What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?

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What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas? Contrary to prevailing views of the time Based on observation – what he saw Hutton drew inferences from his observations Inferences are hypotheses Hypotheses are testable This is an application of the scientific method to study of the Earth

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What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?. Contrary to prevailing views of the time Based on observation – what he saw Hutton drew inferences from his observations Inferences are hypotheses Hypotheses are testable This is an application of the scientific method to study of the Earth. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?

Page 1: What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?

What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?

• Contrary to prevailing views of the time• Based on observation – what he saw• Hutton drew inferences from his observations• Inferences are hypotheses• Hypotheses are testable• This is an application of the scientific method

to study of the Earth

Page 2: What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?

Founders of Historical GeologyWilliam Smith 1769-1839

English surveyor and mining engineer

Created the first geologic map

Understood sequences of rock, applied soils,lithology, and fossils

First to recognize that rocks could beidentified by their fossil assemblages

First to “correlate” rocks of the same agebut different lithology

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Page 4: What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?

Founders of Historical GeologyWilliam Smith 1769-1839

Correlation led to Principle of Faunal Succession

If we know the position of each rock layer in a sequence, we know their relative age.

Then, if we look a the fossils in the layers, we candetermine the relative ages of them.

This sequence will occur again and again in the geologic record on a widespread geographic scale.

Can then be used to provide relative age of the rocks.

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Smith determined that the life forms of each age in Earth history were unique for given intervals

Fossils could then be used to determine the chronology of the rocks

Smith saw it, knew it was right, but didn’t know WHY

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Founders of Historical GeologyGeorges Cuvier 1769-1832Alexandre Brongniart 1770-1847

Cuvier was a vertebrate paleontologist (left)Brongniart was a naturalist

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Founders of Historical GeologyGeorges Cuvier 1769-1832Alexandre Brongniart 1770-1847

Also recognized the utility of fossils for correlationValidated Smith’s findings

Found that groups of fossils were separated byerosional surfaces (unconformities)

Believed that these changes in life forms on Earthwere caused by catastrophic events(catastrophe, extinction, creation of new life)

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Founders of Historical Geology

Georges Cuvier 1769-1832Alexandre Brongniart 1770-1847

This was contrary to Hutton’s uniform, gradual change on Earth over long periods of time.

Led to a new school of thought: Catastrophism

Scientists argued Catastrophism vs Uniformitarianism

Which is right?

Page 9: What’s so remarkable about Hutton’s Ideas?

Founders of Historical GeologyGeorges Cuvier 1769-1832Alexandre Brongniart 1770-1847

What caused the abrupt changes observed at unconformities?

Ancestors are observed in underlying strata.

Uniformitarianism held sway.

Catastrophic events do happenvolcanism, earthquakes, climate change,meteorite impacts

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Founders of Historical GeologyCharles Lyell 1797-1875

Published Principles of Geology(5 volumes - 1830)

First textbook on Geology

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Founders of Historical GeologyCharles Lyell 1797-1875

Principles of GeologyFirst to explain and synthesize geologic observations

Added two more rules for interpreting geology.

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Founders of Historical GeologyCharles Lyell 1797-1875

Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships

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Founders of Historical GeologyCharles Lyell 1797-1875

Principle of Inclusions

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A AqueousB VolcanicC MetamorphicD Plutonic

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Founders of Historical GeologyCharles Lyell 1797-1875

Andrew Ramsey stated:

“We collect the data and Lyell teachesus the meaning of them”.

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Founders of Historical GeologyCharles Darwin 1809-1882

Added to the understanding of Fossil Succession

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Founders of Historical GeologyCharles Darwin 1809-1882

Clarified why the general progression of fossils worked

Evolution - organisms changed through time

Provided the mechanism for Fossil Succession