The Role and Future of Geology in Modern Integrated Environmental Research and Decision Support

摘要

Geology is the only interdisciplinary genseience which studies systematically the hierarchically organized biotic and abiotic systems and their interactions from the micro-scale of biogeochemical processes to the macro-scale of continental and global processes. The concepts and approaches of plate tectonics, environmental facies and hierarchical systems view, three-dimensional and temporal modelling, and modern integrated stratigraphy and basin analysis provide it with both the theoretical and practical foundations to analyse and model the spatio-temporal evolution of these systems. Environmental sciences provide data and information for decisions on the control of the integration of human social systems and natural systems. Geology has been yielding basic data on geological systems and indispensable expert knowledge on natural hazard prediction and environmental risk assessment. However, only the scientific tools and methods of geology have been applied which is insufficient to meet challenges of integrated environmental research related to the problems of temporal and spatial modelling, analysis of complex systems and extrapolation between scales. It is argued that geology has much more to offer for modern environmental analysis by the use of its concepts and approaches. The modelling techniques and methodologies of geology are discussed and a comparative case study is presented to demonstrate the application of geological concepts in environmental research and management.