![]() Subsequent deposition of sediments will also be flat on top of the previous ones before they lithify. Otherwise, the sediments would have slithered under gravity if on a steeply inclined surface to the lowest point. Steno observed that since sediments settle from water or wind due to gravity, they will be deposited horizontally on the sediment basin or Earth’s surface and then cement with time. These forces will break, uplift, or buckle layers, making some younger one goes beneath older ones, steep contours, or inclination. Some of the Earth’s movements that could make nearly or horizontal/flat rock layers fold, incline or deform rocks include mountain building, earthquakes, faulting, or tectonic plate movements. Any folding or steep tilting of these rock layers happens after formation due to the Earth’s movements. The law or principle of original horizontal states that sediments are always deposited in horizontal or near horizontal layers or strata under gravity action. What is the principle of original horizontality? ![]() Lastly, did you know that he also worked on paleontology and crystallography? Perhaps Steno deserves more credit than he gets. Today, his work is still important to geology. However, not many accepted his ideas until many years later. Steno’s ideas or laws were published in Prodromus or De Solido Intra Solidum Naturaliter Contento Dissertationis Prodromus (the Prodromus of Nicolaus Steno’s Dissertation Concerning a Solid Body Enclosed by Processes of Nature Within a Solid) in 1669. These principles laid the basis of stratigraphy and geology. He was a Danish scientist who pioneered geology and medicine before becoming a Catholic bishop.Īlso, he proposed three other laws or principles, i.e., the law of superposition, lateral continuity, and cross-cutting relationship. Nicholas Steno (Nicholas Stenonis) (1638-1686), born Niels Stensen, is the man who proposed the law or principle of original horizontality. Today, we will discuss the original horizontality principle or law, giving examples, significance, and where it may not apply. Therefore, it is not universally applied by stratigraphers, sedimentologists, or structural geologies. However, it does have its shortcomings, such as the existence of inclined beds on cross-bedding, which it cannot explain. Also, it can provide an idea of the actual event and likely led to plate tectonic theory. This principle is important as it helps in relative dating together with other laws of geology, especially in giving a sequence of events. Any deformation (tilting or folding) of sedimentary rock layers occurs after formation, i.e., sedimentation and lithification, resulting from Earth’s movements. It states that sediments are always deposited in horizontal (or flat) strata under the action of gravity. Nicolaus Steno first proposed the law or principle of original horizontality in the mid-17 th century.
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