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H. C. Sorby was the first geologist to decipher the origin of rocks through examination of thin sections with the polarizing microscope (in 1851, a paper on a cherty limestone). In later classic papers he founded structural petrology (1856), sandstone petrography (1877 (1880) and carbonate petrography (1879); these papers remain indispensable reading to this day. Sorby also founded the systematic study of paleocurrents (1859), fluvial sedimentation and metallography (1864). His life is the story of one incredible accomplishment after another.
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Robert L. Folk (1965) studied this question.
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