changes may be induced in shales by the burning of coal seams or even by an
ordinary furnace.
There is also a tendency for metasomatism between the igneous magma and
sedimentary country rock, whereby the chemicals in each are exchanged or
introduced into the other. Granites may absorb fragments of shale or pieces of basalt.
In that case hybrid rocks called skarn arise which have not the characters of normal
igneous or sedimentary rocks. Sometimes an invading granite magma permeates the
rocks around, filling their joints and planes of bedding, etc., with threads of quartz
and feldspar. This is very exceptional but instances of it are known and it may take
place on a large scale.
Regional metamorphism
Regional metamorphism is the name given to changes in great masses of rock

over a wide area. Rocks can be metamorphosed simply by being at great depths
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below the Earth's surface, subjected to high temperatures and the great pressure
caused by the immense weight of the rock layers above. Much of the lower
continental crust is metamorphic, except for recent igneous intrusions. Horizontal
tectonic movements such as the collision of continents create orogenic belts, and
cause high temperatures, pressures and deformation in the rocks along these belts. If
the metamorphosed rocks are later uplifted and exposed by erosion, they may occur
in long belts or other large areas at the surface. The process of metamorphism may
have destroyed the original features that could have revealed the rock's previous
history. Recrystallization of the rock will destroy the textures and fossils present in
sedimentary rocks. Metasomatism will change the original composition.
Regional metamorphism tends to make the rock more indurated and at the
same time to give it a foliated, schistose or gneissic texture, consisting of a planar
arrangement of the minerals, so that platy or prismatic minerals like mica and
hornblende have their longest axes arranged parallel to one another. For that reason
many of these rocks split readily in one direction along mica-bearing zones (schist).
In gneisses, minerals also tend to be segregated into bands; thus there are seams of
quartz and of mica in a mica schist, very thin, but consisting essentially of one
mineral. Along the mineral layers composed of soft or fissile minerals the rocks will
split most readily, and the freshly split specimens will appear to be faced or coated
with this mineral; for example, a piece of mica schist looked at facewise might be
supposed to consist entirely of shining scales of mica. On the edge of the specimens,
however, the white folia of granular quartz will be visible. In gneisses these
alternating folia are sometimes thicker and less regular than in schists, but most
importantly less micaceous; they may be lenticular, dying out rapidly. Gneisses also,
as a rule, contain more feldspar than schists do, and they are tougher and less fissile.
Contortion or crumbling of the foliation is by no means uncommon, and then the
splitting faces are undulose or puckered. Schistosity and gneissic banding (the two
main types of foliation) are formed by directed pressure at elevated temperature, and
to interstitial movement, or internal flow arranging the mineral particles while they
are crystallizing in that directed pressure field.
Rocks which were originally sedimentary and rocks which were undoubtedly
igneous are converted into schists and gneisses, and if originally of similar
composition they may be very difficult to distinguish from one another if the
metamorphism has been great. A quartz-porphyry, for example, and fine feldspathic
sandstone, may both the converted into a grey or pink mica-schist.
Earth science
Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth

Sciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is
arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-
bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth science.
The major historic disciplines use physics, geology, geography, meteorology,
mathematics, chemistry and biology to build a quantitative understanding of the
principal areas or spheres of the Earth system.
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Earth's spheres
Earth science generally recognizes 4 spheres, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere,

the atmosphere, and the biosphere. These correspond to rocks, water, air, and life.
Some practitioners include the cryosphere (ice) as a distinct portion of the
hydrosphere and the pedosphere (soil) as an active, intermixed sphere as part of
Earth's spheres.
Geology describes the rocky parts of the Earth's crust (or lithosphere) and its
historic development. Major subdisciplines are mineralogy and petrology,
geochemistry, geomorphology, paleontology, stratigraphy, structural geology,
engineering geology and
sedimentology. Geophysics and
Geodesy investigate the figure of
the Earth, its reaction to forces and
its magnetic and gravity fields.
Geophysicists explore the Earth's
core and mantle as well as the
tectonic and seismic activity of the
lithosphere.
Soil science covers the
outermost layer of the Earth's crust
that is subject to soil formation
processes (or pedosphere).Major
subdisciplines include edaphology
The first photograph ever taken of an and pedology.
"Earthrise," on Apollo Oceanography and hydrology
(includes limnology) describe the
marine and freshwater domains of the watery parts of the Earth (or hydrosphere).
Major subdisciplines include hydrogeology and physical, chemical, and biological
oceanography.[citation needed]
Glaciology covers the icy parts of the Earth (or cryosphere).
Atmospheric sciences cover the gaseous parts of the Earth (or atmosphere)
between the surface and the exosphere (~1000 km). Major subdisciplines are
meteorology, climatology, atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics.
A very important linking sphere is the biosphere, the study of which is biology. The
biosphere consists of all forms of life, from single-celled organisms to pine trees to
people. The interaction of Earth’s other spheres - lithosphere/geosphere, hydrosphere,
atmosphere and/or cryosphere and pedosphere - create the conditions that can support
life.
Crust
In geology, a crust is the outermost solid shell of a planet or moon. Crust is

chemically and mechanically different from underlying material. Crusts of Earth, our
Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars have been generated largely by igneous processes,
91
and these crusts are richer in
incompatible elements than the
underlying mantles. Crusts are also
present on moons of outer planets and
have formed by similar or analogous
processes: for instance, Io, a moon of
Jupiter, also has a crust formed by
igneous processes.
Earth has the best characterized
and perhaps the most complex crust of
all the planets and moons in our solar
system. An overview of our crust is
provided in the entry on Structure of the
Earth, and the two contrasting types of crust are discussed in entries on continental
crust and oceanic crust. Despite the detail known about Earth's crust, its early history
is obscure. The rapidly growing base of knowledge about other bodies in the solar
system provides insights into the beginnings of Earth history as well as into other
possible paths of planetary evolution. Studies of the Moon have been particularly
valuable for understanding the early Earth.
Earth's interior
A volcano is the release of stored energy from below the surface of Earth,
originating from radioactive decay
and gravitational sorting in the
Earth's core and mantle, and residual
energy gained during the Earth’s
formation.
Plate tectonics, mountain ranges,
volcanoes, and earthquakes are
geological phenomena that can be
explained in terms of energy
transformations in the Earth's crust.
Beneath the earth's crust lies
the mantle which is heated by the
radioactive decay of heavy elements. Earth cutaway from core to exosphere.
The mantle is not quite solid and
consists of magma which is in a state of semi-perpetual convection. This convection
process causes the lithospheric plates to move, albeit slowly. The resulting process is
known as plate tectonics.
Plate tectonics might be thought of as the process by which the earth resurfaces
itself. Through a process called spreading ridges (or seafloor spreading), the earth
creates new crust by allowing magma underneath the lithosphere to come to the
surface where it cools and solidifies--becoming new crust, and through a process
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called subduction, excess crust is pushed underground--beneath the rest of the
lithosphere--where it comes into contact with magma and melts--rejoining the mantle
from which it originally came.
Areas of the crust where new crust is created are called divergent boundaries,
and areas of the crust where it is brought back into the earth are called convergent
boundaries. Earthquakes result from the movement of the lithospheric plates, and
they often occur near covergent boundaries where parts of the crust are forced into
the earth as part of subduction.
Volcanoes result primarily from the melting of subducted crust material. Crust
material that is forced into the athenosphere melts, and some portion of the melted
material becomes light enough to rise to the surface--giving birth to volcanoes.
Earth's electromagnet
Current flowing around an iron core creates an electromagnet. Earth is an

electromagnet.
An electromagnet is a magnet that is created by a current that flows around a
soft-iron core. The earth has a soft iron core surrounded by semi-liquid materials
from the mantle that move in continuous currents around the core; therefore, the earth
is an electromagnet. This is referred to as the dynamo theory of earth's magnetism.
The fact that earth is an electromagnet helps with the earth's maintenance of an
atmosphere suitable for life.
Atmosphere
The magnetosphere shields the surface of the Earth from the charged particles
of the solar wind. It is compressed on the day (Sun) side due to the force of the
arriving particles, and extended on the night side.
The earth is blanketed by an atmosphere consisting of 99% oxygen and
nitrogen. The atmosphere has five layers: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere,
thermosphere, and exosphere; and 75% of the atmosphere's gasses are in the bottom-
most layer, the troposphere.
The magnetic field created by mantle's internal motions produces the
magnetosphere which protects the earth's atmosphere from the solar wind. It is
theorized that the solar wind would strip away earth's atmosphere in a few million
years were it not for the earth's electromagnet. And since earth is 4.5 billion years
old, earth would not have an atmosphere by now if there were no magnetosphere.
The atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The remaining
one percent contains small amounts of other gasses including CO2 and water vapors.
Water vapors and CO2 allow the earth's atmosphere to catch and hold the sun's
energy through a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect. This allows earth's
surface to be warm enough to have liquid water and support life.
In addition to storing heat, the atmosphere also protects living organisms by
shielding the earth's surface from cosmic rays. Note that the level of protection seems
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to be adjusted to prevent cosmic rays from destroying all life while allowing for the
mutations that have an important role in pushing forward diversity in the biosphere.
Erosion
Erosion is displacement of solids

(sediment, soil, rock and other
particles) usually by the agents of
currents such as, wind, water, or ice by
downward or down-slope movement in
response to gravity or by living
organisms (in the case of bioerosion).
There are two different types of
erosion "mechanical erosion" and
"chemical erosion" Each of these has a
different effect on the environment.
Mechanical erosion includes water,
wind, sun, ice, natural disasters such as
earthquakes and shoreline erosion.
Chemical erosion would be acid rain,
over use of fertilizer, human land use,
deforestazation and overgrazing.
Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Erosion is distinguished from
Washington State University, USA. weathering, this is the process of
chemical or physical breakdown of the
minerals in the rocks, although the two processes may be concurrent.
Erosion is an intrinsic natural process but in many places it is increased by human
land use. Poor land use practices include deforestation, overgrazing, unmanaged
construction activity and road or trail building. Land that is used for the production of
agricultural crops generally experiences a significant greater rate of erosion than that
of land under natural vegetation. This is particularly true if tillage is used, which
reduces vegetation cover on the surface of the soil and disturbs both soil structure and
plant roots that would otherwise hold the soil in place. However, improved land use
practices can limit erosion, using techniques like terrace-building, conservation
tillage practices, and tree planting.
A certain amount of erosion is natural and, in fact, healthy for the ecosystem.
For example, gravels continuously move downstream in watercourses. Excessive
erosion, however, does cause problems, such as receiving water sedimentation,
ecosystem damage and outright loss of soil.
Approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded.
According to the UN, an area of fertile soil the size of Ukraine is lost every year
because of drought, deforestation and climate change. In Africa, if current trends of
soil degradation continue, the continent might be able to feed just 25% of its
population by 2025, according to UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources
in Africa.
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Causes
The rate of erosion tenses on many factors, including the amount and intensity
of precipitation, the texture of the soil, the gradient of the slope, ground cover from
vegetation, rocks, land use, how much water there is, and possibility of erosion from
speed of a stream. The first factor, rain, is the agent for erosion, but the degree of
erosion is governed by other factors.
The first three factors can remain fairly constant over time. In general, given
the same kind of vegetative cover, you expect areas with high-intensity precipitation,
sandy or silty soils and steep slopes to be the most erosive. Soils with a greater
proportion of clay that receive less intense precipitation and are on gentle slopes tend
to erode less. But here, the impact of atmospheric sodium on erodibility of clay
should be considered (Schmittner and Giresse, 1999).
The factor that is most subject to change is the amount and type of ground
cover. In an undisturbed forest, the mineral soil is protected by a litter layer and an
organic layer. These two layers protect the soil by absorbing the impact of rain drops.
These layers and the underlaying soil in a forest is porous and highly permeable to
rainfall. Typically only the most severe rainfall and large hailstorm events will lead to
overland flow in a forest. If the trees are removed by fire or logging, infiltration rates
remain high and erosion low to the degree the forest floor remains intact. Severe fires
can lead to significantly increased erosion if followed by heavy rainfall. In the case of
construction or road building when the litter layer is removed or compacted the
susceptibility of the soil to erosion is greatly increased.
Roads are especially likely to cause increased rates of erosion because, in
addition to removing ground cover, they can significantly change drainage patterns.
A road that has a lot of rock and one that is "hydrologically invisible" (that gets the
water off the road as quickly as possible, mimicking natural drainage patterns) has
the best chance of not causing increased erosion.
Many human activities remove vegetation from an area, making the soil easily
eroded. Logging can cause increased erosion rates due to soil compaction, exposure
of mineral soil, for example roads and landings. However it is the removal of or
compromise to the forest floor not the removal of the canopy that can lead to erosion.
This is because rain drops striking tree leaves coalesce with other rain drops creating
larger drops. When these larger drops fall (called throughfall) they again may reach
terminal velocity and strike the ground with more energy then had they fallen in the
open. Terminal velocity of rain drops is reached in about 8 meters. Because forest
canopies are usually higher then this, leaf drop can regain terminal velocity.
However, the intact forest floor, with its layers of leaf litter and organic matter,
absorbs the impact of the rainfall. (Stuart and Edwards)
Heavy grazing can reduce vegetation enough to increase erosion. Changes in
the kind of vegetation in an area can also affect erosion rates. Different kinds of
vegetation lead to different infiltration rates of rain into the soil. Forested areas have
higher infiltration rates, so precipitation will result in less surface runoff, which
erodes. Instead much of the water will go in subsurface flows, which are generally
less erosive. Leaf litter and low shrubs are an important part of the high infiltration
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rates of forested systems, the removal of which can increase erosion rates. Leaf litter
also shelters the soil from the impact of falling raindrops, which is a significant agent
of erosion. Vegetation can also change the speed of surface runoff flows, so grasses
and shrubs can also be instrumental in this aspect.
One of the main causes of erosive soil loss in the year 2006 is the result of
slash and burn treatment of tropical forest. When the total ground surface is stripped
of vegetation and then seared of all living organisms, the upper soils are vulnerable to
both wind and water erosion. In a number of regions of the earth, entire sectors of a
country have been rendered unproductive. For example, on the Madagascar high
central plateau, comprising approximately ten percent of that country's land area,
virtually the entire landscape is sterile of vegetation, with gully erosive furrows
typically in excess of 50 meters deep and one kilometer wide. Shifting cultivation is a
farming system which sometimes incorporates the slash and burn method in some
regions of the world.
Bank erosion started by four wheeler all-terrain vehicles, Yauhanna, South
Carolina
When land is overused by animal activities (including humans), there can be
mechanical erosion and also removal of vegetation leading to erosion. In the case of
the animal kingdom, this effect would become material primarily with very large
animal herds stampeding such as the Blue Wildebeest on the Serengeti plain. Even in
this case there are broader material benefits to the ecosystem, such as continuing the
survival of grasslands, that are indigenous to this region. This effect may be viewed
as anomalous or a problem only when there is a significant imbalance or
overpopulation of one species.
In the case of human use, the effects are also generally linked to
overpopulation. For when large numbers of hikers use trails or extensive off road
vehicle use occurs, erosive effects often follow, arising from vegetation removal and
furrowing of foot traffic and off road vehicle tires. These effects can also accumulate
from a variety of outdoor human activities, again simply arising from too many
people using a finite land resource.
One of the most serious and long-running water erosion problems worldwide is
in the People's Republic of China, on the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the
upper reaches of the Yangtze River. From the Yellow River, over 1.6 billion tons of
sediment flows into the ocean each year. The sediment originates primarily from
water erosion in the Loess Plateau region of the northwest.
Soil Erosion and Climate Change
The consensus of atmospheric scientists is that climate change is occurring,

both in terms of global air temperature and precipitation patterns. Warmer
atmospheric temperatures associated with greenhouse warming are expected to lead
to a more vigorous hydrological cycle, including more extreme rainfall events (IPCC,
1995). Karl and Knight (1998) reported that from 1910 to 1996 total precipitation
over the contiguous U.S. increased, and that 53% of the increase came from the upper
10% of precipitation events (the most intense precipitation). The percent of
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precipitation coming from days of
precipitation in excess of 50 mm
has also increased significantly.
Studies on soil erosion
suggest that increased rainfall
amounts and intensities will lead to
greater rates of erosion. Thus, if
rainfall amounts and intensities
increase in many parts of the world
as expected, erosion will also
increase, unless amelioration
measures are taken. Soil erosion
rates are expected to change in
response to changes in climate for a
variety of reasons. The most direct
is the change in the erosive power
of rainfall. Other reasons include:
The surface pattern on this pedestal rock a) changes plant canopy caused by
is,honeycomb weathering, caused by salt shifts in plant biomass production
crystallization.This example is at Yehliu associated with moisture regime; b)
Taiwan changes in litter cover on the
ground caused by changes in both
plant residue decomposition rates driven by temperature and moisture dependent soil
microbial activity as well as plant biomass production rates; c) changes in soil
moisture due to shifting precipitation regimes and evapo-transpiration rates, which
changes infiltration and runoff ratios; d) soil erodibility changes due to decrease in
soil organic matter concentrations in soils that lead to a soil structure that is more
susceptible to erosion and increased runoff due to increased soil surface sealing and
crusting; e) a shift of winter precipitation from non-erosive snow to erosive rainfall
due to increasing winter temperatures; f) melting of permafrost, which induces an
erodible soil state from a previously non-erodible one; and g) shifts in land use made
necessary to accommodate new climatic regimes.
Studies by Pruski and Nearing (2002) indicated that, other factors such as land
use not considered, we can expect approximately a 1.7% change in soil erosion for
each 1% change in total precipitation under climate change.
Weathering
Weathering is the decomposition of rocks, soils and their minerals through

direct contact with the planet's atmosphere. Weathering occurs in situ, or "with no
movement", and thus should not to be confused with erosion, which involves the
movement and disintegration of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice,
wind, and gravity.
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Two important classifications of weathering processes exist. Mechanical or physical
weathering involves the breakdown of rocks and soils through direct contact with
atmospheric conditions such as heat, water, ice and
pressure. The second classification,
chemical weathering, involves the direct effect of atmospheric chemicals, or
biologically produced chemicals (also known as biological weathering), in the
breakdown of rocks, soils and minerals.
The materials left over after the rock breaks down combined with organic
material creates soil. The mineral content of the soil is determined by the parent
material, thus a soil derived from a single rock type can often be deficient in one or
more minerals for good fertility, while a soil weathered from a mix of rock types (as
in glacial, eolian or alluvial sediments) often makes more fertile soil.
Physical (mechanical) weathering
Mechanical weathering is the

cause of the disintegration of rocks. The
primary process in mechanical
weathering is abrasion (the process by
which clasts and other particles are
reduced in size). However, chemical and
physical weathering often goes hand in
hand. For example, cracks exploited by
mechanical weathering will increase the
surface area exposed to chemical action.
Furthermore, the chemical action at
minerals in cracks can aid the
disintegration process.
Salt weathering of sandstone near
Qobustan, Azerbaijan.
Thermal expansion
Thermal expansion, also known as onion-skin weathering, exfoliation,

insolation weathering or thermal shock, often occurs in areas, like deserts, where
there is a large diurnal temperature range. The temperatures soar high in the day,
while dipping greatly at night. As the rock heats up and expands by day, and cools
and contracts by night, stress is often exerted on the outer layers. The stress causes
the peeling off of the outer layers of rocks in thin sheets. Though this is caused
mainly by temperature changes, thermal expansion is enhanced by the presence of
moisture.
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Freeze thaw weathering
This process can also be called frost shattering. This type of weathering is
common in mountain areas where the temperature is around freezing point.
Frost induced weathering, although often attributed to the expansion of
freezing water captured in cracks, is generally independent of the water-to-ice
expansion. It has long been known that moist soils expand or frost heave upon
freezing as a result of water migrating along from unfrozen areas via thin films to
collect at growing ice lenses. This same phenomena occurs within pore spaces of
rocks. They grow larger as they attract liquid water from the surrounding pores. The
ice crystal growth weakens the rocks which, in time, break up. Intermolecular forces
acting between the mineral surfaces, ice, and water sustain these unfrozen films
which transport moisture and generate pressure between mineral surfaces as the lens
aggregates. Freeze induced weathering action occurs mainly in environments where
there is a lot of moisture, and temperatures frequently fluctuate above and below
freezing point—that is, mainly alpine and periglacial areas. An example of rocks
susceptible to frost action is chalk, which has many pore spaces for the growth of ice
crystals. This process can be seen in Dartmoor where it results in the formation of
tors. When water that has entered the joints freezes, the ice formed strains the walls
of the joints and causes the joints to deepen and widen. This is because the volume of
water expands by 9% when it freezes. When the ice thaws, water can flow further
into the rock. When the temperature drops below freezing point and the water freezes
again, the ice enlarges the joints further. Repeated freeze-thaw action weakens the
rocks which, over time, break up along the joints into angular pieces. The angular
rock fragments gather at the foot of the slope to form a talus slope (or scree slope).
The splitting of rocks along the joints into blocks is called block disintegration. The
blocks of rocks that are detached are of various shapes depending on rock structure.
Pressure release
Pressure Release of granite.
In pressure release, also known as unloading, overlying materials (not necessarily

rocks) are removed (by erosion, or other processes), which causes underlying rocks to
expand and fracture parallel to the surface. Often the overlying material is heavy, and
the underlying rocks experience high pressure under them, for example, a moving
glacier. Pressure release may also cause exfoliation to occur.
Intrusive igneous rocks (e.g. granite) are formed deep beneath the earth's surface.
They are under tremendous pressure because of the overlying rock material. When
erosion removes the overlying rock material, these intrusive rocks are exposed and
the pressure on them is released. The outer parts of the rocks then tend to expand.
The expansion sets up stresses which cause fractures parallel to the rock surface to
form. Over time, sheets of rock break away from the exposed rocks along the
fractures. Pressure release is also known as "exfoliation" or "sheeting"; these
processes result in batholiths and granite domes, an example of which is Dartmoor.
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Hydraulic action
This is when water (generally from powerful waves) rushes into cracks in the
rock face rapidly. This traps a layer of air at the bottom of the crack, compressing it
and weakening the rock. When the wave retreats, the trapped air is suddenly released
with explosive force. The explosive release of highly pressurized air cracks away
fragments at the rock face and widens the crack itself.
Salt-crystal growth (haloclasty)
Salt crystallization or otherwise known as Haloclasty causes disintegration of
rocks when saline (see salinity) solutions seep into cracks and joints in the rocks and
evaporate, leaving salt crystals behind. These salt crystals expand as they are heated
up, exerting pressure on the confining rock.
Salt crystallization may also take place when solutions decompose rocks (for
example, limestone and chalk) to form salt solutions of sodium sulfate or sodium
carbonate, of which the moisture evaporates to form their respective salt crystals.
The salts which have proved most effective in disintegrating rocks are sodium
sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and calcium chloride. Some of these salts can expand up
to three times or even more.
It is normally associated with arid climates where strong heating causes strong
evaporation and therefore salt crystallisation. It is also common along coasts. An
example of salt weathering can be seen in the honeycombed stones in sea wall. Like
honeycomb weathering, Tafoni are related cavernous rock weathering structures
believed made in large part by chemical and physical salt weathering
processes.www.tafoni.com provides a comprehensive view of cavernous weathering
processes including processes involving the chemical and physical effects of salt on
rock.
Biological Weathering
Living organisms may contribute to mechanical weathering (as well as

chemical weathering, see 'biological' weathering below). Lichens and mosses grow
on essentially bare rock surfaces and create a more humid chemical
microenvironment. The attachment of these organisms to the rock surface enhances
physical as well as chemical breakdown of the surface microlayer of the rock. On a
larger scale seedlings sprouting in a crevice and plant roots exert physical pressure as
well as providing a pathway for water and chemical infiltration. Burrowing animals
and insects disturb the soil layer adjacent to the bedrock surface thus further
increasing water and acid infiltration and exposure to oxidation processes.
Chemical weathering
Chemical weathering involves the change in the composition of rocks, often

leading to a 'break down' in its form. This type of weathering happens over a period
of time.
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Dissolution
Rainfall is naturally
slightly acidic because
atmospheric carbon dioxide
dissolves in the rainwater
producing weak carbonic
acid. In unpolluted
environments, the rainfall
pH is around 5.6. Acid rain
occurs when gases such as
sulphur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides are present in the
atmosphere. These oxides
react in the rain water to
produce stronger acids and
can lower the pH to 4.5 or
even 3.0. Sulfur dioxide, Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of the
SO2, comes from volcanic surrounding sandstone by both mechanical
eruptions or from fossil weathering and chemical weathering Wind, sand,
fuels, can become sulfuric and water from flash flooding are the primary
acid within rainwater, which weathering agents.
can cause solution
weathering to the rocks on which it falls.
One of the most well-known solution weathering processes is carbonation, the
process in which atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to solution weathering.
Carbonation occurs on rocks which contain calcium carbonate such as limestone and
chalk. This takes place when rain combines with carbon dioxide or an organic acid to
form a weak carbonic acid which reacts with calcium carbonate (the limestone) and
forms calcium bicarbonate. This process speeds up with a decrease in temperature
and therefore is a large feature of glacial weathering.
Oil and gas geology
At about 60 degrees Celsius, oil begins to form in the source rock due to the
thermogenic breakdown (cracking) of organic matter (kerogen).
The oil window is a temperature dependant interval in the subsurface where oil
is generated and expelled from the source rocks. The oil window is often found in the
60-120 degree Celsius interval (aprox. 2-4 km depth), while the corresponding gas
window is found in the 100-200+ degree Celsius interval (3-6 km depth).
After expulsion from the source rock, the oil and gas migrates upwards through
permeable rocks (sandstones) or fractures until they are stopped by a tight, non-
permeable layer of rock, like shale. In this case, they are trapped, and may be
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produced from the hydrocarbon accumulation (reservoir) through an oil well. If not
trapped, the hydrocarbons may migrate up to the surface, where they can be seen as
seeps.
Source-rock, oil and gas samples from wells and outcrops are analyzed in
different ways to assess the composition, quality and thermal maturity, i.e. what type
and how much hydrocarbons the source rocks may generate, and how far in this
process the source rocks have come. Hydrocarbons are correlated to their respective
source rocks by comparing the contents of specific organic molecules (biomarkers) in
the hydrocarbons and in extracts of the source rock.
The results from such analyses are evaluated in the context of the geological
and thermal history of the sedimentary basin. By doing this, a basins petroleum
system may be defined in time and space. This knowledge is important when
exploring for oil and gas.
Oil and gas (hydrocarbons) are valuable resources hidden in the subsurface of the
Earth.
Geologists and geophysicists use a myriad of advanced techniques in order to
find commercial accumulations of oil and gas.
Oils from the Norwegian North Sea
The investigation of organic rich rocks (hydrocarbon source rocks) and their
geological history is important to understand the petroleum system in a sedimentary
basin. The basic elements of a petroleum system consists of a source rock, a porous
and permeable reservoir rock and a tight cap rock.
When organic rich rocks (usually shales containing 4-20 weight % organic
matter) are buried, they are subjected to increasing temperatures and pressures
(typically 30 degrees Celsius/km).
At about 60 degrees Celsius, oil begins to form in the source rock due to the
thermogenic breakdown (cracking) of organic matter (kerogen).
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The oil window is a temperature dependant interval in the subsurface where oil
is generated and expelled from the source rocks. The oil window is often found in the
60-120 degree Celsius interval (aprox. 2-4 km depth), while the corresponding gas
window is found in the 100-200+ degree Celsius interval (3-6 km depth).
After expulsion from the source rock, the oil and gas migrates upwards through
permeable rocks (sandstones) or fractures until they are stopped by a tight, non-
permeable layer of rock, like a shale. In this case, they are trapped, and may be
produced from the hydrocarbon accumulation (reservoir) through an oil well. If not
trapped, the hydrocarbons may migrate up to the surface, where they can be seen as
seeps.
Source-rock, oil and gas samples from wells and outcrops are analyzed in
different ways to assess the composition, quality and thermal maturity, i.e. what type
and how much hydrocarbons the source rocks may generate, and how far in this
process the source rocks have come. Hydrocarbons are correlated to their respective
source rocks by comparing the contents of specific organic molecules (biomarkers) in
the hydrocarbons and in extracts of the source rock.
The results from such analyses are evaluated in the context of the geological
and thermal history of the sedimentary basin. By doing this, a basins petroleum
system may be defined in time and space. This knowledge is important when
exploring for oil and gas.
Petroleum
Petroleum (Latin Petroleum f. Latin petra f. Greek πέτρα - rock + Latin oleum
f. Greek έλαιον - oil) or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in
rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of
various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds. The proportion of
hydrocarbons in the mixture is highly variable and ranges from as much as 97% by
weight in the lighter oils to as little as 50% in the heavier oils and bitumen.
The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes and various
aromatic hydrocarbons while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen
and sulfur, and trace amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium.
The exact molecular composition varies widely from formation to formation but the
proportion of chemical elements varies over fairly narrow limits as follows:
Carbon 83-87%
Hydrogen 10-14%
Nitrogen 0.1-2%
Oxygen 0.1-1.5%
Sulfur0.5-6%
Metals -1000 ppm
Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is

usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish or even greenish). In the
reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms
a gas cap over the petroleum, and saline water, which being heavier generally floats
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underneath it. Crude oil may also be found in semi-solid form mixed with sand, as in
the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it may be referred to as crude bitumen.
Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing fuel oil and gasoline
(petrol), both important "primary energy" sources. 84% by volume of the
hydrocarbons present in petroleum is converted into energy-rich fuels (petroleum-
based fuels), including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils and liquefied
petroleum gas.
Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative abundance, it
has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s.
Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including
pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics; the 16% not used for
energy production is converted into these other materials.
Petroleum is found in porous rock formations in the upper strata of some areas
of the Earth's crust. There is also petroleum in oil sands (tar sands). Known reserves
of petroleum are typically estimated at around 140 km³ (1.2 trillion barrels) without
oil sands, or 440 km³ (3.74 trillion barrels) with oil sands. However, oil production
from oil sands is currently severely limited. Consumption is currently around 84
million barrels per day, or 3.6 km³ per year. Because the energy return over energy
invested (EROEI) ratio of oil is constantly falling as petroleum recovery gets more
difficult, recoverable oil reserves are significantly less than total oil-in-place. At
current consumption levels, and assuming that oil will be consumed only from
reservoirs, known recoverable reserves would be gone around 2039, potentially
leading to a global energy crisis. However, there are factors which may extend or
reduce this estimate, including the rapidly increasing demand for petroleum in China,
India, and other developing nations; new discoveries; energy conservation and use of
alternative energy sources; and new econonomically viable exploitation of non-
conventional oil sources.
Oil and gas (hydrocarbons) are valuable resources hidden in the subsurface of
the Earth.
Geologists and geophysicists use a myriad of advanced techniques in order to find
commercial accumulations of oil and gas.
The investigation of organic rich rocks (hydrocarbon source rocks) and their
geological history is important to understand the petroleum system in a sedimentary
basin. The basic elements of a petroleum system consists of a source rock, a porous
and permeable reservoir rock and a tight cap rock.
When organic rich rocks (usually shales containing 4-20 weight % organic
matter) are buried, they are subjected to increasing temperatures and pressures
(typically 30 degrees Celsius/km).
Biogenic theory
Most geologists view crude oil and natural gas as the product of compression
and heating of ancient organic materials over geological time. Oil is formed from the
preserved remains of prehistoric zooplankton and algae which have been settled to
the sea (or lake) bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions. Terrestrial plants,
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on the other hand, tend to form coal. Over geological time this organic matter, mixed
with mud, is buried under heavy layers of sediment. The resulting high levels of heat
and pressure cause the organic matter to chemically change during diagenesis, first
into a waxy material known as kerogen which is found in various oil shales around
the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process
known as catagenesis.
Geologists often refer to an "oil window" which is the temperature range that
oil forms in—below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form of
kerogen, and above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to natural gas
through the process of thermal cracking. Though this happens at different depths in
different locations around the world, a 'typical' depth for the oil window might be 4–6
km. Note that even if oil is formed at extreme depths, it may be trapped at much
shallower depths, even if it is not formed there (the Athabasca Oil Sands is one
example).
Hydrocarbon trap.
Because most hydrocarbons are lighter than rock or water, these often migrate
upward through adjacent rock layers until they either reach the surface or become
trapped beneath impermeable rocks, within porous rocks called reservoirs. However,
the process is not straightforward since it is influenced by underground water flows,
and oil may migrate hundreds of kilometers horizontally or even short distances
downward before becoming trapped in a reservoir. Concentration of hydrocarbons in
a trap forms an oil field, from which the liquid can be extracted by drilling and
pumping.
Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: first, a source rock
rich in organic material buried deep enough for subterranean heat to cook it into oil;
second, a porous and permeable reservoir rock for it to accumulate in; and last a cap
rock (seal) or other mechanism that prevents it from escaping to the surface. Within
these reservoirs fluids will typically organize themselves like a three-layer cake with
a layer of water below the oil layer and a layer of gas above it, although the different
layers vary in size between reservoirs.
The vast majority of oil that has been produced by the earth has long ago
escaped to the surface and been biodegraded by oil-eating bacteria. Oil companies are
looking for the small fraction that has been trapped by this rare combination of
circumstances. Oil sands are reservoirs of partially biodegraded oil still in the process
of escaping, but contain so much migrating oil that, although most of it has escaped,
vast amounts are still present - more than can be found in conventional oil reservoirs.
On the other hand, oil shales are source rocks that have never been buried deep
enough to convert their trapped kerogen into oil.
The reactions that produce oil and natural gas are often modeled as first order
breakdown reactions, where kerogen is broken down to oil and natural gas by a set of
parallel reactions, and oil eventually breaks down to natural gas by another set of
reactions. The first set was originally patented in 1694 under British Crown Patent
No. 330 covering,
105
Abiogenic theory
The idea of abiogenic petroleum origin was championed in the Western world
by astronomer Thomas Gold based on thoughts from Russia, mainly on studies of
Nikolai Kudryavtsev in the 1800s. Gold's hypothesis was that hydrocarbons of purely
inorganic origin exist in the planet Earth. Since most petroleum hydrocarbons are less
dense than aqueous pore fluids, Gold proposed that they migrate upward into oil
reservoirs through deep fracture networks. Although biomarkers are found in
petroleum that most petroleum geologists interpret as indicating biological origin,
Gold proposed that Thermophilic, rock-dwelling microbial life-forms are responsible
for their presence.
This hypothesis is accepted by only a small minority of geologists and
petroleum engineers, and to date has not been particularly successful in predicting
petroleum deposits on earth,[8] so it is considered a fringe theory. Methods of making
hydrocarbons from inorganic material have been known for some time, however no
substantial proof exists that this is happening on any significant scale in the earth's
crust for any hydrocarbon other than methane (natural gas). Abundant liquid methane
(though not any form of petroleum) has been inferred to be present on Titan, a moon
of Saturn, by research data from NASA's Cassini probe. However, Titan has
completely different geology from Earth, and is 1,200,000,000 kilometres
(750,000,000 mi) away, an excessively long distance to ship what is theorized to be
mostly liquefied natural gas.
Natural gas
Natural gas is a gaseous

fossil fuel consisting primarily of
methane but including significant
quantities of ethane, propane,
butane, and pentane - heavy
hydrocarbons removed later on as
condensate as well as carbon
dioxide, nitrogen, helium and
hydrogen sulfide. It is found in oil
fields (associated) either dissolved
or isolated in natural gas fields
(non associated), and in coal beds
(as coalbed methane). When
methane-rich gases are produced
by the anaerobic decay of non-
fossil organic material, these are
referred to as biogas. Sources of
biogas include swamps, marshes,
and landfills (see landfill gas), as
well as sewage sludge and manure
106
by way of anaerobic digesters, in addition to enteric fermentation particularly in
cattle.
Since natural gas is not a pure product, when non associated gas is extracted
from a field under supercritical (pressure/temperature) conditions, it may partially
condense upon isothermic depressurizing--an effect called retrograde condensation.
The liquids thus formed may get trapped by depositing in the pores of the gas
reservoir. One method to deal with this problem is to reinject dried gas free of
condensate to maintain the underground pressure and to allow reevaporation and
extraction of condensates.
Natural gas is often informally referred to as simply gas, especially when
compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used
as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other
than methane. The by-products of that processing include ethane, propane, butanes,
pentanes and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, elemental sulfur, and sometimes
helium and nitrogen.
Bibliography
1. Людвигова Е.В. Книга для чтения по английскому языку: учеб. пособие для
технических вузов / Е.В. Людвигова, Н.В. Владинец, И.А. Кальянц. – М.:
Высшая школа, 1982. – 109 с.
2. Мильничук В.С. Общая геология: учебник для вузов / В.С. Мильничук,
М.С. Арабаджи. – 2е изд., перераб.и доп. – М.: Недра, 1989. – 333 с.: ил.
3. Пичугина Т. Метаморфозы лавы / Т. Пичугина // Вокруг Света. – 2007. – №
2/2797. – С. 6-14.
4. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
107
Учебное издание
Татьяна Викторовна Журова
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ-ГЕОЛОГОВ
Учебное пособие
Технический редактор Коровкина Л.П.
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Журова, Т.В. Английский язык для студентов-геологов [Текст]: учеб.

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Read the text, trying to get the main idea.

Geology is the study of the Earth,

Exercise1. Answer the questions.

1. What does geology deal with?

Exercise 2. Summarize the main idea of the text.

- Mineralogy and petrology deal with …

What Does a Geologist Do?

Geologists work to understand the history

2) Geologists have worked hard to

Answer the questions.

1. What is the task of a geologist?

Exercise 1. Answer the questions.

1. Is geology an interesting career?

Exercise 2. Give a short summary of the text.

Translate the international words into Russian.

Geology, biological resources, physics, atmosphere, conservation, rational, scale,

b) Translate the word combinations.

II. Translate the sentences. Put questions to the words in italics.

1. The Earth’s crust is a potential source of minerals.

III. Read the text.

The science of the study of the

1. изучение коры земли

V. Match the synonyms.

E.g. life - lifeless. (жизнь – безжизненный)

E.g. essential - essentially.

c) Translate into Russian the following words of the same stem.

VII. Answer the questions.

1. What has made particular progress in recent years?

VIII. Complete the sentences, using the words in brackets.

1. The Earth is the fifth largest planet of the … … .

IX. Make up sentences from the given words.

1. powers, the, heat, Cycle, solar, Hydrological.

X. Grammar revision. Tense forms.

b) Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the passive

E.g.: Oil production is increased from year to year.

1. Generally speaking, by volcanic phenomena we mean the processes by which the

1. Земля - третья планета по порядку от Солнца.

XII. Retell the text “Earth.”

XIII. Supplementary text. Translate the text, using a dictionary.

Сопоставление размеров планет земной группы (слева направо): Меркурий,

Земля - третья от Солнца планета Солнечной системы, крупнейшая из

a) Translate the international words into Russian.

Chemical analyses, to indicate, proportion, material, to accumulate, to

b) Learn the vocabulary.

c) Translate the word combinations into Russian.

II. Translate the sentences. Put questions to the words in italics.

Age of the Earth

At the beginning of the last century,

1. прежняя оценка минимального возраста земли

V. Match the synonyms.

VI. Word building.

E. g. to estimate – estimation (оценивать – оценка)

to determine, to except, to divide, to contribute, to accumulate, to form, to fluctuate,

E.g. composition – composer (состав – составитель, композитор)

Condition, accumulation, to process, to indicate, to divide, to carry