Stratigraphy and index fossils: first geological map

What was discovered

Working on canals and in mines, Smith discovered that each stratum contains characteristic fossils and that strata succeed one another in a fixed order (the principle of faunal succession). His 1815 geological map of England was the first of any country.

Coordinates of Bath, where Smith developed his ideas in the Somerset coal mines. He was plagiarised and ruined before being recognised as the 'father of English geology'.

What it led to

• Worldwide stratigraphic correlation
• Coal, oil and water prospecting
• Geologic time scale
• Empirical basis of evolutionary palaeontology

Built on

• Fossils as 'medals' of Earth's history (Hooke)1668 (publicado 1705)
• Steno's principles of stratigraphy1669
• Steno's principles
• Industrial Revolution mining and canals

Made possible

• Silurian and Cambrian systems (Murchison and Sedgwick)1835
• Geological Survey of Great Britain, the first national geological survey1835
• Geological maps
• Biostratigraphy

📄 Original publication

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