西北大学地质学科创建于1939年，是全国建系较早、历史悠久的综合性大学地质学系之一。办学至今80余载，群英荟萃，名师云集。地学大家王恒升、谢家荣、中国古生物学科创始人杨钟健，中国五大构造学派之一的“波浪镶嵌学说”创始人张伯声院士等都曾在此执教，迄今已培养出10000余名地学英才，特别是培养了新中国第一批石油地质专业人才，为国家石油地质事业做出了重要贡献，被誉为“中华石油英才之母”、“中国石油战线的黄埔军校”。从地质学系毕业生中走出了8位中国科学院院士和1位中国工程院院士，他们是中国科学院院士田在艺、任纪舜、张国伟、翟明国、周卫健、舒德干、高山、张宏福，中国工程院院士赵文智。
地质学系理、工并重，特色鲜明。现有地质学一级学科国家重点学科（涵盖构造地质学、古生物学与地层学、矿物学岩石学矿床学、第四纪地质学、地球化学等5个二级学科）和矿产普查与勘探二级学科国家重点学科，有构造地质学、古生物学与地层学、矿物学岩石学矿床学、第四纪地质学、地球化学、矿产普查与勘探、地球探测与信息技术、地质工程等8个陕西省重点学科。地质学学科是国家立项的“211”工程重点建设学科，2017年9月以国家评审认定方式入选“世界一流学科”建设行列。
现有中科院院士4人，教职工182人，其中教学科研人员139人，教授（研究员）70人，获批国家级人才30余人次；获国务院政府特殊津贴10人，国家级有突出贡献专家4人，荣获全国教书育人楷模称号者1人、全国先进工作者（全国劳模）称号者3人、全国“五一”劳动奖章1人、全国模范教师（优秀教师）4人、全国三八红旗手1人。“大陆构造与动力学”团队和“早期生命演化”团队双双入选国家自然科学基金委创新群体；“寒武纪生命大爆发及其环境演化”、“能源盆地油气地质”和“ 陆内构造及其动力学”3个研究团队入选教育部“长江学者和创新团队发展计划”；“古生物地层学课程群教学团队”和“晶体光学与岩石学教学团队”两个团队入选国家级教学团队；“基础地质教师团队”入选首批全国高校黄大年式教师团队；“早期生命与环境”入选科技部重点领域创新研究团队。
经过多年的艰苦创业，地质学系在构造地质、早期生命演化、前寒武纪地质、造山带与盆地、新生代地质与环境、含油气盆地地质、油层物理和油藏地质以及黄土研究等诸多方面形成了自己的优势和特色。先后承担国家重大研究计划、国家自然科学基金重大和重点项目等国家级项目600余项；获得国家自然科学奖一等奖1项、二等奖2项，国家科技进步二等奖2项；获得国家级教学成果一等奖1项、二等奖6项，有6篇博士学位论文先后入选全国百篇优秀博士学位论文，地质学、地质资源与地质工程两个博士后科研流动站多次被评为“全国优秀博士后科研流动站”。
地质学系具有地质学、地质资源与地质工程两个一级博士学位授权点，构造地质学、古生物学与地层学、矿物学岩石学矿床学、第四纪地质学、地球化学、地球环境科学、地球生物学、能源地质学、矿产普查与勘探、地球探测与信息技术、地质工程、油气田地质与开发等12个二级博士学位授权点，构造地质学、古生物学与地层学、矿物学岩石学矿床学、第四纪地质学、地球化学、地球生物学、能源地质学、固体地球物理学、矿产普查与勘探、地球探测与信息技术、地质工程、油气田地质与开发等12个硕士点，石油与天然气工程、地质工程两个专业学位硕士点。
地质学、资源勘查工程、地质工程三个本科专业均为“国家级一流本科专业”建设点。2021年，地质学拔尖学生培养基地入选教育部“基础学科拔尖学生培养计划2.0基地”。主持有国家精品视频公开课1门，国家级精品视频共享课3门，国家级精品课程4门，国家级双语示范课程1门，国家级虚拟仿真一流本科课程1门，国家级线下一流本科课程1门。现有地质学国家理科基础科学研究和教学人才培养基地、基础学科拔尖学生培养计划2.0基地、地质学国家级实验教学示范中心、大陆动力学国家重点实验室和二氧化碳捕集与封存技术国家地方联合工程研究中心、早期生命与环境陕西省重点实验室等国家级、省级教学科研平台。
地质学系在本科人才培养中体现综合化、国际化、学术化特色，注重培养复合型、实践型、研究型创新人才。近年来，地质学系不断强化基础理论教学，各本科专业毕业生中有60％以上被录取为硕士研究生，一部分继续攻读博士学位，成为国家高层次学术人才的后备力量。同时，不断充实教学内容，充分对接社会需求，并通过与国外高校“2+2”、“3+2”联合培养及长短期结合的国外交流访学、主持参与科研训练项目及联合实习等方式，强化学生科研能力培养和实践能力训练，大多数毕业生成为了所在行业、部门、地区的业务骨干、学术带头人或领导干部。
地质学系在长期的办学过程中积累了雄厚的基础，形成了鲜明的特色，“按国际标准建设、达到世界一流水平、树立良好国际影响”是地质学系始终如一的建设方针和追求目标。近年来，地质学系先后与美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、英国、奥地利、香港等10余个国家和地区的著名大学和研究机构建立了长期合作关系，学习国际先进经验，利用国际资源引育世界一流队伍、培养世界一流学生、产出世界一流成果、建设世界一流平台、开展世界一流交流合作，全面建设世界一流学科。（2022年2月更新）
Department of Geology, Northwest University
The Department of Geology at Northwest University is located in Xi'an, China, the capital city of Shaanxi province and the largest city in Northwest China. Situated on a fertile plain between the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Loess Plateau to the north, Xi'an was the capital of China for over 1,000 years and the starting point for the Silk Road connecting Asia with other cradles of ancient civilization such as Rome, Greece and Egypt. Today, Xi'an can justly be called an "Open Air Historical Museum" with numerous exceptionally preserved cultural sites including the Terracotta Army, Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, and more than 120 other museums.
Founded in 1939, the Department of Geology at Northwest University is one of the oldest in China. For over 80 years, the department has gathered together top professors in their fields, including Yang Zhongjian, one of the founders of Chinese paleontology; Zhang Bosheng, academician and founder of “the hypothesis of crustal- wave mosaic structure”, one of the five geological structure theories in China; as well as renowned geologists Wang Hengsheng and Xie Jiarong. To date, the school has produced over 10,000 geoscience graduates. These include China’s first petroleum geologists, and the department has become known as the “cradle of China’s oil industry pioneers”. Eight academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering have emerged from the graduates of the Department of Geology.
The Department spans science and engineering with its own distinctive features. As a key discipline of the national 211 project, geology was selected to be developed into a world-class discipline after national review and accreditation in September 2017. Relying on the existing first-level national key disciplines and the State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, the Department has established three core disciplinary directions: continental geology, tectonics and early Earth evolution; early life and environment; and basin-mountain systems and their influence on resources and environment.
In recent years, our researchers have made a series of major scientific discoveries and original achievements with international significance.
Research on the formation of the tripartite phylogenetic trees of early animals (TPTEA) won recognition at the National Natural Science Awards, for the development of a compelling new hypothesis to explain the Cambrian explosion of life. Discovery of the exceptionally-preserved “Qingjiang Biota” showed that soft-bodied fossils could be preserved within the black shales formed in stagnant and anoxic deep-water environments, something that was previously thought impossible. The findings, published in the journal Science, received wide attention from global popular media, and were hailed as a milestone in the field of evolutionary paleontology. The research was selected as the greatest advance of Chinese paleontology in 2019 and won the Outstanding Achievement Award for Research in Institutes of Higher Education from the Ministry of Education of China.
The department is at the forefront of research into the tectonic processes that have shaped Chinese geology over billions of years. The “Reconstructions of East Asian blocks in Pangea” project established a new model for the evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt including the collision, burial, and exhumation of rocks across a complex collage of mountains and basins running across China and into central Asia. Our researchers have defined China’s geological history within the framework of global supercontinent cycles and the onset of modern-style plate tectonics, the formation and evolution of the North China Craton, the nature of metallogenic processes, and the mechanisms by which stable cratons can be destroyed.
Our geological research is oriented to major national strategic needs, serving the main areas of China’s economic development. Work by our researchers in the Ordos Basin has revealed the coexistence mechanism of multiple energy sources, knowledge that is utilized by oilfield companies including PetroChina, Sinopec, and Yanchang, and underpins innovation within production, education, and research. Addressing challenges in the construction of high-speed and heavy-haul railways in the loess area of China, as well as railways within Europe and Southeast Asia as part of the “Belt and Road” initiative, our researchers have proposed effective countermeasures against potential geological disasters, winning recognition in both the the National Science and Technology Progress Awards and the FIDIC Awards. Towards the national pledge of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) team conduct extensive cooperation with government agencies on technological advancements to target green and low-carbon development and climate and environmental change. CCUS team members, as representatives of the Chinese government, have attended many important international conferences to exchange research and development progress, and share governance experience.
Within the State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, the Department independently developed an in-situ micro-analysis platform for material components based on ultrafast laser mass spectrometry, achieving a world-first with the simultaneous measurement of sulfur and lead isotopes. Another key piece of infrastructure is the advanced platform for general analysis of forms, structures and components of early life fossils. The early life and environment discipline is listed in the Program of Discipline Innovation and Talent Introduction of Universities (111 Project). The two national platforms of the Collaborative Innovation Center on Continental Structure co-sponsored by the Province and Ministry, and National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Carbon, Capture and Storage Technology, provide strong support for national and regional development and discipline development, greatly increasing the social influence of the Department.
The Department of Geology is a unique department built on a solid foundation of long-term development. It is our consistent guideline and goal to “build a geology department according to international standards, reach world-class levels, and enhance international reputation”. In recent years, the department has successively established long-term cooperative relationships with prestigious universities and research institutions across the globe, including the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Austria, and Hong Kong. International academic exchanges have promoted the learning of advanced overseas experience to cultivate excellent teaching and research teams, train outstanding students, and improve scientific research and infrastructure.