The Father of Geology: James Hutton
(1726-1797)
Although Hutton was trained as both a lawyer and a doctor, he was
attracted to geology. While living on a farm in Scotland, he started
coming up with ideas about certain rock formations in his area. He found
samples of granite rock that had penetrated layers of sedimentary rock.
He believed since granite was cooled molten rock, it must be younger than the sedimentary
layers. Hutton noticed a very unusual rock formation in Edinburgh where the bottom layers of
gray shale were vertical and directly above these layers there were horizontal layers of red
sandstone.
Hutton reasoned that there must have been
several cycles, each involving deposition on the
seabed, uplift with tilting and erosion then
undersea again for further layers to be
deposited, and there could have been many
cycles before over an extremely long history.
This became known as “unconformity.”
In 1795 he wrote two books Theory of Earth I and Theory of Earth II. His theory, outlined in
his books became the famous theory of uniformitarianism. This was the belief that geological
forces at work in the present day—barely noticeable to the human eye, yet immense in their
impact—are the same as those that operated in the past. Uniformitarianism is one of the
fundamental principles of earth science. His theory discredited the previous belief that only
catastrophic events could change Earth’s structure as a great flood. He did not believe that
catastrophism was the only reason for our continually changing Earth. He also proposed that
internal heat causes the crust to warm and expand, resulting in the upheavals that form
mountains. His idea that mountain building is caused by terrestrial heat is the Plutonic theory.
The same process causes rock stratifications to tilt, fold and deform. Stratification means
layers of rocks.
Hutton’s ideas influenced many great scientists like Charles Darwin and Sir Charles Lyell.
Unfortunately, Hutton’s theory was not completely accepted by geologists until after his death.
Name____________________________________Hour________________
1. James Hutton lived from ______________to ________________.
2. Hutton is known as the ____________________of geology.
3. Although he was trained as a lawyer and a _________________, he was very attracted
to geology.
4. He wrote two books: ______________________ and ______________________.
5. He is famous for his theory of _________________________________.
6. In his theory he states that ________________ _______________ at work today
were the same as those that operated in the past.
7. He did not believe that __________________________ was the only reason for our
continually changing Earth.
8. The pictured rock formation demonstrates _______________________.
9. His idea that mountain building is caused by ___________________ heat is the
____________________ theory.
10. Stratification means _______________ of rock.
11. Hutton influenced two great scientists: ________________________________ and
____________________________.
12. His theory was not completely accepted until ________________________________.
13. Below, is a picture of rock stratification. Which layer is the youngest? _______. Which
layer is the oldest? _____. Is layer #7 older or younger than layer #5? ____________.
Layer #1
Layer #2
Layer #3
Layer #4
Layer #5
Layer #6
Layer #7