The Basic Scientific PrincipleThe universe is sensible and governed by unchangeable rules.The Scientific Method1- Make an observation2- Develop an hypothesis/explanation that predicts the outcome of other observations orexperiments3a- Make new experiments, test the hypothesis- is it right?3b- Make new observations (look in the rocks)4- Do the results match the predictions of the hypothesis? If no, return to step 2. If yes, return to step 3/ doesn’t mean we are done, continue to testMultiple yes loops + other hypotheses VScientific Theory (not a guess, we NOW understand)VPredictions of BehaviorAbraham Werner (Neptunism)1750-1817-the entire world was formed as the water pulls away & leeds to different structures-primitive, transitional, secondary, alluvial, volcanoes Problems: -where did the water go? -volcanoes?-did not test his ideas by observing the rocksJames Hutton (Uniformitarianism) late 1700sThe present is the key to the pastSiccar Pointalmost flat rocks lined with rocks almost straight up & down- Angular Uncomformityflat layers, believes they originally were formed flat1. deposit these sentiments (mud, sand) A2. turn “A “ into a rock3. deform “A “ (tilt it)4. Deposit B3. Turn B into a rock5. Tilt B^ timeA supernatural process that humans have never seen/understood beforeinstead of having a supernatural process, the difference is time-just let it happen*werner thought rocks formed fast, hutton said it takes TIMECharles Lyell (Principles of Geology)1830-1833Responsible for the acceptance of Hutton’s ideas. Eloquent writer compared to Hutton.-turning geology into a science4.5 Ka- thousands of yrs.4.5 Ma- millions of yrs. 4.5 Ga- billions of yrs.*How old is the Earth?*4.5 Ga Mass Extinction how do you kill everything at once?Gubbio, Italy (Michel, Asaro, Alvarez)-dark clay (Dino’s dead)-boundary clay-clay fossils ^ how long did it take to deposit the clay?Iridium- rare earth element-inside the mantle & meteoritesif the clay is deposited slow, iridium has more of a chance to come from outer spaceresult: neither slow or fast, probably a meteoriteShocked Quartz -difference? these quartz have lines (breaks) caused by an impact-evidence by a shockwave which a volcano cannot produce-result: meteorite not
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