Using Landscape to Solve Earthly Mysteries
A new branch of scientists came up in the early 18th century. These scientists were called geologists. The early scientist was aligned with big empires. The British geologist believed they could explain any geological phenomena of the earth. They found every landscape was made from layers of rocks. They had every reason to think so. They needed to explore every feature on the surface to understand the formation of the landscape. The major problem was how to convince the British Empire to support their endeavor. They believed rocks were formed millions and millions of years ago. One of the British geologists traveled around Europe in a quest to understand rock formation. In his voyage, he believed younger rocks were found mostly on the eastern side while older rocks were on the west side. All the evidence he got seemed to point out in that direction.
In 1882, a former school teacher made a huge discovery. He found a sample of rocks with incredible details and features. He suspected their formation could be explained. So he set up on a mission to conquer his mission. He set on a purpose similar to those of British geologists. He was determined and studied landscapes more keenly. He wanted to develop a theory on how mountains were formed. Among his bewilderment discoveries is a finding a young rock below the old rock. He was surprised and wanted to understand the phenomenon. He had noticed that feature from a cliff he had keenly observed. The ancient rocks have been gradually sliding across in an upwards direction. He discovered the formation of mountains could be violent. He found the enormous rocks found on the earth’s surface could be thrust forward or sideways, explaining how mountains came to be.
The school teacher had rough times after his discoveries. He published his findings in 1885. He was afraid of how his life had been affected by his tours. On the other hand, the geological associations were on the verge of getting formed. They were to prove the findings by various people regarding landscape features. The realization created a wave of excitement among many scholars as the geologist discovered one of the most significant clues was lying deep in the Scottish islands. There was a whole lot of the same kind of rocks in the area. During their exploration, they made a significant discovery. They found rocks with exclusive features dating to five million years ago. The essential elements of these rocks confused many scholars and geologist. Similar stones had earlier been found in North America and England. It was a complete mystery regarding the displacement of these rocks.
They had to develop theories to explain the distant displacement of these rocks. Just about that time, a strange discovery was made. A ship carrying Scottish explorer in geological issues was dredged off the same kind of rocks. The ship had picked up these rock sediments in the Atlantic Ocean. He commissioned study along that ocean in an attempt to understand the rock. In the middle of the Ocean floor, lay the foundation of these rocks. His discoveries explained so. He developed an idea to form the basis for his theory about the rocks.
Overly the geologists and scientists jointly agreed that rocks form the basic formation of mountains. These rocks, as explained in the continental drift by the Scottish geologist, led to the creation of various other forms of landscapes.