421:: Proposed plutonism to the scientific community. At prior to being a scientist, he was a farmer in Scotland. He utilised his experiences of when he was farming to identify natural forces – notably gravity – contributing to the formation of rocks, as the Earth's landscape would slowly erode and deposit on lower planes. He first conducted his formal observations in Scotland, specifically at Glen Tilt of Perthshire, but made informal observations through his time as a farmer prior to becoming a geologist, noticing how the land he was farming was experiencing changes at a slow rate through aspects such as erosion and the deposition of sediments. He is regarded as “the Father of Geology”, as his work is present as core concepts within the uniformitarianism theory that became the widely accepted geological theory in the 1830s that ended the debate of whether plutonism or neptunism was the “correct” theory.
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467:: a scientist who is credited as being “one of the most important scientists of geology in the 19th century”, due to founding uniformitarianism, which has been the widely accepted geological theory after the 1830s. His theory incorporated Hutton’s plutonism as core principles, which lead to a de facto acceptance of plutonism over neptunism. His theory, however, was competing with the theory of catastrophism, which accepted neptunism as part of its core concepts. Though at the time, uniformitarianism became more accepted, current scientific thinking now accepts that aspects of both theories are true for the general formation of the current landscape observed on the Earth.
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neptunism decreased with each type of rock being examined. Due to this, after Werner’s death on 1817, neptunism declined as well, leaving the battle of neptunism and plutonism in a relative stagnation as pro-plutonism and pro-neptunism scientists attempted to ensure their respective theory became accepted. Despite this stalemate, neptunism was partially favoured to plutonism due to Werner’s position allowing him to spread his theory due to a larger degree of individuals within the university and scientific community being influenced by him. Hence, many of his students favoured neptunism over plutonism.
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occurrence of explosive volcanoes. Volcanic rocks form from the lava cooling on the Earth's surface. However, in the event when the occurrence of subduction or temperature within the magma chamber is insufficient, the magma chamber within the volcano would crystallise, resulting in the extinction of the volcano and the formation of intrusive igneous rock, also referred to as plutonic rocks or “plutons”. In some instances, a separate chamber may crystallise, hence not resulting in the extinction of the volcano. In the event of uplift/erosion mountain building occurs,
331:, in which the Earth is an equilibrium state, where biological, chemical and physical processes have occurred slowly over an extreme amount of time, resulting in the observed features on the Earth's surface. The theory included aspects of plutonism as core concepts resulting in the de facto general acceptance of plutonism, as uniformitarianism became widely accepted within the scientific community, resulting in Hutton becoming the “Father of Geology”, due to the presence of Hutton's work as core concepts.
405:: he was the first to differentiate volcanic and sedimentary rocks, in addition to being the first to propose the occurrence of the raising of islands and continents through volcanic fire over a long period of time, hence initiating the discussion of plutonism and neptunism as Werner would purpose a theory that directly opposed his own at a much later date, which Hutton would oppose later on. Additionally, he initiated the theory of plutonism in modern science, which Hutton formally proposed later on.
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volcanic fire lifting the islands and continents, as he argued it was a slow process, whilst others argued it was catastrophic and had no modern equivalences. Neptunists believed that the Earth's surface initially only contained a turbid ocean, which led to deposits of sediments on the ocean resulting in the formation of crystalline rocks such as granites. There were many opposing views between the two theories, one of the more notable oppositions of each theory was the formation of
296:, it led him to discover that within mountains lied petrified fossils. This suggested to him that at one point in the past, through the force of volcanic fire, islands and continents rose from the bottom of the sea. He argued that this occurred over a long period of time as opposed to a relatively short amount of time, indicating some sort of continuous change that has and is occurring on the Earth’s surface, leading to the current formations viewed by humanity.
362:, which categorised minerals through their physical characteristics alone, which allowed him to obtain the position of Curator of Freiburg School of Mining’s mineral collection and teacher of mining, where he was able to promote his theory of neptunism. Through his prestigious position, he attracted many students where he was able to spread neptunism to general scientific community as they entered the field geology and any other connecting fields.
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384:, which had neptunism as a core aspect, similar to how uniformitarianism implemented plutonism as a core aspect. His theory suggested that the Earth’s landscape has come to be through volatile forces that the Earth system possess that come in and out of existence. This theory was favoured by the scientific community at the time, and hence, neptunism by default was still maintaining its dominance over plutonism.
448:(1802) and shielded Hutton from opposition by neptunists. This allowed Hutton’s work to not simply disappear in the abyss of scientific hypotheses and proposed theories, ensuring that other scientists would be able to notice Hutton’s theories. Playfair’s work led to Lyell being more able to uncover the existence of such theories, which he then implemented within uniformitarianism to end the geological schism.
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308:, transportation and deposition of sediments. He used the Glen Tilt of Perthshire as evidence to support his argument, where the used location was used as an example of the neptunist theory prior to his hypothesis of the granite present there. He published his theory and findings in an essay in 1788, which was followed by his two-volume work tilted
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Additionally, some of the magma within the Earth is produced without subduction, resulting in the formation of “sticky granite magma”, and is without a conduit to reach the surface. Instead, it forces its way through rock crevices, resulting in a high-pressure environment. Cooling then occurs, over a
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Nowadays, one and a half century after Hutton's death (in 1797) we are engaged in a similar struggle of opinions as that between the
Volcanists and the Neptunists, namely the controversy between Magmatists and Transformists). In fact, the problem no longer concerns the question whether Neptunists or
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and magma mixing, among other igneous processes occur once the basaltic magma cools to a sufficient temperature, resulting in the formation of “a more silicic andesite” composition, which is less dense than the original basaltic magma. This allows magma to proceed through the crust, resulting in the
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As mentioned prior, there were two prevailing theories during the 18th century to explain the current arrangement of the landscape and rock formations: plutonism and neptunism. The schism was pseudo-initiated through Moro’s differentiation of sedimentary and volcanic rocks, as well as his theory of
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published in 1830, resulting in the formation of uniformitarianism, which incorporated Hutton's ideas of plutonism. His findings, claims and ideas were accepted by the general scientific community, hence resulting in the end of the schism, and resulting in the general acceptance of plutonism over
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was published by John
Playfair, which attempted to siphon the influence of Neptunism at the time. The Illustrations portrayed Hutton's “length and obscurely written book” in a concise, clear manner, “keeping Hutton's approach alive” following his death in 1797, as other scientists interpreted his
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Werner’s theory was developed through his observations of a selected group of rocks, as his position at the university prevented him from make observations and developing his theory on a wider array of rocks. Hence, when other rocks were observed from different parts of the world, conformity to
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In the 1780s, Hutton started opposing the neptunist view of previous catastrophic events being the cause of the current landscape, with no modern equivalency. Hutton proposed the Earth was undergoing a slow but continuous changes, where such changes on the Earth namely occur through
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During the 18th century scientists enquired about the process and context in which the current rock landscape on the Earth's surface came into existence and why it was in the current arrangement. From this enquiry came about two prevailing theories: plutonism, which was proposed by
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Comparatively, plutonism within uniformitarianism is equivalent to neptunism within catastrophism, as both are used as core concepts within their respective theories, and hence similarly, neptunism opposes plutonism in the same way that catastrophism opposes uniformitarianism.
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229:, though this magma fails to reach past the base of the continental crust due to its higher density. However, when heat is applied to the crust, an area of granitic magma can be produced through the melting of the continental crust when contributing to metamorphism.
351:, indicated by the cut across sediment layers. This indicated to Hutton that the sediments were older than the granite. This contradicted Neptunism, as it believes granites to be precipitated out of the ocean, hence being the oldest rock type.
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which proposed that the Earth had formed from a mass of water and suspended material which had formed rocks as layers of deposited sediment which became the continents when the water retreated, further layers being deposited by
369:, which siphoned the influence of neptunism, as Playfair depicted Hutton’s theory in a more concise and clear manner that allowed the presence of plutonism to remain in the opposition of neptunism in the scientific community.
285:. It has been noted within the scientific community that they were not the first ones to propose such theories, but they were the ones credited with proposing their corresponding theories to the scientific community.
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Plutonism is a geological theory proposed by James Hutton, where he proposed that the main cause of the current arrangement of rocks and the Earth's surface landscape was driven through the heat provided by
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As Hutton died in 1797, plutonism was less vocal within the scientific community at the time as it received scepticism from pro-neptunism individuals. As mentioned above, John
Playfair published his
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long period of time, resulting in large coarse-grained crystals which form bodies with distinctive textures, resulting in intrusive igneous/plutonic rocks. These rocks vary in size and colour.
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Volcanists (Magmatists) are right; in the course of time a third possibility has come forward, that of the
Transformists, which to a certain extent is a synthesis of both older views.
134:, published in 1788, which used the Glen Tilt of Perthshire as the prime example supporting his theory; an example used by Neptunism to prove their theory as well. The idea contested
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The process of magma production occurs during the process of mountain formation in which two specific locations where magma would be generated. The first involves high-grade
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292:, who in the first half of the 18th century was able to inform the scientific community how to differentiate between volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Through observing
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concealed within surface of the Earth, which occurred over the course of thousands if not millions of years. This process is influenced by the production of magma.
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225:” resulting in granitic magma, hence resulting in a direct formation. The second method involves basaltic magma forming over a larger area, located above the
169:. The arguments continued into the early 19th century, and eventually the plutonist views on the origin of rocks prevailed in the wake of the work of
51:, with a continuing gradual process of weathering and erosion wearing away rocks, which were then deposited on the sea bed, re-formed into layers of
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the dialectic synthesis of two opposite approaches: the historical view, inherited from neptunists, and the a historical standpoint of plutonists.
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and the Roman god of wealth. A main reason Pluto was incorporated into the classification was due to the plutonic rocks commonly being present in
165:(1748-1819) argued that this rock contained no fossils as it had formed from molten magma, and it had been found cutting through other rocks in
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theory in their own manner. Additionally, John
Playfair would argue Plutonism being the correct theory as opposed to Neptunism.
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This article is about the 18th century geological theory. For the process that forms volcanoes and igneous rocks, see
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344:. Hutton believed that the granites were injected within the Glen Tilt of Perthshire as they were intruded through
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717:"The Foundation of Modern Geology | Created By: Alexander H. Taylor - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"
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was sedimentary, and some fossils had been found in it. Against this, Hutton's supporter
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as having resulted from processes like those described by the neptunists.
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Image depicts rock face used by Hutton to explain his theory of plutonism
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1045:. . . And Still We Evolve, A Handbook on the History of Modern Science
157:. A key issue of the debate revolved around the neptunist belief that
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Coleman, Drew S.; Mills, Ryan D.; Zimmerer, Matthew J. (April 2016).
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787:(1949). "The controversy between 'magmatists' and 'transformists'".
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by heat and pressure, and raised again. It proposes that
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utilised Werner’s neptunism theory within his theory of
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323:In 1830, a scientist named Charles Lyell, founded
257:Image depicts the front page of John Playfair's
173:in the 1830s, who incorporated this theory into
444:: a natural philosophy professor who published
387:However, the schism ended through Lyell's book
610:Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
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312:in 1795, which expanded upon his 1788 work.
47:forming the Earth originated from intrusive
741:. Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft: 22
360:On the External Characteristics of Fossils
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259:Illustrations of Huttonian Theory
149:Plutonists strongly disputed the
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498:"All About Plutonic Rocks"
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737:E. Schweizerbart (1982).
622:10.1017/S0080456800029227
564:Oxford English Dictionary
530:Oxford English Dictionary
112:Oxford English Dictionary
1066:History of Earth science
790:The Geology of Indonesia
281:, which was proposed by
26:Not to be confused with
1061:18th century in science
901:10.1016/c2011-0-05551-5
822:"The Pace of Plutonism"
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79:. The name
1055:Categories
1029:2022-05-12
1000:2022-05-12
967:2022-05-12
934:2022-05-12
797:2016-09-07
745:2016-09-07
723:2022-05-12
635:2016-09-06
579:required.)
545:required.)
483:References
403:Anton Moro
290:Anton Moro
124:Anton Moro
93:underworld
929:Study.com
854:1811-5209
782:Compare:
630:251578886
346:Dalradian
315:In 1802,
302:volcanism
279:neptunism
239:batholith
179:limestone
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119:to 1842.
117:plutonism
106:(veins).
89:classical
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43:that the
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895:. 2013.
826:Elements
604:(1788).
232:Partial
189:Ideology
38:geologic
834:Bibcode
507:5 April
342:granite
306:erosion
73:granite
69:diorite
36:is the
907:
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277:, and
159:basalt
155:theory
144:floods
101:silver
87:, the
65:gabbro
57:basalt
41:theory
28:Pluton
626:S2CID
573:
539:
401:Abbé
212:magma
122:Abbé
85:Pluto
61:magma
905:ISBN
850:ISSN
770:help
509:2022
109:The
99:and
97:gold
75:and
897:doi
842:doi
618:doi
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