α. 1800s– stratigraphy.
β. 1800s– stratography (rare).
γ. 1800s– stratagraphy.
stratigraphyn.
/strəˈtɪɡrəfi/, U.S. /strəˈtɪɡrəfi/ 1. The branch of geology that is concerned with the order and relative position of the strata of the earth's crust. Also in extended use with reference to soils, lake and ocean sediments, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geology > [noun] > stratigraphy
historical geology1823
stratigraphy1841
time stratigraphy1945
chronostratigraphy1961
magnetostratigraphy1972
1841 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 6 The general principles of stratigraphy were gradually making their way into practical application.
1865 Reader 4 Mar. 248/2 While accepting as a basis in theoretical geology the principles of Hutton, and in stratigraphy the work of William Smith, he [etc.].
1891 J. F. Blake in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 47 341 Nor did he see any reason to doubt the correctness of his stratigraphy there.
1917 Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 10 7 The proportion of Mylacrids in a given [fossil insect] fauna is probably highly significant for stratigraphy.
1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) xi. 251 A special contribution to very detailed stratigraphy has been made in recent years by the study of the pollen-grains preserved in the late Tertiary and Pleistocene deposits, in Sweden and Britain.
2006 D. H. Erwin Extinction iii. 67 This method of sequence stratigraphy relies upon identifying the surfaces that bound each depositional sequence.
2. The stratigraphical features (of a country, etc.); the order and relative position of strata.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > [noun]
geology1795
structural geology1842
stratigraphy1850
petrology1870
palaeophysiography1882
tectonics1899
palaeogeology1933
palaeostructure1937
solid geology1937
morphotectonics1956
1850 Proc. 2nd Meeting Amer. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 64 The geology proper, the stratography of this continent, will afford the same precise and well authenticated standards for the appreciation of the order of succession of rocks, as fossils will for the order of succession of living beings.
1860 Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1857–60 4 282 The imperfect knowledge of the stratigraphy of the Western rocks precludes the feasibility of such a division.
1916 R. H. Rastall Agric. Geol. xiv. 269 Towards the end of Jurassic times a series of earth-movements began which produced important results in English stratigraphy.
1981 J. McPhee Basin & Range 184 Geologists used to earn doctorates piecing together the stratigraphy of the Franciscan mélange.
2010 Oxoniensia 74 131 The stratigraphy consisted simply of topsoil on to subsoil, which sealed the archaeological features, all of which cut the natural geology.
3. Archaeology. The order and position of layers of archaeological remains; the analysis of these layers with regard to the relative chronology of artefacts and features found in them.
ΚΠ
1904 A. J. Evans in Ann. Brit. School Athens 1902–3 9 25 Very interesting data for the stratigraphy of the later structures was afforded by the area about the Room of the Lotus Lamp.
1967 L. Deuel Conquistadors without Swords xxi. 285 Uaxactún yielded a continuous series of pottery which made it possible to establish a complete overall Maya stratigraphy and periodization.
2007 Brit. Archaeol. Sept. 12/4 The site stratigraphy is far from clear because there are very few section drawings.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1841