Proposta i acceptació dels encavalcaments en el marc de les idees geològiques de començaments del segle XIX

Abstract

Proposal and acceptance of thrusts in geology at the start of the XIX century

This paper addresses different ideas about thrusts at the early 19th century: 1) The publication of anomalous stratigraphical superpositions in the Alps by H.-C. Escher in 1807 and the rejection of this idea by von Buch, who advocated the neptunist orthodoxy, in 1809. 2) The description of the contact between the granite and the Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits along the Elbe valley (Saxony), including fault rocks, and its interpretation as a thrust (Lausitz thrust) by Weiss in 1827. 3) The controversy between neptunists and plutonists about the interpretation of this structure, rejecting the ideas of Weiss that were not consistent with the dominant theories (1829-1834). 4) The research project led by Cotta (1835-1838), which resulted in the acceptance of the Lausitz structure as a thrust by the geological community; the interpretation of Weiss made a come-back after having been eclipsed by the neptunist-plutonist controversy. The article also examines the researchers’ attitudes to models and their observations as well as some aspects of the methodology.