Introduction to Geology
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this foundational earth science course covering mineral and rock identification, geologic mapping, plate tectonics, and the long-term evolution of Earth's atmosphere, surface, and life. Lectures, lab exercises, and field observations walk through the origin of continents, mountain building, volcanoes and earthquakes, and erosion by rivers and glaciers. The course connects these processes to present-day concerns such as resource demand, natural hazards, and climate change. Materials include lecture notes, lab assignments, and field exercises used in MIT's own classroom teaching. No enrollment or certificate is offered through OCW; the content is published for self-study under MIT's open license, making it suited to anyone wanting a structured first pass through the core concepts of geology before pursuing more specialized earth science coursework.