Editing Neptunism

{{short description|Obsolete theory that rocks formed from crystallisation of minerals in early oceans}}
[[Image:Abraham Gottlob Werner.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Abraham Gottlob Werner]] (1749–1817), the founder of neptunism]]
'''Neptunism''' is a [[Superseded scientific theories|superseded scientific theory]] of [[geology]] proposed by [[Abraham Gottlob Werner]] (1749–1817) in the late 18th century, who proposed that [[Rock (geology)|rock]]s formed from the [[crystal]]lisation of [[mineral]]s in the early [[Earth]]'s oceans.

The theory took its name from [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]], the ancient [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] god of the sea. There was considerable debate between its proponents (neptunists) and those favouring a rival theory known as [[plutonism]] which gave a significant role to volcanic origins, and which in modified form replaced neptunism in the early 19th century as the principle of [[Uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarianism]] was shown to fit better with the geological facts as they became better known.

Modern geology acknowledges many different forms of rock formation, and explains the formation of [[sedimentary rock]] through processes very similar to those described by neptunism.

==Historical development==
In the mid-eighteenth century as the investigation of [[geology]] found evidence such as [[fossil]]s, [[natural history|naturalists]] developed new ideas which diverged from the [[Genesis creation narrative]]. [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Georges de Buffon]] proposed that the Earth was over 75,000 years old, possibly much older, and showed signs of historical development in a series of distinct [[Epoch (reference date)|epoch]]s.

[[Abraham Gottlob Werner]] was the inspector of mines and professor of mining and [[mineralogy]] at the Mining Academy in [[Freiberg, Saxony|Freiberg]] ([[Saxony]]) which became dominant in late eighteenth-century geology. His ''Short Classification and Description of Rocks'' of 1787<ref>This probably  should say "''Short classification and description of the various rocks''"; See e.g. {{cite book 
| title       = Showing all editions for 'Short classification and description of the various rocks.' 
| publisher   = [[OCLC]] 
| date        = 1786 
|oclc = 205028}}</ref><ref>See ''also'' (e.g.) {{cite book  
| title       = Short classification and description of the various rocks : [translation and facsimile of original text (1786) in juxtaposition]  
| publisher   = [[Hafner Publishing|Hafner]] 
| date        = 1971  
|author1=Werner, Abraham Gottlob |author2=Alexander M Ospovat 
 |oclc = 311498807|name-list-style=amp | author-link  = Abraham Gottlob Werner
}}</ref><ref>See ''also'' (e.g.) {{cite web  
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=xVc1AAAAMAAJ 
| title       = (The "Google Books" entry for) [the book] ''Short Classification and Description of the Various Rocks''
| access-date  = August 9, 2015 
| last1 = Werner
| first1 = Abraham Gottlob
| year = 1971
}}</ref><ref>See ''also'' the first page (labeled "page 599") of {{cite web  
| url         = http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM57/AM57_599.pdf 
| publisher   = [[Mineralogical Society of America]] 
| title       = BOOK REVIEWS 
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070714125023/http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM57/AM57_599.pdf 
| date        = 1972 
| archive-date = July 14, 2007 
| url-status     = live 
| access-date  = August 9, 2015 
}}</ref> and his lectures set out a classification of rocks on the basis of their age based on the sequence of layers of differing material, rather than by the types of minerals as had been previous practice.

He based his historical sequence of rock formation on the theory that the Earth had originally consisted of water. According to this account, the water contained material which settled out of suspension in a process of [[sedimentation]] to form the core of the planet and the continents as a series of layers, the oldest and hardest being [[granite]] while newer layers showed an increasing number of [[fossil]]s. [[Volcano]]es had a minor effect, modifying the continents and adding more sediment as well as some volcanic rocks, and successive lesser floods added more layers, so that most rocks resulted from [[precipitate]]s settling out of water. There is no indication that any of the floods in Werner's cosmogony were [[Noah's flood]].<ref>Ospovat, Alexander, "Werner, Abraham Gottlob," ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'', pp. 256–264.</ref>

== The neptunist–plutonist controversy ==
A rival theory known as [[plutonism]] (or vulcanism) held that rocks were formed in fire. This was originally proposed by Abbé [[Anton Moro]] (1687–1750) with reference to his studies of volcanic islands, and was taken up by [[James Hutton]] who put forward a [[Uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarian]] theory of a [[rock cycle]] extending over infinite time in which rocks were worn away by weathering and erosion, then were re-formed and uplifted by heat and pressure.

Neptunists differed from the plutonists in holding that [[basalt]] was a sedimentary deposit which included fossils and so could not be of volcanic origin. Hutton correctly asserted that basalt never contained fossils and was always insoluble, hard, and crystalline. He found geological formations in which basalt cut through layers of other rocks, supporting his theory that it originated from molten rock under the Earth's crust.

The debate was not just between scientists. [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], one of the most respected authors of the day, took sides with the neptunists. The fourth act of his famous work ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'' contains a dialogue between a neptunist and a plutonist, the latter being [[Mephistopheles]], the antagonist of the play who is a devil. Doing so he implicitly expressed his favour for the neptunist theory, though he also did so explicitly and sometimes even harshly elsewhere.<ref>{{citation| last=Raman| first=V. V.| title=Ugandan Martyrs and James Hutton| date=June 3, 2002|newspaper=The Global Spiral| volume=6| issue=3| url=http://www.metanexus.net/Magazine/Default.aspx?TabId=68&id=6447&SkinSrc=%5BG%5DSkins%2F_default%2FNo+Skin&ContainerSrc=%5BG%5DContainers%2F_default%2FNo+Container| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928032113/http://www.metanexus.net/Magazine/Default.aspx?TabId=68&id=6447&SkinSrc=%5BG%5DSkins%2F_default%2FNo+Skin&ContainerSrc=%5BG%5DContainers%2F_default%2FNo+Container| url-status=dead| archive-date=September 28, 2007| access-date=2007-06-19}}</ref>

The controversy lasted into the early years of the 19th century, but the works of [[Charles Lyell]] in the 1830s gradually won over support for the uniformitarian ideas of Hutton and the plutonists. However, [[sedimentary rock]]s such as [[limestone]] are considered to have resulted from processes like those described by the neptunists, and so modern theory can be seen as a synthesis of the two approaches.{{according to whom|date=October 2017}}

==Notable neptunists==
* [[Abraham Gottlob Werner]] (1749–1817)
* [[Juan Ignacio Molina]] (1740–1829): considered [[basalt]] a compacted [[slate]]
* [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] (1749–1832)
* [[Robert Jameson]] (1774–1854): studied with Werner and supported neptunism
* [[Gustav Bischof]], (1792–1870), founder of geochemistry

==Fictional account==
The theory, and its intellectual context, are treated in [[Daniel Kehlmann]]'s fictionalised account of the travels of [[Alexander von Humboldt]], ''Die Vermessung der Welt'' (''[[Measuring the World]]'') of 2006.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last= Erickson |first= Jon |title= Plate Tectonics |location= New York |publisher= Facts On File |date= 2001 |orig-year= 1992 |isbn= 9780816043279 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/platetectonicsun0000eric_z2p1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |url= http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/title.htm |title= And Still We Evolve: A Handbook for the Early History of Modern Science |chapter= Section Two: The Early History of Modern Geology |chapter-url= http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/sect2.htm |first= Ian |last= Johnston |location= Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC. [Vancouver Island University] |edition= 3rd |date= 1999 |quote= Public domain |access-date= 2017-06-01 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160416050826/http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/darwin/title.htm |archive-date= 2016-04-16 |url-status= dead  |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Baigrie |first= Brian |title= Scientific Revolutions |work= Course Notes and Study Material |publisher= University of Toronto |date= 2006 |isbn= 9780802084859  |ref=none}}

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[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:History of Earth science]]
[[Category:Obsolete geology theories]]