<P> The regular order of occurrence of fossils in rock layers was discovered around 1800 by William Smith . While digging the Somerset Coal Canal in southwest England , he found that fossils were always in the same order in the rock layers . As he continued his job as a surveyor , he found the same patterns across England . He also found that certain animals were in only certain layers and that they were in the same layers all across England . Due to that discovery , Smith was able to recognize the order that the rocks were formed . Sixteen years after his discovery , he published a geological map of England showing the rocks of different geologic time eras . </P>
<P> The regular order of occurrence of fossils in rock layers was discovered around 1800 by William Smith . While digging the Somerset Coal Canal in southwest England , he found that fossils were always in the same order in the rock layers . As he continued his job as a surveyor , he found the same patterns across England . He also found that certain animals were in only certain layers and that they were in the same layers all across England . Due to that discovery , Smith was able to recognize the order that the rocks were formed . Sixteen years after his discovery , he published a geological map of England showing the rocks of different geologic time eras . </P>
who proposed the principles of stratigraphy to relatively date rock layers
who proposed the principles of stratigraphy to relatively date rock layers
William Smith
William Smith