Short answers, pulled from the story.
James Hutton presented his paper titled Theory of the Earth before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1785. This presentation argued that mountains required vast stretches of deep time to form through erosion and sedimentation cycles.
The three major rock types forming the basis of geological study are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks solidify from molten magma or lava while sedimentary rocks form when weathered material is redeposited and lithified into layers. Metamorphic rocks result from heat and pressure altering mineral content in existing rocks.
Earth formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago during the Hadean eon following Solar System formation at 4.567 billion years ago. Relative dating methods determine rock ages without assigning specific numbers while absolute dating uses radioactive isotopes to assign numerical ages to rock samples.
Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift before plate tectonics provided its mechanism for moving plates across the asthenosphere. Plate boundaries manifest as mid-ocean ridges where hydrothermal vents and volcanoes exist along with convergent and transform boundaries like the San Andreas Fault system.
Georgius Agricola published De Natura Fossilium in 1546 establishing geology as a scientific discipline. Earlier thinkers like Aristotle noted slow geological changes but lacked evidence to quantify them while Theophrastus wrote Peri Lithon around 300 BCE to describe stones and minerals.