catastrophism

Catastrophism is a geologic doctrine that Earth’s features originate from sudden, short-lived, violent events, rather than solely gradual processes. These events include floods, tectonic upheavals, volcanic eruptions, meteorite impacts, and other cataclysms. The theory emphasizes the role of singular or multiple catastrophic episodes in shaping landscapes and strata.

Historically, catastrophism was developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with Georges Cuvier as a leading advocate. Cuvier argued that successive fossil-containing strata were deposited after successive global catastrophes, using gaps in the fossil record to infer extinctions and planetary upheavals. His work contrasted with earlier ideas of gradual, uniform change and helped lay the foundation for paleontology, while the term itself contrasted with the notion of slow, steady processes.

In the 19th century, uniformitarianism, associated with James Hutton and Charles Lyell, gained prominence by emphasizing gradual processes as the main drivers of geological change. Catastrophism was subsequently reframed as acknowledging occasional, significant events that punctuate long periods of gradual change. Modern geology generally recognizes that both catastrophic and gradual processes contribute to Earth’s geology and fossil record, and neocatastrophist perspectives argue that large events can drive rapid changes without denying slower mechanisms.

Examples and implications of catastrophism include the observation that boundaries between rock layers often coincide with major ecological or climatic upheavals, such as mass extinctions and volcanic events. The end-Cretaceous boundary is linked by many scientists to a large impact event, among other drivers. However, such interpretations are evaluated within a comprehensive stratigraphic framework and current geologic methods.

Today, catastrophism remains a historical term in geology, used to describe the role of rapid, large-scale events in Earth’s history rather than as a standalone modern theory.