Introduction

Physical Geology

Historical Geology

Uniformitarianism

Course Outline

• History of Geology
  
• Basic Principles
  - Geologic Time
  - Determining the age of rocks
  - Sedimentary Rocks
  - Stratigraphy
  
• Major Theories
  - Evolution of life
  - Plate tectonics
  
• History of the Earth (North America)
  - Precambrian to Recent
  

History of Geologic Thought

• 1654 Archbishop Ussher
  - "4004 BC God created the earth"
  
• 1669 Nicolaus Steno
  
  • Stratigraphy
    - principle of superposition
    - principle of original horizontality
    - principle of lateral continuity
    
• Abraham Werner (1750-1817)
  
  • neptunism
    - primitive rocks
    - transition rocks
    - alluvium
    
• James Hutton (1726-1797)
  
  • "Father of geology"
    
  • plutonism
    
  • uniformitarianism
    
  • "Theory of the Earth" 1785
    - Cyclical view of earth's history
    - 1802 John Playfair "Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth"
    
• William "Strata" Smith
  
  • principle of biologic succession
    
• Cuvier (1769-1832)
  
  • catastrophism
    
  • unconformity
    
• Charles Lyell (1830)
  
  • "Principles of Geology"
    
  • principle of cross-cutting relationships
    
• 1950's Geosynclinal Model
  
• 1960's Continental Drift
  
  • Sea-floor Spreading
    
• 1970's & 1980's Plate Tectonics
  
• 1990's Earth Systems Science
  
  • Global Climate Change
    

Actualism

---

• Next Lecture
• Back to Lecture Presentations Main Page
• Back to Historical Geology Main Page

last updated 1-2-98

All original material copyright (c) 1998 by Annabelle Foos. All rights reserved.