Louis Hunton (1814-1838); English pioneer in ammonite biostratigraphy

In any discussion of the historical development of what was later to be named Biostratigraphy it is often assumed that a modern basis for the subject had already been reached by the cumulative work in the subject up to 1815; culminating in that of William Smith (1769-1839) and Alexandre Brongniart (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth sciences history 1984, Vol.3 (1), p.58-68
Main Authors: Torrens, H. S, Getty, T. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alumni
Ammonites
Ammonoidea
biography
Biostratigraphy
Cephalopoda
College students
England
Europe
Fossils
Geology
Great Britain
history
Hunton, Louis
Invertebrata
Miscellaneous and mathematical geology
Mollusca
Nodules
Paleontology
Rocks
Shales
Tetrabranchiata
United Kingdom
Western Europe
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Summary:In any discussion of the historical development of what was later to be named Biostratigraphy it is often assumed that a modern basis for the subject had already been reached by the cumulative work in the subject up to 1815; culminating in that of William Smith (1769-1839) and Alexandre Brongniart (1770-1847). But to this time fossils had only been used to identify (and discriminate between) often repetitive lithological units or to establish a relationship between rock units in different areas. The practical demonstration that particular lithological units could be regularly subdivided with significant conseguences, on the basis of their contained fossils was a later achievement over several generations. One of the first to free stratigraphical palaeontology from such a lithological control was the forgotten Englishman Louis Hunton (1814-1838).
ISSN:0736-623X
1944-6187
DOI:10.17704/eshi.3.1.82lv152472004v61