Important Geological Figures

Question 1

Aristotle (384-322 B.C)

Answer 1

Described erosion by rivers and deposition in deltas, as well as transgression & regression;

Question 2

Lucretius (99-55 BC):

Answer 2

recognized weathering processes in rocks

Question 3

Seneca (3-65 AD):

Answer 3

Observed erosion of valleys by running water

Question 4

Ibn-Sina (980-1037 AD):

Answer 4

Concluded that mountains could be uplifted, and later eroded

Question 5

DaVinci (1452-1519)

Answer 5

Found marine fossils on land, hypothesized ways in which they have moved or the environment has changed

Question 6

Bauer (1494-1555)

Answer 6

hypothesized that mountains were sculpted by weathering and mass movements

Question 7

Steno (1638-1687)

Answer 7

Regarded water as the most significant agent of erosion; founded principles regarding how strata are deposited and relate to each other

Question 8

Bishop James Ussher (1638-1687)

Answer 8

calculated the age of the earth by calculating the average lifespan of a human, then using the genealogy of the bible to calculate the age of the earth (claimed it was 6028 years old)

Question 9

James Hutton (1726-1797)

Answer 9

formed the principle Uniformitarianism

Question 10

G.K Gilbert (1843-1918)

Answer 10

Examined fluvial geomorphology, deltas, and base levels; applied mathematical models to these processes as significant landscapes

Question 11

Louis Agassiz (1807-1873)

Answer 11

Identified ancient glacial processes as significant landscapes; Hiked further away from the Alps and noticed similar landscapes but no glaciers, and determined that glaciers were once present

Question 12

William Morris Davis (1850-1934)

Answer 12

Father of modern geography

Question 13

William Morris Davis (1850-1934)

Answer 13

proposed the geographical cycle model to describe the development of landforms over time (Davis’ cycle of erosion)