%0 Journal Article %1 philip2024charles %A Philip, Stone %A A., Rushton Adrian W. %B Geological Society, London, Special Publications %D 2024 %I The Geological Society of London %J Geological Society, London, Special Publications %K darwin devonian falkland fossils paleontology %N 1 %P SP543-2022-190-- %R 10.1144/SP543-2022-190 %T Charles Darwin's discovery of Devonian fossils in the Falkland Islands, 1833, and its controversial consequences %U https://doi.org/10.1144/SP543-2022-190 %V 543 %X In March 1833 Charles Darwin discovered Devonian fossils in the Falkland Islands. He was excited by his find but could have had little premonition of the long-running geological controversy that he was initiating. Darwin's fossils matched a coeval South African fauna and, as further collections were made, the association was apparently strengthened. A particularly important contribution arose around 1910 through collaborations between a local collector, Constance Allardyce, and professional palaeontologists: Ernest Schwarz in South Africa and John Clarke in the USA. The accumulating evidence was seized upon by the early proponents of ?displacement theory? ? continental drift ? notably Alexander Du Toit, who relocated the Falkland Islands northward for his 1927 South Atlantic reconstruction. A more radical, but geologically sounder proposal arose in 1952 when Ray Adie suggested that the Falkland Islands, rotated through 180°, had originated as the eastward culmination of the Cape Fold Belt and Karoo Basin. In effect, Adie had presciently described a rotated microplate, perhaps the first on record. An opposing view saw the Falkland Islands as part of a fixed, South American promontory, and argument around these two contrasting interpretations of South Atlantic geology continues to the present day.

@article{philip2024charles, abstract = {In March 1833 Charles Darwin discovered Devonian fossils in the Falkland Islands. He was excited by his find but could have had little premonition of the long-running geological controversy that he was initiating. Darwin's fossils matched a coeval South African fauna and, as further collections were made, the association was apparently strengthened. A particularly important contribution arose around 1910 through collaborations between a local collector, Constance Allardyce, and professional palaeontologists: Ernest Schwarz in South Africa and John Clarke in the USA. The accumulating evidence was seized upon by the early proponents of ?displacement theory? ? continental drift ? notably Alexander Du Toit, who relocated the Falkland Islands northward for his 1927 South Atlantic reconstruction. A more radical, but geologically sounder proposal arose in 1952 when Ray Adie suggested that the Falkland Islands, rotated through 180°, had originated as the eastward culmination of the Cape Fold Belt and Karoo Basin. In effect, Adie had presciently described a rotated microplate, perhaps the first on record. An opposing view saw the Falkland Islands as part of a fixed, South American promontory, and argument around these two contrasting interpretations of South Atlantic geology continues to the present day.}, added-at = {2024-03-16T23:29:39.000+0100}, author = {Philip, Stone and A., Rushton Adrian W.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/295d5d23305b339e1066d4ffd97b1ba3f/tabularii}, booktitle = {Geological Society, London, Special Publications}, comment = {doi: 10.1144/SP543-2022-190}, doi = {10.1144/SP543-2022-190}, interhash = {472e779fe021a87622966e9e5dfc6d3f}, intrahash = {95d5d23305b339e1066d4ffd97b1ba3f}, journal = {Geological Society, London, Special Publications}, keywords = {darwin devonian falkland fossils paleontology}, month = sep, number = 1, pages = {SP543-2022-190--}, publisher = {The Geological Society of London}, timestamp = {2024-03-17T00:00:57.000+0100}, title = {Charles Darwin's discovery of Devonian fossils in the Falkland Islands, 1833, and its controversial consequences}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1144/SP543-2022-190}, volume = 543, year = 2024 }