ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGICAL HAZARD
环境地质与地质灾害

The “environment” can be divided into three types: (1) the social environment which is formed through the social connection among the people, in which the human being is the subject; (2) the natural environment which develops independent of the human will, in which the nature is the subject; and (3) the geological environment which can also be a component as a part of the natural environment; although it has the specific characteristics, in which the human being and geological environment jointly develop with the latter as the subject. The main environmental-geological problems that China is facing are as follows: freshwater resource crisis, soil erosion of land resource, geological hazards, environmental problems in the geo-chemical circulation, environmental problems in the urban development,and environmental-geological problems induced by the human activities. The increasing geological hazards in China has done a great deal of harms to the people's lifes and properties and caused the heavy losses. According to the statistical figures in 2003, there were about 160 thousand sites with hidden perils for the geological hazards; 11.55 million inhabitants and the properties about 201.4 billion RMB Yuan were affected. Therefore, the prevention and harnessing of geologic hazards are very pressing and so many problems need to be solved.