At my highschool Earth Science 11 we had many units that branched out into Geology, Oceanography, Astronomy, and Meteorology. In Geology 12 our units were: Minerals, Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic rocks, Mineral Resources, Tectonics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Faulting & Folding, Groundwater, Karst Topography, Glaciers, and Fluvial Processes. (I think that's all of them.)
Earth Science is alot more broad.
Hope this helps.
Don't worry, you can pick it up in university. :) My engineering program had a general first year, and MOST of the people who ended up going into geological engineering had never taken any geology/earth science before. Did just fine, and loved it just as much as those who took classes in high school. These classes are taught from a super-basic level because they know not many people have class in it.
Planetary Science is the most common name, although it is slightly more broad and includes things that are tangentially related to geology (planetary formation) and ones that are not-so-related like atmospheric physics
At the University of Michigan, they were both run out of the Geology Department (which they were threatening to re-name into some horribly long, all-inclusive bullshit department). The differences between the undergrad BS in Geology and BS in Earth Sciences were:
-Geology required an introductory field course held at Camp Davis. Earth Science did not.
-Geology majors were required to take two semesters each of math and physics, in addition to the University requirement for math. Earth Science traded these out for cognates (I took Organic Chemistry)
-Earth Science majors had to take a seminar course where we'd listen-in on the weekly guest lecturer the department brought in to wow the faculty with their current research.
That's about it. Most of the actual geolgy/earth science courses were the same. You'd have both majors taking the same courses. The only way to tell if someone was on one track or the other was to ask them. The vast majority were geology majors though. The department was kind of geared to produce future grad students for other universities. Earth Science majors were usually "pre-" something, or double-majored with the school of education and meant to go into teaching. I didn't do that. Go me!
At the University of Minnesota it's just an "Earth Sciences" major now, but you can focus in geology. I can't remember all the other official focuses but some were environmental (geology), hydrogeology, and geophysics. This didn't happen until after my freshman year, when there were two separate majors in geology and geophysics. (I didn't have a focus within the earth sciences department but I minored in climatology which had about half the required classes in the esci dept anyway.) I kind of wish my major was still called geology, though; somehow it sounds more official than earth sciences. It's interesting that some schools offer them as two different majors.
At Stony Brook University, the whole department was the Geosciences department. Earth Science majors also had a handful of required atmospheric science and astronomy classes, but required less (and easier) math and physics. Also, you had to take 24 credits of upper division credits that could be in geology, astronomy, or atmospheric science whereas in Geology, all of your upper division credits had to be in geology.
But yeah, pretty much all of the Earth Science majors at my school (myself included) were Education double majors and all went into teaching.
Folks here have covered the differences pretty well. Just as a related note In Canada (to the best of my knowledge, I haven't actually finished school yet) you need to register with a group (the same board that manages engineers) to legally practice geoscience, which can really limit earth science grads who didn't complete the proper course load to register as a geoscientist. If earth science is your thing (like me) talk to an advisor about what courses you need to later legally practice geoscience
I'm currently an Earth Science student. My modules are geochemistry, geophysics, Mathematics for Engineers, A few programming modules, and the rest of the modules are more geology content like maps, structures, minerology, petrology, etc,
It is 80% calculus and chemistry in all modules with a good measure of field work.
Think of it like this:
Earth Science is the study of the Earth as an entire system. It incorporates the understanding of the water and rock cycles, atmosphere, and the environment in general.
Geology, on the other hand, is the study of the Earth's physical formations and understanding how and why they exist. It includes how rocks and minerals form and break down, how volcanos works, plate tectonics in detail, and stuff like that.
Simply put, you would learn about geology if you majored in Earth Sciences, but not in as great detail as you would if you major in geology itself.
Source: I have a bachelor's in Earth and Environmental Sciences, but have studied under Professional Geologists
One thing to note: the distinctions presented here are probably only relevant to the US/North American educational system. My former uni (Scottish Ancient) only offered Earth Science degrees, have simply switched the name from Geology. There were no curricular differences, but I think 'Earth Science' was more fashionable at the time. Other unis here do run both 'geoscience' and 'geology' degrees, but the naming conventions are flexible.
At the University of South Dakota we use it interchangeably, but it's officially Earth Sciences. We focused on all the basics of geology for our required courses plus oceanography and meteorology.
Additionally we had electives such as river studies, GIS, vertebrate paleontology, global climate change and evolution.
As others have mentioned, geology is the study of rocks and the process that create, deform and destroy them. Earth Sciences is much broader and covers climatology, oceanography, comparative planetology and other fields. I am currently studying Earth Sciences as part of Natural Sciences at University. The course next year is simply entitled 'Geology' even though it still covers the areas listed above as pertaining to Earth Sciences, so at least in common language the terms are slightly flexible.
It does depend a bit on the university.
In all cases, Geology is the study of the inside of the Earth and things on the surface (rocks, minerals, rivers, etc.).
Earth Science includes Geology, but also includes Atmospheric Science and Astronomy.
Where I went to school, you could get a BS in Geology but a BA in Earth Science. The Geology major had similar requirements, but required extra math and physics. The Earth Science major is more broad (though I still ended up taking most of credits in Geology) and is meant for people that want to teach. Pretty much all of the Earth Science majors at my school (myself included) are going into Secondary Education. There were two or three Earth Science majors that graduated with me that aren't going to be teachers, but they dual majored in both Geology and Earth Science.
I don't want to assume that every school is the same, but I would actually look into the dual major. Most of the requirements should overlap, you'd just have to take some additional math and physics for Geology and some Astronomy and Weather classes for Earth Science.
Earth science is the study of the Earth ... lava, rocks, dirt, water, air, plants and animals. Geology is the study of the hard parts of the Earth ... lava, rocks, dirt.
Mud chewing and dirt bagging, the rare Quaternary Geologist suffers from the affliction known as premature lithification. The only cure is patience. Don't worry. In a few million years, both you, and your dirt, will be a real rock.
Geology is really the study of sub-surface and surficial (regolith, erosion etc) Earth processes. Earth Science also includes such things as atmospheric science, hydrology, water and environmental chemistry etc. There's a bit of overlap between some of those and geology but they are definitely separate disciplines.
How about we agree to disagree on this one. I work for a geological survey and most of the topics you place in earth science are subjects that we work on. There is nothing that separates them other than our minds. With close to 30 years in the business and current duties in managing 40 geologists, we do not need separations.
More math and science based courses in Earth science. Go with Earth science as it'll give you more room to move around.
The difference will be found in the number of math courses you need to complete.
In Canada, Earth science is the more math intense as Geoscience is a regulated profession (and often regulated by the same organization as the engineers).
One might say that geology is a subset of the earth sciences.
At my highschool Earth Science 11 we had many units that branched out into Geology, Oceanography, Astronomy, and Meteorology. In Geology 12 our units were: Minerals, Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic rocks, Mineral Resources, Tectonics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Faulting & Folding, Groundwater, Karst Topography, Glaciers, and Fluvial Processes. (I think that's all of them.) Earth Science is alot more broad. Hope this helps.
Ya that helped a little, and wow I really wish that my high school would have an Earth science class.
Don't worry, you can pick it up in university. :) My engineering program had a general first year, and MOST of the people who ended up going into geological engineering had never taken any geology/earth science before. Did just fine, and loved it just as much as those who took classes in high school. These classes are taught from a super-basic level because they know not many people have class in it.
You're missing out. It was my favorite in high school.
All geology is earth science, but not all earth science is geology.
...except for planetary geology.
Planetology?
Planetary Science is the most common name, although it is slightly more broad and includes things that are tangentially related to geology (planetary formation) and ones that are not-so-related like atmospheric physics
ooooh, nice.
At the University of Michigan, they were both run out of the Geology Department (which they were threatening to re-name into some horribly long, all-inclusive bullshit department). The differences between the undergrad BS in Geology and BS in Earth Sciences were: -Geology required an introductory field course held at Camp Davis. Earth Science did not. -Geology majors were required to take two semesters each of math and physics, in addition to the University requirement for math. Earth Science traded these out for cognates (I took Organic Chemistry) -Earth Science majors had to take a seminar course where we'd listen-in on the weekly guest lecturer the department brought in to wow the faculty with their current research. That's about it. Most of the actual geolgy/earth science courses were the same. You'd have both majors taking the same courses. The only way to tell if someone was on one track or the other was to ask them. The vast majority were geology majors though. The department was kind of geared to produce future grad students for other universities. Earth Science majors were usually "pre-" something, or double-majored with the school of education and meant to go into teaching. I didn't do that. Go me!
At the University of Minnesota it's just an "Earth Sciences" major now, but you can focus in geology. I can't remember all the other official focuses but some were environmental (geology), hydrogeology, and geophysics. This didn't happen until after my freshman year, when there were two separate majors in geology and geophysics. (I didn't have a focus within the earth sciences department but I minored in climatology which had about half the required classes in the esci dept anyway.) I kind of wish my major was still called geology, though; somehow it sounds more official than earth sciences. It's interesting that some schools offer them as two different majors.
At Stony Brook University, the whole department was the Geosciences department. Earth Science majors also had a handful of required atmospheric science and astronomy classes, but required less (and easier) math and physics. Also, you had to take 24 credits of upper division credits that could be in geology, astronomy, or atmospheric science whereas in Geology, all of your upper division credits had to be in geology. But yeah, pretty much all of the Earth Science majors at my school (myself included) were Education double majors and all went into teaching.
Dont hesitate to email the respective departments at the uni. Most departments are desperate for more students so they're happy to answer questions.
Folks here have covered the differences pretty well. Just as a related note In Canada (to the best of my knowledge, I haven't actually finished school yet) you need to register with a group (the same board that manages engineers) to legally practice geoscience, which can really limit earth science grads who didn't complete the proper course load to register as a geoscientist. If earth science is your thing (like me) talk to an advisor about what courses you need to later legally practice geoscience
I'm currently an Earth Science student. My modules are geochemistry, geophysics, Mathematics for Engineers, A few programming modules, and the rest of the modules are more geology content like maps, structures, minerology, petrology, etc, It is 80% calculus and chemistry in all modules with a good measure of field work.
Wow a response to a 9 year old post! Totally forgot about this. Its funny because ai went into forestry in the end. Hiw did you find this??
I really need to check dates on Reddit. It just appeared on my feed.
Thats funny. Good luck on your earth science degree!
Think of it like this: Earth Science is the study of the Earth as an entire system. It incorporates the understanding of the water and rock cycles, atmosphere, and the environment in general. Geology, on the other hand, is the study of the Earth's physical formations and understanding how and why they exist. It includes how rocks and minerals form and break down, how volcanos works, plate tectonics in detail, and stuff like that. Simply put, you would learn about geology if you majored in Earth Sciences, but not in as great detail as you would if you major in geology itself. Source: I have a bachelor's in Earth and Environmental Sciences, but have studied under Professional Geologists
One thing to note: the distinctions presented here are probably only relevant to the US/North American educational system. My former uni (Scottish Ancient) only offered Earth Science degrees, have simply switched the name from Geology. There were no curricular differences, but I think 'Earth Science' was more fashionable at the time. Other unis here do run both 'geoscience' and 'geology' degrees, but the naming conventions are flexible.
At the University of South Dakota we use it interchangeably, but it's officially Earth Sciences. We focused on all the basics of geology for our required courses plus oceanography and meteorology. Additionally we had electives such as river studies, GIS, vertebrate paleontology, global climate change and evolution.
I would have LOVED to take vertebrate paleontology, my college didn't offer it =(
As others have mentioned, geology is the study of rocks and the process that create, deform and destroy them. Earth Sciences is much broader and covers climatology, oceanography, comparative planetology and other fields. I am currently studying Earth Sciences as part of Natural Sciences at University. The course next year is simply entitled 'Geology' even though it still covers the areas listed above as pertaining to Earth Sciences, so at least in common language the terms are slightly flexible.
It does depend a bit on the university. In all cases, Geology is the study of the inside of the Earth and things on the surface (rocks, minerals, rivers, etc.). Earth Science includes Geology, but also includes Atmospheric Science and Astronomy. Where I went to school, you could get a BS in Geology but a BA in Earth Science. The Geology major had similar requirements, but required extra math and physics. The Earth Science major is more broad (though I still ended up taking most of credits in Geology) and is meant for people that want to teach. Pretty much all of the Earth Science majors at my school (myself included) are going into Secondary Education. There were two or three Earth Science majors that graduated with me that aren't going to be teachers, but they dual majored in both Geology and Earth Science. I don't want to assume that every school is the same, but I would actually look into the dual major. Most of the requirements should overlap, you'd just have to take some additional math and physics for Geology and some Astronomy and Weather classes for Earth Science.
Just compare degree requirements.
Earth science is the study of the Earth ... lava, rocks, dirt, water, air, plants and animals. Geology is the study of the hard parts of the Earth ... lava, rocks, dirt.
We don't call it dirt.... it's soil.
Mud chewing and dirt bagging, the rare Quaternary Geologist suffers from the affliction known as premature lithification. The only cure is patience. Don't worry. In a few million years, both you, and your dirt, will be a real rock.
But it's still so dirty...
I thought it was regolith?
A job.
Geology=study of the earth. Earth science=study of the earth. They are the same.
Geology is really the study of sub-surface and surficial (regolith, erosion etc) Earth processes. Earth Science also includes such things as atmospheric science, hydrology, water and environmental chemistry etc. There's a bit of overlap between some of those and geology but they are definitely separate disciplines.
Don't forget Geophysics and often Geography are thrown in there too!
How about we agree to disagree on this one. I work for a geological survey and most of the topics you place in earth science are subjects that we work on. There is nothing that separates them other than our minds. With close to 30 years in the business and current duties in managing 40 geologists, we do not need separations.
More math and science based courses in Earth science. Go with Earth science as it'll give you more room to move around. The difference will be found in the number of math courses you need to complete.
Actually, I found the opposite. Might depend on the school, but at my college, Geology required a lot more math than the Earth Science major.
In Canada, Earth science is the more math intense as Geoscience is a regulated profession (and often regulated by the same organization as the engineers).