? Niels Stensen – Definition and Explanations

Introduction

Niels Stensen (in Latin Nikolaus Stenonisin french Nicholas StenonEnglish Nicholas Steno and in Italian Niccolò Stanone) was a Danish anatomist and geologist born on January 10, 1638 in Copenhagen. dead (Death is the final state of a biological organism that ceases to live (even…) November 26, 1686 in Schwerin. He was one of the first to formulate the principles geology (Geology, from Ancient Greek γη- (gê-, “earth”) and…), a little-known branch of the natural sciences at the time. The most famous of them is Law overlap (In quantum mechanics, the superposition principle states that the same quantum state…) therefore, the upper layer of a sedimentary sequence is always newer than the lower layers, unless it is subsequently reworked.

His life (Life is a given name 🙂 he is distinguished mainly by his personal contradiction between the religious explanations of the natural phenomena existing at that time and the scientific discoveries he made in this field. This resulted in his disastrous end.

His life and discoveries

After completing his university studies in Copenhagen, Steno left Europe (Europe is a land area that…). He would like to travel all his life. During his travels, he came into contact with physicists and other prominent scientists, especially in Holland, France, and Italy.

It started in 1660 medicine (Medicine (Latin medicus, “healer”) science and…) in Leiden, then considered the center of medical knowledge in Europe. He left in 1665 Florence (Florence (Italian Firenze) is a city in Italy, the capital of the Tuscany region and…). His anatomical studies attracted the attention of Ferdinando de’ Medici II, Grand Duke of Florence. Ferdinand gave him a taskhospital (A hospital is a place designed to care for people with …)it almost fell short of him time (Time, by man… for their own research. Moreover, he was elected to the Accademia del Cimento, a group of researchers inspired by scientific approaches. Galileo (Galilee or Galileo Galilei (born February 15, 1564 in Pisa and died in Arcetri near Florence…).

His education anatomy (Anatomy (from the Greek name ἀνατομία…) focuses on the muscular system and how muscle contraction occurs. used geometry (Geometry is the branch of mathematics that studies the shapes of space…) to show that muscles are a muscular (Muscles are a form of aggregation of animal tissue. One of the four types…) really changed shape in contraction, but no volume (In physics or mathematics, volume is a quantity that measures expansion…).

Principles of Shorthand

Steno formulated three principles (or laws) of great importance to sedimentology and stratigraphy.

The principle of primary horizontality

Starting with all this assumption the rock (Rock, from the popular Latin rocca, meaning any material that makes up the crust…) and everything (The whole, understood as the whole of what exists, is often interpreted as the world or…) the mineral there was liquid, Steno concluded that rock layers and equivalent sediments, particleswater (Water is a ubiquitous chemical compound on Earth, essential for everyone…) or else fluid (The liquid phase is the state of matter. Matter in this form…), settle to the bottom. This process should result in successive horizontal layers. the principle of primary horizontality The result means that rock layers that are not (no longer) horizontal are the result of subsequent changes during deposition.

Tongstenen. Illustration uit Steno’s Example of Elementorum myologiae (1667)

The principle of superposition

Another principle formulated by Steno says that a object (In general, the word object (from Latin objectum, 1361) refers to an entity defined by …) solid surrounded by another solid (eg a fossil (Fossil (derived from the Latin verb fodere: fossil, literally…) with sediment), the enclosing object takes the form of the enclosing object. Steno concludes that the fossils and crystals must have fossilized before the rock formed. If the “tongue stone” grew in the rock, the tongue stone was also formed after the rock like a root. grow up (Pousse is the name given to an illegal car race in Reunion.) in a crack and fills it.

This was the condition of the veins and crystals that developed in the rocks. Steno concluded that these veins must have been formed by seepage of fluids from the rock. Steno, following the idea that surrounding solids take their shape from the surrounded bodies, came (Arriva is a private British group specializing in public passenger transport. It…) for principle of superposition: Newer layers should appear on top of older layers. Steno’s law is therefore: “unless subsequent processes change this principle, rock layers are formed in succession, the oldest below and the youngest above”. Here it is theory (The word theory comes from the Greek word theorein and means “to think, observe,…” This gave Steno world fame and meant that he could be perceived as one the founder (Founder (real name: Founding Father) is a science fiction short story by Isaac…) stratigraphy.

Steno used examples such as caves to explain the many exceptions to the principles of primary horizontality and superposition, where, for example, erosion of part of the lower layer and landslides lead to only large parts of the overlying rock being found in an older location. part. This was actually the first known description of a inconsistency or (in historical stratigraphy) pause (non-depositional period, where there is no sedimentary deposit and therefore “missing” in the rock for some time).

He also developed the hypothesis that rocks could be lifted by underground forces. A perfectly normal geological phenomenon now, but a revolutionary idea in Steno’s time. It told him how to find shark teeth high up mountain (A mountain is an important topographical structure with a positive relief,…. Similarly, molten rocks (magma) may be an exception to the law of superposition, as younger rocks may form under, between, or within older rocks.

This Steno’s law speaks of relative time, because two layers of rock that are horizontal to each other can form millions of years apart (some oceanic sediments) or only a few hours apart (tidal sediments).

principle continuity (In mathematics, continuity is a topological property of a function…) lateral

According to Steno’s third law law of lateral continuity, sedimentary layers follow each other in principle laterally, i.e. horizontally. Steno concludes that depositional processes do not stop where sediments are found. This is how he explained why the same rock is often hill-shaped on both sides of a creek (A valley is a generally shaped geographic depression…). Meanwhile, in the valley, this sediment has been eroded. Now we know that a on a large scale (A large ladder also called an aerial ladder or automatic ladder…) collapse does not always have to be to pass (The Passer breed was created by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques…) lateral: the sedimentary basin is not unconfined but is always onshorehour (Time is the unit of measure 🙂 is an important principle of geology today.