Having described a natural object using . . . professionally arrived-at vocabulary and techniques . . . d the geoscientist then classifies the object into a group or category. Paleontologists or icropaleontologists classify fossils or microfossils according to their morphology; geomorphologists do the same with landforms. Traditionally, mineralogists or petrologists (scientists who study rocks) identify minerals in a hand sample or photomicrograph by shape, color (including color changes under different lighting conditions), and texture (e.g.
