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Cuvier: Stratigraphy of Paris environs (1808)
Plan of the stratigraphy of Paris environs (from Broussart and Cuvier 1808.)
In
France, at about the same time William Smith was composing his
geological maps of England, George Cuvier and Alexandre Brogniart were
mapping the Paris Basin. In 1808, Cuvier and Brogniart published a
series of sections totalling about 300 m in depth, including various
fossil-bearing layers.
This detail of of the stratigraphy of the Paris Basin includes levels from the Mesozoic era which represent shallow seas. The lower stratigraphic levels are composed mainly of layers of marine limestone containing mollusks and other marine organism fossils from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, overlain by Tertiary sandstones "sans couqelles" (lacking shells).
Diagnostic
fossils from each layer were described in their report, and formed the
subjects of various other publications by Cuvier.
Reference:
Broussart, Alexandre and George Cuvier 1808
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