SCILIVSY 12 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Nicolas Steno, James Ussher, James Hutton
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
4004#BC?#Geology#and#Earth#History
Repeated#"evolutions":#humans#have#passed#through#an#ape-like#
stage#but#are#not related#to#the#extant#great#apes
§
According#to#Lamarck,#are#living#chimpanzees#genealogically#related#to#
living#humans?
○
Lamarck#Recap
•
Use/Disuse#(Inheritance#of#Acquired#Characters)
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Lamarck's#Transmutation,#Part#II
•
James)Ussher:)archbishop#of#Armagh
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James#Ussher#and#a#Biblical#Timetable
•
Dissection#of#Great#White#Shark
§
Preliminary#discourse#to#a#dissertation#on#a#solid#body#naturally#
contained#within#a#solid
§
Nicolas)Steno:)invention)of)geology
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current#day#processes#can#account#for#the#structure#of#landscapes#
when#allowed#to#run#for#vast#periods#of#time
§
Hutton's#vision#of#Earth's#history:#"No#vestige#of#a#beginning,#no#
prospect#of#an#end"
§
James)Hutton:#uniformitarianism#
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Geology#is#a#zero-sum#game
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A#newfound#need#for#transportation#infrastructure
§
Industrial#Revolution
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William)"Strata")Smith:)canal)engineer)and)geologist
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Each#stratum#contained#organized#fossils#peculiar#to#itself,#and#
might,#in#cases#otherwise#doubtful,#be#recognized#and#discriminated#
from#others#like#it,#but#in#a#different#part#of#the#series,#by#
examination#of#them
§
Faunal)succession as#relative#dating#tool
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Cenozoic:)recent#life
§
Mesozoic:)middle#life
§
Paleozoic:)ancient#life
§
Mass#Extinction#Events:#exists#boundaries#between#geological#periods
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LYELL)POPULARIZED)HUTTON'S)IDEAS
§
DARWIN)READ)LYELL)ON)THE)VOYAGE)OF)THE$BEAGLE
§
Without#Lyell,#there#would#have#been#no#Darwin,#no#intellectual#
journey,#no#voyage#of#the#Beagle#as#commonly#understood
§
Lyell#believed#that#the#dominance#of#certain#forms#was#driven#
by#climate.#Raised#the#possibility#of#circularity#(opposed#to#
directional#vector)#in#Earth's#history
□
The#action#of#a#"boring#mollusc"#showing#that#for#some#time#in#the#
past,#the#columns#had#been#partially#submerged
§
New#island#forms#through#volcanic#eruption,#begins#to#erode#
and#sink#fringing#reef#forms,#reef#retains#shape#and#continues#
to#sink,#island#completely#sunk#and#coral#continues#to#grow,#
creating#atoll
□
Darwin's#theory#of#Coral#Atoll#formation
§
Uniformitarian)thinking:)small)day-to-day)changes)
integrated)over)vast)swaths)of)time,)can)have)significant)
impacts
□
It's)possible)to)explain)the)past)on)the)basis)of)contemporary)
processes
□
The)significance)of)Lyell)in)the)development)of)Darwin's)thinking?
§
Lyell:#Darwin's#Geological# Mentor
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Geology
•
Empirical:#the#fossil#record#is#little#explored,#understood
§
Empirical:#the#planet#is#relatively#unexplored,#meaning#that#missing#
taxa#could#be#dwelling#in#the#blanks#on#the#map
§
Jefferson#sent#Meriwether#Lewis#on#a#mission#to#investigate#
the#natural#history#of#the#region,#including#"the#remains#and#
accounts#of#any#animals#which#may#be#deemed#rare#or#
extinct"
□
Thomas#Jefferson:#mammoths#may#still#exist#in#unexplored#parts#of#
North#America#???
§
The#impossibility#of#extinction
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Bones#showed#not#only#that#the#African#and#Indian#
elephants#were#distinct#species,#but#that#the#fossil#
mammoths#of#Europe#and#Siberia#were#different#from#
either#living#elephant#species
a)
Used#Elephants#as#an#examplea.
No#discernible#differencea)
Compared#ancient#mummified#material#to#modern#equivalentb.
a#brilliant# anatomist,#recognized#how#body#parts#are#
interdependent.#Claimed#that#he#could#reconstruct#any#organism#in#
its#entirety#from#a#single#bone
§
Georges)Cuvier
○
Fossils#and#Extinction•
Lecture'#5
Saturday,#October# 1,#2016
7:24#PM
