In 1815 William Smith correlated strata from many locations and plotted it on paper to show the spatial distribution of rock units on Earth's surface. This document was the first modern:

A. geologic column

B. geologic map

C. stratigraphic column

D. geologic time scale

E. range

B. geologic map

Explanation:

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the works of William Smith (1769-1839) in the secondary lands of England and of Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) and Alexandre Brongniart (1770-1847) in the tertiary of the Paris basin. These authors realize that the different and successive formations (groups of strata) were characterized by different fossils and that they were so different from the current ones the older the formation was. On this observation another of the fundamental principles of Geology is based, which is the Principle of faunal succession, which establishes that organisms appear and disappear in the fossil record following a specific and non-repetitive order. This principle allows correlations (comparisons over time) to be established between materials of the same age in very different geographical areas. Also, these observations carried evidence of species extinction and, finally, of evolution.

On August 28, 1839, the British geologist William Smith died (March 23, 1769 - August 28, 1839).

In addition to being the creator of the first geological map of history, he considers the "father" of modern stratigraphy.

In 1815 he published the first geological map of the world. It covered the whole of England and Wales. Conventional symbols were used to mark mines of canals, tunnels, trams and roads, coal mines, lead, copper and tin, along with salt and alum works.

Various geological types were indicated by different colors; The maps were colored by hand. However, the map is remarkably similar to the modern geological maps of England.