Monday, October 5, 2009

Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism

The geological concepts of Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism relate to a scientific debate on how the earth has been affected in the past to create the modern conditions of land formation (and degradation) and speciation. Both concepts stem from Charles Lyell's (1797-1875) and William Whewell's (1794-1866) scholarly debate on geological change that still are applicable today (Baker, 1998).
Catastrophism is the belief that the earth has been changed historically by dramatic sudden natural catastrophes such as meteors, floods, or volcanic eruptions, causing mass extinctions and the change of land formations in its wake (Bak and Paczuski, 1996). Uniformitarianism, on the other hand, applies to the belief that the Earth is affected by slow, gradual change with change in land forms and extinction as naturally occurring processes (Bak and Paczuski, 1996). Lyell argued in Principles of Geology (1833) that uniformitarianism of natural processes has created the present conditions in nature - much aligned with Darwin's views of speciation (Bak and Paczuski, 1996). It was Whewell's critique of Lyell's work in 1837 that the terms 'Catastrophism' and 'Uniformitarianism' were defined, with Whewell's logic putting forth that the Earth's geological history is punctuated by certain catastrophic events that caused change to the natural order (Baker, 1998).
Modern thought combines both sides of the argument, using the fossil record and geological dating to determine Earth's history of extinction and change through processes relating to catastrophism and uniformitarianism.
References:
  • Baker, Victor R.Catastrophism and uniformitarianism: logical roots and current relevance in geology Geological Society, London, Special Publications 1998 143: 171-182
  • Bak, Per and Paczuski, Maya. Mass Extinctions vs. Uniformitarianism in Biological Evolution http://www.citebase.org/abstract?id=oai:arXiv.org:cond-mat/9602012, 1996

Related Links:
http://www.pibburns.com/catastro/extinct.htm
http://www.catastrophism.com/
....and the creationist argument:
http://www.answersincreation.org/catastrophism.htm

1 comment:

  1. pretty good stuff, but why the multiple mentions of "speciation"? These two notions are geological in nature, they really are not at all about biology in general or speciation in particular. They relate to different ideas on the age of the earth, and the manner and rate of formation of the earth's major features (e.g., canyons, mountains, etc). Remember, Charles Lyell, the main proponent of uniformitarianism during Darwin's lifetime, was not even a believer in the evolution of life as described by Darwin.

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