"In several sections, both natural in the banks of the Mississippi and its numerous arms, and where artificial canals had been cut, I observed erect stumps of trees, with their roots attached, buried in strata at different heights, one over the other."
Charles Lyell was a Scottish geologist whose work helped establish modern geology. His Principles of Geology argued for gradual geological processes over vast periods of time. Lyell's ideas strongly influenced scientific thinking in the 19th century, including Charles Darwin.