Experiments in a water tank showed that sedimentary layers can be laid
down very quickly in patterns that violate the geological principles of
superposition (that layers are deposited horizontally with younger ones on
top) and continuity (that each layer has the same age at every point).
In particular, lamination is sometimes the result of segregation of
particles according to size, not the result of successive layering;
lamination deposits can be produced on slopes.
Berthault's results do not invalidate the principle of superposition.
Newer layers still appear on top of older layers. Berthault's results
duplicated a case where the layers are not laid down horizontally, but
the principle of superposition does not require horizontal depositional
surfaces. Berthault erred in confusing the principle of superposition
with the principle of original horizontality, which was already known
to have limited application. Berthault's experiments only duplicated
results that were familiar to sedimentologists decades earlier. There
is nothing of significance in his work.
