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1
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2
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- Observation-based study began
- The Driving Question: What the heck are fossils?
- Were animal-like fossils really once alive?
- How did they get into the rocks?
- When did they get there?
- How did they become stone?
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3
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4
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- “Actualism” predominant view of Earth
- Lyell Said:
- The Earth was transformed by imperceptibly slow changes, many of which
we can see around us today
- Not only in uniformity of processes but also in uniformity of intensity
of changes
- Intensity DOES vary; Events may be NON-REPEATING, e.g.
- Extinction of Dinosaurs
- Meteorite impacts were more frequent in the past
- Our atmosphere evolved from
oxygen-poor to oxygen-rich
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5
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- Tanya Atwater, UCSB, emeritus, plate tectonics
- B. Clark Burchfield, MIT, structural geology
- Fred Vine, U. East Anglia, emeritus, plate tectonics
- Charles Richter, Seismology
- Paul Hoffman, Snowball Earth Theory
- Jack Horner, Montana State U., Paleontologist
- Stephen J. Gould, Paleontologist
- J. Harlen Bretz, Channeled Scablands of E. WA
- Norman Bowen, petrologists, Bowen’s Reaction Series
- And many many more!
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6
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7
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- Nick’s Big Ideas!
- Fossils formed TOGETHER with sedimentary rock
- Strata contains a chronological record of Earth’s history
- Formed 3 Fundamental Principles of Geology:
- Principle of Superposition
- Principal of Original Horizontality
- Principle of Lateral Continuity
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8
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9
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- 1st to examine fossils with a microscope
- Theorized about process of fossilization
- Observed evidence of EVOLUTION
- 2 ½ centuries before Darwin!
- Suggested ENVIRONMENTS CHANGE
- Published Micrographia (1665)
- Introduced idea of ‘Fossil Correlation’
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10
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- Correlation
- Fossil Correlation
- Index Fossil
- Fossil Assemblage
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11
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- 1st to question “6 days of creation”
- Postulated great age for the
Earth
- Published Histoire Naturelle
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12
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- Developed theory of Neptunism
- Crust precipitated/deposited from planet-wide ocean
- Created one of 1st stratigraphic columns to describe Earth’s
chronology
- Primitive, or Primary rocks
- Transition rocks
- Secondary rocks
- Alluvial rocks
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13
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- The ‘Father’ of Modern Geology
- Theory of the Earth, vol I, II & III
- Proponent of the Theory of Uniformity
- Proposed ‘Plutonism’
- Origin of igneous rocks, explanation of metamorphic
- Explained significance of angular unconformities
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14
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- Hutton postulated…………..
- Earth is internally dynamic & ever-changing
- Earth processes are slow
- Modern sediments resembled ancient sedimentary rocks
- Earth processes at a slow rate can, over time, cause great change
- Magmatic origin of basaltic dikes
- Pressures at depth could cause intense heat without fire
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15
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- Neptunism more popular than Plutonism
- Why?
- Hutton was a poor writer
- He preached anti-catastrophism
ideology
- He ridiculed Werner’s Neptunism
- Werner was a popular dude!
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16
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- William “Strata” Smith
- Father of English Geology
- 1st geologic map of high quality, 1815
- “A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales With Part of
Scotland”
- I.D. of rocks by texture, composition & index fossils
- Used correlation of strata (sequence stratigraphy)
- Fossil correlation
- Prediction across broad geographic regions
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17
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- Georges Cuvier & Alexandre Brongniart
- Created ‘modern’ geologic map of Paris region
- Based upon fossil correlation
- Identified characteristic ‘fossil assemblages’ assoc. with strata
sequences (sequence stratigraphy)
- Cuvier- “Father” of Paleontology
- Established extinction as fact
- Suggested that reptiles, not
mammals, once ruled!
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18
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- Father of the Principle of Uniformitarianism
- Used Hutton’s work as a foundation
- Argued Earth was transformed by imperceptibly slow changes
- Published “Principles of Geology”, 1830-1833, a.k.a.
- “An Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface by
Reference to Causes now in Operation.”
- Was an ‘ultra’ uniformitarian view of the world
- Proponent of ‘gradulalism’
- Lyell a leading influence on Charles Darwin
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Notes
