The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to geophysics: Geophysics – the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and composition; its dynamics and their surface expression in plate tectonics, the generation of magmas, volcanism and rock formation. However, modern geophysics organizations have a broader definition that includes the hydrological cycle including snow and ice; fluid dynamics of the oceans and the atmosphere; electricity and magnetism in the ionosphere and magnetosphere and solar-terrestrial relations; and analogous problems associated with the Moon and other planets. Nature of geophysics Geophysics can be described as all of the following: An academic discipline – branch of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part), and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties to which their practitioners belong. A scientific field (a branch of science) – widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer-reviewed research is published. There are several geophysics-related scientific journals. A natural science – one that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world using empirical and scientific methods. A physical science – one that studies non-living systems. An earth science – one that studies the planet Earth and its surroundings. A biological science – one that studies the effect of organisms on their physical environment. An interdisciplinary field – one that overlaps atmospheric sciences, geology, glaciology, hydrology, oceanography and physics. Branches of geophysics Biogeophysics – study of how plants, microbial activity and other organisms alter geologic materials and affect geophysical signatures. Exploration geophysics – the use of surface methods to detect concentrations of ore minerals and hydrocarbons. Geophysical fluid dynamics – study of naturally occurring, large-scale flows on Earth and other planets. Geodesy – measurement and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field. Geodynamics – study of modes of transport deformation within the Earth: rock deformation, mantle convection, heat flow, and lithosphere dynamics. Geomagnetism – study of the Earth's magnetic field, including its origin, telluric currents driven