Chapter 2 - Early Geologists Flashcards
actualism
principle that natural laws governing both past and present processes on Earth have been the same
catastrophism
history of life was marked by frightful catastrophes that completely extinguished life and was followed by the appearance of new animals and plants
inclusions
fragments of one rock that appear within another is older than the one that
principle of cross-cutting relationships
the penetrating rock must be younger than the layers it cuts across
principle of fossil succession
stipulates that the life of each age in the earth’s long history is unique for particular intervals of geologic time
principle of original lateral continuity
states that a rock layer extends continuously in all directions until it thins out or encounters a barrier
principle of original horizontality
states that sediment is deposited in layers that are originally horizontal
principle of superposition
states that in any sequence of undisturbed strata, the oldest layer is at the bottom, and successive layers are successively higher
stratigraphy
study of layered rocks, including their texture, composition, arrangement and correlation from place to place
unconformity
a time gap in the rock record
Nicholas Steno
formulated three important principles - superposition, original horizontality, lateral continuity
Abraham G Werner
wrote the first great mineralogy textbook; erroneously supported concept of Neptunism
James Hutton
explained concept of uniformitarianism, was a Plutonist
William Smith
published “Strata Identified by Organized Fossils”; produced first geologic map of England and Wales
Georges Cuvier
established vertebrate paleontology as a science
