Regional geology is the

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...

study of large-scale regions. Usually, it encompasses multiple geological disciplines to piece together the history of an area. It is the geologic equivalent of regional geography. The size and the borders of each region are defined by geologically significant boundaries and by the occurrence of geologic processes. Examples of geologically significant boundaries are the interfingering facies change in sedimentary deposits when discussing a

sedimentary basin Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subside ...

system, or the leading or boundary

thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that sys ...

of an

orogen An orogenic belt, or orogen, is a zone of Earth's crust affected by orogeny. An orogenic belt develops when a continental plate crumples and is uplifted to form one or more mountain ranges; this involves a series of geological processes collecti ...

Africa

Geology of Africa The geology of Africa is varied and complex, and gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the continent. The African continent rests over two main plates. The African plate, accounting for the whole of north Africa, and the Som ...

** Geology of Chad ** Geology of Egypt **

Geology of Madagascar The geology of Madagascar comprises a variety of rocks of Precambrian age which make up the larger part of the east and centre of the island. They are intruded by basalts and rhyolites of Mesozoic to Cenozoic age. In contrast, the western part of ...

** Geology of Rwanda ** Geology of Togo

Antarctica

Geology of Antarctica The geology of Antarctica covers the geological development of the continent through the Archean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic eons. The geological study of Antarctica has been greatly hindered by the fact that nearly all of the continent is c ...

Asia

Geology of Asia Geography of Asia reviews geographical concepts of classifying Asia, the central and eastern part of Eurasia, comprising approximately fifty countries. Geographical characteristics Boundary The land mass of Asia is not the sum of the ...

** Geology of Armenia ** Geology of Azerbaijan **

Geology of Bangladesh The Geology of Bangladesh is affected by the country's location, as Bangladesh is mainly a riverine country. It is the eastern two-thirds of the Ganges and Brahmaputra river delta plain stretching to the north from the Bay of Bengal. There are ...

Geology of China The geology of China (or the geological structure of the People's Republic of China) consists of three Precambrian cratons surrounded by a number of orogenic belts. The modern tectonic environment is dominated by the continued collision of India ...

*** Geology of Fujian ** Geology of Georgia (country) **

Geology of Hong Kong The geology of Hong Kong is dominated by igneous rocks (including granitic rocks and volcanic rocks) formed during a major volcanic eruption period in the Mesozoic era. It made up 85% of Hong Kong's land surface and the remaining 15% are mostly ...

Geology of India The geology of India is diverse. Different regions of India contain rocks belonging to different geologic periods, dating as far back as the Eoarchean Era. Some of the rocks are very deformed and altered. Other deposits include recently ...

*** Geology of Sikkim ** Geology of Indonesia **

Geology of Japan The islands of Japan are primarily the result of several large ocean movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years from the mid-Silurian to the Pleistocene, as a result of the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the continenta ...

Geology of New Zealand The geology of New Zealand is noted for its volcanic activity, earthquakes and geothermal areas because of its position on the boundary of the Australian Plate and Pacific Plates. New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a microcontinent nearly half t ...

** Geology of Pakistan **

Geology of the Philippines Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

Geology of Russia The geology of Russia, the world's largest country, which extends over much of northern Eurasia, consists of several stable cratons and sedimentary platforms bounded by orogenic (mountain) belts. European Russia is on the East European craton ...

** Geology of Singapore **

Geology of Taiwan The island of Taiwan was formed approximately 4 to 5 million years ago at a convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. In a boundary running the length of the island and continuing southwards, the Eurasian ...

Geology of Turkey The geology of Turkey is the product of a wide variety of tectonic processes that have shaped Anatolia over millions of years, a process which continues today as evidenced by frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions. Background ...

** Geology of Vietnam

Australia

Geology of Australia The geology of Australia includes virtually all known rock types, spanning a geological time period of over 3.8 billion years, including some of the oldest rocks on earth. Australia is a continent situated on the Indo-Australian Plate. Compon ...

Geology of the Australian Capital Territory The geology of the Australian Capital Territory includes rocks dating from the Ordovician around 480 million years ago, whilst most rocks are from the Silurian. During the Ordovician period the region—along with most of eastern Australia—was p ...

** Geology of New South Wales **

Geology of Queensland The geology of Queensland can be subdivided into several regions with different histories. Along the east coast is a complex of Palaezoic to Cainozoic rocks while much of the rest of the state is covered by Cretaceous and Cainozoic rocks. A ...

** Geology of Tasmania **

Geology of Victoria Victoria is an Australian state, situated at the southern end of the Great Dividing Range. The Great Dividing Range stretches along the east coast of the continent and terminates near the Victorian city of Ballarat west of the capital Melbourne, t ...

** Geology of the Yilgarn Craton

Europe

Geology of Europe The geology of Europe is varied and complex, and gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the continent, from the Scottish Highlands to the rolling plains of Hungary. Europe's most significant feature is the dichotomy between high ...

** Geology of Andorra ** Geology of Armenia ** Geology of Azerbaijan **

Geology of Cyprus The geology of Cyprus is part of the regional geology of Europe. Cyprus lies on the southern border of the Eurasian Plate and on the southern margin of the Anatolian Plate. The southern margin of the Anatolian Plate is in collision with the Africa ...

** Geology of Denmark *** Geology of Faroe Islands ***

Geology of Greenland Greenland is the largest island on Earth. Only one-fifth of its surface area is exposed bedrock, the rest being covered by ice. The exposed surface is approximately 410,000 km2. The geology of Greenland is dominated by crystalline rocks ...

** Geology of Finland ** Geology of France ***

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

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Aquitaine Basin The Aquitaine Basin is the second largest Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary basin in France after the Paris Basin, occupying a large part of the country's southwestern quadrant. Its surface area covers 66,000 km2 onshore. It formed on Varisca ...

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Armorican Massif The Armorican Massif (french: Massif armoricain, ) is a geologic massif that covers a large area in the northwest of France, including Brittany, the western part of Normandy and the Pays de la Loire. It is important because it is connected to Dov ...

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Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,0 ...

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Paris Basin The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France. It developed since the Triassic over remnant uplands of the Variscan orogeny (Hercynian orogeny). The sedimentary basin, no longer a single drainage basin, is a large sag in th ...

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Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

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Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...

*** Rhone Furrow ***

Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

** Geology of Germany **

Geology of Great Britain The geology of Great Britain is renowned for its diversity. As a result of its eventful geological history, Great Britain shows a rich variety of landscapes across the constituent countries of England, Wales and Scotland. Rocks of almost all geol ...

*** Geology of England **** Geology of the English counties **** Geology of Cambridgeshire ****

Geology of Cheshire The geology of Cheshire in England consists mainly of Triassic sandstones and mudstones. To the north west of Cheshire, these rocks are heavily faulted and the underlying Carboniferous Coal Measures are thrown up. Around the areas of Poynton a ...

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Geology of Cornwall The geology of Cornwall, England, is dominated by its granite backbone, part of the Cornubian batholith, formed during the Variscan orogeny. Around this is an extensive metamorphic aureole (known locally as killas) formed in the mainly Devon ...

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Geology of Dorset Dorset (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. Covering an area of ; it borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The gre ...

**** Geology of East Sussex ****

Geology of Essex : ''This article describes the geology of the ceremonial county of Essex. It includes the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.'' The geology of Essex in southeast England largely consists of Cenozoic marine sediments from the Palaeogene and N ...

**** Geology of Gloucestershire **** Geology of Hampshire ****

Geology of Hertfordshire The geology of Hertfordshire describes the rocks of the English county of Hertfordshire which are a northern part of the great shallow syncline known as the London Basin. The beds dip in a south-easterly direction towards the syncline's lowest po ...

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Geology of Lincolnshire : ''This article describes the geology of the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. Besides the modern administrative county, it includes the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.'' The geology of Lincolnshire in e ...

**** Geology of Norfolk **** Geology of Rutland **** Geology of Shropshire ****

Geology of Somerset Somerset is a rural county in the southwest of England, covering . It is bounded on the north-west by the Bristol Channel, on the north by Bristol and Gloucestershire, on the north-east by Wiltshire, on the south-east by Dorset, and on the south ...

**** Geology of Suffolk ****

Geology of Yorkshire The Geology of Yorkshire in northern England shows a very close relationship between the major topographical areas and the geological period in which their rocks were formed. The rocks of the Pennine chain of hills in the west are of Carbonifer ...

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Geology of Scotland The geology of Scotland is unusually varied for a country of its size, with a large number of differing geological features.Keay & Keay (1994) page 415. There are three main geographical sub-divisions: the Highlands and Islands is a diverse area w ...

**** Geology of Orkney **** Geology of Skye ***

Geology of Wales The geology of Wales is complex and varied; its study has been of considerable historical significance in the development of geology as a science. All geological periods from the Cryogenian (late Precambrian) to the Jurassic are represented at o ...

Geology of Guernsey Guernsey has a geological history stretching further back into the past than most of Europe. The majority of rock exposures on the Island may be found along the coastlines, with inland exposures scarce and usually highly weathered. There is a bro ...

*** Geology of Alderney **

Geology of the Iberian Peninsula The geology of the Iberian Peninsula consists of the study of the rock formations on the Iberian Peninsula, which includes Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar. The peninsula contains rocks from every geological period from the Ediacaran to t ...

** Geology of Iceland ** Geology of Ireland **

Geology of Italy The geology of Italy includes mountain ranges such as the Alps and the Apennines formed from the uplift of igneous and primarily marine sedimentary rocks all formed since the Paleozoic. Some active volcanoes are located in Insular Italy. Geologi ...

** Geology of Jersey ** Geology of the Netherlands **

Geology of Norway The geology of Norway encompasses the history of Earth that can be interpreted by rock types found in Norway, and the associated sedimentological history of soils and rock types. The Norwegian mountains were formed around 400 million years ago ...

*** Geology of Svalbard **

Geology of Serbia The regional geology of Serbia describes the geologic structure and history inside the borders of Serbia. Serbia is in recent geologic time a part of the Eurasian Plate, but the bedrock lithologies are witness to a diverse geologic history. In ...

** Geology of Slovenia ** Geology of Sweden ***

Geology of Gotland Gotland is made up of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of a Silurian age, dipping to the south-east. The main Silurian succession of limestones and shales comprises thirteen units spanning of stratigraphic thickness, being thickest in the sout ...

North America

Geology of North America The geology of North America is a subject of regional geology and covers the North American continent, the third-largest in the world. Geologic units and processes are investigated on a large scale to reach a synthesized picture of the g ...

Geology of the Appalachians The geology of the Appalachians dates back to more than 480 million years ago. A look at rocks exposed in today's Appalachian Mountains reveals elongate belts of folded and thrust faulted marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and slivers of ...

** Geology of New England **

Geology of the Pacific Northwest The geology of the Pacific Northwest includes the composition (including rock, minerals, and soils), structure, physical properties and the processes that shape the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The region is part of the Ring of F ...

Geology of the Rocky Mountains The geology of the Rocky Mountains is that of a discontinuous series of mountain ranges with distinct geological origins. Collectively these make up the Rocky Mountains, a mountain system that stretches from Northern British Columbia through cen ...

Geology of Canada The geology of Canada is a subject of regional geology and covers the country of Canada, which is the second-largest country in the world. Geologic units and processes are investigated on a large scale to reach a synthesized picture of the geolog ...

Geology of the United States The richly textured landscape of the United States is a product of the dueling forces of plate tectonics, weathering and erosion. Over the 4.5 billion-year history of our Earth, tectonic upheavals and colliding plates have raised great mountain ...

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Geology of Alabama The geology of Alabama is marked by abundant geologic resources and a variety of geologic structures from folded mountains in the north to sandy beaches along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Alabama spans three continental geologic provinces as defined b ...

*** Geology of Alaska ***

Geology of Arizona The geology of Arizona began to form in the Precambrian. Igneous and metamorphic crystalline basement rock may have been much older, but was overwritten during the Yavapai and Mazatzal orogenies in the Proterozoic. The Grenville orogeny to the e ...

**** Geology of the Grand Canyon area *** Geology of Arkansas ***

Geology of California The geology of California is highly complex, with numerous mountain ranges, substantial faulting and tectonic activity, rich natural resources and a history of both ancient and comparatively recent intense geological activity. The area formed as ...

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Geology of the Death Valley area The exposed geology of the Death Valley area presents a diverse and complex set of at least 23 formations of sedimentary units, two major gaps in the geologic record called unconformities, and at least one distinct set of related formations geo ...

**** Geology of the Lassen volcanic area **** Geology of Mount Shasta ****

Geology of the Yosemite area The exposed geology of the Yosemite area includes primarily granitic rocks with some older metamorphic rock. The first rocks were laid down in Precambrian times, when the area around Yosemite National Park was on the edge of a very young North Am ...

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Geology of Colorado The bedrock of Colorado was assembled from island arcs accreted onto the edge of the ancient Wyoming Craton. The Sonoma orogeny uplifted the ancestral Rocky Mountains in parallel with the diversification of multicellular life. Shallow seas covered ...

*** Geology of Connecticut *** Geology of Delaware ***

Geology of Florida The Floridian peninsula is a porous plateau of karst limestone sitting atop bedrock known as the Florida Platform. The emergent portion of the platform was created during the Eocene to Oligocene as the Gulf Trough filled with silts, clays, and ...

*** Geology of Georgia ***

Geology of Hawaii The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

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Geology of Idaho The Geology of Idaho is complex, with outcroppings of differing ages of volcanics, undifferentiated metamorphics and sedimentary structures. Idaho Geologic Survey Since 1919, the Idaho Geological Survey (formerly Bureau of Mines and Geology) ha ...

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Geology of Illinois The geology of Illinois includes extensive deposits of marine sedimentary rocks from the Palaeozoic, as well as relatively minor contributions from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Ice age glaciation left a wealth of glacial topographic features throughou ...

*** Geology of Indiana ***

Geology of Iowa The geography of Iowa includes the study of bedrock, landforms, rivers, geology, paleontology and urbanisation of the U.S. state of Iowa. The state covers an area of 56,272.81 sq mi (145,746 km2). Bedrock features Iowa's bedrock geology ge ...

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Geology of Kansas The geology of Kansas encompasses the geologic history and the presently exposed rock and soil. Rock that crops out in the US state of Kansas was formed during the Phanerozoic eon, which consists of three geologic eras: the Paleozoic, Mesozoi ...

*** Geology of Kentucky *** Geology of Louisiana *** Geology of Maine *** Geology of Maryland *** Geology of Massachusetts *** Geology of Michigan ***

Geology of Minnesota The geology of Minnesota comprises the rock, minerals, and soils of the U.S. state of Minnesota, including their formation, development, distribution, and condition. The state's geologic history can be divided into three periods. The first per ...

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Geology of Mississippi The geology of Mississippi includes some deep igneous and metamorphic crystalline basement rocks from the Precambrian known only from boreholes in the north, as well as sedimentary sequences from the Paleozoic. The region long experienced shallow m ...

*** Geology of Missouri ***

Geology of Montana The geology of Montana includes thick sequences of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks overlying ancient Archean and Proterozoic crystalline basement rock. Eastern Montana has considerable oil and gas resources, while the uplifted Ro ...

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Geology of Nebraska The geology of Nebraska is part of the broader geology of the Great Plains of the central United States. Nebraska's landscape is dominated by surface features, soil and aquifers in loosely compacted sediments, with areas of the state where thick lay ...

*** Geology of Nevada *** Geology of New Hampshire *** Geology of New Jersey *** Geology of New Mexico *** Geology of New York **** Glacial geology of the Genesee River ***

Geology of North Carolina The geology of North Carolina includes ancient Proterozoic rocks belonging to the Grenville Province in the Blue Ridge. The region experienced igneous activity and the addition of new terranes and orogeny mountain building events throughout the Pal ...

*** Geology of North Dakota *** Geology of Ohio ***

Geology of Oklahoma The geology of Oklahoma is characterized by Carboniferous rocks in the east, Permian rocks in the center and towards the west, and a cover of Tertiary deposits in the panhandle to the west. The panhandle of Oklahoma is also noted for its Jurassic r ...

*** Geology of Oregon ***

Geology of Pennsylvania The Geology of Pennsylvania consists of six distinct physiographic provinces, three of which are subdivided into different sections. Each province has its own economic advantages and geologic hazards and plays an important role in shaping ever ...

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Geology of Rhode Island The geology of Rhode Island is based on nearly one billion year old igneous crystalline basement rocks formed as part of the microcontinent Avalonia that collided with the supercontinent Gondwana. The region experienced substantial folding associate ...

*** Geology of South Carolina *** Geology of South Dakota *** Geology of Tennessee ***

Geology of Texas Texas contains a wide variety of geologic settings. The state's stratigraphy has been largely influenced by marine transgressive-regressive cycles during the Phanerozoic, with a lesser but still significant contribution from late Cenozoic tecton ...

*** Geology of Utah **** Geology of the Bryce Canyon area **** Geology of the Canyonlands area **** Geology of the Capitol Reef area ****

Geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine known exposed formations, all visible in Zion National Park in the U.S. state of Utah. Together, these formations represent about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sediment ...

*** Geology of Vermont ***

Geology of Virginia The geology of Virginia began to form 1.8 billion years ago and potentially even earlier. The oldest rocks in the state were metamorphosed during the Grenville orogeny, a mountain building event beginning 1.2 billion years ago in the Prote ...

*** Geology of Washington *** Geology of Washington, D.C. **** Geology of Mount Adams *** Geology of West Virginia ***

Geology of Wisconsin The geology of Wisconsin includes Precambrian crystalline basement rock over three billion years old. A widespread marine environment during the Paleozoic flooded the region, depositing sedimentary rocks which cover most of the center and south of ...

*** Geology of Wyoming **** Geology of the Grand Teton area

South America

* Geology of South America **

Geology of Bolivia The geology of Bolivia comprises a variety of different lithologies as well as tectonic and sedimentary environments. On a synoptic scale, geological units coincide with topographical units. The country is divided into a mountainous western area a ...

Geology of Chile The geology of Chile is a characterized by processes linked to subduction such as volcanism, earthquakes and orogeny. The buildings blocks of Chile's geology assembled during the Paleozoic Era. Chile was by then the southwestern margin of the su ...

** Geology of Colombia **

Geology of the Falkland Islands The geology of the Falkland Islands is described in several publications. The Falkland Islands are located on a projection of the Patagonian continental shelf. In ancient geological time this shelf was part of Gondwana, which around 400 million y ...

** Geology of Uruguay

By mountain range

Geology of the Alps The Alps form part of a Cenozoic orogenic belt of mountain chains, called the Alpide belt, that stretches through southern Europe and Asia from the Atlantic all the way to the Himalayas. This belt of mountain chains was formed during the Alpi ...

* Geology of the Andes *

Geology of the Himalaya The geology of the Himalayas is a record of the most dramatic and visible creations of the immense mountain range formed by plate tectonic forces and sculpted by weathering and erosion. The Himalayas, which stretch over 2400 km between t ...

References

{{Geology of Europe Compagnoni, R. (2003). "HP metamorphic belt of the western Alps". Episodes. 26 (3): 200–204. Geology of Mid-way Range