What are the tools used by the earth scientist?

Question

What are the tools used by the earth scientist?

Answer 1

Depends on the situation.

For fieldwork the following would be used:

Geological hammer, with a flat end and a pointy end

A compass, not only to find your way, but for determining the orientation of rocks.

A hand lens, a magnifying glass, usually with 10x zoom

A waterproof notebook

Good hiking boots, clothes, backpack, waterbottle, etc

A map board, usually A3, often with a waterproof cover.

Back in the lab:

Computer, for research and whatnot

Microscope, incuding polarising lenses and a rotating stage for looking at thin sections of rock samples.

Other than these, a whole variety of tools maybe needed, depending on the specialisation. For example:

Electron microscope for looking at samples in extreme detail

Electron microprobe, for sampling very small samples of materal

Thin sectioning equipment, for making very thin sections of rock to look through

Mass spectrometer, for analysing compositions and isotopes of a sample.

Geophysical equipment, such as gravity, magnetism, or radioactivity measurement equipment.

Answer 2

The present range runs from anything between a small stick to a couple of nuclear reactors.  All kinds of tools are used depending upon the objectives.  Some Australian paleontologists, when engaged in fieldwork, have employed the usual sort of digging stuff, built an artifical dam from netting and oil drums to keep a beach clear of water, used pumps to keep an area of rock beneath sea level free, borrowed dynamite and mining engineers, persauded an airline to lend them a jumbo jet and Cadbury's to supply the equivalent of a cubit metre of chocolate.

Those tools, and plenty more, have contributed good service for fossil hunting in the Lower Cretaceous of Victoria.