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Running heading: THE CULTURE OF GEOLOGY

Cultural Essay: The Culture of Geology

Erik Gudmunson
University of Kentucky

THE CULTURE OF GEOLOGY

Abstract
I chose to research the topic of Geology. This science is my major in college and I hope
to use it to pursue my career after college. In my paper I have researched a few main
topics. Firstly what Geology actually is. Next comes the history of Geology which
includes methods, theories, and some major historical figures that have greatly
contributed to the science. I also describe the life of an everyday Geologist and my

future profession of a Petroleum Geologist. I interviewed my father and he recalled some

information from his father who was an oil driller in the Geology business. Lastly comes
the many beauties that are created from the geological processes going on in our planet
today.

THE CULTURE OF GEOLOGY

The Culture of Geology

Geology has always been a great interest of mine. Ever since my family and I
ventured out to Wyoming, Montana, and many more rocky mountain states, the outdoors
have intrigued me. There are many interesting details to learn about the field of Geology
including its history, purpose in todays society, its many forms, and finally the typical
life of a modern day Geologist. I have chosen this field as my culture for research and
hope to enlighten readers more about it with insightful information from professionals,
experienced workers, Geology students, and my own personal experience.
The study of geology is fascinating and extremely important to todays society.
Geology is the study of the Earth, its history, and the rocks that make it up. It helps us
better understand the planet we live on as well as what it was like before humans even
existed. Geology allows scientists to examine the processes the earth has undergone
while changing over time. Through the use of techniques such as Carbon Dating we can
learn more about the history of the planet Earth and determine the ages of certain
organisms that long ago roamed the lands we know today.
History
There is a great history to the field of Geology itself. Over the course of hundreds
of years, many men and women have contributed substantially to the science and have
lead us to what we know today. The first major figure is James Hutton. Many Geologists
consider Hutton the Father of Geology today. Through a great deal of studying, he was
able to theorize that the Earth is always going through different changes. The
transformation that the planet goes through is due to erosion and tectonic activity.

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Erosion is the constant wear of natural forces such as wind and water. These forces grind
away over time and eventually change the shape of the earths rocks, which is how the
Grand Canyon was formed.
Important Figures
Another important figure is Eratosthenes who was a Greek scientist who live from
276-195 BC. This man is credited for discovering the Earths circumference. He was able
to calculate this by measuring the lengths of shadows in the city of Alexandria during the
summer solstice. Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817) was one of the geologists who
set out the theory of stratification, which attempted to describe how the layers of rock in
the earth were formed. His theory, stated that earth had an all encompassing ocean,
which over thousands of years built up the layers of rock we see today. The concept was
very much like how a pearl is made. The chronological build up of layers, which he
called geognosy, was the essence of his theory. The all-earth ocean theory was later
called Neptunism.
Werner also wrote about the classification of minerals based on their external
characteristics. Since he was from a mining family, he primarily did this to aid field
geologist so they could identify minerals quickly.
While Werner's neptunism theory had largely been discredited, his basic
principles of chronological layering of rock and his classification work on minerals are
absolutely critical to the oil and gas industry. Field geologists use his work on minerals
every day, and the vast majority of oil and gas deposits were created by organs of
material deposited in shallow seas.

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Life of a Geologist
Now that we have some background on what a Geologist is let us take a look at
what the day in the life of one is like. Usually a worker would spend 5-15 hours of the
day outside working in the field. While outside a Geologist will spend his or her time
reviewing the land and taking samples of the earth to be able to report information about
the land to their employers, depending on the type of Geologist they are. Unfortunately

pay for an average field Geologist about $41,000, but only about 10% of Geologists leave
their job, which means it truly is a very rewarding job. The low salary is a big draw back
when thinking of becoming a Geologist. However when talking about the matter with a
former classmate, Josh Zimmit; who now attends William and Mary University and is
working to become a Paleontologist, describes how salary is not a big deal for me. I
chose to pursue Paleontology because I truly enjoy the work that I do (Zimmit, personal
communication, 2014).
Geology Jobs
There are many different types of work for Geologists today. These depend on
what section of the earth they are studying, and the to what company or agency they
report to. One type is called an Environmental Geologist, which focuses on the
environmental problems that we are facing in the world today and work to make the
planet a greener place. Most of their work involves testing the earth and water for any
toxic chemicals and would report to an Environmental firm like URS Corp. or Veolia
North America. Another type of job is a Geological Engineer. These engineers focus on
making sure that different kinds of structures can be built safely on the land. These
Engineers help plan the building of structures such as roads, landfills, and tunnels where

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earth stability plays role in safety. One of the most important Geology jobs today is a
Petroleum Geologist. This is the field I am interested in and am pursuing as a career for
myself. A Petroleum Geologist focuses on the search for earths many natural resources

such as oil. They would typically work for an oil company such as Mobil, Shell, Sinclair,
or Gulf.
Family in Geology
In the movie Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman said, Geology is the
study of pressure and time. In its broadest sense that is a very good description of what
Geology is all about. Pressure and time is written in the structure, elements and
evolution of Earth. From a scientific point of view,
Geology is about understanding how our earth formed and
evolved. From a commercial point of view, it is about
understanding that evolution and finding valuable
resources that we need in our lives.
Figure 1. A picture of my Dad and Grandfather, 1976
Finding those resources is what my grandfather used to do as an exploratory
driller and the stories my dad told me about drilling are what got me interested in the
field of Geology.
My grandpa began working on a drilling rig at the age of 15 as a rig hand. By the
age of 20 he had his own rig and was exploring for oil, uranium and coal. My grandpa
passed away some years ago and my dad, Garry, has been his voice, telling me about the
drilling business and geology.

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Garry (G. Gudmunson, personal communication,

October 10, 2014) started working on Grandpa's rig at

the age of six and continued every summer until he
was eighteen. "My first job was a 'grease monkey',
crawling all over the rig greasing every moving part I
could find.

Figure 2. A picture of my father, 1975

As I got older and stronger I progressed to rig had, backhoe operator, water truck driver
and eventually driller where I would operate the drill controls. (Gudmunson, 2014).
Garry's first exposure to a geologist was when he was six and a man in clean clothes,
which is rare on a rig, drove up in a field geology truck that Garry (Gudmunson, 2014)
described as, "part lab, part NASA control room." The geologist let him watch as he
analyzed rock samples. "I had no idea what he meant, but I remember being amazed at
the lab itself, how many tests he did and how much he could tell me about a piece of rock
that had just come out of the ground." (Gudmunson, 2014)
Even though geologic mapping techniques have advanced tremendously over the last 30
years, the best way to know what is under your feet is to get an exploratory driller to drill
holes and take samples. "Grandpa used to say that his job was punch a bunch of holes in
the ground, bring up whatever was down there and give it to a
geologist."(Gudmunson,2014). The key to exploratory drilling is core sampling. This is
a technique where at the bottom of a hole, the driller uses a hollow drill to grab a 20-30

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foot cross section of the rock at that depth. Core samples hold the greatest information
about what type of rock and ore are in the ground and are critical to the geologist in
mapping that underground landscape. Creating that accurate picture ensures that mining
or drilling wells is done as efficient as possible. Garry described his first time seeing a

core come up from a hole, "The rig hands laid out this very long trough and then laid the
last section of the drill pipe on it. Then with water pressure they pushed out the rock core
like squeezing a tube of toothpaste. After a while there was this long tube of rock sitting
in the trough. It was really cool to have rock that was hundreds of feet down a few hours
ago, sitting in front of me."(Gudmunson, 2014) Once the core was extracted, the
geologist would break it up into 2-3 foot sections, bag and label the sections then send
them to the company lab for analysis.
I am always amazed that everything in your life, if it was not grown, has come out
of the ground in one form or another. We take those raw materials and turn them into
common items like toasters, concrete and computers. The chain of events from raw
materials like gold, aluminum and petroleum being in the ground to ending up in the
computer I am typing this essay on is a long one. Even though their roles may be small
in the grand scheme of thing, two key links in that chain are the driller and geologist. I
am lucky that my grandpa was a driller, because through my dad's stories it set me on the
path to becoming a geologist.
Petroleum Geology
I have covered many different jobs that a Geologist can hold. I would specifically
like to describe the job that I wish to pursue, Petroleum Geology. The Petroleum Industry

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has many contributors, and Geology plays a huge role in it. The study of Geology allows
workers to explore the history of the earth itself in hopes of understanding in greater
detail where oil comes from and where it can be found(AAPG, 2014). Not only do
Petroleum Geologists want to discover the source of the oil but also the best way to
retrieve oil and utilize it once it has been retrieved(AAPG, 2014). Many people might
believe that petroleum oil is only needed to power cars and other motorized vehicles, but
oil is used for numerous reasons in todays society. Products such as Propane, wax,
Lubricants, Heating oil, and Plastics all require some petroleum. In todays society it is a
very important product and those who have the task of retrieving it are paid a great
amount of money to do so. CNN Money states that the job as a Petroleum Geologist is
the 6th best job in America today. According to (CNN Money, 2014) this job has a
median pay of about $183,000 with a top pay of $289,000. However along with this
handsome reward come some negatives. As someone who searches for one of the worlds
most important resources a lot is [riding] on their calculations(CNN Money, 2014).
When a geologist believes they have found the source of petroleum the oil company he or
she works for sets up Oil Wells to try and obtain the precious oil. These Wells however
can cost several hundred million dollars(CNN Money, 2014). Along with the
knowledge about petroleum these Geologists must also be able to handle high precision
work under high-stress conditions (CNN Money, 2014). When searching for a career for
myself I always thought of the Confucius quote, Choose a job you love, and you will
never have to work a day in your life(CNN Money, 2014). This is the life that I will
pursue in college and while it is a stressful profession I believe it is one that I will enjoy a
great deal.

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Natural Beauty

While geology has tremendous has tremendous scientific and commercial value, it
is also very important to think of the amazing beauty that can arise from the different
geological processes going on throughout the
Earth. Today in the United States alone there are
hundreds of National parks where people have
declared nature too beautiful to be tampered with
and destroyed.
Figure 3. Waterfall at Yellowstone national Park. Adapted from Yellowstone
National Park in Wyoming, by Eric Marr, (n.d). Retrieved from
http://famouswonders.com/yellowstone-national-park-in-wyoming/ this amazing park
One of North Americas most iconic and when known National Parks is
Yellowstone National Park in northern Wyoming. Over the summer I had the pleasure of
visiting and see some of the worlds most spectacular geological formations. One of
Yellowstones biggest attractions are the hydrothermal geysers that spew boiling hot
water. Old Faithful is one of the parks largest geyser and unlike most thermal features in
the park, its heights, intervals and length of eruption have changed very little in the past
100 years(Wyoming, 2014). Geysers work by heating water that has been trapped
underground from rain and snow by large underground pockets of magma. Once the
water is heated enough the pressure begins to build and steam from the water shoots
through crevices in the earth and out in to the air. Another beautiful part of this park is
the Grand Teton Mountain range that was formed millions of years ago by a process
called fault blocking. When the earths crust cracked along a fault millions of years ago,

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the Tetons rose into the sky(Wyoming, 2014). And now today the Grand Teton rises to
13,770 feet above sea level.
Another National Park that has a rich geological history is Grand Canyon
National Park in northwestern Arizona. The Canyon was formed over millions of years of
constant water erosion. The Colorado River, which
flows from the La Poundre Pass Lake near Fort
Collins, Colorado, is the body of water that has
eroded the Arizona desert area into the breathtaking
canyon it is today.
Figure4. Grand Canyon National Park Canyons. Adapted from The Canyon, (n.d).
Retrieved from http://www.thecanyon.com/grand-canyon-national-park
Well known for its geological significance, the Grand Canyon is one of the most
studied geological landscapes in the world(NPS, 2014). The erosion has revealed major
levels of rock allowing geologists to study the earth at different times from the past. The
Canyon is gigantic with a depth of roughly 4,000 feet, width reaching 18 miles across,
and a tremendous length of 277miles. This park is also home to may different ecosystems
where an extremely diverse community of animals calls home.
Another amazing geologic feature is Devils Tower in Wyoming. It is a tower of
igneous rock rising 1,267 feet above the nearby Belle Fourche River. It's sides are nearly
vertical, with regular vertical furrows that appear to be dug into its side. The native
Lakota tribe had a story on how it was formed. One day two girls were playing and were
being chased by a big bear. The girls jump onto a rock but the rock was not high
enough. So, the Great Spirit feels sorry for the girls and raises the rock to a great

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height. The furrows on the side were made by the giant

bear clawing at it trying to get to the girls. The Lakota
story is an interesting one, but the current theory is just as
amazing. An intrusion of hot magma was pushed
towards the surface but never broke open to form a
volcano. It eventually cooled and compressed to form an
igneous rock 'plug'. All of the sedimentary rock above and around the plug was worn
Figure 5. Image of Devils Tower National Monument. Adapted from Devils Tower
National Monument, where Steven Speilburg shoot Close Encounters of the third Kind,
Retrieved from http://goista.com/devils-tower-national-monument-where-stevenspeilberg-shoot-the-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-movie/
away over millions of years and now we see the exposed plug as Devil's Tower. The
composition of the rock was such that it formed eight sided vertical columns that cooled
and pulled away from each other. Millions of years of freeze/thaw cycles caused the
outer columns to fall away leaving the strange vertical furrows. I got an opportunity to
see Devil's Tower myself on a trip to Wyoming a few years ago. It is a shocking sight
that appears to rise up out of the surrounding landscape. It looks so out of place. Even
up close it does not look like it could have been made from natural processes. I can
understand how the Lakota could believe it was the Great Spirit that made it.
Geology is a fascinating topic in my mind. It allows us to dig deep into the earths
history and discover secrets locked away in the ground for millions of years. It helps
society today gather resources needed to survive and thrive. And most importantly
geology has created a magnificent world for everyone to enjoy life in.

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References
(November 12, 2013). Best Jobs in America. CNN Money, retrieved from
http://money.cnn.com/pf/best-jobs/2013/snapshots/6.html
(2014). Wyoming. Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, Retrieved from
http://www.wyomingtourism.org/articles/detail/Old-Faithful-in-Yellowstone-NationalPark/405167
(2014). Wyoming. Grand Teton National Park, Retrieved from
http://www.wyomingtourism.org/thingstodo/detail/Grand-Teton-National-Park/3135
(2014). American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Petroleum Geology. Retrieved
from http://www.aapg.org/About/Petroleum-Geology/World-of-Petroleum
Mathez A. Edmond. (2000). James Hutton: The Founder of Modern Geology, Retrieved
from http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/earth/p_hutton.html
(n.d). Image of Devils Tower National Monument[Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://goista.com/devils-tower-national-monument-where-steven-speilberg-shoot-theclose-encounters-of-the-third-kind-movie/
(n.d). Grand Canyon National Park Canyons [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.thecanyon.com/grand-canyon-national-park
Marr, E. (n.d)Waterfall at Yellowstone national Park [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://famouswonders.com/yellowstone-national-park-in-wyoming/ this amazing park
Gudmunson. (1975). Picture of my father [Photograph].

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Gudmunson. (1976). Picture of my father and grandfather [Photograph].

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