Palaeogeography deals with the reconstruction of physical geographical conditions for the eras of the Earth's history. The term comes from the Greek παλαιός (palaiós) meaning ‘old’ and γεωγραφία (geōgraphía) meaning ‘a description of the earth’ and seems to have been introduced in the Earth sciences vocabulary as ‘Palaeo-Geographie’ by Ami Boué (1794‒1881), a French‒Austrian geologist, in his publication Einiges zur palaeo-geologischen Geographie (Boué, 1875, p. 2). Palaeogeography focuses on the distribution of land and sea, the spread of mountains and volcanoes and the expansion of glaciations, among others. The results are presented in geographic depictions called palaeogeographic maps. A special kind of palaeogeograpahical map is palaeobiogeographical maps depicting the distribution of …show more content…
731‒732). Besides that, until the 17th century, most Europeans thought that a Biblical Flood played a major role in shaping the Earth's surface (Kious & Tilling, 1996). This way of thinking was known as ‘catastrophism’, and geology ‒ from the Greek γῆ (gê) meaning ‘the Earth’ and λόγος (lógos) meaning ‘knowledge’ ‒ was based on the belief that all changes on Earth were sudden and caused by a series of catastrophes. However, by the mid-19th century, catastrophism gave way to ‘uniformitarianism’, a new way of thinking centred around the ‘Uniformitarian Principle’, sometimes also referred to as the ‘Principle of Uniformity’, proposed in 1785 by James Hutton (1726‒1797), a Scottish farmer, chemist, and naturalist. This principle is nowadays well known among geologist and often expressed as ‘The present is the key to the past’. Hutton published his ideas in Theory of the Earth (Hutton, 1788), among other publications. Hutton’s work ‒ notoriously difficult to read ‒ did not become widely known until it was published by John Playfair (1748‒1819), a Scottish scientist and mathematician, in his book Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth (Playfair,
The area composed of the Gander, Nashoba, Avalon, and Meguma Terranes has been extensively studied for many years. However, it was only recently that the terranes were recognized as distinct geologic entities with unique tectonic histories thus there is still much debate regarding the tectonic model which brought these terranes together (Hon et al., 2007). This paper will address the geology of the peri-Gondwanan terranes and propose a potential tectonic model for the accretional orogenic events. It will also primarily focus on the juxtaposition between the Nashoba and Avalon Terranes.
...ncyclopedia of Archaeology, Ed. Deborah M. Pearsall. Vol. 3. Oxford, United Kingdom: Academic Press, 2008. p1896-1905. New Britain: Elsevier, Inc.
Through this study one can determine not only what exactly happened, but also how the land was before such changes
Charles Lyell Charles Lyell was a British lawyer and one of the smartest geologists known at his time. He was known as the author of the Principles of Geology, which helped popularize the theories and concepts of uniformitarianism. The Principles of Geology was the first book written by Lyell and explained the changes in the earth’s surface. He used the research and information in the book as his proof to determine that the earth was over 6,000 years old. The central argument in his book was “the present is the key to the past”, this meant that to find out what happened in the past you had to look at what was happening now.
The Pleistocene epoch was a time period of almost 2 million years of repeating glaciation around the globe. This epoch was known for its megafauna that roamed the Earth during the last great ice age. Although this was a time of mass extinction for species that could not adapt to the climate changes, many mammals and vertebrates that can be identified today were found during this time (Zimmermann, 2013). The Pleistocene epoch is an important foundation for understanding life that exists today, including carnivores, herbivores as well as the evolution of humans.
regions of the earth can indicate which rock layer is older than the other. Trilobite fossils
The Permian Period was the last period of the Paleozoic Era. During this geological time period’s earlier stages glaciation was extensive. Middle Permian began to warm, and by the late Permian the environment was hot and dry. The environmental conditions were so extreme that the marine and terrestrial life forms were greatly affected. According to research the drastic climate change could have been caused by the formation of Pangaea. In 1912 Alfred Wegener while studying his theory of the continental drift, discovered Pangaea’s very existence. A combination of all of Earth’s landmasses joined together and covered 1/3 of Earth’s surface. Pangaea was f...
Archeology: in my own words, it is the study of the past through the “things” that were left behind by those who came before us. I imagine everyone can agree there’s something fascinating about picking up an old knife or a pot of clay and wondering what life was like when that object was created. It seems as though it should be no surprise that countless people could easily believe legends of a lost city or of great giants ruling the earth long ago. Personally, I feel the true value comes from the knowledge gained when one sets out to learn the truth behind the myths. And over the course of the semester, I’ve learned a number of concepts I plan to apply to my future (as part of a professional community).
Starr, Chester G., Nowell, Charles E., Lyon Bryce, Stearns, Raymond P., Hamerow Theordore S. A History of the World: Volume II- 1500 to Present. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1960.
This paper will discuss relative points and insights relating to sculpture of the Paleolithic era, specifically the Venus of Willendorf, through the essays of Christopher Witcombe.
Susan Lindee and Ricardo Santos’ goal was to understand the contexts of genesis and development of biological anthropology around the world from an international standpoint, focusing on engagement with living human populations. Their contributors, scholars in history of science, science studies, and anthropology, were guided by key questions about national histories, collections, and scientific field practice.
The features of the earth are the domain of physical geographers and their work includes research about
Archeologists use physical evidence to study the past, about the people and how they lived through geographical surveying such as ground penetrating radar and aerial
One of the most key examples of understanding human culture through archaeology is the topic of climate and the environment. As seen through history, there is an intricate relationship between the environment and life on earth. Through extensive research, archaeologists have the ability to take note of minor cultural changes that can be attributed to the environment during a particular time period. These changes include, shifts in methods of food collection, changes in the artwor...
At the very dawning of the science of historical geology, James Hutton developed views on the earth’s geologic processes and ow they affect the planet unlike any other scientist before him. His idea that the planet’s processes revolved in a cyclic fashion were the cornerstone of uniformitarianism. Although he did not coin the phrase himself, an honor bestowed upon William Whewell, he did form the basic idea that the history of the earth can be explained by what is happening now.