The Archaean controversy in Britain: Part I—The Rocks of St David's

The main theoretical issues in the study of the history of the Archaean Controversy in Britain, which arose in the first three papers of the present series, are summarized and discussed--in particular the problem of stratigraphical work in rocks where no fossils can be discerned. The 'Archaean' geologists showed some leanings towards Neo-Neptunism and this, together with the fact that their work challenged the Murchison/Survey view of British geology, was one of the reasons for the controversy. At a deeper level, however, the question concerned the doctrine of uniformitarianism: Were metamorphic rocks to be found at any part of the stratigraphical column, or were they confined to the earliest period of the Earth's history? The establishment of the concept of Precambrian rocks and a suitable stratotype boundary is essentially a social question that has to be determined within the geological community. Some of the social processes whereby these matters are decided internationally are considered, and it is noted that the best location of the 'Golden Spike' for the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary has only just been settled (by vote). The paper also explores some nineteenth-century ideas about the nature of metamorphism, and the early conditions of the world.

show abstract

A note on Andrew Ramsay's unpublished report on the St David's area, recently discovered

Oldroyd¹,

McKenna²

1995

Annals of Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

The Archaean controversy in Britain: Part I—The Rocks of St David's

Cited by 4 publications

References 41 publications

The Archaean controversy in Britain: Part II—The Malverns and Shropshire

The Archaean controversy in Britain: Part II—The Malverns and Shropshire

The archaean controversy in britain: Part IV—Some general theoretical and social issues

A note on Andrew Ramsay's unpublished report on the St David's area, recently discovered

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About