Okay I was going to leave this in the tags at first but then I wanted to add photos
This one from the Avatar Wiki
Determining the Structure/Function of the World
According to Avatar Wiki the map “is also heavily distorted, much like a Mercator projection, a type of cylindrical map that makes a round surface appear flat while still preserving loxodromes.”
There are numerous volcanoes, meaning there is magma beneath the surface
There are compasses that are used for navigation, meaning that the world is generating a magnetic field.
We can assume that various mountain ranges we see form as a result of plate tectonics. For instance, there should be a hot spot approximately under the Fire Nation, creating the arpeggio the way island chains like Hawaii and Polynesia form. This means the plate is moving to the East, subducting beneath the Earth Kingdom.
So we’re going to assume the non-bending related geologic processes in atla function the same as ours
Again from the Avatar Wiki “the above map excludes an entire hemisphere of Earth, most of which is oceanic.”
So the world is in a state similar to Pangea, with the land masses collected together.
In fact, given the mountain ranges surrounding the edges of the Earth Kingdom, it is probable that the plates are converging, on the cusp of reforming one large land mass.
Even if it’s been hundreds of thousands of years, bending has not existed for a large scale of geologic time. However, there are cases of very powerful bending that permanently alter the course of geologic history. So while there are cases where the impact of bending is negligible, it cannot be ignored.
Sometimes benders do stupid shit like fight volcanoes. In Roku’s case, it involved plugging up the vent and stopping the eruption. Aang redirected the lava around the town. Roku has made it so the pressure will continue to build, and that some of the magma will be redirected to make sweet phaneritic textures. Aang has given any geologist who wants to study that eruption in the future a headache as they try to figure out where the trench came from and how the region that should have been devastated by the eruption was impacted.
No thoughts, only how much easier it could be to study small earthquakes if you could train yourself to sense them instead of hoping for the best with the seismographs you have available. Although there would be a degree of subjectivity to the research.
3) Sedimentary Rock Record
When the formation of the rock is largely dependent upon factors in the environment you know bending is going to change things. Sedimentary rocks form mainly as a result of alluvial (water) or aeolian (wind) related processes. This means that bending could have some sort of impact on their formation. However, unless the change is something more long term, such as the rerouting of a river, it is unlikely to have a significant impact.
4) Weathering and Erosion
The same is true for weathering and erosion. Bending could either speed up or slow down the processes that are already occurring. It would have to be considered as a possible contributing factor to any unexpected changes in the natural process, but should not have a large impact on the rock record.
Earthbenders like to destroy millions of years worth of stratigraphy to launch a rock at an enemy or make a point. They can absolutely mess with the layered sequence of rock.
It’s important to note that these are already issues that need to be addressed when studying paleology, archaeology, etc.. There are natural processes that can destroy or invert stratigraphy, like landslides. While the loss destroys primary context and can make interpretations more difficult, particularly in fields like archaeology, it is still possible.
There are two main methods of dating. Relative and absolute. Relative dating is using surrounding clues to determine age, such as using the layers of a sediment and different objects found within them. You get an age, relative to other items, i.e., Pot A is older than Pot B but younger than Pot C. Absolute dating is using methods like dendrochronology or radioactive decay to determine a number age for an object, i.e., Pot A is 25000 years old. Even if bending can impact relative dating, absolute dating is still an option. There is also a possibility for Sequence Dating, using a known sequence of evolution for something such as pottery to date a new find.
So while the destruction of stratigraphy does mean a loss in valuable context, there are much more interesting things, in my opinion at least, to be considered.
6) Radiometric Dating Techniques
Radiometric dating involves measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes to determine an age of crystallization or cooling for a rock. It tells you how long it’s been since a rock was at a certain temperature. A mineral with a cooling temperature of 300 degrees and age of 60 million years means the rock cooled past 300 degrees approximately 60 million years ago and has not gotten that hot since.
Zircon is a common mineral used for radiometric dating because it has a high cooling temperature, around 900 degrees Celsius. Enter firebenders. Specifically Azula and her blue flames, which reach a temperature of approximately 1500 degrees Celsius. This means that under sustained heat from a fire like Azula’s, the age of the sample would be ‘reset’ and appear to be brand new, even if it’s been millions or billions of years.
This is it. The big, permanent, physics-defying crazy stuff. The bending that would absolutely fascinate and horrify the geologists.
Remember that time Kysoshi used her bending to split Kyoshi Island off from the mainland. That means she used her bending to CREATE A MID-OCEAN RIFT
Which, when compared to the proposed original trajectory of the plate, means she either…
Changed the direction of the plate
Or completely changed the plate’s trajectory
With bending, it could be possible to make non-computer generated models to test various hypotheses. It would take a high level of control, but you could use bending to make a model of the world for observation and testing.
The methods of analysis and study would be fundamentally different because there would be new methods (e.g., seismic sense) and new challenges. While a lot of the effects of bending would be similar to those caused by natural processes, such as landslides destroying stratigraphy,
Trying to study geology in atla would be brutal. Millions of years of stratigraphy can be destroyed in an instant. The reformation of the supercontinent could be prevented because Kyoshi decided to form an island.
Seriously you could argue any hypothesis. I could write my doctorate on how I think the mountains in the Northern Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe are the same formation, and the reason they’ve weathered at different rates is because waterbending speeds up processes like freeze-thaw while earthbenders use their bending to prevent any weathering from happening. And no one would be able to stop me. No wonder that professor who was after the secret library was like that.
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