Top 5 Facts: Earth’s crust
Five rock-hard facts to build your knowledge of Earth’s crust upon.
1. Uniformitarianism
11th Century Persian scholar Avicenna proposed that the Earth’s crust’s rock formation occurs through processes that have operated uniformly throughout history.
2. Causeway clash
In the late-18th Century, two groups of scholars fought over how Giant’s Causeway was formed, one believing from volcanic activity, the other sedimentary.
3. Ouroboros
It was geologist James Hutton who first raised the idea of the rock cycle, the process where rocks are eroded, compacted, compressed and melted before cooling into new rocks.
4. Tried and tested
Standard geological tools consist of a rock hammer, chisels, a pocket knife and a storage container. These tools have not really changed in over 400 years.
5. Creator
Volcanoes are one of the predominant creators of new rocks, formed from the cooling and crystallisation of magma. These rocks are igneous varieties.
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