geo-, ge- +
(Greek: earth, land, soil; world; Gaia (Greek), Gaea (Latin), "earth goddess")
2. The point in any orbit nearest to the body being orbited.
2. A set of coordinates used for locating a point in space, representing its distance from an origin and two angles describing its orientation relative to perpendicular axes extending from that origin.
3. A system of coordinates for locating a point in space by the length of its radius vector and the angles this vector makes with two perpendicular polar planes.
Its scope of study is vast, ranging from submicroscopic lattice defects in crystals to fault structures and fold systems of the earth’s crust.
Methods of structural geology
Small-scale structural features may be studied using the same general techniques that are employed in petrology, in which sections of rock mounted on glass slides are ground very thin and are then examined with polarizing microscopes.
On a larger scale, the techniques of field geology are used which include plotting the orientation of such structural features as faults, joints, cleavage, and small folds.
In most cases, the objective is to interpret the structure beneath the surface by using information available at the surface.
Where mountains, continents, ocean basins, and other large-scale features are involved, the methods employed are chiefly those of geophysics and include the use of seismological, magnetic, and gravitational techniques.

Available for further enlightenment: the Earth, Words from the Myths.
Cross references of word families related directly, or indirectly, to: "land, ground, fields, soil, dirt, mud, clay, earth (world)": agra-; agrest-; agri-; agro-; argill-; choro-; chthon-; epeiro-; glob-; lut-; myso-; pedo-; pel-; rhyp-; soil-; sord-; terr-.