Concepts

Principle of Original Horizontality

Also Known As Steno's Law

Citation Formats

General Reference

Earth and Environment Atlas. "Principle of Original Horizontality." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/principle-of-original-horizontality.

APA Style

Earth and Environment Atlas. (n.d.). Principle of Original Horizontality. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/principle-of-original-horizontality

BibTeX

@misc{earthandenvironmentatlas-principle-of-original-horizontality,
  author = {Earth and Environment Atlas},
  title = {Principle of Original Horizontality},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/principle-of-original-horizontality},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The principle that layers of sediment are originally deposited horizontally under the action of gravity, first proposed by the Danish geological pioneer Nicholas Steno. It underpins the analysis of folded and tilted strata, from which follows the conclusion that great forces have moved Earth's crust over long periods; it is now known that some sediments, such as dune sands, are deposited at angles up to about fifteen degrees, so the principle is widely but not universally applicable.

Facts

Origin Year

1669 1

Stated by Nicolas Steno in his Dissertationis prodromus, alongside three sibling stratigraphic principles.

Cross-Tradition Connections