Historic Developments in Geomorphology

Found marine fossils in rocks, recognized evidence for changes between land and sea, and attributed landscape sculpture to stream erosion

O Explained that mountains are produced by weathering and mass movement

Saw that flowing water is the chief agent of erosion

Streams erode their valleys differently according to rock type and lose their erosive ability as they approach sea level

Over long periods of time, stream erosion could reduce the land to sea level

Discusses stream erosion, stream transport, and the buildup of floodplains. Recognized the importance of wave action in the destruction of chalk cliffs.

Provided evidence that landscapes, such as the stream-worn valleys of central France, evolve through successive erosional stage

Wrote about the erosive and depositional action of alpine glaciers

A teacher and an influential person in the society Postulated a global ocean from which sedimentary and volcanic rocks were precipitatied (Neptunists idea) but could not explain where the water went.

Published his work: Hydrogeologie (1802) - Mountains had been carved by running water

Proposed great catastrophes (e.g. biblical flood) resulted in unconformities in rocks and carved out the earth’s landscape as the ocean waters drained. Catastrophist idea – very popular at his time

O Considered the father of modern geologic principle o “Theory of the Earth, with proofs and illustrations” o Granitic and volcanic rocks had not been precipitated from a global ocean but rather formed by subsurface heat and fusion of rocks later pushed up to the surface o “The present is the key to the past” o Landforms are shaped by the slow, continuous action of running water that eroded the land, and that the sediment deposited by rivers in the sea provides the material from which sedimentary rocks are produced. o “…no vestige of a beginning and, no prospect of an end…” o Poor writer, so his ideas were not well received

Professor of mathematics at Edinburgh university o Rewrote Hutton’s work “Illustrations of the Huttonian theory of Earth” o Established beyond reasonable doubt the concept that streams systematically carve their own drainage basins Playfair’s Law o He also perceived equilibrium in streams (a balance between discharge, velocity, sediment load, and stream characteristics)

Geologist who published the most popular book, “The Principles of Geology” o Strong promoter of uniformitarianism and opposed catastrophism, especially “Noah’s flood.”

Promoted former large scale expansion of glaciers in the Alps