With exceptions, which it is always worth mentioning, Geology is not yet part of the concerns of the Portuguese and, there, are many of our economic and cultural agents, journalists and political decision makers. It is therefore necessary to reverse this situation and this task has to be done at school, where I never tire of denouncing the little importance that has always been given to this subject.
Side by side with Biology, Oceanography and Climatology, Geology is an important part of Earth Sciences, dealing with the non-living or inorganic world, formed not only by rocks and their minerals, but also by the petrified testimonies of the countless forms of life that populated the Earth, from the very old ones, with more than 3800 million years, to the very recent ones, with just a few thousand.
Rocks form the rigid part of our planet that we call the lithosphere. They outcrop on the surface of the continents and form the substrate of the oceans, in which one of the most important processes of global dynamics takes place, that is, the expansion of its depths, in a spread that determines the undeniable drift of the continents today.
On land and in favorable conditions of humidity and temperature, the outer layer of rocks is transformed into soil by the action of atmospheric agents, certain bacteria, plants that fix their roots in it and some animals, such as worms and insects that in it inhabit.
Many people are forgetting and do not notice that, without the soils, there would be no life on the emerged lands. In a particularly simplified scheme, just remember that if there was no soil, there were no plants, without plants there were no herbivores, and without these, there would be no carnivores or this species. Homo Dita sapiens that's us.
The atmosphere that currently surrounds us and assures us of life is the result of a constant and continuous interaction that existed, for some 2700 million years, between very simple organisms, such as cyanobacteria, and the gaseous cover of the planet. Very different from today's atmosphere, the primitive atmosphere lacked oxygen. These beings “discoverers” of chlorophyll (a green pigment contained in their organism) produced, by photosynthesis, the oxygen necessary for the animals' respiration. It is a process that continues to be ensured by all the plants around us.
That's why we say tree-lined parks in inner cities are your lungs. And that's why we fight for the defense of the Amazon and all the forests of any latitude, as they provide the most important part, around 21%, of the air we breathe.
Rocks, water, air and living beings lived together throughout most of the history of the “Blue Planet”. In this way, the biodiversity that surrounds us today is a consequence of this interaction during the aforementioned immensity of time, with the human species being the most recent and complex result of this interaction.
The Earth as a whole, the seabed, rocks, minerals, fossils and soils are subjects of study in Geology. But there are others, no less important, such as erosion and the subsequent formation of sedimentary rocks, glaciers, rivers and deserts, the rise and rise of mountains and the flattening of immense plains, volcanoes, earthquakes and it drifts from the continents. In these studies, Geology does not dispense with the teachings of other sciences, with emphasis on Biology, Chemistry, Physics and some areas of Mathematics.
Mineral resources, namely iron, aluminum, copper, gold and many others, as well as energy sources, whether oil, natural gas, coal, geothermal or nuclear, were and are determining factors in the History of Humanity.
Underground water and knowledge of the land, with a view to building dams, bridges, roads and other major engineering works, are fundamental pillars of civilization. All these domains, as well as the defense of the natural environment and the preservation of the geological and paleontological heritage, represent practical aspects of geology at the service of society in sustainable development, with profound economic, social and political implications at a local, regional and global scale.
It should be added, and it is good not to forget, that Geology, as a fundamental science, has always had the greatest importance in philosophical thought, from antiquity to our days.
Author AM Galopim de Carvalho is a Geologist
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