Editing Geologic time scale (section)

=== Early history ===
The most modern geological time scale was not formulated until 1911<ref name="Holmes_19113">{{Cite journal |last1=Holmes |first1=Arthur |date=1911-06-09 |title=The association of lead with uranium in rock-minerals, and its application to the measurement of geological time |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character |volume=85 |issue=578 |pages=248–256 |bibcode=1911RSPSA..85..248H |doi=10.1098/rspa.1911.0036 |issn=0950-1207 |doi-access=free}}</ref> by [[Arthur Holmes]] (1890 – 1965), who drew inspiration from [[James Hutton]] (1726–1797), a Scottish Geologist who presented the idea of uniformitarianism or the theory that changes to the Earth's crust resulted from continuous and uniform processes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=James Hutton {{!}} Father of Modern Geology, Scottish Naturalist {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Hutton |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The broader concept of the relation between rocks and time can be traced back to (at least) the [[philosopher]]s of [[Ancient Greece]] from 1200 BC to 600 AD. [[Xenophanes|Xenophanes of Colophon]] (c. 570–487&nbsp;[[Common era|BCE]]) observed rock beds with fossils of seashells located above the sea-level, viewed them as once living organisms, and used this to imply an unstable relationship in which the sea had at times [[Marine transgression|transgressed]] over the land and at other times had [[Marine regression|regressed]].<ref name="Fischer_20093">{{Cite journal |last1=Fischer |first1=Alfred G. |last2=Garrison |first2=Robert E. |date=2009 |title=The role of the Mediterranean region in the development of sedimentary geology: a historical overview |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2008.01009.x |journal=Sedimentology |language=en |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=3–41 |bibcode=2009Sedim..56....3F |doi=10.1111/j.1365-3091.2008.01009.x |s2cid=128604255}}</ref> This view was shared by a few of Xenophanes's scholars and those that followed, including [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BC) who (with additional observations) reasoned that the positions of land and sea had changed over long periods of time. The concept of [[deep time]] was also recognized by [[History of science and technology in China|Chinese naturalist]] [[Shen Kuo]]<ref name="Nathan 19953">{{Cite book |last=Sivin |first=Nathan |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/956775994 |title=Science in ancient China: researches and reflections |date=1995 |publisher=Variorum |isbn=0-86078-492-4 |oclc=956775994}}</ref> (1031–1095) and [[Islam]]ic [[scientist]]-philosophers, notably the [[Brethren of Purity|Brothers of Purity]], who wrote on the processes of stratification over the passage of time in their [[Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity|treatises]].<ref name="Fischer_20093" /> Their work likely inspired that of the 11th-century [[Persians|Persian]] [[polymath]] [[Avicenna]] (Ibn Sînâ, 980–1037) who wrote in ''[[The Book of Healing]]'' (1027) on the concept of stratification and superposition, pre-dating [[Nicolas Steno]] by more than six centuries.<ref name="Fischer_20093" /> Avicenna also recognized fossils as "petrifications of the bodies of plants and animals",<ref name="Adams_19383">{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Frank D. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/165626104 |title=The Birth and Development of the Geological Sciences |date=1938 |publisher=Williams & Wilkins |isbn=0-486-26372-X |oclc=165626104}}</ref> with the 13th-century [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[bishop]] [[Albertus Magnus]] (c. 1200–1280), who drew from [[Aristotle|Aristotle's]] natural philosophy, extending this into a theory of a petrifying fluid.<ref name="Johnson">{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Chris |last2=Bentley |first2=Callan |last3=Panchuk |first3=Karla |last4=Affolter |first4=Matt |last5=Layou |first5=Karen |last6=Jaye |first6=Shelley |last7=Kohrs |first7=Russ |last8=Inkenbrandt |first8=Paul |last9=Mosher |first9=Cam |last10=Ricketts |first10=Brian |last11=Estrada |first11=Charlene |title=Geologic Time and Relative Dating |url=https://open.maricopa.edu/fallglg102/part/sedimentary-rocks-and-environments/ |journal=Maricopa Open Digital Press |language=en}}</ref> These works appeared to have little influence on [[scholar]]s in [[Middle Ages|Medieval Europe]] who looked to the [[Bible]] to explain the origins of fossils and sea-level changes, often attributing these to the '[[Genesis flood narrative|Deluge]]', including [[Restoro d'Arezzo|Ristoro d'Arezzo]] in 1282.<ref name="Fischer_20093" /> It was not until the [[Italian Renaissance]] when [[Leonardo da Vinci]] (1452–1519) would reinvigorate the relationships between stratification, relative sea-level change, and time, denouncing attribution of fossils to the 'Deluge':<ref name="McCurdy_19383">{{Cite book |last=McCurdy |first=Edward |url=https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=no:2233803&qt=advanced&dblist=638 |title=The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci |date=1938 |publisher=Reynal & Hitchcock |location=New York |language=English |oclc=2233803}}</ref><ref name="Fischer_20093" />

{{blockquote|text=Of the stupidity and ignorance of those who imagine that these creatures were carried to such places distant from the sea by the Deluge...Why do we find so many fragments and whole shells between the different layers of stone unless they had been upon the shore and had been covered over by earth newly thrown up by the sea which then became petrified? And if the above-mentioned Deluge had carried them to these places from the sea, you would find the shells at the edge of one layer of rock only, not at the edge of many where may be counted the winters of the years during which the sea multiplied the layers of sand and mud brought down by the neighboring rivers and spread them over its shores. And if you wish to say that there must have been many deluges in order to produce these layers and the shells among them it would then become necessary for you to affirm that such a deluge took place every year.}}
[[File:Sketch of the Succession pf Strata and their relative Altitudes.jpg|thumb|Sketch of the Succession of Strata and their Relative Altitudes (William Smith)]]
These views of da Vinci remained unpublished, and thus lacked influence at the time; however, questions of fossils and their significance were pursued and, while views against [[Genesis creation narrative|Genesis]] were not readily accepted and dissent from [[Religion|religious]] doctrine was in some places unwise, scholars such as [[Girolamo Fracastoro]] shared da Vinci's views, and found the attribution of fossils to the 'Deluge' absurd.<ref name="Fischer_20093" /> Although many theories surrounding philosophy and concepts of rocks were developed in earlier years, "the first serious attempts to formulate a geological time scale that could be applied anywhere on Earth were made in the late 18th century."<ref name="Johnson" /> Later, in the 19th century, academics further developed theories on stratification. [[William Smith (geologist)|William Smith]], often referred to as the "Father of Geology"<ref name="earthobservatory.nasa.gov-2008" /> developed theories through observations rather than drawing from the scholars that came before him. Smith's work was primarily based on his detailed study of rock layers and fossils during his time and he created "the first map to depict so many rock formations over such a large area”.<ref name="earthobservatory.nasa.gov-2008">{{Cite web |date=2008-05-08 |title=William Smith (1769-1839) |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/WilliamSmith |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |language=en}}</ref> After studying rock layers and the fossils they contained, [[William Smith (geologist)|Smith]] concluded that each layer of rock contained distinct material that could be used to identify and correlate rock layers across different regions of the world.<ref name="Smith-1816">{{Cite book |last1=Smith |first1=William |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/106808 |title=Strata identified by organized fossils : containing prints on colored paper of the most characteristic specimens in each stratum |last2=Smith |first2=William |date=1816 |publisher=Printed by W. Arding ..., and sold by the author ..., J. Sowerby ..., Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ..., and by all booksellers |location=London |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.106808}}</ref> Smith developed the concept of faunal succession or the idea that fossils can serve as a marker for the age of the strata they are found in and published his ideas in his 1816 book, "Strata identified by organized fossils."<ref name="Smith-1816" />