Although geology is a science and a career that is not very well known worldwide, the truth is that it is very important because it has various applications in daily life and in various industries. In fact, geology is closely related to strategic sectors and the economy of a country.
Those strategic sectors are mining and natural resources, the hydrocarbons and fossil fuels sector, the use of surface and underground water, natural risks, the exploitation of construction aggregates, the construction of civil engineering works and much more.
Below we describe what is considered the importance of geology in several of these sectors.
Importance of geology in the economy of countries
Geology is the science that is responsible for the exploration of various types of natural, energy and industrial mineral resources. These natural resources, when they are extracted, generate high economic returns to the countries that contain them and to the areas of influence around these projects.
It is thanks to geology that this type of mineral or energy deposits can be found to be later economically exploited.
These natural resources include metallic mineral deposits such as gold and silver, hydrocarbon and fossil fuel deposits such as oil and coal, geothermal energy deposits, and various types of non-metallic deposits such as quarried clays.
Importance of geology in natural hazards
If you ever wondered who are the professionals in charge of studying how the various types of natural disasters are generated, well, they are the geologists who apply geology to the study of these phenomena.
Geology is responsible for understanding the operation and how these natural phenomena that cause major disasters occur with the aim of proposing social and engineering solutions to those problems.
Some of these activities include the study of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes, and landslides.
The importance of geology in mining
Mining is responsible for the extraction of all metallic and non-metallic industrial minerals that generate benefits for society. however, it must be understood that mining engineers rely on geologists and geology to find these minerals.
Geologists who use geology to search for these types of mineral deposits are called exploration geologists, here they apply geochemical exploration techniques, fluvial sediment sampling, rock sampling, water sampling, petrological analysis and all those data are interpreted to find sectors of mining interest.
In addition, geological mapping is the most important technique used to find these days mineral foundations.
This activity is quite important because there are countries that base a large part of their economy on the exploitation of metallic and non-metallic minerals, a great example is Chile, which is the largest copper producer in the world.
Importance of geology in the hydrocarbons sector
Petroleum engineers are in charge of exploiting and extracting all hydrocarbons such as oil and natural gas, however they are also geologists who rely on geological techniques to find hydrocarbon deposits.
In this case, geology is supported by geophysics, hydrocarbon geochemistry, rock, soil and water sampling, and geological mapping to find these deposits.
This activity is very important because currently there are a lot of countries that base their economy on hydrocarbons, an example is Ecuador.
Importance of geology in the study of the planet
Perhaps you have thought about how we know the evolution of the planet from its origin. Well, thanks to geology, which is based on the study of rocks and fossils, we currently know how our planet has evolved since it originated.
Thanks to this type of study, it is currently known what the internal layers of the earth are, why the continents move, how mountains are formed, why minerals exist and how many mass extinctions have occurred, including the extinction of the dinosaurs..
Importance of geology in engineering and construction
Many believe that geology is an investigative science, however there are branches that are closely related to engineering, including geotechnics, geophysics, and geological engineering in general.
These branches of geology support above all civil engineering in the construction of roads, bridges, tunnels and large buildings in cities.
In this aspect, geology is mainly responsible for identifying the quality of the rocks and soil where the construction works will be carried out.
Importance of geology in clean energy
The generation the study of clean energies such as wind, solar, hydroelectric energy, geothermal and nuclear energy need geology to be carried out.
It is also thanks to various geological studies that exact and suitable places can be determined and found to apply all these technologies.