Neptunism

Neptunism is a discredited and obsolete scientific theory of geology proposed in the late 18th century and early 19th century that proposed rocks formed from the crystallization of minerals in the early Earth's oceans.

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It was named for Neptune, the ancient Roman name for the ancient Greek god of the sea (Poseidon). Neptunism, at one point considered to be a reputable scientific theory, lost mainstream scientific support as the principle of uniformitarianism was shown to fit better with the geological facts as they became better known.

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Obsolete scientific theory: An obsolete scientific theory is a scientific theory that was once commonly accepted but (for whatever reason) is no longer considered the most complete description of reality by mainstream science; or a falsifiable theory which has been shown to be false. This label does not cover theories that are...

Geology: Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, "the earth") and λογος (logos, "word", "reason")) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history, and the processes that shape it. It is one of the Earth sciences....

18th century: As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800 in the Gregorian calendar....