Group N1

Diego Delgado

Adriana Mera

Marcela Nuez

Historical Geology

Principle of Steno

Catastrophism

Fixism

Creationism

PRINCIPLE OF STENO

As is true of most historical science, only a very few principles

underlie the study of layered rock and the fossils it contains.
Three of these principles were recognized by Nicholas Steno
(16311687), a Dane working in Florence, Italy, as physician to
the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1667 Steno was one of the first
to understand that fossils were the remains of past life that
had been deposited with the sediment, although he supposed
that fossils had been deposited by the biblical deluge or, in
the case of fossil elephants, were the remains of Hannibals
army as it crossed the Alps to invade Rome in 218 bce.
Previously, many supposed that fossils grew in the rock under
the influence of emanations from heaven or perhaps had been
placed supernaturally into the rock as a test of religious faith.

Steno seems also to have been one of the first to understand

that the Earth has a history that is worthy of study, and he
applied his principles of stratigraphy in his attempts to
understand the geological history of the area around Florence.

PRINCIPIE OF STENO

Superposition

If you are playing cards or tossing

dirty laundry into a pile, you know
that the first item played or tossed
is the one at the bottom of the
pile. As one moves up the stack or
pile, the items were deposited
more and more recently. This is all
there is to the principle of
superposition (Figure 1-1). Steno
recognized that in any undisturbed
sequence of sedimentary rock, the
oldest is on the bottom and the
youngest is on the top. It is not
rocket science, but Stenos
recognition of this fact grew from
his recognition that the rocks have
a history, and it allowed him to
begin interpreting that history.

PRINCIPLE OF STENO

PRINCIPLE OF STENO

Original horizontality

Steno recognized a further principle

that sediment is deposited from a
fluid mediumair or waterand that
the upper surface of a layer of
sediment should be horizontal if the
layer has not been disturbed
subsequently.

PRINCIPLE OF STENO

Original lateral continuity

Finally, Steno understood the

principle
that
layers
of
sedimentary rock are laterally
continuous so that a layer of rock
cropping out on opposite sides of a
river valley was once continuous
across the valley. Today his
principle tells us that layers of rock
continue until they reach the edge
of a basin of deposition or thin to
zero thickness as the supply of
sediment runs out.

PRINCIPLE OF STENO

Cross-cutting relationship

You may not know how old your

grandmother is, but you can be sure
of two things: she is older than your
mother, and your mother is older
than you. Somewhere along the line
in the development of geology this
principle was applied to the rock,
the idea that the sand grains that
comprise a sandstone must pre-date
the sandstone.

Similarly, the chemicals that cement

the sand grains together must be
younger than the time of deposition
of the sandy sediment. Finally, if
one feature cuts across another,
such as a fracture in the rock or a
cave dissolved in limestone, it must
be younger than the rock.

PRINCIPLE OF STENO

CATASTROPHISM

Clergymen and scientists believed that the earth had been created a
few thousand years ago

CATASTROPHISM

The concept of
catastrophism, was
proposed by Georges
Cuvier (17691832)

Father of Vertebrate
Paleontology

CATASTROPHISM

According to Cuvier, six

major catastrophes had
occurred in the past

Biblical creation?

CATASTROPHISM

Cuvier believed that the floods were caused by episodes of

crustal subsidence, which alternated with sudden crustal uplifts

CATASTROPHISM

Some catastrophists were

convinced that canyons, were
simply giant cracks in the
ground

Tidal waves and floods were

caused by huge meteorites or
comets

Catastrophism

Other catastrophists postulated that the thick sequences of

sedementary rocks in the earths crust had been deposited
during the worldwide flood

CATASTROPHISM

William Buckland (17841856), English theologian,

geologist and paleontologist

Popular professor of geology

at Oxford university during
the nineteenth century

CATASTROPHISM

Most of the catastrophists proposals were related to observation

of natural events, they were generally by gross exaggerations in
scale

FIXISM

Fixism affirms that the current existent species were

identical to species of the past

Fixism opposes evolutionism

Fixism

Evolutionism

FIXISM

Continents were maintained stable and fixed in their present

places through all geologic history

FIXISM

The religious version of fixism is called creationism

Modernized religious interpreters teach creationism as a

metaphorical wisdom

CREATIONISM

Thecreationismis the
movement of certain religious
fundamentalist sectors that are
against accepting
theevolutionasscientific
factit is.Charles Darwinwas
referring to theevolutionary
antiarguing the tenets of his
bookThe Origin of
Species(published in 1859 ),
not based onempirical
evidenceofscience, but by
appealing to faith and literal
belief of what is written in
theBible.So creationism is not
a scientific movement that
opposes evolution, but a set of
religious beliefs.

CREATIONISM

Thecreationismis what sustains all living things on

Earth were created by God and exist today.

CREATIONISM

Intelligent Design

Theintelligent designit says is that there is no chance

oradaptation, but the hand of an intelligent being who
form rationally guide the changes that were occurring in
the species throughout thehistoryevolution.As you can
see in other articles in this section, if anything
characterizes the current living beings, it is the total lack
of rationality in their "design".If there was a being who
has designed us, clearly it was not smart, but rather daft,
since we have a biological "design" rational and intelligent,
but is the result of various adaptations over millions of
years which today we see in living creatures on our
planet.And if we see postcards of this evolutionary path,
we can go to thefossil.

CREATIONISM

Intelligent Design

Theintelligent designis not a scientific movement, or is a

legitimate scientific proposal, as it has dogmatic characteristics, is
not based on the scientific method, it is a religious justification of a
proven scientific fact.Science and religion should not
compete.The evolution should not compete with religious
beliefs.They are totally different issues that do not overlap.

Thank You