The study of the Earth's structure, processes, and history — including geology, geochemistry, and the mechanisms of natural hazards.

Earth sciences are now inseparable from climate and extraction ethics: who owns geological resources, who bears the risk of natural hazards, and how scientific knowledge informs — or is suppressed by — industrial interests.

The Quranic concept of khalifa (stewardship) provides a framework for earth sciences that transcends both extractivism and passive preservation. The earth is entrusted, not owned — a position with substantive implications for professional practice.