Experimental petrology: melted basalt and artificial marble (James Hall)
Petrología experimental: basalto fundido y mármol artificial (James Hall)
- Date
- 1798-1805 · confidence high
- Place
- Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- James Hall
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Sir James Hall melted basalt and cooled it slowly to obtain a crystalline rock, and heated limestone in sealed gun barrels under pressure to produce marble. He thus verified in the laboratory two of Hutton's ideas about the igneous origin of rocks.
The basalt experiments date from 1798 (published in 1805), the marble ones from 1805. The great change in scale came with Bowen in the 20th century.
What it led to
- the beginning of experimental geology and petrology
- experimental support for Plutonism against Neptunism