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47-761: This glacial period was identified by geologist Eliot Blackwelder . It draws its name from Bull Lake in Wyoming in the United States , where well-preserved moraines from this glacial period were first described. Although Blackwelder originally believed the Bull Lake glaciation occurred during the early Wisconsin Glaciation (the last major advance of glaciers in the North America), new data generated and described by geologist Gerald M. Richmond in

94-521: A mineral surveyor allowing him to meet prominent people such as Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester , and the Duke of Bedford . In 1815 he published his geological map, coloured on an especially prepared base map by John Cary at a scale of 5 miles to the inch and titled 'A delineation of the Strata of England and Wales, with part of Scotland.' While this was not the world's first geological map (a map of

141-467: A primary cause of landing Smith in debtor's prison . However, Greenough's map could not have contributed to the debts for which Smith was consigned to prison as the Greenough map, although dated 1819 on the map, was not published until May 1820, after Smith's incarceration. In fact Smith's maps retailed at 5 guineas, which was the same price as that privileged to Geological Society members for purchase of

188-476: A project to quarry Bath Stone near his property, for sale to the London property development market, failed to return the significant investment it had required due to poor quality stone and Smith found himself in default to co-investor Charles Conolly. Smith had used his Bath estate as security against Conolly's loan but there was excess to pay. In attempting to stave off his debt Smith sold his 'fossil collection' to

235-468: A remarkable geological section from Snowdon to London, a development of the ‘sketch’ on his map, illustrating the three-dimensional relationship between geology and landscape via a perspective sketch of the landscape showing the topography. Effectively this was the first block diagram, now routinely used in geography textbooks and animations. A common narrative in some recent accounts of Smith’s life and his map asserts that rivalry built up between Smith and

282-428: A specialized area within their geological discipline and are employed by universities. In Canada, National Instrument 43-101 requires reports containing estimates of mineral resources and reserves to be prepared by, or under the supervision of, a Qualified Person (QP) who has at least five years of experience with the reported minerals and is a member of a professional association. The QP accepts personal liability for

329-669: A surveyor. He was quick to learn and soon became proficient at the trade. In 1791, Smith travelled to Somerset to make a valuation survey of the Sutton Court estate, and building on earlier work in the same area by John Strachey . He stayed in the area for the next eight years, working first for Webb and later for the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company, living at Rugborne Farm in High Littleton . During this period, Smith inspected coal mines in

376-400: A warm interglacial period that lasted about 60,000 years. The Pinedale Glaciation , another local glacial period, occurred after this warm period. Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and history of Earth . Geologists incorporate techniques from physics , chemistry , biology , mathematics , and geography to perform research in

423-410: Is common in the fields of geography , engineering , chemistry , urban planning , environmental studies , among others. Geologists, can be generally identified as a specialist in one or more of the various geoscience disciplines, such as a geophysicist or geochemist. Geologists may concentrate their studies or research in one or more of the following disciplines: Professional geologists may work in

470-400: Is generally considered to be much less extensive than the preceding glaciations. However, the reach of the glaciers varied from place to place, extending further in some areas than others. Bull Lake moraines remain relatively undisturbed, indicating that glacial periods which came later were only about 90 percent as extensive as the Bull Lake glaciation. The Bull Lake Glaciation was followed by

517-538: Is the deposition of lava from volcanoes, as opposed to the Neptunists , led by Abraham Werner , who believed that all rocks had settled out of a large ocean whose level gradually dropped over time. The first geological map of the United States was produced in 1809 by William Maclure . In 1807, Maclure commenced the self-imposed task of making a geological survey of the United States. Almost every state in

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564-612: Is the theory that Earth's features formed in single, catastrophic events and remained unchanged thereafter. Though Hutton believed in uniformitarianism, the idea was not widely accepted at the time. For an aspiring geologist, training typically includes significant coursework in physics , mathematics , and chemistry , in addition to classes offered through the geology department; historical and physical geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology and petrography, hydrogeology , sedimentology , stratigraphy , mineralogy , palaeontology , physical geography and structural geology are among

611-480: The British Museum for £700, but this proved insufficient and funds fell short of the sum owed to Conolly by £300 and as a consequence Smith was sent to debtors' prison in 1819. Through all this financial turmoil, Smith managed to publish his map and subsequent associated publications but in 1817 he remarked "My income is as yet not anywise improved by what has been done, the profits being required to liquidate

658-748: The Geological Society of London conferred on Smith the first Wollaston Medal in recognition of his achievement. It was on this occasion that the President, Adam Sedgwick , referred to Smith as "the Father of English Geology". That year Smith was awarded a pension of £100 a year by King William IV. In 1835 Smith travelled to Dublin for the meeting of the British Association, and there unexpectedly received an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LL.D.) from Trinity College . In 1838 Smith

705-539: The Somerset Coal Canal . As he observed the rock layers (or strata ) at the pit, he realised that they were arranged in a predictable pattern and that the various strata could always be found in the same relative positions. Additionally, each particular stratum could be identified by the fossils it contained, and the same succession of fossil groups from older to younger rocks could be found in many parts of England. Furthermore, he noticed an easterly dip of

752-409: The field and the laboratory . Geologists work in the energy and mining sectors to exploit natural resources . They monitor environmental hazards such as earthquakes , volcanoes , tsunamis and landslides . Geologists are also important contributors to climate change discussions. James Hutton is often viewed as the first modern geologist. In 1785 he presented a paper entitled Theory of

799-583: The "Father of English Geology ". Smith was born in the village of Churchill, Oxfordshire , the son of John Smith (1735–1777), the village blacksmith , and his wife Ann ( née Smith; 1745–1807). His father died when Smith was eight years old, and he and his siblings were raised by his uncle, a farmer also named William Smith. Largely self-educated, Smith was intelligent and observant, read widely from an early age, and showed an aptitude for mathematics and drawing. In 1787, he met and found work as an assistant for Edward Webb of Stow-on-the-Wold , Gloucestershire ,

846-724: The 1940s and 1960s more accurately dated the glacial period to the Illinoian Stage. The Bull Lake glaciation was a local glaciation. It did not cover the entire North American continent but rather just the eastern slopes of the southern Rocky Mountains . Generally speaking, it extended from northwestern Montana south to the San Juan Mountains in Colorado . The Bull Lake glaciation has three periods—Early, Middle and Late—punctuated by periods of relative warmth (during which glaciers retreated). The Bull Lake glaciation

893-630: The Earth to the Royal Society of Edinburgh . In his paper, he explained his theory that the Earth must be much older than had previously been supposed to allow enough time for mountains to be eroded and for sediments to form new rocks at the bottom of the sea, which in turn were raised up to become dry land. Hutton published a two-volume version of his ideas in 1795 ( Vol. 1 , Vol. 2 ). Followers of Hutton were known as Plutonists because they believed that some rocks were formed by vulcanism , which

940-543: The Geological Society's map. Smith's various projects, starting with a mortgage taken to purchase his estate at Tucking Mill in Somerset in 1798, accrued financial commitments that ran into a series of difficulties which he managed to withstand by borrowing money from sympathetic creditors and mortgagors and funding repayments by taking on a relentless schedule of work commissions between 1801 and 1819. However

987-402: The Greenough 1820 map. However the Greenough map retailed to public at 6 guineas, thereby being a more expensive purchase than Smith’s map. Also, although neither map sold well, the number of sales of Smith's map appears to have topped those of Greenough's map (only 196 copies recorded as sold) and there are only 15 names in common between Smith's subscribers' list and the list of those who bought

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1034-803: The Union was traversed and mapped by him; the Allegheny Mountains being crossed and recrossed some 50 times. The results of his unaided labors were submitted to the American Philosophical Society in a memoir entitled Observations on the Geology of the United States explanatory of a Geological Map , and published in the Society's Transactions , together with the nation's first geological map. This antedates William Smith 's geological map of England by six years, although it

1081-466: The United States by William Maclure was published six years earlier), Smith's was the first geological map covering such a large area in detail, and is one of the first stratigraphical analyses to utilize palaeontological indices. Conventional symbols were used to mark canals, tunnels, tramways and roads, collieries, lead, copper and tin mines, together with salt and alum works. The various geological strata were indicated by different colours, applied to

1128-521: The area, where he first observed and recorded the various layers of rock and coal exposed by the mining. Smith's coal mine studies, combined with his subsequent observations of the strata exposed by canal excavations, proved crucial to the formation of his theories of stratigraphy . Smith worked at one of the estate's older mines, the Mearns Pit at High Littleton, part of the Somerset coalfield and

1175-491: The beds of rock—low near the surface (about three degrees ), then higher after the Triassic rocks. This gave Smith a testable hypothesis, which he termed The Principle of Faunal Succession , and he began his search to determine if the relationships between the strata and their characteristics were consistent throughout the country. During subsequent travels, first as a surveyor (appointed by noted engineer John Rennie ) for

1222-513: The canal company until 1799 when he was dismissed, and later, he was continually taking samples and mapping the locations of the various strata, and displaying the vertical extent of the strata, and drawing cross-sections and tables of what he saw. This would earn him the name "Strata Smith". As a natural consequence, Smith amassed a large and valuable collection of fossils of the strata he had examined himself from exposures in canals , road and railway cuttings , quarries and escarpments across

1269-646: The country. This 'wellbeing' is often in the form of greater tax revenues from new or extended mining projects or through better infrastructure and/or natural disaster planning. An engineering geologist is employed to investigate geologic hazards and geologic constraints for the planning, design and construction of public and private engineering projects, forensic and post-mortem studies, and environmental impact analysis . Exploration geologists use all aspects of geology and geophysics to locate and study natural resources. In many countries or U.S. states without specialized environmental remediation licensure programs,

1316-499: The country. He also developed methods for the identification of deposits of Fuller's earth to the south of Bath, Somerset . He published his findings with many pictures from his fossil collection, enabling others to investigate their distribution and test his theories. His collection is especially good on Jurassic fossils he collected from the Cornbrash , Kimmeridge Clay , Oxford Clay , Oolitic limestone and other horizons in

1363-478: The debt incurred by publication." On 31 August 1819 Smith was released from King's Bench Prison in London , a debtor's prison. He returned to 15 Buckingham Street, his home since 1804, to find a bailiff at the door and his home and property seized. Smith then worked as an itinerant surveyor for many years until one of his employers, Sir John Johnstone, recognised his work and talent and took steps to gain for him

1410-502: The differing types were coloured. Using this technique, Smith could draw a geological map from his observations showing the outcrops of the rocks. He took a few rock types, each with its own colour. Then he estimated the boundaries of each of the outcrops of rock, filled them in with colour and ended up with a crude geological map. In 1801, he drew a rough sketch of what would become the first geological map of most of Great Britain . Smith travelled extensively across Great Britain working as

1457-528: The environmental remediation field is often dominated by professional geologists, particularly hydrogeologists, with professional concentrations in this aspect of the field. Petroleum and mining companies use mudloggers , and large-scale land developers use the skills of geologists and engineering geologists to help them locate oil and minerals, adapt to local features such as karst topography or earthquake risk, and comply with environmental regulations. Geologists in academia usually hold an advanced degree in

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1504-547: The first President of the Geological Society , George Bellas Greenough , who was also engaged in producing a geological map of England and Wales. However original sources point to this narrative not being the case and indicate Smith was used by John Farey Sr. , another 'practical man' (i.e. mineral surveyor), to prosecute Farey's own grievances against the Geological Society in an article in The Philosophical Magazine by which he both started and fuelled

1551-424: The first detailed, nationwide geological map of any country. At the time his map was first published he was overlooked by the scientific community; his relatively humble education and family connections prevented him from mixing easily in learned society. Financially ruined, Smith spent time in debtors' prison . It was only late in his life that Smith received recognition for his accomplishments, and became known as

1598-557: The hypothesis of biological evolution (which pre-dated the work of Charles Darwin ). In 1799 Smith produced the first large-scale geological map of the area around Bath. Previously, he only knew how to draw the vertical extent of the rocks, but not how to display them horizontally . However, in the Somerset County Agricultural Society , he found a map showing the types of soils and vegetation around Bath and their geographical extent. Importantly,

1645-490: The many required areas of study. Most geologists also need skills in GIS and other mapping techniques. Geology students often spend portions of the year, especially the summer though sometimes during a January term, living and working under field conditions with faculty members (often referred to as "field camp"). Many non-geologists often take geology courses or have expertise in geology that they find valuable to their fields; this

1692-422: The map by hand. Smith used a graded colouring method applying a bolder colour to the edge representing the base of each stratum, thus depicting its stratigraphical relations. The map is similar to modern geological maps of England (albeit today's maps use flat-colouring) reflecting its general accuracy in the eastern and south eastern regions of the country. However Smith's geology of western part of England and Wales

1739-603: The mining industry or in the associated area of mineral exploration . They may also work in oil and gas industry. Some geologists also work for a wide range of government agencies, private firms, and non-profit and academic institutions. They are usually hired on a contract basis or hold permanent positions within private firms or official agencies (such as the Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration of Iran ). Local, state, and national governments hire geologists to work on geological projects that are of interest to

1786-571: The professional quality of the report and underlying work. The rules and guidelines codified in National Instrument 43-101 were introduced after a scandal in 1997 where Bre-X geologists salted drill core samples at a gold exploration property in Busang, Indonesia. The falsified drilling results misled Bre-X investors and upon discovery of the fraud, the company collapsed in the largest gold mining scam in history. In Europe exists

1833-476: The professional title of EurGeol (European Geologist ) awarded by the European Federation of Geologists . Geologists may belong to a number of professional societies promoting research, networking, and professional development within the field. William Smith (geologist) William 'Strata' Smith (23 March 1769 – 28 August 1839) was an English geologist , credited with creating

1880-427: The public community. The investigation of a country's natural resources is often a key role when working for government institutions; the work of the geologist in this field can be made publicly available to help the community make more informed decisions related to the exploitation of resources, management of the environment and the safety of critical infrastructure - all of which is expected to bring greater wellbeing to

1927-592: The respect he deserved, appointing Smith as Land Steward to his estate in Hackness near Scarborough . Between 1824 and 1834 Smith lived and was based in Hackness, then moving to Scarborough where he was responsible for the design of the Rotunda , a geological museum devoted to the Yorkshire coast, creating the cylindrical layout and arrangement of fossil display on sloping shelves. It was not until February 1831 that

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1974-426: The reverse. I respect him for the important services he has rendered to geology, and I esteem him for the example of dignity, meekness, modesty, and candour, which he continually, though ineffectually, exhibits to his self-appointed champion. Another common but misleading narrative in some recent accounts of Smith’s map has Greenough's 1820 map undercutting the price and sales of Smith's map, thereby citing Greenough as

2021-447: The sequence. They included many types of brachiopods , ammonites and molluscs characteristic of the shallow seas in which they were deposited. Some of the names he coined (like Cornbrash) are still used today for this formation. It could be seen from Smith's findings that the deeper – and therefore older – the strata were, the more the fossilised species within them differed from living organisms. This gave great support and impetus to

2068-418: The story that Smith was disrespected and there was ill-feeling towards him by the Geological Society men and Greenough in particular. In the following issue Greenough replied, publicly declaring his view as being non-antagonistic by stating: Your correspondent considers me, in common with many other persons, actuated by feelings of hostility towards Mr. Smith. Now my feelings towards that gentleman are directly

2115-620: Was appointed as one of the commissioners to select building-stone for the new Palace of Westminster . He died in Northampton , and is buried a few feet from the west tower of St Peter's Church, Northampton , now a redundant church. The inscription on the grave is badly worn but the name "William Smith" can just be seen. Inside St Peter’s Church is an impressive bust and inscription. Subsequent modern geological maps have been based on Smith's original work, of which several copies have survived including one which has been put on display (alongside

2162-477: Was constructed using a different classification of rocks. Sir Charles Lyell first published his famous book, Principles of Geology , in 1830. This book, which influenced the thought of Charles Darwin , successfully promoted the doctrine of uniformitarianism . This theory states that slow geological processes have occurred throughout the Earth's history and are still occurring today. In contrast, catastrophism

2209-607: Was much less detailed and accurate. Smith included a ' Sketch of the succession of STRATA and their relative Altitudes ' on the map, showing the disposition of strata from London to the mountains of Snowdonia. This was not a new technique in itself, but its appearance on a map, with the clear intention of illustrating the relationship between relief and rocks and their structure, was novel. In his book Strata Identified by Organized Fossils (London 1816–1819), Smith recognised that strata contained distinct fossil assemblages which could be used to match rocks across regions. In 1817 he drew

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