Geology is not as simple as Pressure and Time

Geology is the study of pressure and time — or so says Morgan Freeman. I wont argue with him, but I like to think of it as geography — on crack. Geography satisfies one fundamental question: where?, but geology handles others: why? what? when? and how? Theres a mountain range here, says geography. Why is it there? Short answer — plate tectonics, the earths plates move around on top of a convecting semi-molten mantle, and consequently collide which causes pileups not unlike a big traffic accident. What is it made of? Rocks — of which there are three major groups: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic. When did it happen? and how? Mountains are built over millions of years, think of every earthquake as one nail or one brick at the site of a major construction project. So we have some answers, thanks to geology and its geologists, but they don’t come easily, it takes a lot of work … you might even say a lot of pressure, and a lot of time.