Plutonism

The plutonism is a geological doctrine that rocks originally derived from volcanic forces. Your stand against the school of Neptunism, after which rock layers are formed by deposition of sediments from water. The plutonism - Neptunismusstreit was 1790-1830 in the center of a controversy surrounding geological theories of development and led to the emergence of modern geology.

The plutonism theory was developed mainly by Scottish geologist James Hutton (1726-1797) and states that the essential creative powers of the earth from the " central fire " within the earth come. The creation of the rocks, the formation of mountains and continents and volcanism are be derived therefrom, the creation of Earth is a dynamic process.

This theory was compared with the Neptunism theory of the German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817), of the origin of the rock formation - starting from a hypothetical " primordial sea " - saw in the water. He drew on the biblical story of creation as well as to common disaster theories of the time. The Volcanism he interpreted as insignificant geological phenomenon which would be caused in the recent earth's crust by coal or Flözbrände. A supporter of Neptunists ( but occasionally also fluctuated between the bearings ) was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

The dispute between Plutonists and Neptunists in the so-called " Heroic Age of Geology " between 1790 and 1830 played a significant role in the development of modern geology ]. First, both theories were plausible and were used according to the particular circumstances.

However, the controversy led mainly to the study of the succession of individual rock layers, the composition and the fossils contained, making the neptunistische teaching first in mind. Here fossils were first used as " index fossils " for the classification of the rock layers in which they were embedded.

This led in 1815 to the publication of the first geological maps (eg, of William Smith), in which the vertical succession of rock layers has been shown in profile. During the 19th century, however, increasingly the evolutionist thought Huttons were victorious, not least conveyed by the biological evolution theory of Charles Darwin.