Question: What are the big questions in geology right now?

Hi Teodora,

I’m afraid i can not talk for the entire geology community because actually we are with many, and work on many different subjects. For example, i know very little about volcanoes. However, in my field of research by far the biggest questions are about climate change.

We field geologist try to help the climate scientist that are making all the computer models to predict the future of climate, by reconstructing climate changes in the past, what caused them and what was the result. There have been many much bigger climate changes in the past than the ones we see now (think of the ice ages for example!) however none of them was happening this fast and of course none of them was caused by humans. However by studying those past climate changes we can tell climate modellers what the earth was like when, for example, the CO2 values were much higher than today, and if the outcome of climate models make sense. This way we work together and help each other!

To know about any other big questions you probably have to ask someone else, try Andi for example, he will probably give you a completely different answer than me 🙂

cheers,
Bas